Fall at the Cabin

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The brightest spot of 2020 has been our rustic cabin in the woods. We spent a good part of the summer working on this little house, turning it more and more into our home away from home. Truth be told, this place feels even more like home than our home in NJ. We live with less here. There is just one small bathroom, no dishwasher or clothes washer, but the nature right outside the door makes up for all of that. And then some. 

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Fall Kitchen Decor

Hello friends! I hope you are all keeping safe and well. We are plugging along here. September went much easier than expected and for that I am grateful. But, in regards to online/hybrid schooling, it seems to be catching up to my kids already. Especially our high schooler who has always had more difficulty with school and is on a hybrid schedule. We are constantly researching and debating options for him moving forward, while attempting to predict just when school might possibly return to a more normal schedule. It is exhausting. Our college kid is doing well in his classes but some days are more frustrating than others and there is the constant question of - how much is he actually learning in relation to how much college tuition costs? I know these are the same issues most families are dealing with on some level and there are no easy answers. Some days it is easier to accept that than others. 

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A Reluctant Return to Our Regular Routine

                                

Hello friends! How was your summer? We hid in the mountains as much as possible and got lots of work done on the cabin there. It was very hard to pack up and come home to NJ but our youngest started back at school last week and so it was time. We chose to start the school year with a hybrid schedule which means he is in school 2-3 mornings a week as opposed to fully online learning. It was a hard choice for us, not so much for him. Like many high schoolers, he is very social and the need to have more time with his friends outweighed any other factor. With the infection rate still somewhat low in our area, we decided to give it a go - for now anyway. We will see how long any version of in-class school can last in our pandemic world. I am glad that he was at least able to start the year this way having met his teachers and learning first hand what their expectations are for the year. Our middle son is fully online for college this semester and that seems to be going well for him. He too would prefer to be in class, but his school chose to put all their effort into online learning and, so far, it seems like a good choice, especially at the college level. He's a strong student and I know he'll do well. His girlfriend went away to school and is currently in quarantine in a nearby hotel after being exposed to the virus by her roommate.  She's a very smart and responsible kid who worked so hard to get a scholarship to go to this school and it's heartbreaking to see her have to struggle because others didn't choose to follow the rules. This virus is so much about us all taking care of each other and it is disheartening just how many Americans have failed to learn that lesson.

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Red, White and Blue Decor

Happy Fourth of July weekend, friends! We are home in NJ and have plans to hang out by our pool and BBQ, just a quiet day and I'm looking forward to it. I do have some patriotic decor pictures to share with you today. Let's start in our kitchen.

I've been collecting so many of these pieces through the years and it is fun to pull them out and put them together for holidays. I haven't been shopping for home decor so this is all stuff I already had. I found the banner at Sur La Table last year and the adorable dish towel at a gift shop in the Adirondacks a few years back.

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A Cabin to Call Our Own

 

My love affair with the Adirondack Mountains began soon after I met Billy and he brought me to his family's cabin that they co-owned with friends for the first time. I had travelled to the area with my parents growing up, but we stayed in the very commercial village of Lake George, which isn't anything at all like the parts of these mountains that you find when you venture just a little further north.  

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Early Summer in Our Kitchen & Living Room

Adding fun items to my kitchen is one of my favorite hobbies! Fortunately for me, I have plenty to choose from on the shelves in our basement since I haven't been able to shop in any of my favorite thrift stores or HomeGoods this Spring. Hopefully soon! 

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A Couple of Fun Features - Cottages and Bungalows Magazine and My Photo in a Book!

Hi Friends! It seems like we are on the downside of the Covid-19 mountain (for now anyway) and I am very much looking forward to life beginning to feel a bit closer to normal again. Things have been slowly re-opening here in NJ with non-essential retail starting up next week along with outdoor dining. I think we might be the very last state to do so but there was certainly good reason for that. I don't really miss eating out, we much prefer to hang out here at home, but I do miss HomeGoods!! And thrift/antique stores - there's just no online substitute for those. I realized that I never shared a couple of fun things that happened just as the world was falling apart.

Our home was featured in the Spring 2020 issue of Cottages and Bungalows! It was an exciting day when this issue arrived! I was in great company - lots of great ideas in this issue.

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