Fall with Serena & Lily

Happy Hump Day readers!

Can anyone believe Halloween...aka the end of October...is just one week away?

Work has been busy, busy, but I luckily have a bit of breathing time before the last push of the calendar year.

I have a long list of new, fresh blog ideas I've been adding to regularly and am going to try really hard to knock them out, amidst the craze of year-end fundraising and the holidays.

First up, today I bring you a fall home tour. I'm excited to partner with Serena & Lily on this post.

The last few years when it comes to all holiday decor I have majorly simplified.

I used to pull out Halloween decorations, but made the switch to just pumpkins a few years ago and haven't looked back! I usually get a big pumpkin haul in late September and it lasts through Thanksgiving. Chic and simple!

I also pretty much only decorate the front of our home, living, and dining room these days. Our little cape cod is chock full of enough things, so I don't feel the need to add additional clutter to the other rooms.

We'll start first with fall curb appeal!

I can't get enough of our new-ish blue front door! It is Sherwin Williams Jetstream in high gloss. The corn stalks have become a tradition, but the hurricanes this fall have put a beating on them (it just makes them more rustic, right?). 

The candy corn sign is the only Halloween decoration I still put out. It's just so cute and was a Home Goods find years ago (similar)! I also always have fun putting together a pumpkin topiary.

Inside the mantle takes center stage. You may remember from this post that I restyled it a couple years ago to incorporate the collection of pewter cups. It's evolved over time, but what I still love about it is that I'm able to change it with the seasons. Hydrangeas in summer, pumpkins in the fall, ornaments at Christmastime, etc. 

Serena & Lily was kind enough to send me this Ojai Mirror and it was just the finishing touch the mantle needed! I love that it's neutral, but also bold, and seems to make everything else on the mantle pop. It can be hung horizontally as shown here, or vertically, and is truly versatile.

(Side note: Does anyone else struggle as much as me to get good photos straight on like this? No matter how hard I try, mine always wind up looking crooked as shown here...)

The Staffordshire dogs (similar) were an anniversary present from Bryce and they make me happy every time I see them. We jokingly named them Charlotte and George after the princess and prince.

This picture gives you a close up of the detail on the mirror. I love its contemporary bamboo look. I also love, love, love these striped bright orange and yellow pumpkins and thought they were much prettier displayed upright as shown. Finally, these trumpet vases were another mantle addition since my original post and bring the symmetry I crave. They're currently on sale and a great price point for an authentic look.

These velvet pumpkins were a Marshall's find a couple years ago and solved my dead orchid dilemma. While they're not as luxurious as the real deal made with true pumpkin stems, I'll take the plastic stems for the savings! Since I posted these years ago, I know many of you have also had luck finding them at Marshall's/Home Goods/T.J. Maxx, so if you want the look for less, keep your eyes peeled! I also love this affordable option, where you choose your own Set of 3!

To me, decorating for fall is also about creating a cozy feel. This Linnea's Lights Reserve candle in "Earl Gray" has been adding just the right amount of cozy! It has a subtle, clean scent that I love. The pom pom throw has been a comfy cozy favorite for years now, as well. It's no longer available, but I've found similar ones here and here.

And now for the pièce de reistance: the dining room! Serena & Lily was also sweet enough to gift me these napkins. I mean, hello! Pom poms AND gingham! A match made in heaven! They inspired me to put together fun new fall tablescape on Saturday. In fact, the table is still set, because it's too pretty to clear! Who wants to come have dinner?

Those who follow along on Instagram, know that we gave the dining room a face lift this summer. I thought the new lighter and brighter look called for all white pumpkins and gourds, so it was fun using the napkins and other elements to bring some color onto the table.

Staffordshire dogs make an appearance here, too! These little guys are so fun and were a steal from my all-time favorite home design shop, Dwelling. I've used them in quite a few tablescapes and think they added to the neutral vibe I was aiming for. The candlesticks are an Ikea steal and I zhushed them up with these napkin rings that were a bridal shower gift.

I mixed and matched everyday and fine dinnerware here, as well. Originally, I set the table with my Tobbacco Leaf dinner plates, but instead of complementing the gingham, the patterns competed. A quick swap with my everyday Emma dinner plates did the trick! The white added a clean feel and the border complemented the pom poms on the napkins perfectly. I also found that the Tobbaco Leaf bread plates added just the right pop of color and pattern play, while still keeping with the neutral theme. The chargers are from Target (similar here), and I actually bought them in college for this dinner with girlfriends in 2010(!) that made an appearance in the very early stages of the blog. I only wish I'd had the foresight then to buy a set of 12 instead of 4. The napkins rings were a gift from our wedding registry, and I selected them because the gold pairs well with the gold edge on the Tobacco Leaf.

The table runner was a Home Goods find (similar here), and the bowl (similar) is one Bryce actually uses to make bread, though I borrow it every year for pumpkins. Finally, can we talk about the rose tinted wine glasses!? I am obsessed and bought 4 at Crate & Barrel on clearance years ago. Well, one broke while I was washing it, so I'm down to 3. Talk again about wishing I'd had the foresight to buy 12. Since I'm down to 3, I often will set the table with two pink and two clear, his and hers, if you will! I did track down two that are nearly identical here (with gold trim!) and here (love the shape!).

And last, but not least the bar area got a little attention with the addition of a single white pumpkin!

As part of our dining room refresh, we had this table painted high gloss in the same color as the front door, Sherwin Williams Jetstream. The tray is Home Goods (similar) and bamboo wine rack is from a  favorite local boutique Van der Wolks (similar and like this one, too). The ALLIEgator bottle opener was a stocking stuffer from my parents, and I ordered the monogrammed napkins for Bryce's 30th through Gracious Bridal. 

Garden stool is from an amazing Norfolk shop with great authentic blue & white deals called Three Swallows. Millie is not for sale. 

Big thanks again to Serena & Lily for partnering on this post. If you're in the market for bedding, be sure to check out their sale!

Shew, now I'm exhausted! I forgot how much work this blogging thing was...

How do you decorate your home for the seasons?

Have a great day!

Ravioli with Roasted Veggies

Happy Monday friends!

Did you have a good weekend?

Ours was fabulous: It was the first weekend we've had here with crisp fall weather and I was in heaven!

I'm excited to share a new go-to recipe with you. We cooked this on Thursday night and I had planned to post on Friday, but our power went out due to storms from Hurricane Michael.

We actually made it for friends who recently had their second baby, and I have to say it was one of the easiest meals we've ever taken to friends. I feel like we're always scrambling when we take meals to friends. It's tough to get everything cooked, packed, and delivered at a reasonable time after work and this recipe made it easy peasy! I also love how versatile it is- you could easily use different veggies depending on what's in season and also could mix up the sauces. Pesto is a favorite, but I think it would also be good tossed with balsamic and olive oil or with a cream sauce.

Furthermore, those that have followed along for a while know that I love recipes that are a happy medium. The ravioli, pesto, and cheese makes this feel like a splurge meal, but it is filled with veggies which take away some of the guilt! One serving is 516 calories.

So without further adieu, here you go!

As always my notes are italicized.

Ravioli with Roasted Veggies
Generously serves 6
Recipe by Jacyln Bell

Ingredients
2 medium zucchini, ends trimmed sliced into half moons
2 medium  yellow squash, ends trimmed sliced into half moons
1 red bell pepper, diced into 3/4-inch squares
1/2 large red onion, diced into 3/4-inch squares
8 oz button mushrooms, sliced thick (we used shiitake)
2 tbs olive oil
salt
pepper
1 (10.5-oz) package grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups fresh spinach
1 (20-oz) package refrigerated cheese ravioli
2/3 cup pesto
finely shredded parmesan cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 425F

Place zucchini, squash, bell pepper, onion and mushrooms on a rimmed 18x13-inch baking hseet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Roast 10 minutes, then remove from oven. Add tomatoes and garlic to pan, and toss. Roast 10 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender (we roasted about 20 minutes longer). Add spinach to pan and toss. Roast 1 minue longer or until spinach has wilted (We skipped this step and just added the spinach during the next step. The ravioli and veggies were warm enough to wilt the spinach as you mix.)

Cook ravioli according to package directions (We put the water on to boil when we put the second round of veggies into the oven and the ravioli then was ready just as the veggies were finished roasting.); drain. Pour ravioli into a large bowl. Stir in roasted veggies and pesto. Season with salt and pepper to taste then toss to evenly coat. Serve warm topped with cheese. Enjoy!

This spoon is sure to send the message 

"Made with love!"

And those that follow along on Instastories, got a kick out of my his and hers comparison. This is Bryce's plate topped with a mountain of cheese!

What are your go-to meals to deliver to loved ones?

Have a great day!

5 Design Coffee Table Books on My Wish List

TGIF readers!

How have the last 8 months been?!

2018 has been an ahh-mazing year, here! But no need to waste time updating on that--the holidays and New Year will be here before we know it, so I might as well write about my year then.

As I've said a lot in my posts over the last couple years, this blog is still a space I treasure, but it's a space that just hasn't been a priority.

That said, I've been getting the creative itch a lot lately. Those who follow on Instagram know that Bryce and I "holidayed" in England last month. While sharing all our adventures on Instagram, and answering followers' questions there, I realized just how much I needed to blog about the trip. Since then, blog post ideas have been coming at me from every direction.

Last night, I polled you on Instastories to ask if people would even read here. I know that much of my time is spent following all my favorite bloggers not on their blogs, but their Instagrams. You all almost unanimously voted for "Yes, please!" to bring the blog back, though. I also appreciate all the messages letting me know which posts you love most.

I decided to ease back in today with a quick post.

Those who follow on Instagram, also may have seen this post. I was featured in RHome Magazine!!! I was listed as a Favorite Local Design Instagrammer. While it's just a mention, the fact that this little (neglected) blog has now been recognized in print has me over the moon excited! A follower actually sent me a picture of the mention while we were in London, so once we were back in town I knew I needed to get a copy.

While we were at the Barnes & Noble, Bryce, per usual, wound up in the Gardening section, which just so happens to be next to the Design section. I browsed Design Coffee Table Books while he browsed books on heirloom vegetables, mushrooms, and weeds (yes, these were literally the topics of the 3 books he purchased).

While browsing, I, of course, added a few to my wish list.

The Decorated Home 

Meg Braff is one of my absolute favorite designers, so it's

no surprise I love this book..plus a foreword by Charlotte Moss!

About Decorating

This one is oozing with glamorous, traditional design!

Elements of Style

This is an oldie, but goodie. 

Erin is actually working on her second book now, coming May 2019! 

(And, if you don't follow her on Instagram, you should! 

I follow her as much for her personality and

wit, as for her design acumen.)

Prints Charming

Look at that cover! Need I say more?

Dream Design Live

Saved the best for last! This one is at the top of my wish list

and was trendy and modern meets traditional perrrrfection!

And here are a few favorites I already own:

Any other design book must haves?

What's on your wish list?

Have a great weekend!

Word of the Year: INTENTIONAL

Happy Hump Day, readers!

I hope your 2018 is off to a great start.

I had to pop in before the first of February to share my New Year's post.

At the end of the year, I went back and reread all my past New Years' posts and got super pumped up for 2018. (I really do love having this blog as a journal of my life.) Still feeling pumped, though my ambition didn't result in a timely blog post. Whoops!

You can read, in my New Year's post that never was, here from last year, that I really wanted to have a word to define 2017. I struggled to come up with a word last year, because I couldn't quite find the word to encompass my focus for the year. That being said, I had no problem picking a word this year and that word is INTENTIONAL.

This word came to me with quite a bit of clarity, I think because of the phase of life I'm in. It's a phase I'm really, really loving, but it's also a phase that feels a little like a crossroads. It's as if I'm up on the high dive, inching my toes to the edge, about to leap.

via

Side Note- Anyone else ever love this movie as a kid?

It's a nice spot to be. On the precipice of the next phase, but still able to enjoy the comfort of the board, and the beautiful view of what lies ahead. I'm on the verge of next steps particularly in the areas of career and family. The two, somewhat intertwined.

Having been a fund development professional for nearly as long as I was a teacher now, I'm starting to feel settled in. I've identified my strengths, passions, and a clear focus of where I want to head in my career. I have a view of the future ahead, but am in a good place to grow and learn in the meantime.

In terms of family, now married, Bryce and I are talking more concretely about the particulars of starting a family. If you'd asked me a few years ago, I'd have told you I'd be leaping to have a baby right now, this very minute. If you asked me today, I'd say we're thinking of starting a family in not the immediate future, but also the not so distant future. Again, it's nice to be up on the diving board, feeling a rush of the dive ahead: Motherhood and all the ups, downs, and in-betweens that come with it. It's always been my greatest dream, but for now I'm really happy dreaming of it, and borrowing some of the joys of it from friends who are new mamas. It's nice to embrace being selfish a little while longer and to have Millie as our one and only baby for the time being.

So where does "INTENTIONAL" come in?

via

These two areas discussed, career and family, are my biggest focus right now. They're intertwined. My career is of course a livelihood, but, it's also an independent side of me, and an area I seek to find fulfillment. Since leaving teaching, the passion I have for education has only continued to grow, and has been fueled with positivity as I've seen the really great work non-profits are doing to address educational issues here locally. I want to be a part of that. My ultimate career goal, at this point, is to use the fundraising skills I've developed in an organization focused on education. The two modalities I enjoy most in development are major gifts fundraising (ie: building relationships) and, what will probably come as no surprise to you, storytelling. Having found more of a laser focus and defined goal means that every decision I make in my career from this point on, needs to be driven by intention. The projects I tackle and create in my current position, the educational opportunities I take advantage of, and the missions I choose to support. It's an exciting place to be!

In terms of family, as I shared, we want to start a family in the not so distant future. That decision means the choices we are making now need to be guided by that. This covers all areas. When the time does come that I'm ready to become a mom, and Bryce a dad, I want for us to be at our very best. How do you define that, though? I think it encompasses all areas of life. I'll elaborate on a few. The first, and I think one of the most important, is finances. Kids are expensive. And yes, I realize there's never going to be a time where you feel 100% ready for anything in your life, but I want us to be in a place that we can feel confident and prepared for all the costs adding a bambino to the mix brings. Secondly, and I also think of high importance, is indulgence. You might be thinking, how exactly do financial readiness and indulgence work together? They work together if you have INTENTIONAL as your guiding word. When I say indulgence, I mean the selfish things we want to experience before kids. A trip to Italy is probably highest on my list at the moment! Once kids come, we know these indulgences like travel become a lot harder to justify, much less coordinate and execute. I want to be intentional that we use this time, just the 2 of us, to nurture our relationship and indulge some while we can. Finally, the third main area I want to be intentional when looking ahead to family, is health. Bryce and I have actually been talking a lot about this. Ideally, we both want to be in our best shape when the time comes that we want to start "trying." Let's face it, after pregnancy, it's only going to get harder to be fit, so you might as well try to start ahead versus behind. More importantly than the vanity side of being fit, I want to be healthy so I can best nourish a growing baby and later be in a position to model healthy habits to my little ones. I want to do everything I can to ensure my someday babes have a healthy mama! That being said, we're choosing to be much more intentional in our habits: cooking more, eating better, exercising daily, prioritizing sleep, and practicing self care.

via

This first month of the year has been really wonderful so far. I do feel that I, along with Bryce, have been living with more purpose. Being intentional has really felt good so far!

If you made it to the end, bravo! Heck, if you even made it here despite my absence of late, bravo to you, too!

Do you have a guiding principal or word for 2018?

What are your most pressing life goals?

Have a great day!

2017 in 12 Pictures

Happy New Year!

I'm back to work today, but really enjoyed some nice time off to refresh and fuel myself for the year ahead!

I'm hoping to put together my New Year's reflection/goals post for ya this week, but in the meantime I thought it would be fun to share the highlights of the year by selecting just 1 picture a month. This was tough, as some months were filled with many great events, so I'll be sharing some honorable mentions on Instastories today!

JANUARY

Millie's First Snow! Millie ran and ran all around the yard and loved

to put her nose down in the snow and eat it.

FEBRUARY

We celebrated our engagement with a party hosted by my mother-in-law and a 

"Something Borrowed, Something Blue & White" shower hosted by my fabulous bridesmaids.

{full post coming in 2018}

MARCH

Bryce turned 30 and we had a 1987 wine dinner to celebrate!

{full post here and recipes here}

APRIL

My bachelorette weekend in Amelia Island, Florida! 

This sunset booze cruise was one of my favorite parts of the weekend!

{full post coming in 2018}

MAY

Millie turned one on May 8! And like any crazy puppy mom

I ordered her this birthday crown and served her a pupcake...her first 

dose of sugar and carbs, which she promptly threw up!

JUNE

We got MARRIED!!!

{lots of posts coming in 2018}

JULY

We hosted a couple's weekend at Bryce's hunt club on the Eastern Shore  

and our Millie girl LOVED the marsh!

AUGUST

My mother-in-law closed on a new house and joked 

she bought it just so Millie could have this fabulous pool...

I'm certainly not complaining!

SEPTEMBER

Had a progressive girls' night with one of my besties, Amanda, to 

celebrate her birthday! We started with cocktails on the Quirk rooftop

followed by dinner at Pasture and dessert at Shyndigz!

OCTOBER

We burned our first fire of the year and celebrated the occasion

with a fireside picnic dinner and a nice bottle of red that was a wedding gift!

NOVEMBER

We had the most amazing impromptu day date to Barboursville Vineyards!

{full post coming in 2018}

DECEMBER

We celebrated our first married Christmas and kicked off the

Christmas season with a trip to NYC! It truly is magical at Christmastime!

{full post coming in 2018}

Wow! What a year! 

2018 has big shoes to fill!

What were the highlights of your 2017?

Have a great day!