Decidedly cool weather

I bought this fabric on one of those super sticky early days of summer, and today, I think I'll have to wear my winter coat for the first time. So you could say I've had the materials for this project ready to go for a while!

But sewing never sounds very appealing in warm months. It's a decidedly cool weather hobby, agreed?

This will be my second go at a patchwork pillow, except this one will have a winter holiday theme with evergreen trees and happy pink hearts. I hope to start sewing this weekend!

Wishing you a very happy, candy filled Halloween weekend!

Candy time!

(Norman Rockwell print)

Here's a little round-up of recipes and candy reads to get you ready for Halloween indulgences!

A few favorite candy recipes:

• Snacker candy bars (Oprah)
• Homemade almond joy (Joy the Baker)
• Peanut butter and toffee candy bark (Bon Appetit)
• Caramel apples, healthier (101 Cookbooks)
• Caramel corn (Orangette)

Candy reading:

• I'm Sick of Non Candy-Based Holidays (Bon Appetit)
• Is Candy Evil or Just Misunderstood? (NY Times)
• The Artisan: La Zamorana, making candy the old-fashioned way (LA Times)

What are your favorite Halloween treats?! I've already eaten my weight in mini- Butterfinger bars and Reeses cups. And they were supposed to be for our potential (but almost always non-existant) trick-or-treaters!

All set up

We had a little mix-up last week, and wound up back in the Berkshires this weekend to pick up the rest of the dining room furniture. I am so excited its all set up!

That last shot is a peak at a braided rug my grandmother made (same grandmother from the wedding cake and fabulous vestimade rug). She's a talented lady!

I hope you all had lovely weekends. Mine flew by so fast, and last week I was cursed with the longest week ever, so hopefully time will start moving at its standard pace this week :)

For you! Kate Spade Save the Dates

Ladies, I bought these super cute Kate Spade Save the Dates in the midst of my own wedding planning, but ultimately decided to use something else. Now I've got 100+ darling navy and white Crane paper cards that I have no use for.

Any brides-to-be out there looking for a printable save the date? I would be absolutely delighted to gift these to you. You'll need to get envelopes, but the Crane Color Play line should work beautifully.

Leave a comment here or email me at fresh.basil.blog AT gmail.com if you'd like them! I'll even them ship them to you :)

These have now found a happy home! YAY!

Just a suggestion

(More Maira Kalman; I'm obsessed!)

Here's a fun little game to play while you're eating dinner (after you've shared all your funny stories about ninth graders and foreign co-workers):

Put your iPod on shuffle, and imagine that the next song that comes on is a show theme song, and you have to determine the premise of the show.

Listening to this song, someone in this house thought that it should be about hunters who live off the grid in the wilds of Wyoming. And someone else thought it should be a Dawson's Creek type of show, but set in mildly poverty-stricken, rural Oregon.

We also played with this song (obviously the show would be about a darling young couple that ends up with 1, 2, 3, 4 darling young children).

Anyone else have any embarrassing dinner table games they play?! Do tell.

And PS: Great minds!

Maira Kalman

Next time I have a party, I want it to look and feel like a Maira Kalman illustration. So lovely and festive! These make me happy.

Hope your week is off to nice start!

Dining room sneak peak

We're heading out of town this weekend. And when we come back, we'll have the dining room table and its good friend, the darling little hutch!

Here's a little peak at the piece we got delivered a few weeks ago, all dressed up for autumn. I can't wait to have the rest all under one roof!

Wishing you a very happy, relaxing weekend, friends!

Leaves: finally finished!

They are finally finished!

This little project was hanging over me for a long time. I thought it would be easy and quick (my favorite kind of craft!) but I ended up needing to buy binding tape (twice!) and then still running out. It was also way more sewing than I was bargaining for.

But! It's done. And it's quite cute, if I do say so myself.

Documentary watching: strange and interesting people

Herb and Dorothy are a darling old couple that spent their lives collecting modern art on the modest salaries of a postal worker and a New York City librarian. Seeing their apartment made me a little twitchy, but it's an inspiring story about priorities and spending time and money on things you love.

I Like Killing Flies is a super quirky movie about Kenny Shopsin and his family, chronicling their move from a tiny hole in the wall restaurant to a slightly larger hole in the wall restaurant. This made me crave their almond joy pancakes like you would not believe.

Seen anything good lately?!

Halloween inspiration: Up!

Up next: Up!

I absolutely adore this movie. Is anything more moving than the montage that goes through Carl and Ellie's life together? No, there is not. If you didn't cry watching that, I think you might not be human.

1. Nerd glasses at Amazon 2. Amethyst Medley shirt dress at Anthropolgie 3. Gold plaid bow tie from Amazon 4. Tailored khaki by Gap 5. Golden violet headband at hairboutique.com

And of course, you'd need a giant bunch of brightly colored balloons to complete the look :)

Halloween inspriration: Fantastic Mr. Fox

I'm not a huge Halloween lover (maybe some lingering bad feelings from a high school Halloween dance gone awry?). But I thought it might be fun to come up with a few simple costumes this year to maybe get me in the mood.

First up: the Fantastic Mr. and Mrs. Fox! This seems pretty easy and fun, right? You probably have everything you need in your closet already (minus the fox ears).

1. Trapeze dress by Shabby Apple 2. Fox ears from Etsy 3. Roll up flannels from Gap Body 4. Heathered cardigan by Urban Outfitter 5. Jenny Choo at Shabby Apple

And for Mr. Fox:

1. Tailored courderoy blazer at Banana Republic 2. Cambridge tie by J Crew 3. Classic cotton pajamas from Amazon 4. Fox tail from Amazon 5. Dockers Sinclair from Zappos

What are you going to be?!

Yay!

Lilly fall warehouse sale dates announced! Only two days this time instead of four?!

Who's excited?! Book club girls, I know you are just dying to get your hands on some loud pink and green frocks.

P.S. Lilly's Palm Beach house is on the market!

Sands Point + Sea Cliff

We ended up skipping the Old Westbury Gardens on this trip in favor of Sands Point Preserve. You pay $5 per car, and then have access to the grounds where this castle is!

There are a few trails that go along the property, and of course, that lovely water view. Attention friends with dogs: you should totally go here! Puppies are allowed to run around all over and they are even in the process of building a dog play ground type of thing!

Later in the afternoon, we drove up to Sea Cliff, which is the town Peter's grandmother's family used to vacation at. We think this was their house! So pretty. Looking out from those windows you have a perfect view of the sound. There were 500+ sailboats in it on Saturday afternoon (according to our best guess).

I wish I was still walking around in the sunshine on the Gold Coast. Regardless, happy rainy Monday to you!

Gold Coast

After this long week of icky rain, I think it's going to be a beautiful weekend! We're planning on driving out to the Gold Coast tomorrow to maybe visit Old Westbury Gardens (pictured). We also want to check out Sea Cliffs, a town nearby that Peter's grandmother Liz used to vacation at with her family. I have a not-so-secret desire to emulate her fabulous life, so I'm very excited to see it.

Wishing you a very relaxing weekend. Happy October first!