September? Really?

I cannot believe it is September.

I am not about to post about Pumpkin Spice anything so you can relax.

It is still very, very warm in the Deep South

 so I do not bid farewell to Summer on Labor Day.

I go kicking and screaming into cold weather.

But I like September in the South.

A lot.

It's still warm enough to keep me happy but the humidity slacks off a bit

 and everyone in the entire Southeast has better hair days!

Steel Magnolias. There are some really good hair quotes in this movie :)

It is also the month of our birthdays!

All of us. Three in one month. 

(Which means we have to buy our car tags in Georgia. On your birthday. Really?)

It is the title of a fabulous Fall read by British author Rosamunde Pilcher. 

My mom got me hooked on her books and we like to reread September every couple of years.

New cover. I've had mine for years and it doesn't look like that.

September means Mums!!

I absolutely love mums!! 

I could buy zillions and put them everywhere. 

We can't start buying pumpkins this early

 (they won't survive the heat or critters) but mums are a go!!

I love the pink-y coral ones!

And I love, love the purple ones, too!!

Eddie Ross 

And what about the bright yellow ones in these incredible champagne buckets?

 Seriously tho - dead plants would look good in those urns!!

But white flowers are my absolute favorite

(white is my favorite color for anything and everything actually!)

I like everything in this picture and again with the silver champagne bucket.

And our ferns are still going strong around here

 so I like this combo with white mums and asparagus ferns.

Here's a big purple mum on our porch.

I ask Mollie for big mums for my birthday every year!

September means football!! Big deal in the South.

Friday nights are for High School football

(look at that sky last week!)

and Saturday is for college ball. 

We are a house divided and Mollie has friends playing at schools all over the South 

so sometimes we just cheer for the player!!

Years ago we had to cheer for a GT Yellow Jacket (I went to UGA), he graduated and went pro but now we are back to cheering for GT again. Go Josh!

It makes Saturday games a lot of fun!

September is the best kind of month!

from my iphone...

In one week Mollie had the opportunity to watch her HS Track teammate, Kendall Williams, perform as an USA Olympic Athlete (I know!!!)

                                                                             (Opening Ceremonies - Rio 2016)

(A cute post from her brother and UGA teammate, Devon)

(We were glued to the TV - hoping to see Kendall!!)

 Then we quickly bought tickets to go see the Major League debut of a friends' son (Dansby Swanson #2) at The Ted that Wednesday night (picture below) and then at the end of the week another HS Track teammate began his first professional football career as an LA Ram - Go Brian!

I guess these kids ate their Wheaties before school!!

What a week!!

I'm loving these water trough "pools" 

 They have filtration systems, are big enough to cool off in and are giant galvanized buckets. I love galvanized buckets.

They are all over Pinterest... I'm seriously wanting one.

I'm crazy for oyster shell anything.

 Including eating the actual oyster so this birdbath is amazing in my book.

When I'm bored or waiting somewhere I play with Waterlogue on my iphone.
(I know it's been around a while but I never get tired of it!)

My sister has chickens. I want chickens. I live in a city.

I think (pun intended) my mom is good at vignettes.

He's a handsome boy!

It's a holiday weekend... If you need us, we'll be here.

From My iphone...

... randomness.

If you follow along on Instagram then you may have seen one or two of these. 

Maybe not. 

Instagram moves pretty quickly.

 I always find missed posts when I check on my favorites.

1. I found two brass pineapples  while thrifting a couple of weeks ago.

 I've looked for ages and nada. 

Then 2 in one day and none since!!

They were practically black but look at them now!!

2. Mollie collected letters and put this together above her bed. 

She's adding travel photos to her gallery wall and her blanket from Honduras is at the end of her bed. 

We always have a bad case of wanderlust, see here.

3. I am painting this humongous orange-y bed for a client. It fills the entire room.

It has steps to climb in and out of it. Big, I'm telling you.

4. If I were still a "room mom" I would be all over these.  I love their cute ideas.

So stinking cute!!!

5. I am going to give these a try. 

Hopefully today.

#glutenfree

6. If I were going to drive 2 hours to have lunch then this place would be my first pick!!

It's in Birmingham - not that far - so maybe someday!!

Check out the website.

It makes me want to hop on a plane to France.

( OK, I always want to hop on a plane to France, but this place looks amazing!!)

7. I saved this picture and told my husband that it is my dream bench and if you ever see one... 

In my mind you can never have too much bamboo. It's practically a neutral. 

I love it. 

There's a decorating mantra out there that says every room needs a touch of black

Mine is that every room needs a touch of bamboo.

 Well, check out #8 and see what happened on Tuesday!!!

8. I walked in to a thrift store and this was sitting there in perfect condition for under $25.00 

Not the same but fabulous anyway and that price??? 

I'm not sure where it's going but I grabbed it and crammed it in my car like a boss!!

I usually like to know I have a home/place for something

 but in this case I will edit, rearrange, sleep on it, whatever.

9. Love this IG account for great GF ideas. 

( I am not compensated by Udi's but we have tried every GF item we can find and we love their products. This feed has great tips.)

These look delicious and would be great for entertaining.

They also remind me that exactly this time last year  we were headed to France.

We ate radishes there because they taste better in France than anywhere else.

"French - style" with butter and coarse salt.

10.  Mollie went to her first football game as an alumna and said it felt pretty  darn good to sit in the Faculty/Staff section. :)

We interrupt...

.... getting ready for the-getting-ever-closer-craft show to bring you ... ...Football!!!!

Actually, better than just football which RULES in the South,
it's HOMECOMING!!

College Girl was in charge of pre- Homecoming Parade breakfast at the Sorority House so we imported the most amazing donuts ever from a little family bakery down the street from us in Marietta - Ray's Donuts!! If you are salivating just looking at this picture you should have been in the car at 5:30 a.m. with all those warm donuts!!! I'm telling ya...

The centerpiece was created from all found items we had laying around... the University Colors are red and blue and Chi O's is red so we focused on the red. The bucket came from Target Dollar Spot (their July 4th stuff), gift wrap shreds, skewers from the kitchen drawer, scraps of ribbon and I printed out the big red circle (looks like their Homecoming buttons and stickers!) and blue pennants on glossy photo paper to give it a crisp look and put it all together with a little hot glue. Done and done in about 5 minutes. This could be done in any team colors or sports season for tailgating or sports banquets ( I've done a ton of those and they never budget for decorations ... or paper goods!!)

So now we just hope for a WIN!!!!
What more could you want??? Warm Donuts and a WIN!!!

So long, Summer....

Labor Day is the official end of Summer.

It is still hot.hot here in the South and we have long been back at school but traditionally we think of Labor Day as The End. I'm not ready. I'm never ready for Summer to end. I will listen to beach music all year long... Sirius is programmed to Margaritaville... I can't give up shorts and flip flops and Summer colors yet... although the white pants are now retired ... I was raised in the South, y'all. I cannot do it. No matter the temp!

There wasn't enough beach time this Summer.

 Let's face it there's never enough beach time for me :)

But my beachy sign has about had it ... ( lesson here - I obviously did not prime. The knots are bleeding through. )

So, it's a little sad to say "so long" to Summer.

But trying to see the bright side... It's time for SEC football!!!! Nothing like Game Day to cheer one up - as I said, I was raised in the South y'all!!

And I'm thinking about painting my tangerine door for Fall. I may go with a warm, dark greige. I'm still playing with my SW paint fan but I know in my heart I cannot put a red bow on that Tangerine door come December 1 :)  So I'm thinking of painting that door. I paint my front door like some women change purses. My husband predicts a time will come when that door won't shut 'cause there will be a bazillion layers of paint on it. We'll see.

Linking Up:

What Gift Giving is All About...

Gift giving is all about finding something your friend will really love... even if you have to hide it from your War Eagle hubby!!! Haha!
 Seriously, the title of this post could never be "Roll Tide!!"
If you have never experienced college football in the South then this post probably doesn't seem like it's that interesting but believe me - it can be major!! We are a house divided anyway without bringing Alabama in to it.
I am lucky enough to be included in the Secret Santa exchange that the teachers at our Preschool host and I drew a Bama lovin' girls name and I knew this is what I wanted to do for her. She will LOVE it.
I also knew that I didn't want to give my husband heart failure so I just painted it while he was out of town and removed all evidence asap!!
So in the spirit of "Peace On Earth" for this holiday season,
 I just say, "Go Team!!!"