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Archives for October 2017

Things that go Bump in the Night (and in the Day too…)

Do you believe in ghosts?

I have always had this fear/wish to find myself living in an old haunted house some day.  Ghost stories have captivated me for as long as I can remember – but I’m not sure if I would be terrified or fascinated to find myself living with someone stuck between the “here” and the “hereafter”.  Probably both, although if I had to guess, I think I would likely lean a little more toward the terrified side.  I may love a good scary movie, but that’s because I can tell myself it’s just a movie.

One day years ago, I was having lunch with my aunt and a few of her friends when for some reason they all started telling their own personal ghost stories.  Stories about music playing from radios that weren’t turned on, and keys that would go missing and then just show up in the middle of the floor, and phantom dogs, and mysterious knocks on the door at night.  I can remember sitting at that table thinking, “this is the best day ever!”  Their stories were so darn good.

Truth be told, I’m not even sure I one hundred percent believe ghosts exist. But I have experienced a thing or two that I have no real explanation for.  So in the spirit of Halloween, I thought we’d have a little fun and share ghost stories today. 😀

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Removing Old Veneer

I mentioned on Wednesday that my cute little typewriter stand (read it here if you missed it) came with a wood top that was not in the greatest shape.

One half was worn and slightly stained and pretty much exactly how I want all my old wood pieces to be – this also happened to be the only portion visible when I spotted it buried beneath a bunch of stuff in the shop.  But on the other half (the hidden beneath a pile of stuff half) was the cracked, splintered, peeling remains of the original veneer. I had never removed veneer before, but half the work had already been done for me, so I figured I could probably handle the task and decided to bring that table home and just go for it.

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Vintage Typewriter Stand

I’ve been keeping a little secret from you.

About two months ago I bought a new bed.

It’s been…what…two years since I first started talking about finding a new bed for my bedroom?  Something like that, anyway.  And I finally went ahead and did it. But I’m kind of wondering what the heck I was thinking, because I don’t really think the bed I chose was the right choice.   I’m blaming the poor decision making on a broken heart.  My head just wasn’t in the right place.

But today isn’t about the bed – we’ll get into that another day – it’s about a nightstand (but you’ll get a tiny sneak peek at the bed in here too).

Because as soon as I put the new bed in the room, I knew I needed new nightstands.  I also knew I wanted them to be vintage in look and feel and dark gray or black in color.  I had one stand (in the basement – of course!) I could paint, but I needed something to go with it.

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Tortellini and Red Pepper Soup

We finally – finally! – have a full week of fall weather coming.  Which also means it’s finally soup weather.  YUM.

I made a batch of delicious Tortellini and Red Pepper Soup over the weekend to have on hand for the week and I thought I’d share it with you today.  It’s just a few ingredients, can quickly be whipped up on a weeknight, and is full of warm, comforting flavor.

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Scary (and not so Scary) Movies to Watch Around Halloween

I love scary movies.

Especially the creepy, spooky, things-that-go-bump-in-the-night kind of scary movies. They’re just so much fun.

Know what makes a scary movie even better? A scary movie that features a really great old house.

And what better month to watch a good ghost story or creepy thriller that features a great old house than October?

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Favorites from Target’s New Hearth & Hand Collection with Magnolia

By now I’m sure you all heard the big news in the world of Chip and Joanna Gaines: 1 – Season Five will be the final season of Fixer Upper (not surprised and not all that sad about it either – last season was kind of a let down) and 2 – Magnolia will be launching a new collection at Target due out November 5th.

And while I won’t really miss Fixer Upper on TV, I do still think that Joanna’s style is flawless and her taste always on point, so if she wants to fill the shelves at my local Target store with all sorts of pretties, that’s ok with me.  You won’t find me complaining one bit – especially now that I’ve stolen a few peeks online at what’s to come.

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Simple Fall Front Porch

I finally got around to getting my porch decorated for fall last week.  It’s been so darn hot and I’ve been out of town the past couple of weekends, so I  didn’t even realize we were already halfway into October.  What?!?!  Guess it was time for me to get my decorating butt in gear and get some pumpkins out there.

I didn’t do much this year.  I brought home a pile of pumpkins and a load of mums last year and almost all of the pumpkins rotted before Halloween and almost all of the mums dried out and died even sooner. And since this fall season has been even warmer than last year (this better not be a trend Mother Nature, or you and I are going to have words…), I decided to take it easy on the mums and pumpkins and tried to supplement with a few things from around the house.

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