Fall Fun

The past two falls I've made paper wreaths from kits.  In 2009, it was a Halloween wreath kit by Martha Stewart and in 2010 it was the Paper Source's fall mums wreath kit--see this post from September 29th last year for pics.  The mums wreath held up quite well and will be used again this year; the Martha Stewart wreath not so much. (Although that may have been because I popped it in my car backseat after carrying it home from my office on the train, tossed other stuff on top of it, and promptly forgot about it for months!  Oops.)

This new mums wreath from Paper Source just caught my eye.  I like the cute extra of the owl in the middle.  This would be fun decor for a black- and red-themed Halloween party.

mum wreath with owl kit by Paper Source

I love fall decorating don't you?

Blue Love

My blue love continues.  While browsing photos of J Crew's New York Fashion Week presentation online I spotted this gorgeous royal blue suede bag.  So stunning! 

Image via fashionista.com

Do you have any current color obsessions? 

Fall Five

The lovely Ms. Peachy Keen recently tagged me to join in on Queen Bee Swain's Fall Five.  So, what are my five goals for fall?

1. Find more time!  Do you ever feel like there just aren't enough hours in the day?  My ongoing goal is to continue on the road to being more organized and make the most of the little spare time I have.

2. Join!  I don't know exactly what yet, but it's been on my mind to find a social/charitable organization to join.

3. Blog more.  I want to get in the habit of always writing four posts a week.

4. Start planning my trip to France for next spring.  (Side goal to this: start brushing up on my French!)

5. I'm going to cheat here and list a goal that I have already accomplished: my blog revamp!  I've been meaning to rename and redesign for a long time, but I have finally got around to it last week.

I tag all who want to play along!

New Name!

I've decided to give my blog a mini-makeover: a new name and its very own domain: www.pinkmapleinboston.com! It will take a bit of time for all my links and what-not to work again,  please bear with me during the transition!

That Time of Year

This Saturday is the first craft show of the fall season for my mom and I.  It's at a nearby private high school and we are hoping that despite the mid-70's weekend forecast people will be in the mood for cold weather accessories.  This past weekend I spent some quality time with Photoshop making new signs for our booth.  Last year, rather than plain text and prices, our headbands sign advertised: Statement Headbands--it all started with Gossip Girl, get the look seen in stores like Nordstrom and J Crew accompanied by a picture of Ms. Blair Waldorf sporting a headband.  The sign seems to pay off and headbands were a big seller last year.  So this year I decided to make pictorial signs for our hats and scarves too.

As you can see from the above two photos, we got a wire display mannequin this year!  I think it will help draw interest to our booth and give people a sense of how to wear the scarves, particularly.  My mom always wears a scarf at shows, and I always wear either a hat or headband and scarf.  BUT: Despite the fact that I am several years out of law school many people still ask me where I am going to college; so often they'll assume that a style I am wearing is too young for them.  Hopefully the generic (age-less) mannequin will help people better visualize. 

On a side note: I stopped into a nearby Target briefly on Saturday afternoon as I was curious to see if they had any Missoni left: they had one display at the front of women's clothing: 10 or so pairs of children's ballet flats and wellies, 2 baby onesies, 1 pair of tights, and 1 silk robe.  I understand that the collection has been incredibly popular but considering they advertised it as available through mid-October you'd think they would plan ahead and have additional stock ready.  There was no evidence of any homegoods at all.

Vivid Poppy

I am absolutely enamored with this color, J Crew calls it vivid poppy, for fall. While shopping on Wednesday evening, I made the Natasha top in this color mine.

I am now on a hunt to find this color in a nice yarn for my mom to make into hats and scarves.  My dear mother may be the expert crocheter in our little business, but I am definitely the manager of color. This season the J Crew and Lilly Pulitzer fall pallettes are serving up gorgeous inspiration for our color choices.

Bendel's Bags

HB Serena Satchel

This structured bag caught my eye in the September issue of People Stylewatch.  It's part of Henri Bendel's store brand collection.

 

Bendel's has gorgeous store brand bags.  I remember that at first their collection seemed to consist of mostly pieces in their signature stripes, but they have definitely expanded. Isn't this clutch so chic?

HB Debutante Asymmetrical Clutch

And I'm liking this little backpack.  It would be great for travel when you want to be touring hands-free.

HB Jetsetter Backpack

 Have you discovered any new handbag brands lately? 

What are your favorite styles for fall? I'm definitely coveting a structured bag.

Last Day of Vacay

Well, today is my last day of waking up to this ocean view:

It has been a nice and long trip--plenty of touristy things mixed in with visiting relatives. Wednesday we visited Annapolis Royal, first explored by the French in 1604 and settled in Port Royal in1605 (Port Royal is to this area, what Plimoth Plantation is to Massachusetts).  Today the town has cute little shops and picturesque Victorian inns.  It is also home to the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens, featuring various styles of gardens that evoke the area's different periods of history.  

My favorite garden was the Victorian one:

Outside the garden is a tiny German bakery.  The coconut macaroons were delicious!  Desserts and sweets in general are delicious around here--the tradition of a homemade dessert everyday directly after dinner is alive and well here!  I've had homemade apple crumble, pineapple angelfood cake, chocolate zucchini cake, chocolate cake, and the list goes on....

Dress (in Lilly) for Success

Lilly Pulitzer Jonah dress

This lovely Lilly arrived the night before I left for my trip. I can't wait to wear it with navy tights on a cool fall day.  I like it better on me without the sash though; perhaps because tying the sash seems to make it a bit shorter and all Lilly dresses are on the short side for me.  Luckily not too short as this pattern will work perfectly at the office!

I placed two orders in the Lilly summer sale.  The first was this dress and a top I knew my mom had been wanting.  The second order was three Murfee scarves. Both were placed the Tuesday morning that the sale started.  The second order was processed in the early am Wednesday and arrived at my doorstep Thursday.  The first order wasn't processed until the following Monday evening and arrived last Wednesday.  SO weird that Lilly does not process orders in the order they were received, yes??

Greetings from Canada!

Bonjour mes amis!  I'm writing from Nova Scotia, Canada where I'm enjoying a week's vacation away from it all and visiting relatives on my dad's side of the family.  It's a dreary, rainy day today so I decided it was time to sit down and write a post.

We arrived late Thursday evening, spent Friday settling in and visiting, then Saturday we headed off to the Gaspereau Valley area (a little under 2 hours from where we're staying).  First, we stopped in Wolfville--a cute, tiny college town.  We browsed the shops for a bit; there is very, very little fun shopping in this area of Nova Scotia so I had to take advantage when I could!

There are four wineries within 15-20 minutes of Wolfville: we hit Luckett Vineyards, which just opened in 2010, and L'Acadie Vineyards, an all-organic winery.  I visited the other two vineyards, Gaspereau Vineyards and Domaine de Grand Pré on my last summer trip in 2009.  (For that post--see here.)

The wineries are not huge by any means, but they are all settled in a beautiful valley along winding country roads.  So they are incredibly scenic.

Inside the wine shop at Luckett.

Yes, that is a British phone booth in the middle of the vineyard! The owner of Luckett Vineyards is from England.

The wine shop at L'Acadie Vineyards. The winery specializes in traditional method sparkling wine, produced by natural fermentation in the bottle.

Here's me in the vineyard with my purchase: a sparkling rosé.

Cheers!

Mini Mouse

I'm in love with this lovely Mini print by Annechovie on Etsy.

My own Mini may not be pink (nor is it a cool vintage one like this), but it's still my first, very own car so wouldn't be nice to have a permanent reminder?  I think I will have to make it mine very soon.

p.s. My Mini is black with a white top--I affectionately call her The Mini Mouse!