First Fire of the Season

Happy Halloween!

Can you believe that November starts tomorrow? This year is practically over.  However, cold weather is just now starting.

It has been fairly warm here lately, but not long ago, it was actually cold enough for a fire in the fireplace.  That's probably my favorite thing about cold weather.  I love having a fire going at night!

Luckily, we still have plenty of firewood leftover from last Winter. 

We love a real wood burning fire!  It can get messy sometimes, but that's ok.  There's nothing like the warmth of a blazing fire in the fireplace.

 

Have you had a fire in your fireplace yet?  

Hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween today.
  

My son is dressing up as a zombie doctor!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Dian Mayasari ~

My New Finds

Hello everyone!

In my last post, I took you on a tour of the Country Living Fair.  Well, I wanted to show you what I brought home with me from that fair.  And boy, let me tell you, I could've brought home A LOT more if money was no object!  LOL!

This is the first thing I found.

There is a back story to this birdhouse.

This is a birdhouse that I actually once had outside on a post in my backyard!  It ended up deteriorating after many years, so we tossed it.  (I got it as a hostess gift for having a Southern Living at Home party at my house many years ago.  I mean MANY years ago!)  So, when I saw this one for sale, I decided to grab it. Only this time, I'm using it indoors.  This has already been used outdoors which is why you see some age on it.  That makes me love it even more though. 

I placed it on my fireplace mantel.

   

Next, I found this gorgeous grey and white checked pillow with a down insert.

I placed it in the center of my sofa.  That seems to be where all my favorite pillows land first!  

And finally, I found these pretty lavender bundles that are so fresh and smell heavenly.  

I placed them in a basket in my kitchen for now.  Not sure if that's where they'll stay though.

I would love to go back next year to get some items that I wasn't able to get this time around.  (If they're offered again.)  Many of the same vendors return each year, I'm told.

So, that's my show and tell for today!  

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Dian Mayasari ~

Linking to:  Wow-us-Wednesdays

Country Living Fair 2013

Hello everyone!

This weekend I went to the Country Living Fair in Stone Mountain, GA for the first time.  It was a lot of fun.  There was so much to see!  I brought along my camera to share pics with those of you who didn't get to go.  Ready to go shopping?

I went with these 3 fun ladies.  My sister Kim, Shirley, and Laura.

We walked up to the gate to buy our tickets.

Then, this is what we saw upon entering.

Then, we walked around to visit all the booths.

(Warning!  Lots of pictures ahead.)

There were homemade breads.

And homemade Halloween treats.

We all bought something sweet to snack on from this booth.  I bought a white chocolate and cranberry cookie!  

This was my favorite booth!

It was full of creamy white and grey with chippy paint and rust.  

Check out that wonderful old clock face and chair.  It was hard to leave this booth.

Do you feel like you got to come along?  

Come back another day and I'll show you what came home with me!   

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Dian Mayasari ~

Penne Franco

Hello everyone!

I hope you all have been enjoying your week so far.  The weather, here, has turned very cold and windy!  I actually sent my son to school in his heavy coat this morning. 

With the cooler months ahead, I'm sure we are all thinking about what good comfort foods we can cook up in the kitchen.  My husband loves to cook.  (Yay!) So, I wanted to share this recipe with you that he cooked the other night.  It is from Carrabba's Restaurant.  I will attach a link to the printable recipe at the end of this post.  

First, you start with these ingredients.

boneless chicken breasts, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, kalamata olives, garlic, penne pasta

You first want to prepare your chicken to go on the grill.

Then grill your chicken.

Cut-up your chicken into bite size pieces and cut-up your sun dried tomatoes.

Saute the mushrooms.

Begin boiling your pasta.

Saute your garlic and sun-dried tomatoes  in some olive oil.

Add the cooked pasta to all other ingredients to cook together in the pan.

After it's cooked it will look like this.

Then serve with garlic bread and top with shredded cheese if desired.

It was very good!  We didn't add any cheese to ours because we forgot to buy it!  LOL!  But, fresh shredded Parmesan cheese would've been perfect on it.

Click HERE for printable recipe.

Bon Appetit!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

~ Dian Mayasari ~

Gold Rush Days Festival

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for all of your words of support while my son is away at boot camp.  I really cherished reading them all.  I'm finally feeling better and able to cope with him not being home for awhile.  Last week was TOUGH!  I am trying to stay busy while he is away, so we all went to a Fall festival this weekend.

Have you ever heard of Gold Rush Days?  It's very well known if you live in GA.  It is in the North GA mountains of Dahlonega.  That is only about 40 minutes from our house.  It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and comfortable temps.

Warning!  Picture overload ahead!

This town is an old gold mining town.  That's why it's named Gold Rush Days.

Here are some people panning for gold!

There were lots of booths with crafts for sale.

I thought this lavender was a good price.

Cute bird houses for sale.

Fall decorations for sale.

There was plenty to eat too!  

Here is my son on his second helping of food!  He ate a hot dog and then asked for some chicken fingers.  I had a hot dog and fries and my husband had some BBQ.

The town is full of pretty old buildings too.

Here is a restaurant with  gorgeous greenery hanging off the balcony.

And the old courthouse is now a museum.

Many people brought their dogs too. They were everywhere!  We left ours at home though.

We found this pretty memorial garden in the town too.

Overall, it was a fun day to get out of the house and get some fresh air in the mountains.

What did you do this weekend?

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Dian Mayasari ~