What brings us joy

A fun post and also a gratitude post as we should be grateful to have things that bring us joy. They should be celebrated.  Here is goes!

• Find a new book series. Especially one that has been out for a while so you have years to catch up on.
• When the seasons change and you start burning your new fall/winter candles.
• Planning a vacation - discussing when and where. Making your "must see" list. Planning and the anticipation are half the fun of vacation!
• Finding a new series on Netflix and/or Prime.  Recommendations please!!
• The first snow fall.
• Autumn - when the trees are changing colors.  Breathtaking.
• December when one of us can start holiday decorating
• Long weekends with no plans
• Getting together with family and friends
• Putting the fleece sheets on the bed for winter
• Staying in a cool boutique hotel
• Doing crafts with friends - looking at Pinterest for ideas is part of it
• Hikes in the fall with the changing colors and cooler weather
• Holiday baking
• Time in a coffee shop to just be
• Finding a new wine and being blown away. You can't wait to share.
• Realizing we have a good life and being grateful for that.

10 things we love about Fall

For some of us Fall/Autumn is our favorite season.  Here are our top ten reason why!

1. Leggings. So comfortable and a staple in fall/winter wardrobe.  This leads to number 2
2. Boots.  Love love leggings and boots. Fall wardrobe is someone's favorite.
3. Fall colors. The red, orange and yellow leaves. When the trees change color it is breathtaking.
4. Pumpkin spice.  Lattes and muffins.  Can't get enough of them.
5. New lipstick for Fall.  What is trending and checking it out. Those deeper colors.
6. Cooler nights for sleeping. Having a humid summer and the nights are still hot so....
7. School back in.  Someone had to say it.  Back to the routine. 
8. Swapping out pursue. Some of us have a black pursue we use all year. A few of us like to change them out.  For a few years I had a pretty fresh green one for the summer. It is nice to switch things up.
9. Candles.  Someone favorite.  Fall scents just seem so cozy.
10. Fall décor. The oranges, mustard and cinnamon colors. There is a warmth and coziness in fall décor. Getting your candles out.  Putting that blanket on the back of the sofa. Maybe you have seasonal pillows. 

We would love to know what your fall highlight are.

Last three months of the year

 How is that possible? The days are long but the weeks/months have been fast. The weather is definitely fall here. Warmer days and cooler nights. Which is fine after the humidity we have experienced. Okay I'm not talking for ALL of us but I'm the one typing so........   

We were talking about getting some focus now that the seasons are changing. School back in. Summer vacations over.  That lead to projects or goals we wanted off our plate before we roll into a new year. The following is what we will be concentrating on.

In no particular order.....

• Meal prep.  Start making soups and chili that can be frozen. The plan is to listen to a podcast or audiobook while chopping, and prepping.  
• Paper - seriously pull it out and go through it.  Taxes, receipts, instructions (do we even still have that item?), cards and paper period.
• Get back into book club. Pick a book and a date. Done
• Clean out linen closet
• Organize the garage.  
• Organize the photos on phone.  This feels daunting. Plan is to break it down into small pieces of time. 10-15 minutes here and there. Maybe start with deleting duplicates and out of focus. 
• Schedule and hopefully have a dentist and doctor appointments have been putting off

What do you have on your list to check off before the end of the year?  We would love to hear it! Maybe we'll have to add to ours.

Opting out a few of our ideas

One of us has been listening to Cait Flanders Opting Out Podcast.  She wrote two books one about not spending and the more recent The Adventures of Opting Out.  The podcast is enjoyable as Cait is easy to listen to - no drama. She usually tapes it outside so water, wind and her seeing the occasionally animal or one week a proposal. 

So we thought it would be fun to give our list of "opting out" here it goes....

• Drama - don't need or want.  Maybe on the screen but that is about it.
• Negative people and/or conversation.  Yes we need to debrief and that can get negative.  But you know the people we mean. It is all negative. They are victims and nothing is held accountable for them.
• Events we are not interested in. We say yes because we feel we should. That being alone is not an excuse. It is. If not a special occasions we can say no. Our time and needs are important also.
• Book recommendations and books people give us.  If we are not interested say so and don't take the book. Or if you do, start it and it doesn't catch your attention don't bother finishing it.  Yes you heard that right you don't have to finish a book you are not enjoying.  Yep, it is okay you have permission.  Life is short there are a lot of books read one you want.
• Shopping for the sake of shopping.  One of us is doing Project 333 where we wear 33 items for three months. No shopping. It is to see what we have in our closets and what we really want and wear. It is okay to say no to shopping with friends for the sake of shopping. Meet them for lunch later.
• Not to answer the phone if we are exhausted and know that person is just calling to talk. Nothing major just talk (which is great) but not at our expense.  One of us is taking a no answering the phone in the evenings for a bit - leave a message. One friend said she had a phone phobia.  Seriously. Creating boundaries is okay. You do not have to be at people's demand 24/7. 
• You decided what you want to opt out of.  Maybe it is working full-time. Too much over-time. Too many activities on your or family plate.  Keeping up appearances.  Have a look around and see what you can opt out of. 

Side or end table call it what you will

 The decorating talk is having functional furniture. Pieces you can move around.  To shake up your décor. So what piece is the most versatile? A few were out right away. Not a sofa. Yes to certain chairs as can be moved around and even to bedrooms for a seating place. After discussion and we went with majority. We decided side or end table is pretty versatile. Besides by your sofa it can be a bedside table. Certain ones can be plant stands or even storage in a closet.

Below are a few of our favorite end/side tables and why.

This would look good in a living room as an end table or nightstand in the bedroom. Enough space for a small lamp in the bedroom, phone and of course your book can rest on the lower shelf.  The living room large enough for a drink and to display items on the lower shelf.

This was written as a "nightstand" but we felt it could easily be an end table in the living room.  Again we want room for maybe a small lamp, place a glass and most of us like the second shelf.  One person calls it a dust collector. There we put that in so that person is happy.  The draw is great as items you might want around but not out can be slipped inside. 

This is a favorite for one of us as light and airy with the slats as the bottom shelf and glass.  Feel could be a nightstand or end table.  Could see this as a plant stand off in the corner also. 

Love the white and wood look.  Shown as a nightstand but could so be in a living room. Would look great by a chair as very pretty. Also plantstand would work.  Show off those legs.

These are just a few we thought looked good in a few rooms.  Do you have a favorite from above?

Statement or accent walls

 If you are limited on time, energy and money consider a statement wall.  An easy commitment.  Here are a few of our favorites.

• rainbow corner accent wall.  A beautiful mess shows us a few incredible accent walls but one of us is drawn to this rainbow corner one.
  
• While visiting A beautiful mess we had to show you this wall using old picture frames.  
• Young house love post is on installing removable wallpaper, but we also liked the wallpaper and it is a neat way to have a statement wall.
  
• Again Young house love shows us a beautiful painted mural.  
• Apartment Therapy shows us an idea with a small can of paint.

Brush strokes.  Yep that's it a brush strokes.  I'd practice a bit first.

Painter tape and a good chalk line should work for above.  

There is also taking your color swatch and going with a darker color on the swatch.  One of us did that in our living room and looks great. You know it goes as same paint swatch.

If you have a neat idea for an accent wall let us know.

How to choose a cottage

 We had a face-to-face get together and started discussing cottages.  A few of us are renting a cottage or camping.  What are the draws to a specific cottage?  We thought we'd share our thoughts.

• Location - isn't it always!  How far do you want to drive from home?  Know it might depend on length of time at the cottage.  Most of us don't want to drive five hours for two nights. Some people love to drive so that factors in.
• Water - lake or ocean or none at all!  Are you a beach person? A swimmer? Would you prefer to swim in the ocean or a lake?  Do you need a beach to swim or can you dive off a dock? Also some people don't want to get in the water but they do like seeing it. Renting a place with water views. 
• Size does matter.  Seriously if you have a large family you need a larger cottage. There should be enough space for people to escape to. If sharing a bedroom fine but enough bedrooms for the odd person to crash/nap if they want.
• Rustic anyone?  Yes know rustic can be a broad term. For some people it is wood paneling on the walls and for others it is limited electrical and water. We won't get into camping as that is a whole other category.
• Having cottage fully equipped.  Renting a place with towels, linen, pots and pan already there. You walk in with your stuff and that is all. Most Airbnb are fully equipped which is nice.  Remember if they list coffee maker ask what type you don't want to bring a package of coffee to find a Keurig. 
• Privacy.  Do you want to see your neighbors?  Maybe just a roof line or through the trees? For some people wanting to escape this is a major consideration. They don't want to walk out to the deck in pjs and have a conversation with the neighbor on their deck next door.
• BBQ, outdoor fire pit and/or fireplace.  For some people having a fire pit is a deal breaker. If they can't sit around a fire in the evening that listing is off the table. 
• Outdoor area.  Does it have a deck off the main living area?  Or is there a sitting area over in the grass?  What do you want to do at the cottage? Kids running around? Does the outdoor space work for you?

These are a few things we thought should be considered when looking at renting a cottage. It is time, money and energy and should be looked into.  What are your non-negotiables?  Privacy? Water access? Make sure those boxes are ticked.  What can you give up? Can you deal with wood paneling? Your not living there full-time.  

We have rented cottages and it is such a great experience. Change of scenery.  Downtime. Two of our non-negotiables are privacy (don't mind seeing a house in the distance) and water. Not necessary a beach but there is something about water that is calming. 

Hope everyone is making the most out of summer!!