Good morning! I hope you all had an enjoyable first weekend of November! Here’s a bit of what we’ve been up to this past week or so.
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Home Projects & Updates
In case you missed it, I shared our fall home tour last Tuesday!
FALL DINING ROOM SOURCES: Dining Chairs | Dining Table | Rug | Chandelier | Vase | Faux Oak Leaves with Acorns | Marble Lazy Susan | Abstract Art | Scalloped Placemats | Plaid Napkins | Tortoise Glasses | Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Smoke
My mom arrived later that evening, and by Wednesday mid-morning, we had most of fall put away, and we had started opening the Christmas decor! I’d say we’re about 95% of the way done, but Kurtis and I still need to put away all the totes and items that weren’t used and then I plan to photograph it all later this week. I’m hoping to share the full tour by early next week! Since we don’t have basements here, we rent a small storage unit for holiday decor. Kurtis loaded up the Bronco so it was all waiting for us on Tuesday!
But, if you love a sneak peek, yesterday I shared all of my Christmas design boards, and for the most part, we followed them fairly closely. But, we did have to make a few swaps along the way so I’m excited to share the final result with you!
As of October 31, we switched property managers for Hola Beaches. We’ll now be using the same team that manages Hola Beaches Casita. Hola Beaches was photographed yesterday and the new reservation site should be ready in the next day or two for those of you that may be in the process of booking something. It should be ready shortly and I’ll share once it is. I think it will be a really great change, and we’ll have even more amenities to offer with the new management company!
In Case You Missed It
Following are the posts I shared over the past week, in case you missed some days!
Around Town & For Fun
I was pretty terrible about taking pictures while my mom was in town. But we did manage to sneak in a few fun things while she was here in between all the decorating!
During a quick break our first day, Hawkeye made himself right at home on my mom’s lap. He rarely does that with either Kurtis or I. He must be trying to break her of her dog-loving ways 😉
On Halloween, our friends Jake and Marissa hosted a little pre-Trick-or-Treating appetizer potluck. Basically the only pictures I took of the night were of the food, because of course that was my priority 😉 How cute were these Halloween-themed appetizers?!
We haven’t had rain here in weeks and our retention ponds are the lowest I remember seeing them in a long time. With everything so dry, we’re definitely seeing more wildlife as they’re searching for food. The deer have been super active too, and Kurtis even caught two fawns playing this morning! Kurtis also saw this little guy on one of his walks last week.
I’ve still been on my kick of trying new recipes – I appreciate all of you that shared even more ideas last week! With my mom here, we ate out or ordered in a few nights, but I also made this homestyle chicken noodle soup and we all loved it. The flavor was so rich and flavorful and I loved the addition of fresh dill and parsley. My mom, who is an excellent cook, even asked for the recipe. It’s a great one for when you’re craving warm comfort food! My only swap was using chicken breasts in lieu of the bone-in, simply because that’s what I had on hand.
Sunday night, I also made this healthy tomato bisque and Kurtis made grilled cheese sandwiches with my sourdough loaf. We used regular half and half in lieu of fat free because that’s what we had on hand, and it was also really good! The initial steps for both soups were very similar, and if you don’t have one of these veggie choppers (mine is the old model/color), I highly recommend them! Especially for soups when I prefer ingredients to be of similar shapes/sizes!
My mom flew back to Utah on Saturday afternoon and it was so wonderful having her help me with all the decor! We accomplished so much but also had a great time together – so glad we made it happen! And I’m so grateful she was willing to take time to help me!
A lot of people don’t realize that where we are in the Florida panhandle, we’re still in the Central time zone like we were in Omaha. But we’re very near the start of it which means the time change can be a pretty rude awakening in the fall. Last night the sun set at 4:53, so when the Christmas lights kicked on, it made it much more bearable! Here’s a little peek at our front porch. I think it was still almost 80 degrees outside, so it honestly felt a bit like summer, fall, and winter all rolled into one. Ha! We still have a bit to do out here, but it’s getting close to complete.
CHRISTMAS FRONT PORCH SOURCES: Pre-Lit Faux Birch Trees | Rocking Chairs | Striped Outdoor Pillows | Footed Planters | Velvet Ribbon | Plaid Ribbon | Topiaries are fresh from Clay 30A | House Color: Sherwin Williams Greek Villa
Inside, the glow from the lights makes me so happy! I added in a lot of silver accents this year, rather than gold, and I didn’t realize just how much more sparkling things would feel! After Kurtis watched football for a bit after dinner, we watched the Martha Stewart documentary on Netflix. We both really enjoyed it!
CHRISTMAS LIVING ROOM SOURCES: Woven Shades (Bonaire Flaxen) | Sofas (read my full review here) | Coffee Table | Coffee Table Tray | Indoor/Outdoor Striped Rug | Plaid Ribbon | Plaid Pillow Covers | Linen Pillow Cover (Mineral Blue) | Silver Vase | Faux Juniper & Berry Bundle | Ralph Lauren Book | Silver Jingle Bell Filler | Footed Bowl (small) | Lamps | Sofa Table | Christmas Tree | Blue Ornaments | Red Ornaments and here | Silver Jingle Bell Ornaments
It’s a busy week ahead with a lot of appointments (cats annual check-up included!), meetings, voting, in-town visitors, and getting caught up on work, but it feels so good to have most of our holiday decor completed so we can now just enjoy it all!
Recent Buys & Sales
Following are some sales from the weekend that have carried over and are still going strong!
- AMAZON has a number of deals today! You can shop their site here.
- ANN TAYLOR is offering 30% off your purchase plus and extra 15% off $200+. You can shop their site here.
- ANTHROPOLOGIE has added additional items in their sale section! You can shop their site here.
- BALLARD DESIGNS is offering 30% off and free shipping on 100s of fall favorites as well as 25% off nearly everything else (including an extra 25% off clearance)! You can shop their sale here.
- BODEN is offering 10% off new arrivals with code S3Z8. You can shop their site here.
- CRATE & BARREL is offering up to 30% off accent tables and chairs, up to 70% off during their Rug Event, and free shipping on Christmas decor. You can shop their site here.
- GAP is offering 50% off all baby and kids’ styles, 60% off great gift ideas, and an extra 50% off sale styles. You can shop their sale here.
- J CREW is offering 40% off women’s sweaters and outerwear (prices as marked) as well as an extra 50% off sale styles. You can shop their site here.
- J CREW FACTORY is offering 40% off everything plus an extra 30% off when you spend $125+ with code CYBERSALE. You can shop their sale here.
- LOFT is offering 40% off your entire purchase with code SHINE. You can shop their sale here.
- LULULEMON has a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
- MARK & GRAHAM is offering up to 50% off gifts we love and free shipping on orders $150+ with code SHIPFREE. You can shop their site here.
- MARSHALLS has a number of deals sitewide plus free shipping on orders of $89+ with code SHIP89. You can shop their site here.
- NORDSTROM is offering 30% off select women’s and men’s styles and 15% off select beauty. You can shop their site here.
- OLD NAVY is offering 50% off activewear for the family. You can shop their sale here.
- POTTERY BARN is offering up to 50% off end of season savings plus free shipping on 1000s of items. You can shop their sale here.
- REJUVENATION is offering up to 40% off lighting, furniture and more. You can shop their site here.
- RUGS USA is offering an extra 15% off one item or 25% off 2+ items with code FESTIVE. You can shop their site here.
- SERENA & LILY is hosting their Sale of The Year, with best pricing and free shipping – with the shipping included it really is the best time to buy a lot of their furniture. You can shop their sale here.
- TARGET has a number of sales including multiple home deals like up to 40% off indoor furniture, up to 40% kitchen appliances and dining items, up to 50% off vacuums and floor care, and more. You can shop their site here.
- TJ MAXX has a number of deals sitewide and is offering free shipping on orders $89+ with code SHIP89! You can shop their site here.
- TORY BURCH has a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
- TUCKERNUCK has a number of new items added to their sale section, as well as free shipping and free returns on everything. You can shop their site here.
- WEST ELM is offering up to 50% off sale styles and free shipping on 1000s of items. You can shop their site here.
- WILLIAMS SONOMA is offering up to 75% off clearance items. You can shop their site here.
I hope you all have a great week!
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Loved the glimpses into your Christmas decor!!! And how fun to have your Mom there. 🙂 Love it that she won Hawkeye over!
I’m going to try the chicken soup recipe… looks like a good one!
Anxious for your Christmas Tour! 🥰
Thank you so much Linda! And I hope you love the soup as much as we did!