The Handyvergers: Late Summer Updates

It's been a fairly busy summer at the Handyverger house. I'm busily preparing for my trip to Alaska in September - part of which is picking up extra hours to pay for a few bonuses on the trip... like taking a floatplane to see the Misty Fjords National Monument.

Image from the Ketchikan official website.

I can't wait to see it in person! Of course, this means that my Droid's camera simply won't do, so a new camera is winging its way toward me, even as I type. Fortunately, this also means I'll have better pictures of my projects. Hurray!

Speaking of projects, we're heading toward my favorite part of the year: the end of summer and autumn. There has to be an easier way to say that, doesn't there? How about "harvest season?" Either way, I love this time of year. I love the feeling of new beginnings - even if I'm not going off to school, and I'm certainly not sending my four-footed children off to school (although, hm...), the shortening days, golden light, and the cooling evening air always makes me feel like it's the real start of the new year. And then, the leaves will begin to turn color, and there will be that wonderful crispness to the New England autumn. Can you tell that I love it? Apples, pumpkins, cider... I could go on forever!

I'm excited to freshen up the house for fall. I've been tucking a few late summer decorations here and there, though I haven't gone so far as to start bringing out the real fall decor.

Sunflowers, in particular, are my go-to for giving things a late summer refresh. I have a stash of sunflower garlands that I bought at Michael's years ago that come out every August.

Yes, that's a dragon puppet peeking down over

the top of the china cabinet. And a Halloween cat.

Don't ask.

And at the beginning of the month, I bought two little sunflower bouquets at Michael's for the pitcher that lives near the entryway. I realized that I'd left the silk tulips in there from this spring - oops! We tend to stick to decent silk flowers, since the cats just love to eat plants. I love fresh flowers, but what I love even more is having a stash of pretty flowers to rotate. I think the key is to take your time when you're selecting them, or they can scream "fake." Also, don't let them get dusty!

That's our Roomba lurking under the table here.

He's a quirky little guy, but we love him.

Even my vanity is getting a head start on fall, with some fiery color courtesy of a wrap I bought in NYC when we took our 5 year anniversary trip. (That was five years ago, by the way. Mr. Handyverger and I celebrated our tenth anniversary this month.) In case you can't tell, shoes and sparklies are a few of my favorite things.

My favorite, most display-worth shoes are resting on top of boxes of perfume. I collect perfume oils, and I've found that tea chests are a fantastic, pretty way to store them. I've gotten fantastic deals by purchasing imperfect tea chests. The flaws are barely noticeable, at least if you're careful about which one you're buying.