A start

Last year during the fall, Luke and I were working on the house all the time, so I didn't really get a chance to decorate the house for fall at all! I'm excited to do that this year.

I spent the day today getting started on turning my house into a comfy, autumn haven. When I think of September, October, and November, COMFORT is the main word that comes to my mind. Fall smells, fall foods, even fall football games...don't they all just make you want to snuggle up in a comfy place and take a nap?? I dunno, that's what those things do for me. And I love it!

First my mom and I hit up some garage sales. Then we met my sister in Canton and went shopping at our favorite stores. It was so much fun, because all the stores had all of their fall merchandise on display. It looked and smelled like fall everywhere! I didn't have much splurge money left for this week, but I stretched my money and I'm happy with what I found :-)

We hit up 4 or 5 garage sales, and I managed to only spend $1 at those!!
First I bought 2 books for my future classroom and/or future children for $.25 a piece:
And I also found this for only $.50. I will probably use it as a candle holder
Mom found her own gems: a BUNCH of old albums. She is helping to plan her 30th class reunion, and she's planning to hang them up and put some on the tables to decorate! I thought it was a really cute idea :-)

One of my main goals today was to find some great fall-scented candles. (I still need to go to B&B Works and snag some sweet cinnamon pupmkin candles!!) I found exactly what I was looking for at Flower Factory: Mulled Cider scented candles. Oh my goodness, I can't wait to burn them all over the house! They smell SOOO good, and so much like fall :-)

I thought my new candles needed homes :-) So in addition to the candle holder I bought at the garage sale, I bought these:
(From Flower Factory)
(From Kirklands...probably my favorite store)
And I know this has nothing to do with fall, but I thought it was adorable, and it only cost a couple dollars at Flower Factory. Do you have a Flower Factory near you? I know there are a few around here, but I'm not sure if they're anywhere else in the country. If you don't have one near you, I'm so sorry! It is such an amazing store. They have everything!
(I'm starting to really have a thing for birds in my home decor items...not sure where that's coming from, but they're just really cute! Plus, I love the little saying on this!)

So there you have it...I'm getting the itch to completely deck my halls with fall decor. I obviously don't want to overdo it, but I like my first few purchases :-)

Last year for my birthday, Luke's mom got me some adorable fall cookie cutters. I didn't get a chance to use them last year, because again, we were too busy during the fall. I absolutely can't wait to make a batch of fall cut-out cookies!! I'm trying to decide if this weekend would be too early...

----------------------

Remember how Luke promised me a game night after his Fantasy Football draft party? Well that night is tonight :-) In a few minutes, we're going to play the Friends Trivia Game that I bought at a garage sale a few months ago for $1! I have a feeling it will get pretty competitive! We watch Friends reruns like it's our job ;-)

We can't stay up too late, though, because Luke has his softball Labor Day tournament tomorrow, and he has to leave just after 6!! I'm driving up later and making sure I pass by a Starbucks on the way so I can try my first Pumpkin Spice Latte. Ahh fall, how I love you :-)