Orchard Nursery

If you happen to live in the SF Bay Area you must make a trip to Orchard Nursery in Lafayette during the month of October.

 I met up with my sister in law there this morning to walk around the Lafayette Reservoir and squealed with delight when I saw the plethora of pumpkins sprawled about the nursery grounds!

  

After finding the perfect white pumpkin we left on our walk.  Afterward we celebrated her impending birthday, tomorrow, with a lovely lunch at a wonderful new restaurant, La Boulange de Lafayette on Mt. Diablo Blvd.  

It was a perfect fall day!

Collected over time...

This is my idea of a collected room.

(image via Design Addict Mom)

Find things you love and it will all come together.

Fall Colors

I've never been a big fan of fall colors... 

although I'm loving the "spice" shades in this gorgeous room.

This is such a lovely change of pace.

 

HAPPY FALL,

although you'd never know it here in the sweltering SF Bay Area! 

* Be sure to check out the vintage fashion just  

   listed at Il Tuo Tesoro      

A New Normal

 We made it through our first week of empty nesting and am happy to say all is well.  My husband and I are finding a new normal and though things are different without our son around it's nice.

   One thing that has helped is the amazing technology available now which makes it so easy to stay connected through texting, facebook, iphone facetime and of course Skype.

We have also established a "new" routine for ourselves and have started each day with a brisk 45 minute walk along the bay.  

We've also tweaked our eating habits to include more vegetables and less sugar and carbs  which I think has gone a long way to support this transition we are going through.

But some things never change...

 and when the weekend rolls around it's all about the thrill of the hunt! 

I love to start out in the garage.

I was so impressed with the organization.

My husband told me the farmers back in Kansas would use old coffee cans to store their nuts & bolts like this.

Inside the house we were met by this enthusiastic 
helper

who was thrilled to see I could fit into these great vintage pumps, saying they were so "Mad Men".

On our way to the next sale we spied this beauty on the street.  Alas, we had to leave it there and move on but I couldn't resist jumping out and taking a picture of it.

This sale did not start until 10:00, so we took off for Sam & Mary's estate sale in Oakland.

They always have the best sales

and bring me to the coolest neighborhoods!

I always enjoy seeing the homes as much as I love finding the treasures.  This time though I left with just a couple things.

Leaving, we saw a sign that read "Vintage Treasures" which brought us to 3506 Woodruff Avenue in Oakland 

to a  most delightful shop called, All Things Vintage.

This immediately caught my eye and came home with me!

Take a look inside!

They are only open 3 days a month but it's worth the wait and definitely worth a visit!
For more information visit their website at allthingsvintageoakland.com