Fall Check-In and Fall Favorites

Hey everyone. I have been busy working on 11MLWellness.com but I didn’t want to completely neglect things over here. I haven’t been posting as much as it has been a pretty busy fall for our family and I am in the final stage of my holistic nutrition certification. Christy is also popping in when she can too, so thank you for not giving up on us. Today I thought I’d share some Fall entertaining favorites with Thanksgiving coming up in just a few short weeks.

Here is a bit of a home update first, I am wrapping up our summer garden and it was a pretty good run. We’re still getting tomatoes and peppers and since we’re having some warm weather this week I think things will grow a bit longer than they usually would. Also, our chickens seem to be thriving, my husband is the one who takes care of them but we have quickly come to appreciate having the fresh eggs and it’s always nice to have them to share when we can. I will tell you, having chickens is much more expensive than buying eggs in the store, not to mention all the work that goes into them. There are benefits of course, but if you are considering getting them let me be clear about the realities.

The bulk of my home projects recently, which if you follow us on Instagram you may have seen, have been small organizational projects mostly in our kitchen. With less available big chunks of time it’s been gratifying to overhaul a cabinet or a drawer even when I don’t have time for a larger project. Some of the small things I have done are add these dividers to separate my pan lids from the pans in the drawers, overhaul our medicine and first aid cabinet using these stacking bins which gave me twice the space, and I added a pretty new set of soap bottles by my kitchen sink.

Also, I am not sure I have ever shared this blue and white kitchen mat, but I should. Not only is it decorative and cheerful with the pop of color in my white kitchen, but its so much easier on your feet, especially when washing dishes. I was a little disappointed in it initially since it seemed to pick up dirt pretty quickly (especially in front of a sink) until I realized how easy it is to clean. Every few months now I just scrub it off with a brush and some laundry Oxi-Clean and spray it down with the hose, and it looks brand new. It’s on sale right now too so I thought I’d mention it!

I feel like the holidays are coming so fast, not to rush the fall. I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving and having all my family together in our home. Last year our kitchen was being renovated and I was getting over Covid so it didn’t really feel like a traditional holiday, so I feel even more excited about this year.

I included a graphic above with some of my favorite Thanksgiving items for this year, I look forward to setting a pretty fall-themed table. I have a few of the Spode Delamere plates, but would love more so I have enough for all my guests, I think this every year! The napkins are a great price for the set and would be perfect for Thanksgiving.

I splurged last year on these French wine glasses from a local store that imports this brand and I paid much more than they are here. I love that these glasses are heavy enough that they can handle both wine or be used for a water glass, and even better they seem to do just fine in the dishwasher.

I bought this everyday tablecloth a few years ago (it’s in this Friendsgiving post) and it’s a great price and a nice neutral color for Fall. It’s holding up great and doesn’t wrinkle easily either. I also have had some dried wheat stalks that I use year over year for Thanksgiving. Also, velvet pumpkins return year after year as a fall decor favorite and it’s nice that the price has come down, I thought the colors in this set were beautiful.

A few years ago I finally replaced my everyday flatware set, we just had too many missing pieces. I wouldn’t recommend the one I actually purchased, it was flimsy, but this one is a good brand and a nice price for an 8-person set.

Also these faux taper candles that are battery-operated, are so much safer (and better for the air quality) than regular wax candles. You can reuse them too. They will come in handy at Christmas.

Also, these colors would work better with a non-traditional color scheme or just for fun but this Staffordshire Dog salt and pepper set is just as cute and whimsical as they could be. They would also make a nice hostess gift.

If you haven’t downloaded your 2023 Holiday Planner you can get all the details in this post. It’s free, and hopefully will make your holidays as stress-free as possible. There is a page dedicated just to planning Thanksgiving so you can get ahead.

I hope you all are enjoying your fall, can you believe it’s almost time to decorate for the holidays?

XO,