Is it November already?

I can't believe it is already November! The fall is well underway and October has come and gone.  I love this time of year and I always have to remind myself to stop and soak it all in because it goes by so fast.  We are usually out of town a lot during this time of year for races, Thanksgiving, football games and birthdays so I really enjoy the weekends that we get to be home.  Last weekend we headed up to Cary with Lesley, her bf, and her mom to go to the Carolina vs State game.  We stayed with Lesley's siter in Cary and had such a fun weekend.  Her sister had 3 kids under 3 so there is never a dull moment in their house!  Both her sister and brother in law went to Carolina so they know how to do it right for tailgaiting.  We had so much fun walking around the campus and watching the game.  We didn't actually go into the game because the weather was so iffy we didn't want to pay a lot for tickets.  We did land at Top of the Hill to watch the game, which never disappoints!  And..the best thing is that Carolina won!

Lesley and I tailgaiting at the game

sweet girl all snuggled up because it has been cold recently

hattie giving her best 'spooky kitty' face

I have also finished some projects recently!  Something about the fall air gives me motivation to get crafty and finish some projects.  If you know me, then you know that I love to change things around in the house.  Even if its just a picture frame or a pillow cover, it feels fresh and new.  I decided recently that I wanted to redo the picture gallery in our living room and replace it with photo ledge shelves.  After researching those bad boys and realizing my little "project" was going to cost me around $80 I decided to tackle making them myself.  I found several sites that gave really good pics and directions and let's face it, they were really simple to make.  I just went to Home depot and bought 1x2s and 1x4s.  The 1x2 becomes the ledge and the 1x4s are the shelf, easy right?  My handy dandy husband put them together for me and I stained and painted them.  I of course had to give them a little distressing.   I know the picture below is really crappy but they both kind of show the shelves.  I do think that one is hung slightly higher than I would have wanted after decorating them but when I asked the husband what he thought he gave me the "I am NOT moving that shelf" look so I think I'll keep it in place for now :)

I also finally tackled painting this beast of a china cabinet!  It actually didn't take as long as I thought it might but it still needed many coats even with the paint + primer.  I can't find my before picture which I guess defeats the whole "da da" effect but here she sits, all fresh and new looking!  I love when a can of paint can make something look like a new piece!