Currently | October Edition

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // October 7, 2015 // 23 Comments

I love joining up with Anne and Jenna for their monthly Currently link up! Swing over to see what other bloggers are obsessing over lately. I’ve got a few randoms! (And if you miss the ol’ videos, did you see my video of summer favs that are on heavy rotation for the fall?)

Eating | Apples! I go apple crazy this time of year. I eat apples all year long, but my taste buds are seasonal too, apparently, and prefer certain foods at certain times of the year. My favorite type is Honeycrisp! And, now that the weather has officially turned cooler, I can get away with having soup every week and using my oven and not worry about it heating up the whole house!

Exploring | I’m trying real hard to visit all the local city parks. Now that the weather is a little cooler, it’s a more tolerable activity than when I added it as a (failed) goal on my Summer To Do List. I know there are some gems out there that we need to explore, and this is the perfect time for that! We are also planning on hitting up our local state park, just up the road, and getting plenty of hiking in once everything dries out a little. And picking up every. single. leaf on the path. (life with a toddler)

Wearing | Plaids & stripes are my every day! Remember that IG pic where I had 3 blue plaid shirts in my J Crew Factory cart? I don’t mess around.

My J Crew Factory cart is looking very blue. And plaid. ? #ihaveaplaidproblem #jcrewfactory #gingham #plaid

A photo posted by Katie (@ktcupoftea) on Sep 28, 2015 at 2:14pm PDT

I also picked up this pair of booties from Sole Society recently and if it would just stop raining, I could wear them outdoors. Since the weather has been unfriendly to suede recently, I decided to start breaking in the shoes indoors. They are a really great eggplant color, they are really comfortable and nice quality. It was my first Sole Society purchase but it won’t be my last.

Admiring | People who have really pretty Instagram shots. I need to step up my game. I really loved this DIY Photography Backdrop tutorial from An Uncomplicated Life. This is on my to do list. A must do. Like, soon. And I’m stealing tips in this article. Plus, that article features copious amounts of Portlandia gifs. Win.

Collecting | I’m collecting many toddler birthday supplies for Elizabeth’s 2 Year birthday party this weekend! Isn’t that crazy? The last little details are coming together, but I’ve got a crazy pile of party favors, streamers and balloons that need attending to before Sunday.

What have you been loving this month? Let me know!!

Linking up with Anne & Jenna

Fall Home Tour 2015

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // October 6, 2015 // 23 Comments

Do you have all your Fall decorations up yet? This is my favorite time of year to decorate! And this year I loved the results so much that I decided to share a little fall home tour with you.

I am not a decorator. And my husband would say that I have too many knick knacks. But making the house look pretty is important to me! Plus it makes me smile. And everyone wants their house to make them smile, right?

Normally when I decorate for Fall, I decorate in a Fall Overload style with leaves, pumpkins and details everywhere, and usually in oranges and reds. This year I toned it down a little. I stuck with a more neutral pallet, and where there are oranges and reds, I kept it minimal.

So enjoy the tour!

The fireplace mantle is pretty neutral, except for my DIY arrangement in the urn. I’m not the best arranger, but it turned out decent.

I kept it pretty simple in the kitchen. I just have one space where it’s decorated. I placed a little sign from the Target Dollar Spot, and then gathered a few silver items – a candle from Anthropologie and my tarnished ice bucket, with a napkin inside. (I like silver pieces tarnished a little!)

I’m most proud of how the dining room turned out! I purchased that table centerpiece at At Home a few weeks ago, but it looks fairly simple to make. I cobbled together the smaller arrangement, which sits on my buffet. Not a whole lot of reds and oranges here.

My china cabinet is so cute! That was a Craigslist score. I decided to display my Fall dishes and these acorn soup bowls that I have. It was pretty and practical.

One of the quickest ways to add decor ANY time of year is with a wreath. I showed you last year how to make a DIY raffia wreath! This year inside, I stuck with a few leaf wreaths. I placed one on the bathroom door (so guests can find the door easily!) and another over a small entryway table.

Finally, dressing up tabletops is my favorite thing to decorate! It’s almost impossible to decorate coffee and side tables when there is a toddler, but I never put anything on a table that is precious or expensive. I repurposed things in my house to create a few spots, like the lantern with the pumpkin and raffia. I also took my favorite rustic plate standish thing and put some faux pumpkins, raffia and a pheasant candle in it.

I hope you enjoyed a little peak at my favorite decorated spots in our house! Decorating for Fall is my favorite from the whole year, and I may just put it all back up after Christmas.

I did a little behind-the-scenes video of the fireplace mantle over on my YouTube channel for Come Home for Comfort‘s Vlogtober series. Check it out!

What’s your favorite way to decorate for Fall? Are you a Fall Decor person or a Halloween person?

Linking up with Tuesday Talk

Menu Monday #57 | A Daniel Tiger Birthday Brunch

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // October 5, 2015 // 7 Comments

Happy Monday! Hope your weekend was a glorious one! Were you like us in North Carolina, socked in by a ton of rain? Even though it made going around town difficult (no one likes running errands when it’s pouring buckets!) I’ve really been enjoying the rain. Nothing more relaxing than listening to the rain falling.

For this week’s menu, I’m choosing the lazy route. We have Elizabeth’s 2nd Birthday coming next weekend, and family starts rolling into town on Friday. So all the prep work before they arrive will keep me zooming around all week. I don’t want to cook! Plus, I need to start making a little space in the fridge and freezer for party food. So we’ll be having some random, cobbled together meals, and plenty of take out. (Hooray!)

So instead of the usual weekly menu, I thought I would share what the Birthday menu will look like!

The party will be based on Elizabeth’s favorite show, Daniel Tiger! If you’re unfamiliar, it’s a show based on Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood. It gives me warm squishies whenever we watch it.

source

We decided on a Sunday brunch time because brunch is perfect with small kids. They come, eat and play, and then home for nap! Meanwhile, I can then have the rest of the day to clean up and relax with family. The perfect solution! Really, a Daniel Tiger Birthday Brunch is the best kind of toddler birthday party.

All of the food I chose for the menu is (loosely) inspired from foods they eat on the show. I also wanted to make sure there was a variety of sweet and savory brunch foods, and all the food had to be kid friendly! Not to mention everything needs to be easy to eat. We’re expecting over 30 people, including kids, so not everyone is sitting at a table!

Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

Banana Bread Muffins with Cream Cheese-Honey Spread

Strawberry “Pancake” Muffins with Strawberry Butter

Baked Oatmeal with Blueberries

Assorted Fruit Platter

OJ Strawberry Punch

Coffee, Tea & Water

Birthday Cake – Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Filling and Buttercream Frosting

(Pinterest, where all my recipes are kept, is acting sluggish. Links to recipes are coming!)

The best news? Basically everything can be assembled ahead of time! I can prep the casseroles the night before and just pop in the oven before party time. I can make muffins and the spreads in advance (shoot, you can even freeze them!). And the cake will be done the day before the party. Easy!

What are some of your favorite, make ahead brunch items? I may need to squeeze in a few more foods 😉

Need more ideas for dinner? Especially since I didn’t give you any today…
Follow my Pinterest board – it’s where I save all of my dinner ideas!

Follow Katie | Cup of Tea Blog's board Good Eats | Dinner on Pinterest.

Linking up at Menu Monday with Org Junkie

High Five for Friday #39 | Rain, Rain, Go Away!

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // October 2, 2015 // 25 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by Katie, Tif, Della, and Caitlin! If you want to know more, read about it here!

This week’s featured blogger is Tina at Go Big or Go Home! Tina is a wife, mom, DIY’er (like this SUPER cute burlap wreath), AND a fitness instructor! One of my favorite things to catch up and read are her Move It Monday posts, where she shares workout tips and moves. YES! Her IG is also a delight. Go swing over and say hi to Tina!

Alrighty – it’s H54F time! Let’s celebrate the weekend!

1. I am a HUGE dreary weather fan. I love rain, cloudy days, cool weather. Love it. BUT this constant rain we’ve been having in Durham is starting to cramp my style. Literally. I bought these suede booties from Sole Society weeks ago… and can’t wear them yet… Go away rain.

2. Despite the rain, we ventured out on Wednesday to our favorite Children’s Museum to check out a new outdoor play space they just opened. Holy moly, it is AMAZING!! My husband got to come as well, and we all had a fun time scampering up and down the structures. Check out these pics from the museum!

3. October has begun, and I just want this month to zoom quickly so it’s all over. Next weekend is Elizabeth’s 2nd Birthday party. That won’t be too stressful – but will be a lot of work between today and next weekend.

And then the third week starts our new church building project! We have about 60 volunteers coming into town, from all over the country, that will literally build our new church! It’s so exciting! But my responsibility is to get them places to stay, making sure they all have ways to get to the site, get our own church members excited for this, raising money, etc. I’m used to coordinating large groups of people, but this one has so many moving parts! Oh man – so anxious.

4. I saw this floating around on the ol’ internets and it made me laugh SO HARD!!

Well done, sir. Well done. In moments like this, only Dwight Schrute has the answers:

5. In blogging news, I’m joining Whitney at Come Home for Comfort in her Vlogtober series! She’s come up with a really fun list of prompts to vlog about, and I’ll be posting over on my YouTube channel. Here’s the first video, which is a high quality “getting to know you” video (i.e. a good ol’ ramble from me), but be sure to subscribe to see the rest throughout this month!

So what were you up to this week? Let me know! Or better yet, link up!

Fellow bloggers – ready to join in the link up? Just write a blog post about 5 things that made this week awesome! Add your link to your blog post down below (make sure it’s your blog post, not your blog home page!). And then grab the H54F button to add to your post! And go visit at least 3 fellow link uppers AND this week’s featured blogger! It’s just the nice thing to do.

And be sure to tag your posts/pics on social media with #H54F! We really do try to make the rounds and like, comment, retweet, etc! It’s so much fun to support one another, isn’t it?

I’m also linking up with Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre, 5 on Friday & Diary of a Real Housewife

Ultimate Summer Favorites to Carry You Into Fall

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // September 29, 2015 // 6 Comments

Have you missed my usual favorites videos??? Well today is the day!

I’m sharing all of the favorite of favorites from Summer that can also pull double duty into Fall. Win win!

I’ve got all the details AND video over at Bright on a Budget! Tif has been my blogging buddy pretty much from the beginning. If the blog name sounds familiar, it should! We are 2 of four co-hosts for High Five for Friday! If you are a fan of all things beauty and fashion, but on a budget, then Tif is your girl! I seriously need her to teach me how to shop. She finds the best deals!

So swing over to Bright on a Budget and check out my favs. Be sure to leave a comment over there!

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