The Golden Hour

A few days ago my neighbor called me to say that it really wasn't fair to the other trees in the neighborhood the way my maple was showing off this year.

I hadn't given it much thought, but she is right, it is a bit of a show off, and one both she and I greatly appreciate for being so boastful.

The leaves have not been as colorful or vibrant as they have in years past, but that's ok, everyone needs a little break every now and then, right?

Photographers often refer to the hour just after sunrise or just before sunset as the "golden" hour, but this time of year that golden glow seems to extend just a bit longer and I find it to be one of the prettiest times of year in terms of light.

It's been a crazy week, filled with ups and downs, frustration and jubilation, and a little bit of feeling yucky just for good measure.  But tonight, after having to cancel a lunch date with a friend who I've tried to hook up with since summer, and not making dinner for my friend "J" who is undergoing chemo (for fear I might give her something), I decided to just go outside with the dogs and enjoy that beautiful golden glow.

This time of year there really isn't a need for Photoshop or increased saturation, Mother Nature has taken care of all that for us.  So you can just point and shoot, knowing that whatever you capture will make you feel warm inside when you look at it later...though adding a cup of tea to the mix while you are resizing pictures never hurts either.


.

Even the inside of my house was aglow this evening, and you have to love it when your crystal decanters, some of which are antiques, and your mercury glass leaf ornaments look like works of art.

I will be gone for a few days, the Midwest has requested I make a visit.  Ok, that's not really true, parts of the country can't actually request your presence, but if they could then I would have been sent a pretty embossed invitation asking me to come for the next few days, so off I'll go.

I hope each of you has a wonderful weekend, and that you find a way to bask in your own special glow.  Oh, and I will be back tomorrow to announce the winners of my latest giveaway, I wouldn't leave you hanging, even if the Midwest does request the pleasure of my company!

Getaways and Giveaways

Tomorrow, I'm driving a few hours to go to a photo shoot, Mr. Tide will be tagging along and I love it when he is able to go with me on a shoot.  Even though I know I'll be fine without him, and usually have to do these things on my own, it's nice to know that he'll be there to help me out with a techie question or some lighting issue if I find myself stumped for any reason.  We're a good team that way!

After the shoot we'll be heading back down the road to help our daughter move into her new apartment.  She showed it to us last weekend and all I can say is...I want to live there!!!  I know she will be very happy there, it's right in the middle of the action, yet not party central like her last building.

Before I head out though I wanted to tell you about a Giveaway I'll be hosting with CSN Stores to keep you busy until I come back.

I thought that since I would be gone for a few days I would also leave you with a few more pictures of my fall decor.  I used yet another font on these and although I love the scripty font, I'm not loving the fact that my copyright symbol shows up as an ugly rectangle.  But it's late, and I have packing to do, so it will have to suffice for now!

This decor will last me all the way through Thanksgiving...there are no spooky witches, or ghosts to be had in these displays.  I like being able to put something out that will carry me through not one, but two holidays...I'm getting lazy in my old age I guess, hence the reason why I didn't correct my watermark!

I love white pumpkins for both Halloween and Thanksgiving, and pairing them with silver, brown, gold, or rust colored accessories makes a perfect vignette for either holiday.

And of course acorns in all shapes, sizes, and colors are a staple in my fall decorating.  I found these large white acorns years ago and I still love pulling them out each year!  

And I love this little silver squirrel nutcracker.  It was given to me by my brother and my sister in law and I just think he is the cutest thing, arms waiting to crack that perfect nut open!

I found all of the mercury glass leaves on clearance last year after the holidays.  They are actually Christmas ornaments, but I thought they would look pretty hanging from the various vintage decanters I have on my dining room buffet.  They add a little shimmer and elegance, and they look so pretty next to candlelight.

Now you're probably thinking to yourselves...that's all well and good Kat, but what about the Giveaway...I mean you did mention something about that in your title and at the top of the post right?!  Yes, yes I did!

Well you see, I've been trying to think of a clever segue to tell you about CSN's many wonderful furniture pieces.  They have a lot, trust me I've looked, and I even know some people who own pieces from several of the great lines they carry! 

And then it hit me, I decorated a table, so with the $65.00 gift card you could win with this giveaway, you could decorate your own end table, coffee table, kitchen table or anything else in your house that you want...that's the beauty of a gift card right?!  See, wasn't that clever of me afterall?!!!

Ok, so it might not have been all that clever, but the fact remains that you could win 65 smackeroos to buy anything your heart desires from CSN Stores from an end table to an egret (no not a live one silly!)...and just in time for the holidays...so what's not to love about that?!

You know the drill...

1.  Visit CSN Stores by clicking HERE and then come back and leave a comment telling me what you can't live without, or what you would buy your Aunt Ethel with your gift card!

2.  Leave a second comment telling me what you plan to give me for Christmas...oops I mean that you are a follower...Please Make Sure That You Leave Me A Second Comment for that second chance to win!!

3.  Tweet, Facebook, Blog, or put a Billboard up about my Giveaway and then come back and leave a THIRD SEPARATE comment (I know you'll be tired by then so just write I Tweeted, etc.) and you'll be entered for 3 BIG chances to win!

In all seriousness though, this Giveaway will be finito come Midnight PST next Friday...October 1, 2010...So hurry, don't delay!  The winner will be announced October 2nd...but first you gotta play to win!

**For more Fall inspiration head over to the fabulous Cottage and Vine to get your Fall on with her Falling Up Link Party!**

Bargains!

I let you all in on a little secret, my house still has Christmas stuff everywhere! Our decorations are no longer artfully displayed, and our trees are standing like naked reminders that I need to get this stuff put away, so what's a girl to do? Go shopping of course! I'm not a big Black Friday, or day after Christmas shopper. I like to do things in a more relaxed and calm way. So I let all of those early risers rush out the day after Christmas to fight the masses and come home with armloads of great deals. I told Mr. Tide that I'm more like a scavenger when it comes to my shopping style, if I stumble upon something, and it's been picked on a bit, but still has a little meat left on the bones, I will help the environment by stripping it bare and cleaning up the final remains without having to elbow anyone else to get to it.

Here is our dining room table cluttered with the remnants of Christmas Past!

So on Saturday I convinced my husband to run around to a few of my favorite local stores to see what I could scavenge. For living in a relatively rural area, we have always had the great fortune of having wonderful little shops filled with unique items. Some have come and gone over the years but thankfully new ones have opened to replace the old ones.

Every year we have a tradition where we give each of our children an ornament that signifies something special they have done during the past year. This year our daughter received a glass Santa wearing a kilt and playing the bagpipes in honor of her Spring Break trip to Scotland to visit a friend. Our son joined our local Volunteer Rescue Squad so he received an ambulance ornament. The idea behind this tradition was that when both children leave home and set up their own households, they will one day take these ornaments with them to adorn their own trees.

After both my parents passed away I decided to add them to the tradition, so for the past five years I've purchased something that reminded me of my mother, and then started purchasing for my father when he died 2 years ago. Last year my father received a tractor, as he was an avid gentlemen farmer following his retirement from the government, and my mother received a pewter pineapple wreath ornament from one of her favorite places, Williamsburg, Virginia.

Although our tree has been beautifully clad in these meaningful ornaments for many years now, I realized as I was de-constructing the tree a few nights ago, that most of the ornaments we have will one day go with our kids, leaving us with a fairly sparse tree!

This year, after realizing just how few ornaments were really "ours" so to speak, I have been on a mission to purchase some after the holidays bargains to re-stock our supply.

The first stop on our bargain hunting trip was Lola Belle Co. This great little shop hasn't been around all that long, but it's filled with charming and unique items at great prices. Much to my delight, everything in the store was on sale and their Christmas items were 50% off. Furniture, which was marked down 40 - 50% was flying out the door, but I kept my focus...with the help of my husband and headed straight for the Christmas decor.

These Glass ornaments caught my eye and I knew that I would keep them out year round in the big black cupboard I have in the dining room. They look perfect next to the other glass ornaments I had collected on a trip to Vermont a few years ago.

They are the small one on the left and the large one on the right

Here is a close up of the largest glass ornament. Something about it looks beachy to me so I just had to have it.

This glass Moravian Star was another great find at Lola Belle Co. It reminded me of an icicle and a snowflake combined.

It was hard to leave Lola Belle, especially with those two perfect leather club chairs tugging at my heartstrings and at 50% off they were a steal, but we moved on none the less.

My son gave me a gift certificate to Traditions of Loveville, a store I've purchased so many wonderful things from over the years. His gift had been burning a hole in my pocket since Christmas and I was itching to see what sort of after Christmas bargains I might find. As usual, I was not disappointed and came out with a bagful of great things. They too had everything in their store on sale, and their Christmas items were 75% off so I took full advantage, picking up some terrific deals. A steady stream of customers were also enjoying the savings of 10 - 75% off items in their store, including artwork and furniture. While checking out, a woman came back to pick up a beautiful floral painting that would have looked perfect in our daughter's old room...oh well, maybe next time!

These mercury glass leaves will add some sparkle to next year's tree, but I also plan to put them out during the Fall, so I'll get to enjoy them twice as much!

This one almost looks heart shaped...hmm maybe I have Valentine's Day on the brain?!

This perfectly pale aqua Christmas tree with jewels and glitter was the last of it's kind, so I didn't want it to be sad sitting there all alone. One day I will have a large white feather tree adorned only in beautiful pastel ornaments like this one.

This wasn't Christmasy per se, but it was too good to pass up. I've wanted a European-style latte bowl for quite awhile now, so when I found this one that was marked 50% off, I couldn't resist!

Next stop on the shopping adventure was Cecil's Country Store, another favorite haunt of mine. It's located in an old country store and I've known the owner since I we were kids. Like both Lola Belle co. and Traditions of Loveville, at Cecil's I know I will walk in and find something I love, every time I visit! It's full of nautical items and beautiful artwork by a favorite local artist Mary Lou Troutman, and many of the "special" ornaments for my children and parents have come from Cecil's Country Store. Christmas items were all marked down and bargains could be found throughout the store.

Even though these heart ornaments were considered Christmas items, so marked down 50%, I plan to keep them out as part of my Valentine's Day decorations.

This heart says it all with "I Love You" written in gold glitter and these lovely mercury glass votive candle holders were also marked down and came in soft shades of pink, silver and aqua.

And last, but not least, is this cute plate that I thought would be perfect for cookies, brownies, lemon squares, you name it at our next year's Christmas party.

All in all it was a VERY successful shopping day and I got to spend a Saturday afternoon with Mr. Tide, which is always a treat. What great after holiday bargains did you find this year?