Five things...

Feeling a little ragged these last few days. Still adjusting to our new fall schedule of school/sports for the little ones, and the long hours of work/school for the grown-ups.

On the upside, this is a busy time for the shop as well, custom orders are fluttering in and I wake every day enthused and inspired.

Without further ado, here are this week's Five things:

The first football game of the season...

Sweet Sadie, my mother-in-law's intuitive and gentle-spirited German Sherpherd Dog who is staying with us this week. I've missed having two dogs!

Who is this child? She needs a haircut.

And someone to squeeze her cheeks.

Sir Rockstar, who has shown me this week that the last 18 months of consistent, hair-pulling training are paying off. He is becoming such a good dog.

(finally!)

The gorgeous glass of Beaujolais that helped glue my sanity back together after my younger child locked myself and my older child out of the house. That is a post for another time, most likely entitled, "How I aged 10 years in 15 minutes".

I'm off in a few hours to enjoy a night out with a great friend, hope you are looking forward to your weekend plans, as well!

xoxo

Fall anticipation...

Fall is in the air! (And hopefully here to stay). We've had a completely brutal summer here in NJ, so I am thrilled when the morning temp reads 66 degrees (??!!). With a luscious fall breeze, to boot. Truly delicious.

This weather makes me want to:

Pull my boots on
Skip outside

Chase the kids

Run the dog

Light a bonfire

Dance with my man

Do cartwheels on my front lawn

Except I can't do cartwheels. My poor neighbors would have to call for aid, and that could be very embarrassing for me. Or, maybe they would just point and laugh, which would make me proud.

I just received a new shipment of tree branch buttons from lovely Linda, and I can't wait to put them to use.

Aren't those leaves delightful? If you click on the photo you can view it enlarged and truly appeciate the rings of those gorgeous Red Pine buttons on the right. So very satin-y smoooooooth.

I have quite a few of her pretties already.

I am actually quite addicted to her work. I love how each button is an individual, separate piece of nature, enhanced by human hands to bring forth the natural beauty and essence of each tree. I love rolling them around in my hands and smelling them (especially the Red Cedar). Sometime these buttons inpire a new design concept, some of which will be appearing in my Fall/Winter line over the next few weeks!

I grabbed the girls and the dog this morning and met my parents at the local farmer's market for some kettle corn, live music, and Jersey-fresh produce.

It was very breezy and bright, which explains the pained look on Abigail's face and my dad's Mach-3 hairstyle.

This is the expression I was hoping to capture:

Love my little snaggletooth.

The day ended with a spontaneous date with Chad at a restaurant that had a wine list instead of a kids' menu. Bliss!

What are your plans for this long, last weekend of Summer?