Little Chucks

Hello and Happy Friday!

New school shoes in the foyer's floor ~ just an everyday scene here. They are already worn and broken in. He still prefers to wear his easy velcro gym shoes. I prefer these for the cute factor. :)

 Now, if only I could get them to put their shoes in the shoe basket and hang up their backpacks rather than throw them on the floor. The words are in one ear out the other with them about this. They have other afterschool agenda that seems more important. ;)

We have a big fest and carnival this weekend. Should be fun.

 I will be sure to steer clear of the fried Twinkies.

I hope you have a nice long weekend and see you in September!

♥ ♥ ♥

Lara

Tooth Out!

Rivvy has a new toothless grin. I had him pose for me at the bus stop this morning - my big 2nd grader! I am so proud of you Riv!

Desaturated Pink

Good afternoon! :)

This morning, little miss and I were outside and I decided to cut some pale pink roses off of my rose of sharon bush. They aren't scented, but they sure are soft and pretty. The petals sort of remind me of peony petals.

I'm just relaxing with a warm cup of Chai tea {my new daily addiction} here.

Hope you are having a good day!

♥ ♥ ♥

Lara

Rosemary

Today I snipped some fresh rosemary sprigs from the garden.

I love the strong and pure piney fragrance.

I think rosemary looks so beautiful in a simple glass... I like having these little fresh herbs around on my kitchen windowsill. Since it seems I am always at the kitchen sink, it feels nice to have this kind of joyful simplicity to look at.

Guess what I got this weekend?

It's been so long since I bought myself a brand new pair of jeans! :)

These fit so good! I have found my perfect jeans... The Gap Perfect Boot Mid-rise.

I'm trying to get out of  stay at home mom lack of style slump and add some simple chic pieces to my closet. I've found The Gap to be a great resource for that. :)

I think I'm going to stick with posts with no more than 6 images. It is easier and fits better into my life this way. Plus, it gives me more drive to focus on achieving quality images over quantity of images. I'm just trying to simplify my life for what is working, and quit what isn't working. I dropped my Twitter account weeks ago because I just wasn't having fun with it, and I found it unnecessary for my free time. I only pop into FB from time to time to keep up with family and friends. I am still Flicker'ing - love Flickr... I'll probably never stop. ;)

I don't do Pinterest because I feel I get more inspired by blogs, magazines, and Flickr.

Do you do social media?

 What works for you? What doesn't?

I would love to know. :) 

Have a great rest of the week!

Lara



Tea and Honey

Good evening! I've been enjoying the new issue of The Cottage Journal.

I love the cover photo with dried hydrangeas in a creamy colored pumpkin; what a great idea! There is so much Autumn inspiration in this issue.

In anticipation of Autumn, I bought myself a box of Constant Comment tea by Bigelow Teas. Have you tried Constant Comment? I get a new box of this particular tea every late summer when I start craving the months ahead. It's perfect and cozy for crisp Fall days. This tea smells incredible - it has notes of orange rind blended with sweet spices... very early Autumn. I added some raw local honey. Then I sip slowly and enjoy!

Tomorrow I am finishing up my homekeeping to do list, so I can relax and chill out over the weekend. Happy Friday ~ I hope your weekend is a cozy one!

Lara

New Bedroom Lamp

I am still adjusting to having both of my kids in school. In about an hour, the house will be pretty loud again. For this moment, I am enjoying the peace with Little House On The Prairie on the Hallmark channel on soft volume. I love the Hallmark Channel for weekday background noise.

 I wanted to share the new bedroom lamp I recently got. This is my side of the bed and it is definitely not this tidy everyday. Imagine a messy stack of library books, magazines, and folded up kids laundry... maybe an empty tea cup also.

I had a Pottery Barn gift card and it was burning a major whole in my pocket, and I wanted to get a good lamp - one that was classic that I wouldn't tire of. I think this one fit the requirements. :)

I picked some more Queen Anne's lace from the prairie behind our backyard, cut down the stems, and put them in a simple white porcelain creamer for a vase.

We went for a family drive this weekend exploring the more rural areas of our town we don't see on a weekly basis.

I've spent the past couple days cleaning up the herb garden my husband created last year. He just doesn't get the aesthetic aspect of gardening, so we bicker about it until I just redo his garden "projects." Then, he usually tells me that it looks so much better after I fix it. This peninsula-shaped herb bed in our backyard. I'm not sure if I'm liking the rocks border. I may change it - not sure yet. Next spring/summer/fall my plan is to tackle all the backyard projects on my to do list.

We also spent some much needed hiking time in the forest preserve over the weekend. The photo of this hill doesn't look too steep in the photo, but it winded me trekking up it. I hope to spend every weekend doing something out in nature for the next few months. I need that fresh air and exercise!



Our New Farmhouse Table

We've had our new farmhouse style dining table for a few months, but I am just getting around to taking a few photos of it. It is from Pottery Barn and we are very happy with it.

 I went with the rustic pine wood stain.

Let me warn you, these are not great photos.

I was having the hardest time with the lighting and getting good shots of the room.

But, anyway... here it is! :)

I love the chunky legs.

And it comes with extension leafs for bigger gatherings. :)

But, for now we are keeping it at  regular size for this family of four.

We also decided to go with the side table from the same design.

I don't have a big space, but it fits perfectly in front of the window.

And lots of storage space for table linens and school stuff - a nice convenience because we do school work at the dining table with the kids.

I think my farmhouse table would look great with a neutral runner; I've been looking around for one, but most of the ones I like are really out of our budget. Maybe something for Christmas?

So that is our new table.

Thank goodness for tax refund checks! :)

I also wanted to share a few pictures of my daughter, Olivia.

Olivia just started kindergarten yesterday.

I took these photos of her outside right before she started school.

She was born in November, so she didn't make the cut off last year.

I like that she will be one of the oldest in her class and also like that I got to spend a whole extra year home with her!

As you can see, she was very excited and had lots of energy to burn!

Once we got to the school, she did get sad and a little bit of tissues were needed, but she ended up warming up and having a lot of fun on her first day. She even woke up this morning and told me that she can't wait to go back to school.

That's my sweet, happy girl!



New To Me Basket

I haven't got out to the flea market much this summer, but I like to make some time for a quick trip at my local second Sundays flea market. It is 5 minutes away from my house - practically behind the corner Walgreens. I was so happy to discover it, especially since it has basic farm style type finds at really good prices. Don't you love when you see the perfect thing? I spotted this big chunky round basket from several feet away. Another similar sized basket near by it was marked $18, so I was a little worried. Then I asked the vendor {because this one was not priced} and to my delight, she asked only $4 for it. What a deal for something that looks straight out of Pottery Barn. I can imagine pumpkins in it for fall.

I am feeling the pre-Autumn vibe right now. I am such a sucker for those Autumn cottage decor "bookzines" and I went to the library yesterday and took out Autumn inspiration books like Gooseberry Patch and Susan Branch. I definitely can't wait! I'm already starting to day dream about how to give my front porch a simple fall welcome. Are you already dreaming or planning for Autumn, too?

I got some little green apples and some little pom-pons flowers. I love to repurpose Bonne Maman jam jars as flower vases and drinking glasses. Once I tried their strawberry jam, I was hooked.

The navy blue nautical striped flour sack was another flea market find from Sunday.  Another favorite find for only one dollar and a half.

My children start school tomorrow! I think I am going to shed big tears for my youngest going to kindergarten. And I will be running into my school to take an assessment exam. It turns out I have to take a Math class {ugh!} before I start taking my graphic design classes. So I won't be starting them until next spring.



Cream Hydrangeas

Hi there. It looks like storm clouds are rolling this way this evening. Earlier, some sunlight peeked out {just barely} and I quickly snapped some photos of the cream hydrangeas that my neighbor gave me yesterday from her garden.

Creamy hydrangeas are such a staple of the pure and simple modern country style I love so much. Effortless chic - don't you think? :)

I think they look great just plopped in a glass cylinder vase, an antique enamel body pitcher, or in a sap bucket as I did here.

I could glance over at them all day.

And they look so pretty paired with whites.

It's been a busy week. I have been getting the kids ready for going back to school.

I am going to have my son in second grade and my daughter in kindergarten.

It is going to feel very strange to have my youngest {Olivia} off in school - even if it's for half a day. It feels like she has been at home with me for so long. Time that I have enjoyed greatly having her with me. Sigh.

My little ones start school next Thursday.

I have been doing some serious thinking about going back to school myself for a graphic design degree; it's the program that appeals to me the most. My husband was hoping I would go into nursing, but I am just not interested in becoming a nurse.

At any rate, I will be figuring that all out soon. :)

I hope!

Hope you have a really nice weekend and I'll be back soon.

Lara



Summer White

Hello there. I hope your week is off to a good start.

We had a strong storm pass through the area over the weekend. A bunch of our plants got knocked about pretty good, and a small tree across the street just split in two. But, we have some beautiful mild weather now - cool breezes blowing through the air. We slept with our windows open last night. It's always great to get that fresh country air in your lungs. My windows are still open. I hope this cooling trend holds.

I got some tiny baby's breath flowers.

They have been fun to photograph.

And I plucked some tiny camomile flowers from the herb garden.

This week is back to school clothes shopping week.

It's almost school time!

Have a lovely afternoon & evening,

Lara

Homegrown Tomatoes

I planted my tomato plants in with my flowers this year and right now they are bursting with color. Red and yellow cherry tomatoes are the majority of what I grew because that particular variety does very well for me every summer.

I am picking them everyday - August brings a very good harvest.

My favorite way to eat them is with torn up fresh basil, a little salt and pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and some feta cheese crumbled on top.

Other than that, they are just as good to eat straight from the vine.

Nothing like the taste of a homegrown tomato!