Going Up the Country

Do you have a road trip playlist? The one we created on Spotify and listen to most often is titled, Going Up the Country. We are, in fact, usually headed upstate when we hit the road, also lovingly referred to as up the country. That's also the title of the first song on my playlist, followed by Rocky Mountain High by John Denver. I just have to listen to both of those songs on the 3.5 hour trip to the Adirondacks. It's required listening! :)

Fall officially arrives in a few days, but we had a great summer, my favorite times being when we were all upstate together. As our boys have gotten older - and they have each acquired their own jobs and lives -  I am so grateful to have a few days together in our favorite place away from it all.

My brother and sister-in-law spent a few days with us too - always fun!

No matter the season, whether it be by snowmobile or ATV, we enjoy going on family trail rides together. Yep, I ride too. Pretty sure I was destined to be the mother of all boys. I annoy them by stopping along the way to take pictures. Even though I have taken all these pictures at least a hundred times before, they are always different depending on the light. I am a chaser of the light.

This is my favorite spot to photograph.

Same spot, different light.

We also enjoy exploring the water in our kayaks, visiting the loons each year. 

Billy and I love traveling the back roads in our Jeep with the dogs, stopping along the way to pick wildflowers. 

The greatest thing about these mountains is, no matter how many years we've been exploring them, we always find new places. We ended up down a dirt road, right near our family's cabin, and found this old pick-up truck in the woods. How cool is that? Almost looks like a puzzle or a painting.

Billy mostly drives and I mostly take the pictures. Dax stands in the middle on the armrest, always smiling, and gets the attention of many a passerby.  

Back at the house, I put the wildflowers in every container I can. Here's a few pictures of the house that I recently took. It's nothing fancy, but many of our best memories have been made here.

Summer always seems to come to an end too quickly but we're looking forward to leaf peeping "up the country" this year. Do you have any road trips planned for fall?  I've been busy decorating my house here in NJ for fall and I will share those pics soon.

Our Summer So Far

Hello! Oh my gosh, I have neglected this blog and I feel terrible about it. I don't even have a good excuse, other than, you know - LIFE. And Instagram, which I love, but will never completely replace blogging for me. This little blog is what started my home decor journey and I am not going to let it go. So, let's catch up a bit, shall we? Let's start where all things begin - in the home.

Adding Layers of Color to our Home

Hello friends! How has your late Spring been going? Mine has been busy! My youngest was playing 2 sports (lacrosse and track) while finishing up his middle school years and my middle son is finishing his senior year of high school. Lots of fun milestones and activities around here and I have to admit that I am looking forward to those quieter Summer days by the pool in the not-so-distant future. But first, I need to get through a senior prom, 2 graduations and a magazine photo shoot - all within the next week and a half. As for our house, I've been completing lots of little projects to add lots of color to our space!

Library Card Catalog TV Stand

Hello friends! I recently gave our family room a bit of a makeover and I'm excited to share it with you today. If you are following along on Instagram (where I post much more frequently - you can find me here), you already saw a picture or two but I will share more of the room in this post. I mentioned in an blog post earlier this year that I was looking for a vintage piece of furniture for our family room television. I'd grown tired of the look of the big white wall unit that housed our tv. I've been scouring Craigslist for an old card catalog or apothecary cabinet with no luck. I will keep looking, but in the meantime, I found something that I thought could work on Amazon. You can find it (affiliate link) here.

Spring in Our Family & Mud Rooms

I went all out with Spring decor this year because I am just so ready for the warmer weather. I added a few things from my collection of Spring items to our mudroom for fun. It's been a few days since I took these pictures but it still looks pretty much like this - with the addition of a bunch of Spring sports items strewn everywhere. Moms, I know you can relate. This is a very busy season for kids as they finish up the school year!

A Quick Powder Room Update

We've been in our current home close to 12 years now and some of the projects we completed when we first moved here are already feeling a little dated. We have a small powder room just off of our (also small) mudroom that we decided to give a little bit of an update. This ends up being the bathroom that we use often along with our guests, so even though it's small, it is a well used space.

A Bit of Spring

Hello friends and Happy Weekend! I usually don't do much decorating for Spring but this year, I am so anxious for warmer weather, that I seem to have gone all out. Try not to notice the snow on the ground in many of these pictures. As I type this, it is a delightful 70 degrees and my yard is a muddy mess of melting snow. I'm not complaining - even as my dogs track mud inside every. single. time they come in from outside!