Carolina BalloonFest 2014

After 3 years of missing this Festival,

 that takes place every year in Statesville, NC

around the middle of October, 

we finally made it!

BUT it was not such an easy feat this year!

It took us 3 hours in traffic, and about a mile walk in just to get there.

At least it was a gorgeous Autumn day to be out.  

Not a single cloud to be found...

Then we received the unfortunate news that the balloons would not be flying due to "wind".

Since we were starving and needed to stretch our legs,

we decided to stick around anyway.

And fortunately, the balloons did inflate and start to glow around dusk. :)

We got lucky.

MAYBE next year we'll see them fly.

Although, in all honesty, I'm not sure the traffic, food, or variability of the weather is worth it.

I think with some more planning and experience 

we will do what we saw many other brilliant people doing...

Packing a cooler, some chairs, and finding a good vantage point 

(away from the festival)

to watch the balloons fly. 

 

 

Bonus Room | Built in Shelves

FINALLY posting this! :) Better late than never. 

This project, though on the list, kind of came on suddenly in August.

I just HAD to do something about the empty nook, 

and during a "quick" trip to IKEA, 

I had a fateful encounter with the IKEA Kivik Chaise Lounge. 

I couldn't get the lounge out of my mind... 

I obsessively stalked Craigslist for a good deal and got lucky!

I found 2, for $300!!!! 

The covers were not in good shape, so we got 2 new covers in Dansbo White.

IKEA Kivik Chaise - $350

Thus commenced my speedy pursuit for a cozy reading nook!

Cue the husband and his power tools for assembling the shelves. :)

We started by getting some nice pine wood, furniture quality, and 

stained in with watered down paint to give it a white look, 

while still allowing the pretty grain to show through.

I did a 1 part water, 4 parts paint mixture. 

I brushed on the stain in long steady strokes with the grain, 

then wiped it off after a minute.

Pretty much by the time I was done with one, 8 foot, section it was time to start wiping.

Pippa insisted on being in the photos... 

It turned out exactly as I was hoping.  

White, but with the beautiful wood grain still visible.

I love the way the light enters the room.  In the morning (top photo, below) the sun rises directly through the opposite window and you get this beautiful glow.  

Then in the evening (bottom photo) the whole room becomes golden.  

It's now very peaceful and perfect for reading a book, 

doing work at the desk, or practicing some yoga in the middle of the room! :)  

PS- we used the scrap wood from our pergola end cap cuts as the shelf brackets. 

They were the perfect size and shape!

This is the next project nook!  

I will be painting/staining and possibly reupholstering

 the furniture in this corner of the room. 

Here are a few photos from before we painted and decorated.

Taken when house shopping. 

Irish Pumpkin Hot Chocolate

  

 The feeling of Autumn has finally reached us here in North Carolina!

Which means... pumpkin spice, comfort food, cozy sweaters, boots, and Hot Chocolate! :)

We've been working on finishing a few projects around here lately..

(farmhouse dining room table, painting projects, and some built in shelves I need to post)

and while pumpkin / autumn seasonal beers are pretty awesome,

it's just not something that we want while we're working.

Which is probably a great thing for our projects! haha

So last night while we were working on our Farmhouse table project, 

I whipped us up some Irish Hot Chocolate with Pumpkin Spice!

It was just what us "big kids" needed to keep on going. 

I followed my standard hot chocolate recipe, 

but added some chocolate chips, bailey's and pumpkin spice. 

 

I combined all the ingredients into a medium sauce pan, 

over medium heat,

and whisked it until warm and frothy.

I used some vegan chocolate chips for my recipe, 

but any chocolate can be used.  Hersey's minis are perfect to pop into the pot, 

and I don't know about you, but I always have some chocolate stashed away somewhere.

It's not necessary for the recipe, but since I use almond milk, 

the chocolate really makes the drink more creamy and rich.

Also, I use maple syrup to sweeten my hot chocolate,

but sugar or another alternative sweetener works fine too. 

 

Enjoy!

PS- This coco is good to snuggle up with as well. 

I made it this morning without the Irish Cream and watched Frozen...

Do you wanna build a snowman? ;)

Seriously, just big kids! haha