Autumn Traditions

Good afternoon my dears,

One of our annual autumn/fall traditions is to visit Carmel Commons. Firstly, we have a bite to eat at Amelie's French patisserie, then we gawk at the Halloween costumes at Party City, then we pick out pumpkins to carve at Simpsons Pumpkin patch. This year we had the most glorious sweater weather as we decided on which ones would be coming home with us. 

We've been getting the most glorious golden sunrises and sunsets which Boo enjoys watching. She celebrated her 11th birthday on Halloween with lots of kisses, cuddles, and a brush.

Our kitchen has been especially cozy with floral arrangements using a mixture of flowers from the farm and the market. And my favorite vase? Its from the dollar store.

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Stay warm and cozy,

-Kiki Nakita-

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Summer Sunday Tradition

A Day In The Life

 

We've been in our new town in North Carolina for just over four months now and we've already got a good Sunday tradition.

 

7-8

We wake up, drink our coffee and see if there's any new updates online. The dogs usually sit with us while we wake up.

 

8-9

Get ready for the day. I usually wear a dress and flats.

 

9-11

We go to church.

 

 

11-1

We have a long talk over Brunch at Bravo. Afterwards we stop by the Home Goods store, to go look for new decorating ideas before we head home. 

 

1-4

It's especially hot in the Carolinas in the summer, so we head home to relax (soon by our pool), drink sweet tea and see if there's any new updates online.

 

4-7

After the heat has gone down we work outside in the garden. Hubby cuts the lawn while I sweep the step and water the flowers. Afterwards we let the dogs run around to use up some energy.

 

7-9
This summer while we're remodeling our kitchen we have to eat out. So we go for barbecue or home-style food. I can't wait to get back to making our traditional pork roast. Afterwards, we Skype my in-laws to catch up on our week (They are out West and 3 hours behind).

9-12
Watch our shows. I never seem to get through a whole show, so we oftentimes pause, let the dogs out, then play. We also visit with each pet before bedtime (2 dogs, 3 cats).
 



Finding Balance

I'm a natural doodler, list maker type with lot's of pieces of paper with every though that comes into my head, it would be funny if one day those thoughts float around as others try to piece it all together.  

 

A few days ago I drew up a chart with what I needed to focus on in my life. In no particular order:

 

Continuing our family ancestry. We have asked a lot of our family for photos, I've scanned in all my Nana's and Mum's albums and my husband's scanned all of his. We've been on ancestry since the beginning of the year and we both have family trees traced back to the 1700's. It's prompted many conversations with family, and I love the idea of raising our children with an annual Family History Evening so they can learn about their past ancestors.

 

 

My marriage is also important to me. I grew up with my Mum and sister since the age of eight, and spent summers since the age of fourteen visiting my dad with my sister. I came to live close by to my dad for college just before I turned nineteen. I think I turned out better than many children raised in two parent families. When I met my husband, I thought my family was nuts, but his family was just as nuts and there were just a lot more of them!

 

 

And when things don't always go to plan you can always say "I'm sorry".

 

 

My husband and I have been in our new home in the Carolina's for about four months now, and when we moved here we knew nobody. We're taking the time to cultivate new friendships in our neighborhood, at church and with people we work with. We're naturally introverted, so it takes time for us to open up. Another way to build with friendships is to invite them to participate in your traditions.

 

A lot of our traditions include travel. Sometimes we're questioned how we can afford to travel so much. Our first reason is we have no vices. Our second is that we live on percentages, and it's by no means perfect, but it's a balanced way for us to spend and save for our future. We divide it up into 40% household, 20% Roth IRA and savings, 10% Holidays and donations, 10% Vehicles, 10% Food and eating out and lastly 10% Guilt free spending money (5% each).

 

Savings also helps us to fix up our home. We bought a short sale, and although at one time it was loved on, it needed an update. We've been in the midst now for four months and I'm sure it will take at least another year. We looked at real estate to see if we'd want to move again in five to ten years, but our home is paid off and putting it towards a future garage guest suite with two additional bedrooms, a sunroom and a kitchen pop out will give us an extra thousand square feet and a reason to stay and raise our family here.

 

I also like to find balance to spend time working on what I love. I wish my life were a mixture of Susan Branch and Ina Garten. I look up to them for their homemaking wisdom. I also work as an interior designer preserving old properties and  on several personal projects like my project life binder, watercoloring and writing a memoir of sorts, maybe one day I'll be a mom, or have my own little shop, or teach more design classes or host tea parties for the elderly.

 

 

 

Last, but not least practicing happiness and health. With all my grandparents passed, and my dad passing away at only fifty-four I've realized life is short. I've come to terms with death, and even find peace in knowing that I will pass one day. If I'm blessed enough to live to a ripe old age, and to fulfill my wishes to have a large family, and to live by my motto...Live Gracefully. Laugh Joyfully. Love Gratefully, then I will be happy.

 

 

So, as I laugh along the way as I try find balance, I hope over time as we settle it will fall into place. Any if you are a master balancer, or always juggling, I'd love to hear what's important in you life.

Fall Reading, Family Time & Apple Cake

Getting ready for the Fall season in Florida is different than I imagined. It's still so hot during the day, it's like a continued summer break. Last Fall, we had the opportunity to travel to New England. It was such a lovely time to visit, the trees were golden and the Cape had lot's of stores decorated with pumpkins and mums. It was picturesque.

 

Sometime over the past year or so I heard about Susan Branch, the watercolor artist and author on Martha's Vineyard. She has a quaint life, and has just finished her latest book 'A Fine Romance'. As a treat, I bought Susan's first book, Heart of The Home and it's just arrived, there's lot's of recipes I hope to try this Fall.



Here's a list of fun family things to do this Fall:

via

 

Here's a recipe, I'm going to be trying out this Fall.

Mom's Tupp Apple Cake via Tartelette

Notes: if you do not intend to make a gluten free cake, replace all the gluten free flours (rice, tapioca, sorghum) with 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour.
The cake bakes in two separate times: first for 10 minutes, the remove it from the oven to add the cream topping and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
I added cardamom just because it reminds me even more of my mom but you can skip that part or add cinnamon instead.

For the cake:
1/2 cup (80gr) sweet brown rice flour
1/4 cup (30gr) tapioca flour
1/2 cup (65gr) sorghum flour
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon (5gr) baking powder
3/4 cup (190ml) whole milk
1/3 cup (80ml) oil
1 egg
2 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (I like Granny Smith but any kind will do here)

For the topping:
5 1/2 tablespoons(80gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray or butter the inside of a 9-inch round baking pan or several 3 to 4-inch baking pans if you want smaller cakes. Place them on a baking sheet and set aside.
In large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cardamom, salt and baking powder. Reserve. In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, oil and egg until just blended.
Slowly pour the liquids over the dry ingredients, whisking well to make sure that everything is well incorporated, about 40 to 50 strokes.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and arrange the apple slices on top in a circular pattern.

Prepare the topping:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and the vanilla extract and whisk until smooth. Reserve

Bake the cake(s) in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove the cake(s) from the oven and spread the creamy butter topping over the top(s). Bake an additional 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted near the center comes out clean.

 

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You can keep up with my Fall pins, and I'd love to hear your Fall traditions.