Sunset and Magnolia Design: Warming Up: With Fall (?)

Fall Colors are here, even if the season hasn't caught up yet!

A few days ago when it was actually beginning to cool off, I got the boxes of fall decorations down and began the very enjoyable process of transforming the main areas of our home into a warm & soothing fall feeling! (It feels a little funny to write this as it's been in the 100's here in Southern California)!

I love getting groupings of fall colored items together to fill my clear vases and cake plates with. M & M's are my favorites, however seasonal nuts and leaves also look so pretty! I walk up and down the grocery store, farmers markets, and trader jo's looking for the fall-ish colors. I love the process!

Last year as we were getting ready to shoot the photos that are used in INSPIRED DESIGN, our front lawn was covered with the most wonderful leaves! Shades of orange, yellows and browns were simply breathtaking. Our garden comes on Fridays and so I wanted to make sure he didn't sweep, rake or blow that day. I explained it all to him, then began to get the house ready for the photographers arrival. An hour or so later while walking past our front bay window I was horrified! He raked up all the leaves, and smashed them into the yard/trash bin. Not believing my eyes, I guess, I ran outside to see where the leaves were! (Um, where did I think they went?) He said I'm so sorry, I forgot what you said! (Ugh, that was like 45 minutes ago, ugh, ugh, again ugh!) Oh, well, I thought it's just leaves I don't have to take photos, so I went back inside to finish up the inside. Low and behold, while washing my hands at the front sink, I see the gardner half way up our huge tree shaking the tree to try to make the leaves fall. (I'm seriously not making this up) I ran out to tell him to get down, he could get hurt! No big deal. I was hysterically laughing later!

One year when I couldn't decorate for fall...my daughter said to me, mom where are all the ceramic pumpkins and those fluffy leafy things you put on the mantle? Where are all the pictures of us with the pumpkins? Where are the dishes of candy corns & M&M's? Hey what's with nothing on the front door? Huh, I thought. She actually noticed all those years of "Fall" decor? Who'd have thought it? Not, me. I thought I loved it so much, and it made me so happy that it was worth all the puttering and placing things lovingly just so, but not sure all the people in my family did. But Hannah did. She said it just didn't feel like home without those touches for fall. So, out the boxes came, with the dust from the construction and all! I haphazardly put them out, so it would resemble our usual, but no. She said that isn't everything, and you usually do this, and that.

My encouragement to you today is simple: The little things do matter.

The little note to tell your friend thank-you. A note in your child's lunch, an email or facebook (if you are super hip) to say how much you appreciate an effort, and a simple glass bowl filled with candy corns. Who'd have thought!

I'll post some more fall ideas from this year, in a few days! For Now:

You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world’s happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime. Dale Carnegie