October is by far my favorite month. I'm crazy about spooky stuff. Last weekend was the perfect fall/halloween weekend. We FINALLY got some of our Halloween decorations out/up for our big party on the 26th. I want to turn my house into a ridiculous stereotypical haunted house with strobe lights, creepy spider webs, ghost sounds and all. But I know that's not realistic to live in for an entire month. haha. So we'll be slowly adding to it. : )

A couple years ago in my first apartment we went all out. Hung spider webs from the ceiling, made a huge black yarn web on the wall, shit was glow in the dark, it was insane! I miss it!

Last weekend we also went to The Great Jack'O'Lantern Blaze in Hudson, NY! 5,000 carved pumpkins! Oh man.

On our way home we took a pit stop at Ritter's for some indian corn, a pumpkin, and cider - they have theee best apple cider. But that didn't last too long.

The remainder of the month will be spent watching scary movies and adding to my plethora of halloween decorations to prep for our big party. Just wait until you see the dogs' costumes : )

 ~ Samantha

Baby Brother

So my brother is graduating high school in the spring. He's growing up too fast. It's weird for me. It was fun to do his senior photos, though. Obviously my fam is redneck and there HAD to be cam shots. : )

We have a family member that has a hidden gem in our suburbs. They have a mini farm with ponies, goats, & chickens. The land is gorgeous.

~ Samantha

Chicago

A couple friends and I just went on a trip to Chicago for Riot Fest. We went with the intention of being spontaneous and not having any real plans other than the concert. Let me tell you - it was amazing. It was nice knowing there was no pressure to go and do certain things and stay as long as possible to get everything in. We left on Friday early morning and got there around 3pm. (It's close to a 13 hour drive for us with pit stops) It was a great time. We hung around the hotel getting ready for Friday night - grabbed some food then just crashed. Come Saturday it was by far the best outdoor fest I've ever been too. Weather had a lot to do with it. We couldn't have asked for a better day. Other outdoor events I've gone to like Warped Tour and such have been in the dead middle of summer and it was always too ridiculously hot to really enjoy what was going on. We were bummed at first because we thought we may have picked the wrong day. The closer the event came Sunday's lineup kept looking more and more appealing, but as the day went on and we realized there was way more to do than just watching bands it was perfect. The event was part carnival too with side show acts and everything and I'm nutty about carnivals! On top of that - seeing Blink-182 has been on my bucket list since I was 13. My preteen and teenage self was stoked.

and we went to chicago music exchange which was awesome :)

~ Samantha

Carolyn & Dakota

I just can't seem to get away from all of the awesome things they have at Carolyn's Closet. It's an on going estate sale in my area who made a Facebook page to post some of the things they are trying to get rid of. I've been to 2 of their properties more than 5 times already because they keep digging out all of this new and awesome stuff! A lot of it is really nice vintage that's perfect for what I'm going for for the new house. Just recently I purchased the perfect piece for my front room. I feel like all my time and energy with the house just keeps going back to this 'collectors' room. It's a 4 foot tall hutch and I'm just obsessed with it. As soon as I saw it posted I made arrangements to go and pick it up. Though the rest of the room is still coming together - but I just looove this piece. 

My next plan for purchase is one of the upright pianos they have. They posted this idea from pinterest (I'm assuming) on how to turn it into something similar to a butcher block. Underneath the chalkboard in my kitchen is just a big area that we planned on adding more counter top to make some more room. When we came to look at the house in the beginning, the old owners had a large china cabinet in that area and it made the whole kitchen come together. I think this will be a great addition, now just to figure out how to get it here…

There is a lot of 'new' in Daisy, mine, and joe's life this year. We figured we'd keep the trend going…. So Meet Dakota! Our new little Australian Shepherd babe. : )

I haven't had a pup since my dad's dog Luke. It's a nice challenge and of course I'm always up for one. 

So far she's been great, nothing too outrageous - except for accidents and the day she chewed my glasses…

~ Samantha

Summer isn't over just yet!

I didn't totally miss it with all of the moving & settling! The yard/estate sales are still going on! Thankfully August is seeming like it is lasting forever. I like that.

I just can't help but keep my eye out for things that would fit perfectly in with my new (idea of) decor. Lately I've been having issues with finding something to do with our front room. I've been browsing pinterest watching hgtv, and photoshopping ideas together to come up with a plan. I keep looking for something like a big hutch or an armoire to display the little pieces that I have. I have a bunch of vases, books, a tea set, tins, & just junk, that is just too much clutter to throw on an end table. It seems like everything I have is right around the same size. haha.

Though I haven't found that perfect big piece of furniture yet, I have come across a bunch of old crates that I knew from the beginning I wanted to use as shelving. I had my brother install those today. : )

also got this awesome mini printing press - in such good shape!

it's perfect for business cards. Not sure how it might hold up with self carved graphics though.

This might possibly be my favorite find of the week/weekend. It already has all of the guts cleared out. Terrarium? Fish tank? Dog bed? Liquor box? Man, I can't decide! You will see this again for sure...

#lovin'life
#lovin'sundays



~Samantha

Painting sucks

But the outcome was totally worth it.

Weekends have been my best friend. I'm able to relax my mind from the week while still utilizing the time to get things in order. I painted the bedroom and kitchen this weekend. Along with doing a crap load of hanging. It's getting hard to figure out how I'm going to display things since a lot of what I have is small. The other two places I've lived it was fine to put a couple of pieces out per season and just sit them on end tables and trunks, etc. Now I have all this room! But nothing large to fill it with. That's my next project now that I have the kitchen pretty much together. : )

kitchen before

 

after

bedroom before

after

We also hooked up our make shift 'home theater' in the basement today. Freaking love it.

~ Samantha