The Story of Us

The story of us began on a park bench overlooking the Mississippi River. It was sealed with a kiss on the forehead later that same afternoon. A tender moment that is locked in my memory forever.

When I met my Sweet Hubby I thought true love was a fairy tale. He shows me every day how very real it is.

It's small moments, day after day of kindness and affection. It's not saying things you will later regret and saying the things you will regret not saying. It's wanting nothing more than to just be together where ever that may be and giving each other space to be who we really are.

It's being able to talk about anything and being able to not talk at all. It's laughing until we cry and crying until we laugh. It's being the best parents we can be but putting our marriage first. It's having each others back no matter what and feeling safe in the knowledge that this is forever.

It's not perfect but it's as close as I could imagine. It's the happy ending I didn't dare dream of.

**All photos by the amazingly talented Teresa of Meadowbrook Farm

And the Winner is...

Annie at Firefly Hill Style!

Lucky girl! As for the rest of you come back next week for a Cabbages and Roses giveaway. Yep. You read that right.

For You - A Giveaway

A copy of this magazine will soon be in my hands. How lucky for you that if you leave a comment here by midnight eastern time on Tuesday and I pick your name, you will soon have one in your hands too.

Magic

 

This morning I stood under a maple tree,

looking up at the Autumn sky,

while leaves rained down upon me. 

It was magic.

Cottage Style

What cottage is to me:

a little bit country

 (tumblr)

a little bit rock and roll

(unknown)

texture

(Country Living)

whimsy

(Country Home)

ironstone

 (country living)

slipcovers

 (Atlanta Bartlett)

pattern and color

 (unknown)

open shelving

(unknown)

painted furniture

 (Atlanta Bartlett)

On Sunday I fell in love with a cottage in the Village. I can't imagine that things would come together in a way that would make it mine but it did get me newly excited about owning my own little cottage and got me thinking about what cottage style means to me. What does it mean to you?

Dreams Can Come True

I have dreamed of owning a scooter since way back in the day when I was a Suburban Princess. I may even have mentioned it a time or two. It was a dream that I thought I might fulfill one day. Much like my dream of moving to the Village. I'm starting to believe that when you have a dream you need to announce it, to send it out there into the world and see what happens. I am starting to think I am the poster child for Dreams Can Come True.

This scooter and a red one just like it for Sweet Hubby, were gifts from my Dad. We ride them almost every day, zipping around town looking for our dream cottage and feeling blessed. Daisy and Buster. Because doesn't everyone name their scooter? Well, apparently I name everything and maybe that is an issue I will have to explore further in counseling. For now, I'm too busy scootering. Yes, it's a word.

In other news, I've decided to choose a reader's blog each week to feature in my sidebar as a way of giving back to all of you. I wish I had more time to come and visit you each week. Sometimes I feel so guilty that I even think about giving up blogging. I thought this would be a way to honor all of you. This week we start with Janean at Old Sweetwater Cottage. If you look at the sidebar you will see Reader of the Week and clicking on that picture will you take you to the reader's blog.

We Interrupt this Sunday

I'm not one to blog much on the weekends but today I had to make an exception. You see we experienced a big loss in our family this past Friday. Our beloved Betty has officially gone to the big oven in the sky. We couldn't allow ourselves to grieve for too long as we had planned on spending time with her this weekend and so an immediate search for her replacement was required.

In Autumn and Winter my dutch oven is my favorite cooking tool. Thanks to my Auntie Lane, a sassy substitute was secured. Go ahead and say that 3 times fast. This one is on sale right now at JC Penney and with the 20% discount code, R20PERKS you can have one for the bargain basement price of $27.90. I couldn't afford not to order one, right?

I can't wait to make some of our favorite recipes, like this and this. Now I can get back to the business of being cozy.

Cozy

Today is a cozy day. Cool, brisk and leafy. I plan on making the most of it.

Yesterday I took a knitting class with this girl. After a 2 year break it came back to me pretty quickly. I think it's going to stick this time. No, really. I mean it. Nothing says cozy like knitting in the Fall.

I'm going to make this recipe for pork chops in the crock pot. With or without cranberries...I haven't decided yet. Then these biscuits. I'm always on the hunt for the perfect biscuit recipe. If you have one and want to share, I'll love you forever. Afterwards I'm going to bake this pumpkin cake.

After all that hard work, I'm going to curl up on the sofa, knitting needles in hand and watch When Harry Met Sally.

That's my idea of cozy. What's yours?

Autumn Adventures

 On Monday, I put on my big girl panties, jumped in my car and headed for Urbana, IL to meet my most creative friend, Melissa for lunch. Drive 2 hours for lunch? Why not? I packed up the embroidery colaboration we've been working on and put on some good tunes.

 It was a beautiful day to spread my wings and hit the road. The day was perfect. The leaves a symphony of color.

The Autumn air a little warm for my liking but the sun was kind enough to mostly stay hidden so that I could enjoy having an open window to the sky.  
Note to self: taking pictures for your blog while driving is perhaps not a wise choice.

 Melissa and I go back to Silver Bella 2008. During this difficult past year she is the entire reason I have maintained any creative spirit. For that and many other things, I owe her a lot.

 Isn't she a doll? I wish she lived closer!  
Note to Mike:Next time you take a picture of me and your wife and my necklace is framing my boob, please tell me. I don't do that on purpose.

On Tuesday my sweet friend Jayme came to visit the Village. I mean me. Let's be honest. It was the Village. And I'm pretty sure she fell in love. Not necesarily with me. I think I could easily make a living just selling houses to my friends here. You would think 2 bloggers getting together for a day would produce tons of pictures. You would be wrong. This is the closest we came to a picture of us together...a picture of our cupcakes together. I did take a picture of her while she was eating her cupcake but since she is my friend and I would like her to remain so, I won't publish it here. I'll save it for blackmail purposes. Instead I'll share these ghost cupcakes with you.

Oh, what the heck! Here's the picture of Jayme. I feel confident that she'll still love me tomorrow. Luckily for me, she didn't have her camera so I know there will be no payback. This time. My Lord, I have the most beautiful friends.

Of course, as with all of my friends she demanded to be taken to The Flying Cupcake. If you come see me I will take you too.

It was a lovely day but way too short. So glad you drove 2 hours to have lunch with me. It's true what they say... what comes around goes around.

It's Never Too Early

 I have it on good authority that the new Holiday with Matthew Mead magazine will soon be on it's on its way to those of you that ordered one.

From what I've seen of the magazine so far, it is clear you will not be disappointed.

I know I personally can't wait to get my hands on my copy.

 If you'd like to see more previews or get information about how you can order your own copy, you can go to the Holiday with Matthew Mead blog.

The Studio - A Work in Progress

 I've been a busy bee around here lately. I've been fluffing the nest. I have finally finished unpacking every single box and finding a home for every single thing.

 I finally got my studio in order. It's still not organized but it is all here and already working its inspiring magic on me, getting me in the right frame of mind for a project I need to work on before I meet up with a Silver Bella friend on Monday.

 I haven't been around much lately. I've been busy living life. Big things have been going on around here. Good big things.

 I am truly just loving life these days. I'm filled up with joy.

 Walking in to this room that has such a history of sustaining me and feeding my soul is giving me such comfort.

 I'm not quite done here yet.

 I still need to find a new home for my cozy brown sofa and find a piece of furniture that will provide extra storage to replace it.

 I surely have a serious storage issue here.

 On the other hand, that forces me to have all my pretty bits out where I can see them.

 That is part of the experience of being in this room.

 Part of why this room gives me so much joy.

 My studio is most definitely the room in my home that most expresses my taste.

 I look forward to the day when I can say that about my entire home. For now, this will do.

Fabulous Friday - Feeling Greyish

 from Boden

Lately I find myself drawn to fashion. Autumn is my favorite fashiony time of year. Is it yours too? I've always loved all the layers. And the fabric. I'm all about texture and softness. And this year apparently I am all about Grey.

 from Ruche

I'm drawn to it in all different shades and materials. Apparently I would happily wear grey from head to toe.

 from Anthropologie

And while I love all of these clothes, I don't love the prices. My reality is more like this one below. At their prices I can afford to be obsessed. And obsessed I am.

from Target

So obsessed in fact, that I just ordered these for Emma.  Before you go off thinking that I'm a terrible Mom forcing her little girl to walk around in drab colored clothing, I must tell you that she picked these clothes in these colors herself. I'm thinking greyish is genetic.



 from mini boden