Testing the Infrastructure

My niece is turning 12 tomorrow, and she had a biiigggg sleepover party last night. My sister sent me this cartoon she did of the event. Pretty funny!

This is a picture of her on her 4th birthday...a fun Dora treasure hunt party. I was Swiper. It really does go by so fast!

Happy Birthday B!

Halloween Countdown...

I feel like Halloween is actually a month and a half long holiday around here. September and October are my favorite months in Westchester... I'm no longer craving the beach, I'm energized by personal projects, the weather is still nice, AND there are many fun things to do in the area which we've been taking advantage of. Last Friday night was the second time we've been to see the jack-o-lantern extravaganza, BLAZE at Van Cortlandt Manor, one of the historic hudson homes. Talented carvers, and dedicated volunteers carve over 4,000 pumpkins, and illuminate them each night throughout the grounds. It takes them a few hours to light the pumpkins each night. Can you imagine? I think my carving limit might top out at about 5! It's truly amazing to see. Here are some shots from our fun night in the land of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Our own pumpkin decorating was far less ambitious, but really fun. We're going with glittery, disco pumpkins this year! I'll probably carve them next weekend so we can light them up for the kajillion trick-or-treaters we get each year, but I think Jake is still a little squeamish about scooping pumpkin goo.

(Note: these photos were taken on the very rare occasion that Jake wasn't wearing his Spiderman costume...these moments are few and far between these days, but he IS wearing his self-created baseball uniform!)

Casual Dining

I've had this dining room image (from online Rue Magazine?) saved on my desktop for awhile. I like the casual coziness of it, and I think it's a good example of how you can pull a room together without having it "perfect", yet perfectly appealing. To me, it seems more indicative of how a room is actually lived in, rather than a formally elegant staged dining room that you're apt to see in most magazines.

Our handyman was over the other day in a first attempt to hang the new pendant light that we bought for our dining room. The old chandelier was really not centered in the room in anyway, and once we started trying to figure out where it really should go, we started realizing how the whole room is actually a little "off". If we centered it "correctly" in the room, it would create a very tight space around the dining room table, and the room is also a passageway into the living room. It also has doors that lead to a patio out back. After much deliberation, we decided it was best to just put the light and table somewhat uncentered, and keep the room so that if Jake and various friends decide to run around the room, they'll have space to do that. That's the way we live, and it's silly to try to pretend otherwise.

I also had our handyman install these wall sconces from Shades of Light. They look great, and are a much improved version to what was originally there. I LOVE them. I get so excited when my home design projects work out. As a graphic designer, it's very easy to delete things you don't like with the stroke of a key...I wish it was that easy for home design mistakes! It would definitely take the pressure off, wouldn't it?

It's been awhile...

But, things have been busy around here! We've been making pumpkins to hang in the windows. I originally thought I'd cut them out, but they're looking pretty cute the way they are.

Every woman needs a super hero, and I am no exception. My personal helper washes paint brushes (for lengthy periods of time...always so upsetting when your super hero "muscles" get soaked with soapy water!).

And, I've made progress on creating a dining room that looks a little more "designed", and less like we're camping out. I cleared everything in the room, and made room for our new chairs. I LOVE them. Our new lights arrived, and they'll be installed next week. Still need to choose new paint colors,a rug, and window treatments (if any?).

My superhero also likes to help me sew. (Do you see why it's very difficult for me to get anything done?) These are the roman shades in progress for our guest bedroom. The project stalled for the summer, but now I'm in full swing again, and managed to get them sewn. Unfortunately, I don't think I love them anymore, but we'll see what they look like when I hang them up.