If you can't beat them! Then join in with them!

Summer has left and fall has arrived in Illinois but with the temps being mild, a few of my summer flowers are still hanging on.

They say we will have a few more weeks of these mild temps.  No worries for the summer hold outs.   I decided to join them with fall.

 I joined fall faux flowers and real and faux pumpkins to the mix of summer flowers still left.

With summer flowers still hanging on I just co mingled summer and fall together.

My impatiens bag is still doing well on my front door.   Easy peasy just add the faux fall to the summer flowers.

The nice thing about hanging bags they have lots of holes you can stick the faux flowers in to be with the real flowers.  Watering the bag is still a breeze even with the faux decor added in.

Until we get a frost the flower beds will continue to bud.

I dressed up my cherub bird feeder with some fall decor.

The birds can still get to the seed in the cherub feeder.  Just hope Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel do not try and take away my burlap bows for their winter homes!!!!

My bike out front still had some life going on in the baskets so  I added a fall bow and some faux fall decor to the existing flowers.

It was fun to mix the faux pumpkins with the real pumpkins I got a couple week ends ago from the pumpkin farm.

While there are still a few traces of summer fall is definitely appearing.

The trees are just starting to turn colors here in the midwest.  In the next few weeks I think we will see some really beautiful changes to the trees.


Hope your week end has been great. Fall is definitely arrived here in the midwest. It just is coming in very mild which I will not complain about.  We Northern Midwest bloggers know what will follow this beautiful fall weather!!! Ughhh!!!! Yep the ugly W word WINTER!!!!

 Have a wonderful start to the new week ahead.
Kris
:)

Parties:
Show and Share
A Joyful Cottage
Wow Us Wednesday
Inspire Me Tuesday
What's It Wednesday
Treasures Hunt Thursday

Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind The Blogger

Susan from Must Love Junk, and myself wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.

There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Susan's and my blog. 

October 11
Victoria from Trois Petites Filles

This week I have a special blogger I have just recently found and am getting to know.  Victoria from Trois Petite Filles.  I love her sense of style and her touches of Shabby Chic and French throughout her home.  I love that she decorates with her beautiful art work.  Please sit down with a great beverage and enjoy reading and getting to know Victoria.



Thank you so much Kris for inviting me to be a part of the series.  Hi everyone!  I am Victoria and I am a blogger at Trois Petites Filles.

My girls and I live in a small ranch home in a even smaller town in Massachusetts.  I am a big city girl living in a quiet little place.

Since I started blogging less than a year ago, I have met so many inspiring women but I know it is hard to get to know each other fully over the web.  So I figure I will share a few moments in my life that really shaped me as a person.  My parents shipped me off to the states two months before my 15th birthday.  I didn't speak a word of English and on top of that...get ready for it...I had a shaved head.  I cringed even thinking about it.  It involved a bad hair dyed job and they thought it would be better to shave it all off then to dye it back to black? So imagine a fifteen years old with no hair and not a word of English.  There are few moments in my life that really changed and shaped the core of me.  I had a very different life back home.  We grew up with maids and drivers.  I am sure back then I felt a bit invincible.  I think a month after I got to Boston, I was taking a bus back from school and these two boys were trying to talk to me.  I just didn't understand what they were saying so I didn't say anything back.  As I was stepping down the bus, one of them kicked me from behind and I fell.  That moment stuck with me to this day.  As I cried the whole way back home, I felt so humbled.  I knew I had to let go of that old image of myself.  I was no better than anyone else.  I needed that moment to really ground me and my feet has never left the ground since.

Our home is a very eclectic home.  To me it is used as a blank canvas for me to experiment with different art projects and mediums.  My love for art started during senior year of high school.  I took a ceramic class and my life began.  I was obsessed.  I mean couldn't eat or sleep kind of obsessed.  I have never felt that kind of high before.  The main reason for me starting a blog is to find that high again.  And boy, do I feel it.  Our whole house is one big art project.  I am actually running out of wall and appliances and furniture to play with.

Most of my time is spent running after my two mini me.  Bella is five and a half and Aurora is three and a half.  Bella is observant and sensitive artist and Aurora...she is a firecracker. We love fashion.  Fashion is a huge part of our life and a way for us to express ourselves.  We are also avid readers.  The girls and I are starting the Harry Potter series and I am pretty sure I am way more excited about it than they are.

Boy, am I in trouble with these two?  We are so happy you ladies got to know us a little bit better.  I hope you will visit us more often!

Thank you Victoria for sharing your self with all of us.  Your girls are just too cute.  Wow to be sent to this country without knowing the language and how mean and cruel those boys were to you.  So happy you rose above all of that and carved out a great life for yourself.  Now that you have gotten to know Victoria please hop over to Susan's blog and meet another wonderful blogger Cindy from Old Time Farmhouse.

Happy Saturday.  Have a wonderful week end.

Kris

Good Friends and Good Junkin Time

As a lot of you know.  My good blogging buddy Susan from Must Love Junk and her hubby Keith came into town this past week and we had a few days to spend together.

We had a great time junkin, eating and just connecting.  It was a joy to have them stay with Terry and I.  

When I took them to the train after a couple of days with me I actually felt sad our visit  was over.

Here are some pictures of our visit.  I am going to say the pictures are not the greatest because they were taken with my cell phone but at least you can see some of the fun places we traveled.

Good Morning!!! Full Service B&B with breakfast at Junk Chic Cottage.  Keith and Susan having breakfast before we headed out.  Those little white chicken casserole dishes I got a while back at Tattered Tiques.  I put a Egg Strata in them to serve.  Aren't they a fun way to serve your guest a breakfast casserole.

One of our stops was to Tattered Tiques.  Susan was able to get a souvenir Vintage Girl Shirt.

Loved all the fun fall and halloween vignettes we saw as we were junkin!

One of my Fave Stores in Morris.  Lot's of wonderful treasures in this shop.

Great treasures at each stop.

We had lunch at Leddy Mae's.  Yummy homemade food and just adorable place to eat.

Sorry for the fuzzy pictures.  I love her homemade deserts and I have to agree with her chalk board sign.  Cake does fix everything!!!

The guys were such troopers to join us on a day of junkin and eating at Leddy Mae's.

Beautiful vignette to welcome you in to Whimsy another fun shop.  

Yep! Lot's of good meals shared.  It was such a fun time shared with two special people.

I did not get as many photos of all the places we visited I just was too wrapped up in junkin and having fun.

Thanks Susan and Keith for your stay and all the laughs and fun we had together.
I miss you guys!  Safe travels home.

Kris
:)

Make sure you come back on Saturday for Spotlight.  Susan and I have two new bloggers for you to get to know better.

Sweet Friends in Blogland

Good Morning.  Happy Sunday.

Our week end has turned so cold.  We went from 80 in the week to 49 today.  Crazy weather.  I guess Fall is here to stay.

I know I have said this before but it is so true you meet and find the most wonderful people in blogland.  It feels like such a small world sometimes.

I have been so blessed with so many wonderful blogland friendships.  I received a couple of sweet gifts to share with you and also to send big hugs and thank you's to the special people that gifted me.

I think a lot of you know  Judy from 20 North Ora.  I love her Etsy shop and all her beautiful creations.  Judy just put Herbie the Owl up for adoption last week and the minute I saw him I felt I needed to adopt him.  I am usually not a big owl fan but Herbie stole my heart.

I love all the sweet fabrics Judy used to create this special owl.  Thank you Judy. XXOO

Judy gifted me this cute runner in with my owl.  Does she know me or what.  I love this runner Judy thank you XXXXOOOO!

Love the polka dots and the cute ruffle.  So perfect for my dining room table.  Judy you are just the sweetest thank you.

I received a package from Carol from Art and Sand this week too.  She made me a pretty Love banner for the old vintage door hanging in my bedroom.

Carol knows me so well.  All the bling she added to this banner is so me.  Carol I love this and love you for making it special for me.

Love Carol's sweet attention to details.  This was the cute little bag she made to put the banner in to send.  Toooooo cute.  Thank you Carol. XXOO

A lot of you know that Susan from Must Love Junk came into Chicago for a little R&R and she spent a couple of days with me.  We had a junkin good time.  Excuse the hair on me it was windy this day we took the pictures.  I will show you this week more of the junkin good time we had together.  Susan gifted me with a few lovely treasures when she came in to stay.

These sweet spools with bling.  I put them on my candle stick holders.  So sweet.

Susan gave me this beautiful french saying plaque.  "You are the Love of My Life"  I love this with my two love birds in my bedroom.  Just perfect!

Susan also gave me some sweet scented candles from her shop Home Sweet Home.  Ohhhhh how wonderful vanilla and pumpkin smell together.

So I will have another post up in a few days on Susan and her hubby Keith's stay with us this past week end.

Have a great rest of the week end.
Kris
:)