Quick Fix: Seasonal Bedding

On days like today I find myself inspired to make the small changes around the house that bring the Fall and Winter season indoors. It's somewhere in the high 40s outside and drizzling, so I have lit all of my Fall Yankee Candles, made some coffee, have a loaf of homemade bread in the maker, and want to share with you my latest "quick switch, big impact" project!
The biggest statement piece in your bedroom is most likely your bed; more specifically, the linens on your bed. I doubt that anyone uses all of the pillows they have there, or even all of the layers, but when you pull it all together you want it to not only reflect your style, but also the season you're living in! Here's what I did for my master bedroom to pull Fall indoors:

Step One shows the bedding we had for the Summer. Everything except for the throw pillow in step one is from Restoration Hardware, the throw pillow is from West Elm.

I was lucky this season because we had a new West Elm open near us! I bought the standard and euro shams there (the euros were on sale!) and I was able to use an additional Friends & Family discount of 20% off! The idea behind this type of change out is that you don't NEED to change your sheets, or duvet cover (the things you use to actually sleep with), but you can add a lot of punch with just a few changes!
This was the result:

Big difference! However...it didn't quite "do it" for me! When I think of Fall and Winter, I think cozy & soft. The geometric pillow, while dark, almost made it too dark and not cozy enough for me, so I did just one more change!

The knit sweater look of this throw from West Elm is PERFECT to bring my sense of Fall style indoors, and not just into my closet with clothes, but our living space! It also serves the purpose of lightening the look just a bit! All I need to make this look complete is one of these two blankets!

Chunky Tassel Throw from West Elm

Ribbon Throw from West Elm

This one is very trendy with metallic strands woven through the blankets! So much mixing of metallic colors this season!

Here's a sneak peek at the home makeover I'm doing at my mom's new townhouse!

Just a paint change right now from a soft yellow to a fabulous purple gray! It's by Benjamin Moore, and it's called "Amorous"...pretty lovely if you ask me!

In case you haven't seen the buzz on Twitter or Facebook today from Olioboard, they are kicking off some early High Point Market inspiration with an OlioHop about the fusion of Fashion and Furniture! It's an amazing topic discussed by FABULOUS bloggers! Lynda from Focal Point is in the mix this time so here's a link to her post! Be sure to hop through all of the other talent as well!

Dablet Turns One!

Dablet celebrated her first birthday several times, and each one of her celebrations brought a little something different! On her actual birthday we started the day with a trip to Dunkin Donuts and a celebratory munchkin, and then took her to the Rose Garden in Raleigh; fitting because her middle name is Rose. We showed her all of the different colors, shapes, sizes, and smells of the roses; all in all determining that the pale purple ones smelled the sweetest!

I am constantly amazed by the colors and patterns in flowers! I am working on photo editing for a line of prints from the Rose Garden in my Etsy shop!

She followed up her adventures with an impromptu spaghetti dinner and cupcake mashing extravaganza with our close family (mommy, daddy, Grandy, Mimi, Nana, and the godfathers...yes she has two!)

Let's just say that the cupcake was a hit!

Her actual party (not that this one didn't count, but we did have another one planned!) was a week later, and the tone for the event was made possible with a fabulous illustration by Ashley Brooke Designs that I incorporated into the invitation that I made for her. 

The invite itself was square printed on matte card stock and mailed in "brown paper bag" envelopes finished off with this fabulous stamp creation:

Rather than going with a character theme, we used "Cubbie" the teddy bear Kyle made for her at Build-a-Bear the day she was born. I thought it was fitting because they have the same "birthday"! We (OK, I) also used a lot of purple! I may have gone a bit overboard on the tulle, balloons, and other things, but soon enough Dablet will be telling me what I "can and can't do", so I wanted to take advantage of this first party!

6" Round cake was made of red velvet!

We decided to top her cake with her Strawberry "smash cupcake" and a look-a-like "Cubbie"

We had her cake and cupcakes made by The Cupcake Shoppe in Raleigh, NC. They made phenomenal cupcakes for my baby shower, my mother-in-law brought me one of their "You Mocha Me Crazy" cupcakes the day Dablet was born, and I thought it fitting that we keep them as part of tradition!

I also need to extend a BIG thank you to Whimsy Pie for creating this fabulous tutu! I was so happy with the quality, fit, and the fact that she kept it on her entire party until we tossed her in the bounce house! 

I have more photos of the "details", but I'll save those for another post about party details in general! We had a fabulous series of birthday celebrations, and I can't believe our little girl is already one! Cherish each and every moment with your family!

Wishful Wednesday

Receiving the Lovely Blog Award spurred me to think about what I wanted to share about myself that you might not have known, and I realized that much of what defines me are the things I dream about doing! I have always been a fan of fairy tales, happy endings, dreaming big, and bringing a bit of magic to everyday life. As I enter into yet another new phase of life, and planning for the next one, I would like to extend the touch of magic to other people's lives! What do you wish for? What do you dream of? If you could change one thing, element, or detail about your home what would it be? Do you have a favorite cause you want to bring attention to? I want to hear about it!
Two years ago I lost one of my horses to a severe irreversible back injury. Her name was Mary, and her show name was "Wishful Thinking" (yes, that one I picked myself). The story behind her show names comes from a conversation I had with my mom prior to her purchase. I was having issues with my main show horse at the time, Cowboy, and my trainer was letting me ride Mary while she rode Cowboy for me. We each loved both horses, wanted the best for both of them, and created an idea....a switch. When I told my mom about the idea she said that was "wishful thinking" and the name stuck!
Unless you look into what you really want to make out of your own life, you will be unable to pick your wishes! I think the perfect metaphor for this philosophy are hidden rooms and secret passageways. Here are some fun ones!

Photo sourced from Houzz

Photo sourced from CarrieCan

Photo sourced from Park Place Real Estate

Tell me your hidden wishes!! I am going to do my best to make someone's wish come true once a month, and if it goes well, I'll grant more wishes! 

The One Lovely Blog Award

This past Friday I started the day excited for family things and some Twitter networking with the classic #FF hashtag (Follow Friday, Favorite Friday, or however you choose to use it!) I always love seeing who people recommend, what's new, and finding new people and brands to connect with! On top of that I was honored to be given the One Lovely Blog Award by Lynda of Focal Point Styling, whom I have done collaborations with on the blog. She is a woman I truly admire and feel I can call a friend!
This blog was created out of a place in my life not too long ago (just about seven months to be realistic) where I needed something just for me, something that could help me define who I was, who I wanted to be, and how I was going to get there! The blog has grown above and beyond my expectations, and the connections I have made though the blog and social media outlets, like Olioboard and Twitter, provide invaluable inspiration and collaboration!

Here are rules behind acceptance of this award:

1. Include the blog award logo in my post. [√]

2. Thank the person who nominated me. [√]

3. Nominate 15 other people: Let them know I have done so, linking to their sites & back to this post. [√]

4. Reveal seven [7] things you may not know about me. [√]

Here are my seven things:

- I LOVE to cook! It all started back with dried pasta and beans on the floor of my kitchen growing up "mixing things", then I graduated to making concoctions for my dad that consisted of milk, red pepper, egg, sugar (you get the idea) and tricking him into drinking them! Later I moved on to "baked" goods that were more like bricks! Finally I have developed my skill set to answering the question of "what's for dinner" with a creative assembly of tasty things from the fridge or pantry for my family! 

- I ride horses competitively, English saddles, jumps and everything! I have won state and regional finals, and still have the first horse I ever owned, she's now almost 29! While I have owned several since her, she's with me for the long haul! Dablet has even "ridden" her with me already! With the riding, I have had my share of spills, concussions, and other bumps and bruises.

- After switching my major a few times I finally ended up with an English degree from UNC-Greensboro. I LOVE my major, loved my professors, and truly believe that it is one of the most undervalued degrees out there. My dad questioned my decision (given that I started as a Business Marketing major), but having the ability to write (and sometimes write well) is invaluable in ANY industry!

-My favorite animal is a white tiger. I know, this is kind of 5th grade of me to offer up as one of my seven things, but it's important! I am in awe of the exotic nature of tigers, and the pure beauty that they have.

- I have motor oil running through my veins! OK, so not really, but I do come from a car family. My older brother (23 years older than I am) is a former driver turned owner of Nascar teams, and my dad (who just turned 70) is still racing!!! I've always thought that one of these days I'll race, and it's still on my bucket list.

- My long time dream (of my still young life) is to design and build a home from scratch inside and out. There is more to it than having a blank canvas and working in all of your dream ideas, for me it's a sense of family. This dream may actually become reality sooner rather than later with a multi-generational "compound" of sorts...more on that later!

- When my days of working for money are done and I can focus solely on giving back, Kyle and I will start our own animal rescue. Yes, it's a business, but non-profit and focused on the tough cases. We have three dogs, two of which are considered "aggressive breeds" and would literally be euthanized if found in some counties and not claimed within 48 hours just because of their breed. The stigma needs to stop! 

In keeping with the requirements of this Lovely Blog Award, I would like to share it with 15 other people I believe to be more than worthy of the community given honor!

Ashley Brooke Designs

Atlantic-Pacific

Centsational Girl

Dec-a-Porter

Fifi Cheek

I Love Your Crazy

Katie O'Keefe

Pinklet and C

Quintessence

Saved by Love Creations

Shorely Chic

Simply Savvy

Swaygrl

The Gracious Girl

I guess I'm breaking the rules for my 15th blog by giving the award back to Lynda from Focal Point. Whether they know it or not, each and every one of these blogs have impacted, inspired, and pushed me to be more creative, intuitive, and express my own sense of style just a bit more! I am incredibly grateful for the connections I have made through Twitter, Olioboard, Facebook, and IRL over the past several months, and I cannot wait to see what the last quarter of the year has in store!

Falling Back

I've been flying under the radar for the last couple of weeks dealing with family things, work things, trying not to get sick, and planning a first birthday for Dablet! I've pulled up my "compose screen" a couple of times to get back into the blog, and nothing felt quite right. I told you all that my aunt passed away recently, and I'm trying my best to find a way to process that. I was driving to Kyle's softball game last night and I found myself talking....make that carrying a conversation...with myself. Odd, I know, but I'm sure every once in a while someone else out there does the same thing. I was trying to figure out how I can take the lessons and vivacity for life that she passed on to all of us and make myself more inspiring because of them.
I have always had a strong love for the Fall season! Not only because of the weather, but also because of the color and how the world seems to wipe the slate clean for the next cycle. The leaves turn brilliant colors and fall to the ground; sometimes we use them to decorate our homes allowing for a continued presence. My Aunt always asked us to mail her Fall leaves, because she lives in Arizona and doesn't get many, she loved the colors!

To shop this board click here

One of my favorite parts about Fall is the flavors and smells! I always swap out my candles from the floral, beach, clean smells of summer to the crisp, rich, and indulgent smells of Fall! Here are some of my favorite Yankee Candle smells for Fall:

For more on decorating with candles check out my Fall Feasts board on Pinterest and this pin 

from my Fall Tablescapes blog entry:

Pinned here

Now it's time for me to light my candles and get back into the world of purple and tulle for Dablet's first birthday party this Saturday! I will have plenty of pictures to share from her extravaganza! Keep your fingers crossed that the weather holds for us!

Focus On: Thanksgiving Tablescapes

Happy Hump Day! It's a day of link ups with two other fabulous ladies, Lynda of Focal Point Styling and Julie of Simply Savvy to talk about the "Big Three Before the Tree: Fall Decor, Halloween, and Thanksgiving". I jumped at not only to opportunity to join forces with them, but also to snag Thanksgiving! There are so many ways to turn your family gatherings, even if it's a small gathering, into a stylish event quickly, reflective of your own taste, and in an affordable way!

Candles:

You have them around the house, in drawers, and guess what?! You can use and reuse them seasonally by changing how you display them! The top three show you ways of setting candles in common Fall things in somewhat more involved ways, but still very user friendly. What I love about the bottom three is that you could have had the same candles out the week before on the same table but with different accents. Grab your favorite shaped glass vase or small bowl, some dried corn, cranberries, or coffee, and you have instant centerpieces for your Thanksgiving table!

Leaves:

Let's face it, if we look out our windows the in the Fall (at least in all of the places I remember living) you see leaves! They're iconic Fall colors, textures, shapes, and even the delicate nature of the passing season come across from the outdoor foliage. My favorite three from this assortment are the pears (top right), napkins (bottom left), and the vase (bottom right). Each of these can be executed in less than 5 minutes to add color, texture, and the perfect Fall element to your table!

Pumpkins:

I've mentioned the importance of bringing color and texture to your table already, and pumpkins are perfect for that as well! We'll go ahead and include gourds in this too! I always love going to our local pumpkin patch and fishing through the bins of gourds to find the oddest shaped ones for decoration! Pumpkins are also perfect for painting, as seen in the bottom right photo to bring whatever color scheme you are going for possible with Fall nature. Not only can you paint them, but you can also add some bling with glitter (top left) as well! Maybe you're not the glitter type, but this would be a lot of fun for a kids' table! Just like the leaves you can stack them in tall glass vases for an easy way to bring color and height without fuss to your Thanksgiving table.

I thought this was genius and had to share! If you're lucky enough to entertain outside for Thanksgiving, use tiny pumpkins as table weights for your linens!

I know my "Focus" is supposed to be on Thanksgiving tables, but I warned Lynda and Julie when we teamed up that I would not be able to talk about the table without talking about the food you put on it! Every year I make the turkey and all of the things that go with it, and every year I wonder why I only do it at Thanksgiving! I LOVE everything associated with Thanksgiving cooking, and all of the Fall flavors! 

Here's the recipe for these Pumpkin Spice Pancakes:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 
  

• Directions

  1. In a bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a separate bowl. Stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
  2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Recipe from AllRecipes.com

There is an infamous story in my family about stuffing a turkey! Apparently one year sometime before I was born my dad and my aunt (his sister who recently passed) got into it about which kind of stuffing would be made for the turkey and if the bird should be roasted breast up or breast down. It ended with my aunt getting to stuff the cavity and my dad getting to stuff the neck (it was a large turkey), and it was roasted breast up. Since then, we always have two kinds of stuffing at Thanksgiving which I love because it means more leftovers! Here are a few fun ideas I found for leftovers this Thanksgiving season:

Boxed leftovers to go with your guests names! This way you don't have to worry about not getting your tupperware back!

You don't always want to keep eating "heavy" food, so a shredded turkey salad with cranberry relish is a perfect option!

Thanksgiving leftover pie! For more info on this treat click here

I don't think I need to get into the pie recipes (yet!), but I'll share a couple great dessert table displays with you!

Even if you have simple desserts, remember to use varying height to make your table a bit more fun! Check out your local Goodwill store for cake stands, fun chargers for layering, and even short vases you can use as makeshift stands for plates. Just because you want to change your table decor for the season does not mean you can't reuse the same items year round! 

For even more inspiration check out my Fall Feasts board on Pinterest and head over to Olioboard to play around with some decor ideas there! 

To see this board and shop the look click here

As I mentioned before I've teamed up with to fabulous ladies today for the "Big Three Before the Tree". You can follow the buzz and join us on twitter by using the hashtag #Big3B4TheTree and check out the other blogs here:

Focus On: Halloween Steampunk Style

Simply Savvy

Focus On: Fall Decor

Saying "Goodbye"

This is not a normal post here on Dabble in Chic, but blogging has become so much a part of my life that it feels right to use the writing as an outlet for what my family is going through. My Aunt has just passed away, our family matriarch, the glue that holds everything together, creator of tradition, teller of stories, lover of all the world. It is an impossible task to process the kinds of emotions that can take over your body during times like this, but I keep going back to her book. She recently published her first book "I Could Never Say Goodbye: A Daughter's Journey to the end of Life with Mom and Dad" chronicling her experiences during the passing of my grandparents. She talked about the ceremony of passing, not just the ones after it happens, and how you always carry people with you (sometimes literally). It's an amazing story, and because she put it on paper she will continue to touch the lives of so many though her lifetime of experiences.

These are a few of my favorites of us from my wedding week. The second one also includes my dad, this is his older sister and his best friend.

I am unsure what the rest of this week will bring except I know that Dablet and I will once again brave flying solo, this time to Arizona, and this time she's SO much more mobile than our New York trip. What I do know is I will always associate this fabulous leading lady with the reading she did at my wedding. She told me when I showed her my selection that, "If you're starting your marriage off with Oriah, you're starting off on the right foot!" These words mean so much more now:

I'll still be back here on Wednesday with the Focus on Thanksgiving Tablescapes, and maybe even a comical story about how to stuff and roast a turkey! Give your loved ones an extra squeeze tonight, and remember that you can relive a lifetime with your memories!

Labor Day Weekend & Before Pics!

Labor Day Weekend has proved to be fun-filled and inspiring! We spent Saturday and part of Sunday up on Lake Gaston with friends and Dablet got to enjoy more water festivities! She even gave her daddy a special touch on the fishing pole off the dock for a little catch and release:

After the quick hour drive back it was time to get back to it! I have been planning and dreaming about a home makeover for months now; finally, the ideas are starting to come together. In case you don't know the back story, Kyle and I moved into a fabulous house in Durham, NC just over two years ago. It's been a whirlwind since then and our home has been neglected. Our walls are (for the most part) "Blah Builder's Beige" and when we sold our printing company it seems like half of the office contents came home with us...utter CHAOS!!

I have been attacking the home makeover with the highest need rooms and the small neglected spaces coming first. Part of the benefit from this is I can have some extra time to make the decisions for colors and style for our largest spaces. However, I have given myself the goal of having our first floor (essentially) complete by Dablet's first birthday party just 2.5 short weeks away! After having "Hoarders" on in the background for 10 minutes yesterday afternoon Kyle an I started tackling the mud room and laundry room. I will preface this by telling you that our mudroom is where the dogs hang out when we're not home and I have recently repaired a few holes chewed in the dry wall....I'm thinking about some sort of wall reinforcement....luckily there have been no new holes in months!

We had this sign made at a fair representing our Golden Retriever, Husky, and Rottweiler

Classic find from the San Diego Zoo gift shop! Every pet owner needs a copy of this one!

Our mudroom is more than just a room, it actually has a granite built in desk and lots of cabinets. I use the cabinets for paper goods storage, flashlights, first aid kits, and such...I'm working on a creative use for the desk that is also pet friendly.

Here's a "spin around" into our laundry room to cover our before photos. The paint has already been picked out and I'm working on taping tonight. Whoever designed the cabinets was not someone who does laundry frequently because they are WAY too shallow given how far out the laundry machines come. Thus I am ALWAYS jumping up to get detergent and I'm 5' 10"!!!!! I will be making something "better" happen here!

I hope you all have had a fabulous Labor Day weekend. Enjoy your family and your time!!