100th Post Giveaway

Our late summer days at Surfside Beach, SC were wonderful.

There were daily walks along the beach.

On the last day I jokingly told my husband that we couldn't go home until he found a sand dollar.

Shortly after that comment he stopped walking, pointed down and didn't say a word. There it was ~ the first sand dollar either of us had ever found. It looks much prettier now that it has been soaked in bleach water.

Cute & colorful houses lined the beach.

It was a great way to rap up the summer.

Since we've been home the temperatures have been cooler.

The feel of Fall is in the air.

It made me want to do a little nesting, so this week I have started deep cleaning one room at a time. I began with the living room. Once I got it spruced up I thought I'd put a touch of Fall decor in there. It is a bit challenging to do that when your couch fabric looks like the photo above. Not exactly fall colors.

I happened to be putting away a table runner and noticed these embroidered linen pieces in the drawer. I had purchased 3 of them at a thrift shop several months ago and forgot all about them. They are all in perfect condition and I thought that rose & green leaf just might work into my living room fall decor.

Last night I stopped at Michael's and spotted these cute plastic leaves. I bought a bag and was happy to see that some of the colors matched my thrifty linens.

I dumped the rest into a hurricane vase I had and added a candle. This is my favorite room to read in at night. I will enjoy lighting the candle particularly on those cool autumn evenings.

These little nesting leaf dishes are white with a yellow edge. I found them at an antique shop a few years ago. Their subtle colors will tie into my theme just fine.

As I continue to bring fall touches to my home, I wanted to spread a little fall cheer to one of you.

Since this marks my 100th post, I'm doing a giveaway.

I first stumbled across the blog world a couple of years ago when I was doing a search for "cozy fall homes" (or something on that order). When I clicked on a link that took me here I was hooked. For many months I did a lot of blog reading before I summoned up the courage to try it myself. I still remember the feeling when I pushed that publish button for the first time on June 7, 2008. I also remember the thrill I got from my one and only comment which came all the way from Heidi in Holland. In her comment Heidi warned me that blogging would change the way I looked at life. Boy, was that ever true. It has definitely changed the way that I look at life and in a very good way.

Coincidentally my life has changed drastically since I first hit the publish button. If you follow my blog you already know that in the last year I moved my mom near me and became her POA as she suffers from Alzheimer's, saw her decline drastically and have 2 strokes last year. I saw my husband leave for a business trip perfectly healthy and return very ill only to spend the next week in ICU at the hospital. When I thought life was perhaps going to be on a more even keel for awhile, I received the most shocking news of all ~ my sister's stroke. Originally I had no intention of sharing any of this on my blog. But, as I went through each of these trials it was pretty much all I could think about. I decided that maybe I would share a little bit of it and was totally overwhelmed by the kindness, prayers and good thoughts I received from all of you. Now, I am going to admit something to you. There was a time during all of this that I said to my husband "Maybe I should have never started this blog. Maybe it has brought me bad luck because life was so much easier before I began it" I knew I was being superstitious, but I couldn't help but wonder. Well, he said to me "I think it was the opposite of what you are saying. I think your blog was a blessing because it has helped you get through these trials." I know that he is right and in all of the many ways (too numerous to mention) that your blogs have inspired, blessed and touched me I am truly thankful to you, my friends.

Now, enough of my rattling on ~ let's get to that giveaway!!

When the cooler days of Autumn come a callin', our thoughts turn to comfort foods, upcoming holidays, cozy decorating & tailgate parties ~ to name a few.

To help you get moving in that direction I am including this Autumn Gooseberry Patch book.

It's full of recipes like this one.

After a long walk through the fallen leaves, wouldn't this be nice to come home to?

Cute ~ yet simple ideas to add little touches of fall to your decor.

When the frost is on the pumpkin this chili might be just the thing to warm you and your family from head to toe.

This would make a cute centerpiece for the day that you serve that pumpkin chili :-).

How about a new recipe for all of that leftover turkey?

Once that yummy fall food is fixed it will need a bit of seasoning.

This little squirrel is here to help.

He's filled his acorns with salt & pepper.
He will be included in the giveaway.

As the days grow shorter and it gets dark earlier, a candle is always such a welcoming sight.

I love to burn candles and change them out for the season.
These triple fragrance candles are among my favorites.

Pumpkin Spice, Cinnamon & Cranberry Spice.

Mmm... perfect scents for the Fall season.

This candle will be added to the giveaway too.

If you would like to enter my giveaway, please leave a comment before midnight on Sunday, September 13th. I will draw one name on Monday the 14th. If you don't have a blog, please leave me your e-mail address so that I can contact you if you are the winner.

Thank you all for coming by to visit.

Good Luck!!