All Things "Fally"

This word, fally, seems to keep coming out of my mouth.  I am fully aware that it is not, nor has it ever been, an actual word.  It just seems to really capture my feelings for this most wonderful time of the year.  I'll use it in a sentence for you: "I love that tie! It's so fally."  :)

I should tell you: I LOVE fall.  Fall is MY season.  Spring...sure it's nice. Summer... ya, that's ok too.  Winter...well, I live in Northern Vermont.  Fall is where it's at.  I love everything about it.  The smell of the air, the crunch of the leaves and the excitement I get about bringing out my scarves! I love the leaves changing, and the apple picking and the apple cider.  I've grown to actually love cider even more this year as I've discovered the art of mixing it with Rum.

I love it so much that a mere trip to the clothesline inspires me to grab the camera and snap some photos of the back yard in all it's orangy, fally glory:

Ahh... doesn't it just make you feel so fally!

A Little Comfort Food... and Drink.

I should start by saying last week was a very emotional week in the life of moi.  If you asked me why... I couldn't really tell you.  However, all was well with the world again when my best friend Kaylan came to visit.  She lives in Virginia right outside of DC and we don't see each other as much as we'd like to.

Turns out she wasn't having the best of days either, so we decided it was time for some good ole fashioned comfort food.

Meet Kaylan:

ya... I bet you wish your BFF was this pretty :)

We had Kaylan's (or I think originally the Coulter's) version of Shepard's Pie.  Shepard's Pie traditionally has got to be one of the most delicious things ever created... but this version, wow! I didn't know it could get better!  It was in a pie crust, with mixed veggies instead of just corn, mashed potatoes and ground turkey.  She also threw a few secret ingredients in... and I was in love. Here it is pre-potato:

While it was baking we decided to try out a drink I had seen on Pinterest via Nutmeg Nanny's blog:

Our version was a little less pretty than the original... and we didn't quite have all the ingredients, but we made it work!  And it wasn't half bad.  We used a Chardonnay/Pinot Grigio blend wine (Ecco Domani), added some slices of honey crisp apples, a little honey, some nutmeg and cinnamon.  We finished it off with a little sugar and cinnamon around the rim of the glass, and a cinnamon stick! It screamed fall and "my best friend is here to visit so we're going to do this thing right!"  

We finished an amazing night with Sex and the City 2 and a little snuggling on the couch.  Sam, Bubba and Meredith were also very excited to see Auntie Kaylan.  :)  

My point?  Sometimes you just need a little quality time with your bestest.  

A Northeast Kingdom Picnic

Ever been on a picnic where you had to wear a winter coat? If the answer is yes, you must live in Vermont.

Nathan and I decided to take advantage of a rare night together (as he is usually working) and take a picnic up to our favorite place in the Northeast Kingdom: Darling Hill.  Before I get into any details I need to say that if you live in or around the area and have never been up here--- GO! NOW!  Seriously.... get in your car and drive. This post will be here when you return.

Welcome back.  We typically go up to The Chapel when we're there, and you don't need to be religious to enjoy it.  There are 360 degree AMAZING views. Can you tell I love it there?

So tonight we packed our favorite sandwich (details later in this post), a couple mason jars of apple cider, a blanket and our camera and headed out.

Here are a few stunning shots of the handsome man that i'm lucky enough to call my husband:

 It was cold... and windy... burrrr!

 I loooooooove his expression in this one....

 You can catch a quick glimpse above of the sandwiches I mentioned earlier.

In between two delightfully toasted pieces of bread are:

Turkey

Maple Mayo

Apples

Cheddar Cheese

Can you say: DELISH! 

Anyway... here are a few more photos:

Have I convinced you yet that this is the most beautiful spot in the Northeast Kingdom? No?  Well it just so happens to be smack dab in the middle of foliage in Vermont and there was an amazing view of Burke Mountain and the Willoughby Gap:

And if you look reaalllllly hard at this one you can catch a glimpse of the new windmills in Sheffield:

We had a great time, although it was so stinkin' cold that we were only there for about a half an hour.  In the words of the Little Rascals.... it was awfully romantical.  

Watch Cat

I was very creepily (is that a word?) woken up early Monday morning (1am early) by a pack of very loud coyotes outside.  I was convinced they were right below our window, however I was too scared to look outside and see.  Nathan assures me this was not the case and that they were probably in the woods somewhere... but, I'm not sure I believe him.  

If you have ever heard the sound of coyotes then you know what i'm talking about.  It is freaky.  Monday morning I was on my way out the door to go to work when I saw little Miss Meredith sleeping so adorably on the couch that I had to get the camera.  She immediately went from adorable to scary.  I introduce you to our new watch cat... if any coyote comes near again I'm just going to show him this photo.  He is sure to run away with his tail between his legs!

RAWR!

The (Future) Attic Master Bedroom

Our Happy Little Farmhouse currently has three bedrooms which are all located on the second floor.  

Our attic is unfinished but we have BIG plans for it.

<------------Future Attic Master

Anyway.... our plans for the Attic are to eventually convert it to a Master Bedroom.  We plan to start  filling those second floor bedrooms at some point, and I'd really like one of them to be my craft/scrapbooking room.  I put an emphasis on eventually because there is no set timeline for this project, and it most likely will not happen for another few years until our budget allows it.

Here are some before photos of the space:

The door to the attic from the second floor:

The stairs from the top in the attic:

Most of the attic from the top of the stairway:

A close up of the window from above: where the bed will eventually be:

 

 A view from the opposite end of the attic (the stairs are to the right of the chimney):

I attempted to draw our "vision" for the space on floorplanner.com.  I am either: a: not smart enough to figure out how to get a screen shot of the plans, or b. can't do so with the free account, so below is the link to the plans:

Our Attic Master Floor Plan
Be sure to check it out in 2D and 3D (the option is in the right corner)!  Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions are welcome!  We plan to add an additional bathroom to our home up here, as well as the mother of all closets.  The closet aspect definitely excites me more than Nathan, but he'll learn to love it!

 

To wrap up this post I wanted to share a few inspiration photos I found on Pinterest. 

 This is the direction I'd like to go in terms of decor in the room:

And to end with a little wishful thinking... I would be the happiest girl if this door could be in the room:

 

Some day......