What The Night Can Do: Prelude to a Weekend

I love my Fridays. I try to take them in and use them for a little time spent on me, whether it's shopping, tidying around our home, photography or meeting up with a friend. This Thursday night, I decided to kickoff our weekend by making a great dinner.
Long story short, my husband is the cook around here. Head Chef.
And he earns the title through and through. But tonight I gave him a night off...

Even tossed some fruit into our Oliver Sangria, although Maddie's Sangria was Capri Sun with berries:

She seemed to like it!


The Chef

My Friday began with me realizing that Summer is slowly winding to a halt, and although Autumn is my favorite time of the year, I realize that with the end of Summer comes the end of Andy's flowers.

So this morning I went out and cut a few for our table, and I am particularly loving what our Hydrangea bush has been doing all Summer color-wise, which is changing constantly.

I also decided to spend an hour or so wandering around the West Side's Best Kept Secret:

Garden Ridge! Upon walking in, I couldn't help but notice the upcoming Fall season was exploding.

A bit tacky in my opinion, but you can't help but feel excited. I love Fall. The cool breeze, the donning of comfy sweatshirts and pretty sweaters, the comfort foods and warm drinks, and my personal favorite: the smell of burning leaves. That might sound weird to some, yet the smell of burning leaves immediately transports me back into my childhood and the warm memories of growing up in a small town where burning leaves in your back yard was totally common and allowed. There's just no smell quite like it.

On to my excursion! Garden Ridge isn't loved by me for it's seasonal decor. I come for things like this:

And this:

Ooooh, and stuff like this!

I left the store with a few organizing containers for Maddie's room, and a new quilt for her bed. Upon returning home I decided to give her mess of a bedroom "The Great MOM Overhaul," you know, the kind of cleaning your Mom would do either when you were at school, or while you were home but forbidden to enter. Her room looks great... for the time being. ;-)