You know it is fall when...

you get up on a sunny Sunday and go to the Cider Mill for some Cider and Cider donuts!


Fall is my favorite season. I love the crisp morning air, the colors of fall, watching the trees change all of the beautiful shades of red, orange, yellow and purples. It also brings on the start of the NFL season, NHL season and the MLB playoffs! It is a busy time of year of TV with all of the Season Premiere's coming on. Who wouldn't like fall???

Here are some photos from our day at the Mill:

Then probably one of the greater things to do at the mill was the Pumpkin Slingshot. If you got the pumpkin in one of the buckets out in the field then you won a free pumpkin of your choice. We unfortunetly did not walk away with a free pumpkin but we did buy two for the house for carving!

Bain of my existence

It seems that every weekend and some weekday nights we are getting in from work, changing and walking down 2 flights of stairs and becoming slaves to this thing that is called home ownership. This has been going on for some time now and although we have seen drastic changes, the end is not even in sight yet and won't be for some time (unless we wanted to hire someone to do it for us).

We have made progress though on our gutted sqaure shaped basement and have studed, drywalled, laid flooring and painted 2 new rooms (one is a laundry room and one is a workout room). There is progress! Last night was a challenge though and this weekend will be too. We laid the rubber gym matting and that is a bear to get to fit perfectly together without their being any raised joints. We laid some weights on those areas last night and are hoping that with a little time that they will stay down, otherwise we are unsure what to do.

We have lots of work to do and have set ourselves a deadline of Thanksgiving to have the whole basement finished! That will be interesting to meet with a 10 day trip to Hawaii, a wedding coming up, and the Hunt (a horse race...booze fest) all before the end of October. We have a little work to do on the two rooms that we started (one electrical outlet in the laundry room needs to be wired in to the fuse box, base trim needs to be put down once we finish the flooring in the workout room). Then it is on to the major room (to be a 2nd family room/den) and then Scott's workshop. It is not an easy feat but I am sure we will come in close to our deadline.

I will post some pictures this weekend once the first two rooms are completed! Wish us luck and hopefully someday we will not be slaves to our house.

Don't you just love these

I was at Bloomie's yesterday and was hunting these babies down only to find out they aren't out yet but you can of course "pre-order" them. I got two pairs of Tory Burch shoes for my birthday from my parents but wanted something a little bit different and my mom said, go look at these then. Lone behold she was right!


I will be patiently waiting for them to arrive sometime soon!

Wonderful Weekend

It was a wonderful weekend filled with a farewell dinner for a neighbor's daughter on Friday night. She is off to her first year of college and is attending the University of Delaware. She was very excited to be leaving in the am but the emotional rush was sinking in that this is it, I am leaving for college, getting away from home. She will do wonderful things and is in their nursing program. All the best this year Lexi! Looking forward to seeing you at Christmas!

Saturday my best friend and I went up to the Woodbury Commons, just over the NJ/BY border in Rockland County and walked around shopping for about 5 hours. After a few bags in our hands it was time to leave. We stopped at Home Goods on the way home, love this store, and I bought a new cabinet for our dining room! I have been looking for some time now and found one that works! Scott and I then went to pick it up on Saturday night then went to dinner. After we got home we moved it into the house and then it was time to start getting things put into it!!!!

Sunday we were up early and Scott went out and got breakfast for my birthday! He cut the lawn and did some stuff around the house. I got some things ready for dinner on Sunday night. 11 people came over for dinner and we had some fantastic ribs, corn on the cob, cheesy potatoes, salad and then dirt cake. I am sorry now that I didn't get a picture but there is none left so you can imagine that it was good! Thanks Bren!

I was exhausted on Sunday night and didn't get a ton of sleep and then Monday night we had the Fantasy Football draft. It started at 9pm and went till 11 something. I was tired yesterday but am good today.

Thank you again to all for the Birthday wishes, cards and gifts! It was a wonderful birthday!

It must mean Dirt Cake!

When I was growing up it was tradition for me to have a pool party for every birthday. It was tradition because my birthday always fell on or near Labor Day which meant the start of the school year. I was fortunate that my parents had a pool and so there were always about 30 people coming to my birthday party. It got into the same tradition for many years and everyone loved coming especially for my mom's special birthday cake, Dirt Cake! It is made in a flower pot, flowers, a garden spade and gummy worms. Everyone loved it and so she made it every year until I think I left for college.

On sunday this weekend we are having some people over for a BBQ Birthday Celebration! I am turning the young age of 31 on Sunday! I sent out an email to my friends to come over for dinner and one of my friends rights back "Mmmmm, sounds good. I'll be there. P.S. you are turning 13 not 31..." my reply was "If I were turning 13 I would be having dirt cake for my birthday cake!" to his reply of "You want it??? I can make it!". So I guess it is only fitting that now we are back in New Jersey for my birthday and I will be having Dirt Cake for my Birthday Cake!!!

Here is a picture of a Dirt Cake (someone else's) in case you have never seen one. I will post some pictures of my birthday cake on Sunday!


Here is to turning 13 again and having the greatest family and friends!

This Dress

There is always one thing I hate about preparing for an event...finding the perfect outfit. The dreaded racks and racks of countless dresses that either don't fit, are too short, are wrong material, are not dressy enough, are too dressy or they just don't have your size in the one that you like and want.

This weekend we are off to wedding number 2 (out of 3) and it is a beach wedding. Well not a "beach" wedding but it is at the Jersey Shore and a beach theme. A few weekends ago I wore a coral dress shown below that is silk and can be dressed up or down, but was unsure if I really wanted to wear it to this wedding not because I just wore it, but because I didn't know if it would be too casual looking. I don't really care that I just wore it since noone at the last wedding will be at this wedding. I love the color of it and think it is perfect for a "beach" wedding. Of course I had to go to the mall and take a look at what might be in store for me besides the coral dress.

This is what I found. It is a Jones of New York, tealish color, with a jeweled detail.

What do all of you ladies think??? What do I wear??? The service starts at 6pm with a Formal Reception to follow.

I also need some new shoes for either dress so please post some links for me!!

FRIDAY!!

Thank god it is Friday! This week with the close has dragged on and on. I am looking forward to dinner tonight with my hubby, best friend and another friend at a Taverne in Summit! The food looks delicious and think I may have to get the mussels looking at the menu.

On the radar for the weekend is the basement. Tomorrow we are going to attempt, I preface that by attemp, to nail in the studs into our frame we built for the workout room. Once we get that done, Scott is going to do the electrical wires(run the wires through the studs at the the boxes for where we want them) and then my dad is going to come over on Sunday and help up get them into the circuit breaker!

Then we should be ready for next weekend when my 2nd parents come down to help drywall. I am leaving that to the Tune men, the Tune ladies will enjoy other festivities...to be decided.

Have a fabulous weekend!