Falliday Decorations

Happy Monday!

So - it's mid-November. And that means we're in the last two weeks of the reign of the pumpkin. And while my decorations have been up for about a month and a half now, I never posted about them. 

Why? 

Well, 1) I mean, do you really care what my apartment looks like in the fall?, and 2) because pictures just don't do decorations justice. 

But nevertheless, I know I'll enjoy looking back on my (last) little apartment before I have to get to live with a boy. Plus these posts always serve as a really good inventory when I go to buy new decorations. 

So here we go :)

Welcome :)

So this little guy is what you see when you first walk in my apartment door, but before you walk in, you're welcomed by this welcome sign:

You're welcomed on the inside, you're welcomed on the outside. I mean - ultimate hospitality here!

My dad and I built this welcome sign (because I saw one at Canton but it was just too expensive), and then I bought the welcome sign and the various change outs. I have one for every season and it makes my heart oh so happy :)

I have a pretty long kitchen counter top in my new place, so that's where the majority of my decorations went.  And I completely understand that it looks like fall barfed on said countertop, but I promise it looks good in person. I also promise that there's a good amount of space on said countertop, it just doesn't look like it because of the angle.

On the left side of the counter you have the lantern and the FALL candle blocks...

And on the right you have MY AWESOME FALL SUBWAY ART THAT LISA MADE ME, and some more little punkin knick-knacks.

If you don't know the story behind this canvas, I basically drew it (in ugly form) on a piece of paper, gave it to Lisa, told her to paint it on a canvas, and this was the result. I've bragged on it every year since. I even wrote an entire post bragging on it. I bragged so much, the girl got subway art orders. I mean - she should own a shop. #andIshouldbehermarketingdepartment

Behind the counter in the kitchen we have two new little additions this year - fall decorative towels! Jeff was over one day, used one, and got smacked. I informed him that towels hanging off the stove are for our eyes and not our hands. He sighed, shook his head, and walked off. Marriage should be fun :)

Jeff's mom gave me the one on the left, and my mom gave me the one on the right! 

Jeff's mom also gave me this little gem from Bath and Body Works that not only looks cute, but keeps my house smelling like pumpkin pecan waffles. Like.. I wake up, walk into the kitchen, and half-expect a gourmet breakfast on the table. Unfortunately, the plug-in does not have magic powers.

So,if you've been around here for a while, then you know this is next decorative section is one of my favorite set-ups. The very first year I decided to decorate (and had a whopping zero decorations), I was home in Beaumont and my mom wasn't available to go to Hobby Lobby with me. So my sweet dad offered to go with me. 

I had no idea what I was doing or looking for, and hello, the Hob Lob is a tad overwhelming if you're new at the whole decorating thing, so my dad started grabbing random pieces from various shelves and put this together in the middle of the aisle. And I said "I'll take it!" 

It's been set up the exact same way for about four years in a row now :)

I really should probably name her. I'm surprised I haven't yet. That's so unlike me.

And finally, we have the little coffee table action...

Complete with fall magazines from Paula Deen and Southern Living :) 

And then when you sit on the couch...

 

Surprise! Tiger pumpkins and mini-pumpkins on the bottom. Courtesy of an impulse buy at the grocery store. 

And those are my fall decorations this year! To see last year's decor click here. Which is basically the same stuff in a different house. Me thinks I need to go to the Hob Lob over Thanksgiving and get me some more! 

And if you missed it, you can see all my fall plates and such at my annual fall scarf exchange recap. I have an obsession with dishes. Registering for the wedding is going to be so.much.fun. #triggerhappy

Okay, so TOMORROW is another Trim Down Tuesday - featuring a fall comfort food. So you basically can't miss it. So I guess I'll just see you then. :)

Happy Monday everyone! One more week til Turkey Week! 

Until next time,
Katy

Date Night: Texas State Fair

"Our State Fair is a great State Fair...."

If you know what song that is - you are basically my soulmate. Because that song was in my head the entire 5 hours we were at the fair grounds. 

So last year, I made the State Fair a "Friday Favorite" - but considering it now holds the title of "top three date nights" for two years in a row now, I decided it needed its own post. 

-Annual Big Tex Picture-

The past two years we've gone the Friday night before OU/TX weekend, and the crowds are shockingly small. And even though both years were on the same weekend, last year I was in shorts and a t-shirt, this year I was in jeans and a puffer. Ah, Texas. 

But both years I was in boots. #yeehaw

Side note: we also always take two empty Dr. Pepper cans and get half off admission. Yes, please. 

So we didn't necessarily plan to do this, but we ended up taking the same "route" as last year. Which actually made things quite easy (and you remember where the restrooms are!). Nevertheless, this is the first thing this guy will always do when he walks in the fair grounds. 

He's kind of obsessed with the prize-winning fried foods. Like the dedication is borderline unfortunate. We sniff out those things like dad gum blood hounds. And he won't stop until he's tried all that interest him. Sigh.

Now me? I'm pretty easy. I require a corny dog. Plain and simple. 

Who's high maintenance now? Huh? HUH? :)

After "dinner" we head to take our annual Big Tex picture (pictured above). This year we almost missed the sunlight due to the fried food search of 2016 - but at each booth I kept (not so) subtly pointing that out so we made it in time for our picture. :)

After Big Tex, we make our way around to the Magnolia Beer Garden which is one of my very favorite stops. It's always decorated in extreme fall manner with the cutest little "patio" feel. And twinkle lights come on after dark!

This place makes for some great people-watching ...as I'm sure you can imagine :) This year a parade happened to be going past us so we grabbed a drink and watched the lil show. 

My future husband is smokin'. 

Anywho - so after the beer garden we head on over to the auto show (insert fake and practiced enthusiasm here). Last year we stayed for a while, but this year we just took a quick stroll. And sure enough, when we walked out of the exhibit there was a fireworks/cirque de soleil show going on in the water right next door! So many fun surprises at the fair. You really never quite know what you're gonna get.
#thefairislikeaboxofchocolates

After the car show we make our way around to the wine festival. We only stopped this year for a potty break, and on my way to bathroom I see THIS.

I know her! I had the same dance teacher for 15 years growing up (her name is Miss Keely and she is the best in America), and this beautiful girl is her daughter! It's really cool to see blown up pictures of people you know in random public places :)

Next stop was one of my favorite stops - the petting zoo!!! (insert Katy vigorously clapping) I'm like a 5-year old. Give me all the animals.

So the first animal we saw when we walked in was a kangaroo - and I immediately started tearing up. I've been missing Australia a lot this past week, and when I saw this guy hopping around, it tugged on all the heart strings. 

You can't really tell in this picture, but he's sniffing my hand and saying things like, "oh hey you hung out with my cousin in Sydney and my bestie in Adelaide!" It actually made me sad to see them in Texas. Let the roos go home, mate.

We had to fight to let the baby goats eat. There were so many babies - but the big goats kept shoving them out of the way. Made me wanna drop kick them into the buffalo cage and give them a taste of their own medicine. But I refrained.

After the animals we washed our hands about 17 times, and then Jeff realized he hadn't eaten in over an hour. (It is considered a BIG problem at the fair if you give your stomach enough time to digest food before cramming more in.) SO, we took off to get him some dessert. And what did he choose?

Pecan pie poppers.

This boy loves him some pecan pie. I swear I turned around one minute later and all four of them were gone. Twas quite impressive.

We always end the night with a couple rides - you know, those that toss you upside down and all around. And this year I realized I laugh really hard on rides.
 Which means I have my mouth open the majority of the ride.
Which means I tend to drool on rides.
Which means Jeff doesn't like to sit next to me on rides.

Do they cover that in premarital counseling?

Anywho - this year we decided to end the night with some carnival games (which we didn't do last year). So at first I was all like, eh, this'll be entertaining... because I have extremely limited (i.e. none at all) hand and eye coordination. So I never win any prizes.

Lucky for me I have an extremely talented fiance!

He was a pitcher in his high school days so the first game we chose involved throwing a ball at three milk jugs (you had to knock them all down) and he made it happen!

SO THEY GAVE US A GIANT TIGER.

Y'all - I was expecting like a purse-sized stuffed unicorn and they hand him a giant white tiger that causes us to walk around the rest of the carni games like this.

I mean, never in my life.

We played a couple more games to no avail and then ended the night on a game where Jeff had to throw some balls and crack four plates. And that he did. So we got Brooklyn a fuzzy pink raccoon :)

And then I was all like "look at me with my schnazzy prizes my future hubby won me." #proud

Needless to say, we had some serious fun and got some good ole laughs at the carnival section. We will most definitely be keeping that in the fair date night rotation.

Then I brought the giant tiger home, and I'm pretty sure my pup thought he was being replaced.

Is that not the saddest little face you've ever seen?!

So the tiger now sits in the corner of Jeff's living room rather than at my house. No need to give my street dog any insecurities.

Ahhh I just love the fair so much. If you haven't been - you need to go (you still have a couple weeks!). And if you've never made a date night out of it, we highly suggest it. It's just the perfect place to act like a couple of kids. Sometimes adulting just needs to go by the wayside a lil bit.

Looking forward to many more fair date nights (and useless giant stuffed animals) with this one :)

Happy hump day everyone!

Until next time,
Katy

Ummmm....woah.

So this title is really the only thing that makes sense for the Monday morning that follows the past two months of my life. 

Let's say it again: ummmm, woah. 

So I (obviously) haven't blogged in a month simply because I was doing some serious vacationing around New Zealand and Australia. Three weeks of it to be exact. Several of you have kindly mentioned that I owe you some Aussie travel posts, and I promise you will get them! I just really wanted to disengage from my norm for a while and get cultured. Oh, and now I have approximately 5,294 pictures to get through from said travels. But alas, Australian adventure recaps are coming soon. 

Then I get home on Wednesday (home being America), and immediately "move-in" to a new apartment. My sweet family and Jeff got everything actually into my apartment when I was still in Australia (bless their hearts), but I still had/have some serious unpacking and nesting to do. I'm very much over the brown box decor I currently have going on. 

OH - and then there's that small factor of which less than 48 hours ago JEFF AND I GOT ENGAGED. 

 Did you see that right there? Like we're getting married. Like he was on one knee with a ring. And said some really sweet things that I wish I remembered but was too shell-shocked to understand what the heck was happening. Like that kind of engaged. 

 Are you smiling? I am. I actually haven't stopped since Saturday. My cheeks are going to be SO toned.  

So let's recap: 

Worked in Australia for 6 weeks

Traveled around Australia/New Zealand for 3 weeks

Reunited with family and puppy and moved into new apartment

Got a first-hand experience to (what I consider) the world's greatest proposal

Ummmmm.........woah.

I kind of don't quite recognize my life right now, and I kind of feel like I haven't quite caught up to it. 

So yes, I owe you approximately 10 travel recaps and 1 engagement story (which will probably come later this week because you people wanna know and I wanna tell you!).

But right now I have to go to work (wamp wamp) and then later focus on re-teaching myself how to sleep. I haven't slept for longer than 4-hour increments since I left Australia. That was six days ago. I'm stinking tired. Jet lag is no joke.

And then now there's the fact that when I wake up I immediately start giddy school girl smiling and so rolling over and going back to sleep proves to be impossible. :)

My accessories this week will be 1 diamond ring, 2 giant bags under my eyes, and a smile that you can probably see from Mars. 

This verse has been on repeat in my head lately. God is blowing my socks off, y'all. 

I've missed y'all, I've missed writing, and while I do miss those kangaroos, I'm so glad to be back. We have a crazy ride ahead of us, folks! 

Happy Monday!

Until next time,
Katy 

Falliday Decor

Good morning! Today I'm taking you on a little tour.... of my fall decorations :)

 I just started decorating for fall a couple of years ago, so I definitely have plans (and needs) to expand my decor, but for now I'm pretty happy with it. Plus, I don't know how Kelsey would feel if I came home with much more! (Shout out to her for letting me play fall fairy and decorate her house!)

Hobby Lobby is my fall happy place, and there's not one annnywhere near me in Dallas. It's a shame, I tell you. So one of my favorite things is going home to Beaumont and hitting up the Hob Lob with my mom. I'm trying to learn her decorating skills by osmosis :)

Do you have your coffee? Is it pumpkin flavored? In a fall mug? Good. Let's begin. 

Welcome :) 

I found this little welcome sign in Canton, and it has a velcro attachment to change out the picture with the season. And this is my October! My dad built me a stand for this one weekend, and it's one of my favorite home decor pieces. I will say it was difficult picking a "flavor" this month considering I wanted to use the pumpkin for fall, my BU for football, and my Texas Rangers one for the playoffs! SO much going on this month.

Aaaaand because that welcome sign greets you on the first floor, you have to have another little welcome sign to greet you on the second floor. We're all about the hospitality :)

 I told you the other day that I was obsessed with lanterns, so last year my mom created this masterpiece that I attempt to re-create each fall. I can't wait to assemble this puppy on a fireplace!

My mom's version looked way better. But I'm getting there!

Ah, fall foliage. 

Then you round the corner and see this (what I think to be awesome) little fall corner!

It makes me smile :)

This little set up is pretty special to me. The first year I decided I wanted to decorate, my mom couldn't go to Hobby Lobby with me, so my dad took me and created this whole little scene with me on the floor in the middle of the aisle. Isn't he a natural!? Plus homegirl with crazy straw hair just makes you want to have a good day. 

My newest addition to my repertoire of fall decorations! Isn't it amazing? My bestie Lisa MADE it. Like with her hands. Isn't she brilliant? Click here for my entire post bragging on the masterpiece.

A little coffee table action. PS that's Criminal Minds playing in the background. Kelsey loves to watch it even though the show scares the living daylights out of her. 

Corner table - I apparently support fall leaves. Are you indoors or outdoors? I mean you can't even tell.

 Jeff's sweet mom gave me these two sets of decorations. The pumpkin scarecrow man is hand-made from clay. Pretty intricate and amazing. And every time I look at the TV I see my three little glitter pumpkins. She supports my addiction to fall :)

And that's my little fall home tour! Every morning I wake up and drink coffee out of a pumpkin mug, and every time I get home from work I burn a pumpkin candle. And that fall weather? Oh yeah baby - it's on it's way. I am loving October, people. 

**cheers**

Until next time,
Katy

This and That

Anyone? Anyone? 

This weekend FLEW by. It was Friday, I blinked, and it was Sunday evening.

 I'll be honest, I look a lot like that picture right now. It's like I'm drinking the coffee...but the caffeine is not quite making its way up to the brain. So we brew more. We brew more coffee. 

And since today is a typical Monday and the brain isn't yet to its full potential - we're just talking about a little this and a little that. 

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First off - notice anything different?

Last night I created a new page called "The Author." I realized that when I look at new blogs, the first thing I do is look at their "about me" page. And then I realized that I didn't even have one! So I remedied that. Because I'm sure the world was slightly spinning out of orbit with the fact that it was lacking...

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Secondly - this weekend I crossed the first thing off my {30} before Thirty bucket list! 

Saturday night, Amy orchestrated a group of us getting together to go to Billy Bob's in Fort Worth! We're both huge Nashville fans, so when we found out Deacon and Scarlett were performing, we were all over it! 

So this picture is not of them at Billy Bob's - but ironically they were dressed very similar to this last night. Nonetheless, it was a VERY successful night and I can't wait to go back! In fact...Sara Evans is playing this weekend. Anyone? :)

To see my complete {30} before Thirty list, click here. 

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Thirdly - we have a mini movie review...

Last Wednesday night, Jeff and I made dinner and [finally] watched Insurgent. I had literally been itching to get to watch this. Okay, that's a lie, there was no physical itching. But I was pretty antsy. This trilogy was my absolute favorite book series...even more than the Hunger Games. I didn't have high expectations for the first movie installment (because I loved the book so much), but I was pleasantly surprised. ...and then Insurgent happened. 

Personally, I wasn't impressed. The only reason I was entertained wass because I couldn't really remember what happened next (it's been a few years since I read the books...), and Four (the male lead character). Other than that I was just not overly impressed. Should have kept those expectations pretty low. 

Then last night I felt like crawling in bed early, so I fired up The Longest Ride. Now this one? This one I liked. It was also a pretty spectacular sinus clean out as I certainly did my fair share of crying. If you love love - see this movie. It's a pretty sweet kind of love. 

OH - and the main male character here is also smokin' hot.

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Side note: This coffee is STILL not clearing the cobwebs. I'm in such a Monday funk right now.

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I want to eventually start a "Wednesday Wishlist" post (I love a good alliteration), but since that hasn't happened yet, I'll share this little scarf I discovered on Like to Know It: 

 I have a leopard scarf (different coloring) and I wear.it.out each fall. So I've been looking for a "supplemental scarf," if you will, and am really excited about this one. Buuuut it's currently out of stock. So looks like I'm not the only one that's a huge fan of it. I'll just have to keep checking back!

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And finally, the girls and I got together for our first monthly book club over the weekend, and it just got me REALLY excited for reading. Then I discovered the Goodreads app. Do y'all know about this? Am I really just that lame and am just figuring it out? 

Anyways, you can keep a running read list/wish list, receive recommendations based on your current readings, and most importantly: share books with your friends! We were oh so book chatty at book club, and instead of making a list in my Notes app, I can apparently track all things reading here! Who knew? 

So if you did know about this and you're signed up - send me a book recommendation. Thanks!

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And that's about all the this and all the that I have this morning. Happy 1st day of school to all you mamas of kiddos out there! The first day was always my favorite as a kid: reuniting with friends, having a new clean planner, and no homework. To all you working folks out there....watch out for school zones. 

Until next time,
Katy


Linking up with Meg