~I could listen to her over and over and over again~

make sure to turn off my blogger music on the bottom

right of this page before listening.

xoxo

~what I'm cooking today~

~apple cake with brown sugar glaze~
Ingredients
Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups finely chopped apples
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Brown Sugar Glaze
1 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 9x13-inch pan and set aside.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until light and foamy. Add the oil and vanilla and mix well. Stir in the flour mixture with a spoon and continue stirring the batter til the flour disappears. Add the apples and nuts; mix well. Scrape the batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set the cake on a wire rack.

While the cake is still hot, prepare the glaze.  Combine the brown sugar, butter, vanilla and heavy cream in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Continue cooking for 3 minutes. Spoon the hot glaze over the still warm cake. Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving straight from the pan. 

The kids start school tomorrow. 

It's Savannah's first year of Jr. High school.

I can't believe it, where did the time go.

I'm a little sad to see summer come to a end. I always get a little emotional at this time.

I think I get a little spoiled with the kids being at home and I start to get sad that I won't have them all to myself every day.

Today we meet Cody's teacher and drop supplies off in the classroom.

Then we are off to the state fair. Our one last hurrah before school starts tomorrow.

I hope you are all having a great day!
xoxo

~free business card offer from minted, a giveaway, and a giveaway winner!~

 Have you ever heard of Minted?

Minted is a website where you can create personalized holiday cards, business cards, stationary, and wedding invitations.

Today they are offering my sweet savannah readers 25 free business cards!

 Here are some of my personal favorites.

There is a wide variety of color choices for each card as well.

Minted has amazing adorable designs for moms, easy shop owners, interior designers....people with aspiring small businesses. 

 There is a wide variety to choose from.

 Click here to see them all!

 Want to see which ones I chose? 

What do you think?

Are you ready to make your free business cards?

Click here to get started.

How would you also like to win matching stationary? 

If you leave a comment below with which business cards you selected, you will be entered to win a 25 piece matching stationary set!

Don't forget, they also have great holiday cards!

I will select a winner on Friday!

And now, for the winner of the Cabbages & Roses book..........

Erin from Rare and Beautiful Treasures!

Congrats Erin! Pls. email me at lakeliving4@msn.com with your address!

Happy Monday!

xoxo

~I'm ready for fall y'all~

 As much as I love lazy summer days, I am really a fall girl at heart.

I'm ready, bring it on......

 all photos via pinterest.

xoxo

~cabbages and roses~{and a giveaway winner}

 Cabbages and Roses has just launched the Northcote Range of quilting fabrics with MODA at the Quilt Market in Salt Lake City, UT.  It’s a beautiful vintage floral collection, with some wonderful bold stripes and motifs as well…and this will be the first time fabric from Cabbages & Roses will be available in America!

 They sent me some of these great blue fabrics to play around with and I wanted to share with you what I came up with. I just love florals, as well as stripes, so I was super excited to work with it.

I chose to put it on the seats, fronts, and backs of these great vintage parlor chairs.

{these will be coming to ruffles and rust shortly if you are interested in purchasing them}

 I love mixing and matching fabrics, and the colors in these fabrics, although slightly different, compliment each other well.

 Cabbages and roses has a blog you can see here.

To see their website and order fabric, go here.

And the winner of the silpada giveaway from the independent consultant Lucy Donnely is:

Cortney from Faith. Home. Love!

Congrats!

Now, how about another giveaway?

Why not. They are so much fun! 

If you'd like to win a copy of Cabbages and Roses at home with country, leave me a comment on this post.

This is going to be a quick one. I will pick a winner on Monday, because on Monday I have another giveaway planned!

xoxo

~hooked on nooks~{and Pinterest}

 Pinterest is addicting.

Very, very, very addicting.

I found myself online last night well into the dark, looking at gorgeous nooks.

Today I thought I'd share these cozy little spaces with you.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

xoxo

~current obsession~{edison bulbs}

 I bought one a year ago and it has been sitting in a basket in our laundry room ever since.

{you can find them here}

This morning I replaced one of the standard bulbs in a lamp with it, and it looks stunning!

I'm off to go buy more!

The color gives more of an amber glow through the shade instead of stark white, gorgeous!

xoxo

~silpada giveaway~

 Did you know that Silpada jewelry is handcrafted with the finest .925 sterling silver, and is backed with a lifetime guarantee as well as a no hassle exchange/return policy? 

 These photos are just a sampling of some of the earrings Silpada sells.

Would you like to win a pair?
Leave a comment below and 

I will pick a winner and announce it on Friday!

xoxo

~getting ready for the flea, and a winner~

 I love creating new pieces of art.

In the end, what makes me happy is when I can re purpose items I have, or find, into something functional, or just pretty to look at.

That is what happened with this ginormous farm sign.

I found these old sign letters, some are big, some are small.

 I was going to sell them tomorrow at the flea market individually,

{and I will have a ton left to sell like that}

but thought it would be fun to create a giant sign, because you know me, I love me some signs!

I started with a piece of pressure treated plywood

{yes, this can go outside and be safe from the elements!}

and added old tongue and groove barn wood to the top.

I love the look of this barn wood.

In places it has old white paint chipping off, just enough to give it that rustic feel.

I didn't have to do anything to the wood except clean it off.

Then came the fun part of coming up with something to say.

I only had certain letters to work with so it was a bit tricky.

I could have done:

~rooms beds, but it looked funny without an &

then I thought of:

~The goods, like a old mercantile store sign

and another favorite of mine, but I didn't have the room:

~The Mr. and Mrs. 

In the end, I am so happy with 

The Farm! 

This piece is huge and heavy, but it is solid!

It measures about 3' by 4'

and I will be bringing it to Snohomish tomorrow! Read my post below if you need more info.!

Hope to see you there!

Off to go load my car!

P.S. the winner of the Matthew Mead autumn magazine is:

Robin from the Cranky Crow!

Robin always leaves me the sweetest comments! I couldn't be happier that she won!

I had so much fun reading all your comments! Thank you!

xoxo

~making progress~

First of all, thank you for all of your sweet comments yesterday.

I was feeling so overwhelmed and nervous to see how the painters were going to react to taking off all the stain they had just put up.

In the end, they agreed.

We may be eating top raman for the next year, but in the end, I know we made the right choice.

Today I woke up to the sound of a pressure washer.

A pressure washer never sounded so lovely.

I am hoping they can get all the stain off by tomorrow and early next week start on the new stain
{which we would like to look like the house above, found here}
and trim.
If you are coming to my stella and dot party on Sunday I would like to apologize in advance for the mess you will be greeted by.
A really, really, big mess.
It won't be pretty.
I'll try and make up for it by filling your bellies with yummy foods and sweet drinks!
To all of you who were asking about the flea market on Saturday, here are the details.
Bountiful Garden~A Summer Show of Vintage Finds.
Saturday August 20th 9a.m to 3 p.m.
1130 Pine Ave. Snohomish
I really hope to see you there.
I am actually looking forward to getting "out" of my house and relaxing with some friends and making some new ones! Be sure to say hi if you are there!
xoxo

~today I am loving~

Lately I have felt like I am always running and have yet to catch my breath.

~Flea market Saturday {hope you are coming}

~Getting the house prepped for the painters

~Painting my neighbors kitchen cabinets {stop me before I volunteer again!}

~back to school shopping

~making time for the kids in the midst of all this

{last night we had a tadpole die, and it was very traumatic!}

~keeping my space at ruffles and rust stocked

~keeping up on house cleaning, last night Cody told me I need to do the laundry because he has worn the same shorts 2 days in a row :)

~custom orders

and the list goes on

and 

on

and

on

and 

on.

You get the picture.

Not that I am complaining.

Things are good, just busy.

The one thing that has been a battle is this house stain/paint thing.

We picked a color, sort of a darker brown stain, and decided to go with off white trim instead of white.

The painters have been here 4 days and just finished the stain.

Chris and I hate it.

It's nothing like what we thought.

It's more like a paint.

 You can't see the wood grain through it and it's also shiny in spots. 

Not good.

The painter talked us into this certain stain and we just aren't happy.

If it was a wall in the house we could live with it.

But this is our house, our garage, and 2 out buildings.

Yikes.

The painters are coming again this morning to do the trim, but looks like we will be asking them to strip the stain instead.

This should be a fun conversation.

Anyway, after all the chaos of the week, I sat down last night to browse my favorite blogs.

It always makes me happy to see pretty pictures of homes, and friends.

This photo above is from the happy home blog.

Love the black and white stripes and the styling with the pictures.

I want to do this somewhere.

However, painting walls is no where in my near future, as I have my neighbors kitchen to finish up and my homes exterior to deal with.

Wish me luck, and thanks for letting my vent my friends!

xoxo

~what does fall mean to you?~{a giveaway}

To me, fall means.....

chilly Saturday soccer games watching the kids play outdoors

baking 

Starbucks pumpkin scones

Starbucks pumpkin lattes

sitting by the fire

watching football with my husband

going to UW football games

decorating

crafting

back to school

back to school bbq's

fleece sheets

warm blankets

movie nights

chunky sweaters

homemade bread

the smell of cinnamon in the air

falling leaves

crunching leaves

What does fall mean to you?

Leave me a comment with your answer and you will be entered to win a copy of 

Autumn with matthew mead.

{Check out the website above for more great ideas year round!}

I will pick a winner on Friday!

xoxo

~designer crush~

This is John Derian's home in Provincetown, Massachusetts
 I am in love with this antique butcher block!

For the bedspread he used a vintage sari. 

Very interesting.

 Dinner or ping pong?

 The previous owner’s wallpaper is left intact to provide a backdrop for a 19th century tufted French bench & c. 1850 tattered horsehair and muslin chair.

Texan tumbleweed fills an unused 19th century fireplace.

I love all the texture in his home.

John Derian is a genius, plain and simple. 
Wouldn't you agree?
source: American Vogue Living & Australian Vogue Living.

xoxo