things to love about fall

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Feeling Ghosty

Last year I was so stressed from moving that I didn’t decorate AT ALL for Halloween. Which made me sad (and guilty) because I like Halloween and decorating for Halloween (and because I failed to make Carla’s first Halloween in the new house Fun and Homey). This year, I’m feeling very excited about decorating for Halloween and have already been scoping out décor for weeks.

My favorite Halloween decorations are ghosts. But not scary ghosts. I prefer happy, or at the very least apathetic, ghosts. 

I came across these AMAZING ghosts, the ghosts of my heart, at a local garden center.

But my husband played the role of Frugal Spouse (we take turns) and persuaded me that $50 and $100 respectively for these ghosts was too much to spend. I perhaps disagree, but I am also cheap frugal so I did not buy the ghosts. I still think about them, though. Maybe they will go on sale and I can snap them up?

Ever since I declined to bring those beautiful ghosties home with me, I’ve been searching for the perfect reasonably-priced alternative, with very little success. I have two goals: Outdoor décor and indoor décor. I need much less indoor décor. 

Want to join me on a little online ghost perusal????

I love the IDEA of these tree-wrap ghosts… and have some good place to hang them. But I’m not sure if I love the ghosts themselves? They appear to be singing, but sarcastically?

Maybe porch ghosts just cost a lot of money???

This is a cute sign for our porch, and much more reasonably priced, but I don’t LOVE it. 

These light-up ghosts are nice and tall, and meant for outdoors, and I like how they could be bemoaning their deaths or simply yawning… hmmmm. I mean, I do prefer sleepy ghosts to scary ones. I’m on the fence here.

I suppose I could make my own porch ghost… but do I want to do that? And is a sheet really going to stand up to October weather patterns?

These little lights are cute. Maybe I could use them to ghost up my porch trees?

I love these sweet little yard stakes.

This choir of lawn ghosts is quite charming and is supposedly meant for the outdoors. I can’t tell what they’re made of though; will they melt the instant snow falls?

Oh my gosh I love this little guy.

I find these glow-in-the-dark ghosts quite adorable. And when they are all in a group, the scariest one just looks grumpy.

I like the idea of this stack of ghosts (which also glows) but I can’t tell what it REALLY looks like, and that makes me a little leery, you know? (The one review with photos still doesn’t adequately show the size.)

While we’re thinking about glow-in-the-dark, what about these cats with glowing eyes?!

We do have some trees that I could cajole into hosting some hanging ghosts.

Okay. Let’s move indoors for a moment. 

One of my favorite things to put up each year are my wall bats; so it makes sense that I find these wall ghosts deeply appealing. Do they seem a little whiny though? Would they detract from the bats? How many walls full of stick-on creatures will my husband tolerate? (I hang the bats with wall-safe sticky putty.)

Oh my goodness – a ghosty companion for my bookshelves! 

I am in love with these ghosty hand towels.

These ghosts are nice and friendly – and I’m partial to groupings of three – but are they too friendly?

I feel like these guys have a more holiday-appropriate attitude.

Ooooh I’m a fan of these wooden pumpkins. Sorry. Switched it up on you there didn’t I.

Do I need a ghosty cake stand? With a matching ghost bowl! 

I most definitely want this trio of ghost figurines.

How about a pair of stained glass ghosties to hang in my windows?

This is adorable and I love the movement. 

Ghosty candy dish!

Although I might like this ghost candy holder better?

I don’t really do a holiday themed pillow, but I might make an exception for these?!

This is the first time I’ve ever seen a door corner decoration! Love this one, too! But is there a ghost version? Yes! And ghosts with spiders AND bats! Oooh! Ghost cat with bat! 

There are TOO MANY FUN OPTIONS.

Okay. I need to stop. Or buy something to scratch this ghosty itch. Or return to the garden center and find a dozen NEW things to lust after. 

Text with my husband. Keep in mind that we have identical exchanges about electronics in which I am the frugal one.

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Dinners This Week

Perhaps this week I will post about something besides dinner plans? Time will tell. In the interim, let’s discuss dinner.

It’s not quite fall weather here yet – we have been enjoying hot, summery days for a long while now, and have another stretch of days in the high 70s ahead of us. Despite the persistence of summer – which I am thoroughly enjoying – there are hints that fall is on the way. A few trees have begun testing out their fall fashions, a clump of leaves here or there bursting into gold or orange. My least favorite is the darkness greeting me each time my alarm goes off; Carla disagrees with this change as well, meeting the mornings with a disbelieving, “but it’s still dark!” Aside from a nod here and there to autumn’s imminence, I’m sticking with summery foods for now.

Dinners for the Week of September 15-21

  • Breakfast for Dinner: My husband wants to make waffles, so waffles we shall have! I will bake some bacon and mix up some scrambled eggs to go alongside.
  • Szechuan Stir Fry: We haven’t had this in a while – or any stir fry, really – so I’m in the mood. 
  • Southwest Salad: Recently my husband mentioned that he enjoys a salad most when it has a theme; I’m happy to oblige. 
  • Mulligatawny Soup: We’re supposed to get at least one rainy day where the temps dip a bit. Soup will do nicely. 
  • Ham Sandwich: We’ll round out the week with some ham sandwich, our shorthand for “eat what you will.” Only my husband will eat an actual ham sandwich.

I am also in the mood for pumpkin bread. Or maybe I’ll try pumpkin muffins. We’ll see. I have a can of pumpkin puree just waiting to be put into service. 

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Dinners This Week

What shall we have for dinner this week? I am feeling very much in favor of TexMex food, probably because my friend and I ate quite a lot of that type of cuisine during her visit, and I’m missing her a lot. I wonder how much TexMex food I can get away with before my husband objects? 

Dinners for the Week of September 9-15

  • Fajitas: I love the marinade for the Cuban chicken that Ernie introduced me to a million years ago, but it IS slightly time consuming. So I am going to see if I can find a simpler recipe that’s acceptable. 
  • Chicken and Broccoli: I have some broccoli to use and some frozen chicken breasts that I can do… something with. Probably I will pair this with some couscous.
  • Pulled Pork Enchiladas: I have some frozen pulled pork that needs to be eaten and this seems like a good way to mask its original flavor (which wasn’t great).
  • Teriyaki Chicken/Salmon Salad: Lots of romaine lettuce, some mandarin orange slices, some slivered almonds, shredded carrots, red bell peppers, red onion, sugar snap peas, and a store-bought sesame ginger dressing sounds good and fresh. 
  • Taco Party: We are having out-of-town family over for dinner one night this week and my mother requested tacos; who am I to object?! I will make ground beef tacos for my parents and child and chicken tacos for my husband and whoever else prefers chicken to beef. Guacamole and margaritas on the side. 
  • Chili: It’s football season once again, and football means CHILI. 

What’s on your meal plan this week?