trick or treat!

photo courtesy of country living

happy halloween!!!! hope you are in the process of getting festive!

i better run! have to get started on my hair...it's going to take me an hour or more to try to put it in a 20's 'do for my flapper costume. wish me luck! lots of pincurls coming my way...

wine by the barrel!

photo via daily candy

Saw this on my Daily Candy email yesterday...how cool is this! red truck wines is now selling in barrels. You can get 4 bottles {20 glasses} at a cheaper price than buying 4 bottles of wine for your next party. And it can be shipped to your door! No need to go to the liquor store. Plus, you can buy one of these adorable tags from popptags to hang around the nozzle...

sale reminder!!!! 15% off til this saturday!

don't forget...we are having a birthday sale

til this saturday halloween night 10/31! {15% off}

shop here: www.shopmadisonbelle.com

etsy find: paloma's nest

I have been following every new addition to paloma's nest ever since I received my own beautifully handmade dish as a gift for my birthday a few years back. I absolutely adore these pieces, and they are the perfect safekeeping for rings...As a matter of fact, designer Caroline Colom Vasquez was the first to create these lil beauties for ring bearers to carry in weddings instead of the traditional wedding pillow. They can be custom made with you and your fiance's names & wedding date! Check out all of her designs on etsy here!

seasonal cooking: squash soup

Boy, the weather got cold didn't it? We went from fall to winter, overnight! I think that must mean it's time to make some squash soup to keep warm. The delicious bowl above was my friend Erin's secret recipe that she made on my last visit...and it was divine. But after some searching, I found some delicious recipes online that may just do the trick...just like this.

But one day Er...I will get that recipe! ;)

alumni love

Last weekend was my college's homecoming {go JMU dukes!} and, thankfully there were so many of us that could make the trip down to Virginia, that it was more of a reunion than anything! We revisited all of our old standbys...Mr. j's bagels, Dave's taverna...and my favorite, Kline's dairy bar, for pumpkin ice cream! And, we got to see all the new things popping up around Harrisonburg. It is so awesome to see how far the town has come...{there is even a Barnes & Noble now!} I was so happy to go back and be a part of it again, even if it was only for 3 days...JMU is still as magical as ever...

I just have so much love for the school and all that it molded me to be, that I had to give a lil shout out about it! Too bad the football team didn't score once! eek...

apple pie challenge

My friends and I went apple picking a few weeks ago in a gorgeous orchard in New Jersey. Afterwards we made a pact that with all the apples we collected, that we would each bake an apple pie and then take a picture to share with each other...

I am pretty happy with how they turned out! And what a fun thing to share with each other! All this pie making makes me want to go watch the movie Waitress again...

fall mums

beautiful fall mums to brighten up your front stoop...

check out your local farm stand for the best outdoor fall decor...mums, pumpkins, and corn stalks!

happy birthday madison belle! {and 15% off for you!}

photo courtesy of a field journal

today is our 1 year anniversary! thank you so much to all of you who supported our shop through our first year of business. I so look forward to another successful year and hope to provide so much more inspiration and great finds for you all.

xoxo,

Brooke

psst! to celebrate with us we are offering 15% off your orders from today through halloween! happy shopping!

beautiful & nostalgic tartan blankets

You may notice over the next weeks that mostly all of my posts will be fall focused. Not only is fall my absolute favorite of all the seasons...there is something nostalgic about everything that goes along with it: the weather changes...the smells in the air...the turn of the leaves...and the delicious treats & decor that bring us joy {hello pumpkin icecream!} But, also this season goes hand in hand with our shop, and what we want the shop to convey...so I will be posting the fall things that inspire us!

to start...
tartan blankets.

photos courtesy of country living

 

I am so so happy these beautiful blankets are still being made, and continue to be trendy...to warm us up on a fall day, and lay out on the ground for a picnic. I saw them in an episode of Mad Men and ever since have been extremely obsessed with getting my hands on one...and selling them in the shop {stay tuned for that!}

flight-of-swans dress

ah! i need this dress! oh anthropologie, you've done it again...

vintage halloween

I think one of the best things about holidays {and change of seasons!} is the associated decor that goes along with them. Once the weather changes from warm to chilly, the pumpkins & mums sit out on doorsteps, and all of a sudden I began to crave chai lattes.

With Halloween around the corner, I have been on a search to find adorable halloween decor and of course, my seasonal pumpkin candle to light...I think I will use these adorable halloween postcards {above} and place them in black frames around the house. How cute are they! And Aunt Sadie's vintage-labeled pumpkin candles are just the thing to sit out on my coffee table and make my house smell like a fall dream!

Aunt Sadie's pumpkin candles here and here.

Vintage Halloween postcard set here.