Hello hello!  I hope you’re all doing well and recovering from Halloween and election craziness.  What a week!  We have watched so much election coverage that tonight Addison and I finally decided to take a break and turn on Gilmore Girls.  I highly recommend that little detour!  You can’t listen to Lorelai and Rory banter without instantly feeling better about life in general. :)

One of Kenny’s friends had an outdoor 70’s themed get together for his birthday a few days before Halloween so we made a quick Amazon order and came up with the groovy look above.  I about died when Kenny came walking out of our closet in those white pants!  He was a little too comfortable dancing around in them.  Ha!  My kids loved it.  They were mortified, but secretly loved it. ;)

(left by yours truly, middle “mom and baby” by Kole, right by Addison, Kenny and El supervised)

Halloween day we spent together as a family carving pumpkins (we shoot for basic at best), making Halloween treats and watching scaryish movies.  That night we had teens over – spaced around our fire pit outside so Kenny stayed home to supervise.  He was more than happy to take one for the team and watch football while I took Kole trick or treating in a neighborhood that had a few safe options.  I loved seeing so much creativity!  Candy hanging from trees or coming out of a tube from a top window straight down to the kids’ candy bags.  I was worried that Kole wouldn’t have a fun night with things being so different but when I put him to bed he said “did you see all of the nerds I got?  BEST Halloween ever.”

So the take away is as long as nerds are involved we’re set.  :)

(favorite faux garland on my fireplace)

Of course I couldn’t put away my pumpkins and pull Christmas decor out fast enough the next day!  Just SO excited to have all of the red and green and lights up again!  Especially with the time change.  Christmas lights create such a cozy environment don’t they!?  These pics are from last year and I’m excited to show you how things are looking around here this year!

(chunky wool jute rug)

If you need me during the next week I’ll be hanging out with my trusty ladder scaling every wall of my home!  (Don’t worry mom.. I’m being careful.)  Remember my neutral tree from last year?  Not happening this year!  I missed the red so much!  I’m such a sucker for traditional Christmas colors.

I’ve seen so many cute options for Christmas decor this year!  Down right dangerous.. I seriously want one of everything and am working hard to restrain.  Have you seen the cute stuff popping up in Target this year!?  I rounded up my favorites below and then couldn’t help ordering a few things!

plaid serving tray / merry Christmas doormat / cedar wreath with ribbon bell / double stripe vase / faux pine stem / holiday advent calendar  / striped salad plate/ Christmas tree plate/  candle gift set / artificial Christmas tree / plaid table runner / merry pillow / plaid green pillow / snowflake border pillow / dotted stripe pillow

holiday plaid serving tray / oversized square throw pillow / *stockings linked below / snowflake doormat / cedar hoop wreath

I was laughing because the day after I placed an order one of my close friends came by my house.  I opened the door and she said “have you seen the cute Christmas stuff at Target!?”  She pulled out what she bought to show me and we laid it out.  It looked so cute on my bench so I snapped a pic!

I had ordered this cedar hoop wreath too!  We just laughed.  We do that all the time.. get excited to show each other what we bought and then realize we bought the same thing!  I actually love this wreath so much I ordered both the large and the smaller size. And the stockings are full size!  When I saw that they were only $15 I assumed they were smaller or not great quality.  I was wrong!

striped holiday stockings / plaid holiday stocking

green plaid holiday stocking / cable knit holiday stocking /black/white plaid stocking

rustic stitched stocking /red/white stripes stocking / bold stripes holiday stocking

Seriously so cute!  Love the fun patterns.  You can see the size of them sitting on my bench.  GO Target.

eucalyptus and berry wreath /  pine and berry candle / botanical candle

baby it’s warm doormat  /  happy holiday garland/ 3 alpine trees

 wood taper candleholder / red snowflake pillow / light up tabletop tree

These are a few Christmas favorites I found at World Market this year!  I didn’t include it in my collage but I ordered these winter tree scrolls (if you remember my Fall decor you probably know where one is going!).  :)

stewart plaid pillow shams / flickering flameless wax piller candles / 4 plaid salad plates / gold mercury votive holders / Ho Ho Ho lumbar pillow (HUGE!)

And of course we can’t talk Christmas decor favorites without a few things from Pottery Barn.  PB at Christmas!  Be still my heart. ;)  This was a happy mail day at my house!  Excited to show you how I’m using it all.  The HO HO HO crazy long lumbar pillow!  There are no words.

Also my Christmas tree shaped wood cheese board is back in stock!  Another favorite I couldn’t love more.  Mine is the large size and it’s an absolutely perfect size to set out on the counter to hold holiday crackers and cheese or snacks.  Even better it looks so cute in the kitchen for Christmas decor!  Excited to make our annual Christmas pretzel hugs yet again this year. :)

pumpkin shaped reclaimed wood cheese board / white reclaimed pine wood cheese board

holiday tree shaped reclaimed wood cheese board / ornament shaped reclaimed wood cheese board

They also came out with some other fun holiday boards. Love these and I want that cute pumpkin for next year!

{colorblock cinched waist sweatshirt}

Two weekends ago we decided that before we put up our Christmas decor we needed to at least FEEL some Fall air (it has honestly been so hot here the past few months!) so we loaded the kids in the car and took everyone to breakfast.  (My cute top is from Walmart.. below are a few other affordable Walmart favorites!)

We went a little later in the morning to avoid any crowds and had hand sanitizer ready!  We snapped these pics with the girls.. Kole was sitting on the other side of me and ducked out. :)  I made El flash a smile to show off those pretty teeth.  Braces finally off for my oldest!

2020 has been a lot of things, but for us it has also been the year of braces.  All three!  I honestly feel like I live at the orthodontist office.  Between the three of them someone always needs to be there!

After breakfast we headed to Julian (a cute little mountain town about an hour away from San Diego).  We go every year and it’s usually so much fun.  Cool temps and pumpkins and fall leaves and apple cider and pie and fun little shops to explore..

That was NOT the case this trip!

We went from crazy heat to a full on rain storm!  It was POURING!  And so windy!  We got soaking wet.  Ad burned her lips on the cider.  The line was over an hour wait for pie so we bagged that.

{colorblock cinched waist sweatshirt/kole’s hoodie and jogger sweatsuit}

Right after we took these pics Kole’s cute space umbrella snapped in two from the wind!

We took off our masks for these pics, but other than that masks were on and coats were zipped and we were freezing!

Not quite the picturesque fun Fall day we had planned!  We were only there about an hour or two.  We got back in the car and Kole said.. “well.. that was a disaster!”  We all laughed so hard!  It was honestly so bad it was just comical.  2020 I tell ya!  We have been remembering it and laughing about it for two weeks.  Still a great family day with some funny memories we lived to tell about.

AND we finally experienced Fall.  Not quite the Fall we were picturing.. but cold weather.. check!

It was enough for me.  Back to sunshine and Christmas lights on the palm trees and Gilmore Girls.  We can head to Julian again in December to feel and experience snow.

;)