Waking Up The House

Do y'all have a morning routine? I've probably talked about mine before. I love the idea of "waking up the house" by opening blinds, turning on lamps, making coffee, etc. It's just a nice way to start the day. 

I thought I'd take you along with me as I wake up my house today...

The first thing I do is make my bed. Every. Single. Day. 

And no, I don't normally have a tray on my bed like that. Lol! Some of my friends were holding a special hashtag party on Instagram, so I styled it a little more than normal before I posted. :) 

Right about now, Holly hears me stirring around, so she runs to my bedroom, weaves between my legs, and INSISTS I pick her up. She then proceeds to immediately turn over on her back (so I'm cradling her like a baby) and she stuffs her head into my warm neck. Lol! She does this for a few minutes and please note that NOTHING else gets done until she gets her fill of morning snuggles. :)

Sweet baby girl. 

Next, I make my way into the kitchen and start turning on all the lamps...

Ironically, I had to turn the lamps back OFF in order for these pics to come out right, but you get the picture. :) 

Now for the living room lamps...

And finally, I make my way into the dining room to turn on one last lamp...

Holly follows me around as I open the blinds in the kitchen...

And living room...

Then finally, I make my way back to the kitchen to fix my first cup of coffee for the day.

FYI...my beloved Keurig started acting up recently. The screen would just go blank at random times, preventing me from using it. I've had it less than a year, so I called customer service this morning and they're sending me an entire new brewer, just like the one I have, for FREE! Now, THAT'S good customer service! 

Oh, and of course I have to feed Holly breakfast too...

Speaking of breakfast, I wanted to share a little info with y'all. Lots of my friends my age (45) are low in iron. Did you know just one cup of Frosted Mini Wheats cereal contains 90% of your daily iron requirement? Just thought I'd put this out there. Several of my friends started eating it for breakfast every day and within a couple of weeks, their iron levels were back to normal. Okay, that's my PSA for the day. :)

I hope y'all enjoyed tagging along with me on my "wake up my house tour" today! Enjoy your week!

~Lisa

Cozy Mystery Book Recommendations

The other day I mentioned I added 8 new books to my Kindle. That got me thinking it was time for another round of cozy mystery book recommendations. :)

In a nutshell, a "cozy mystery" usually takes place in a quaint little town with everyday characters. You can usually see these characters as your friends and neighbors. There's always a mystery going on, but it's not too scary and usually free of gore. A lot of them deal with daily life as a stay at home mom, running car pools, etc. and several include great recipes.

Some of you may remember THIS post I did back in 2013 where I talked about some of my favorites.

Since then, I've discovered a few new cozy mystery authors so I thought I'd list them here, along with the older ones, so they would all be in the same place. 

I'll state the author's name, followed by the name of the book series. If you click on the author's name, it'll take you to their page on the FANTASTIC FICTION website where it'll show you the books in the series (in order) with a brief description of each, along with another link to purchase them on Amazon. 

Okay, here are the new ones that weren't mentioned in my last post:

GAYLE TRENT ~ Myrtle Crumb Mysteries 

KATE BORDEN ~ Peggy Jean Turner Mysteries

LEIGHANN DOBBS ~ Lexy Baker Bakery Mystery

SUSAN SANTANGELO ~ Carol and Jim Andrews Baby Boomers

KATHI DALEY ~ Zoe Donovan Mysteries

And of course, I want to mention another favorite written by a fellow blogger and friend...

DIANA KOSMOSKI ~ The Mystery of Lucy and the Dark Woods

I really enjoyed her book. It was definitely a page turner for me. I remember not even putting it down while cooking dinner one night. I had my Kindle right next to the stove as I simmered my spaghetti sauce! Just click on her name and it'll take you to her Etsy shop where you can purchase her book. 

Here are some that were previously mentioned:

LEANN SWEENEY ~ Cats in Trouble and Yellow Rose Mysteries

SAMMI CARTER ~ Candy Shop Mystery

ANNE GEORGE ~ Southern Sisters Mysteries (a personal favorite)

JO DERESKE ~ Miss Zukas Mysteries

LIVIA J WASHBURN ~ Fresh Baked Mysteries

KAREN MACINERNEY ~ Gray Whale Inn Mystery

KRISTA DAVIS ~ Domestic Diva Mysteries

JILL CHURCHILL ~ Jane Jeffry Mysteries

LESLIE MEIER ~ Lucy Stone Mysteries

JOANNE FLUKE ~ Hannah Swensen Mysteries

A lot of these are cheaper if bought in sets on Amazon. I needed the next three books in a series and individually they were $2.99, but I got a boxed set of all three for my Kindle for only $4.99. 

One more thing...there's a great website that has lots of cozy book info. Here's the link:

Cozy-Mystery.com

Feel free to list your favorite books in the comments below. That way, we can all get more recommendations. :)

~Lisa 

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins

I'm back today to share a few more changes. I added a little "Thanksgiving" to the kitchen with this little plate. I gotta say, it's a lot more fun to do dishes with seasonal decor and a cute soap dispenser. :) 

I swapped out our wedding photo for this Happy Thanksgiving sign in the foyer.

Y'all probably remember this from years past. It's just a Thanksgiving greeting card framed with some Fall scrapbook paper behind it...

Love this paper! Just think of all the cute cards you see out there. So many would make a cute decoration simply by framing it in a dollar store frame. It would even make a cute hostess gift if you're travelling to visit family for the holidays. 

I had to take a pic of this. The other day, we were getting ready to carve pumpkins while drinking pumpkin spice coffee and whipping up a batch of pumpkin bread. I guess we were really getting into the season!

As for the pumpkin bread...well, it was delicious!

I cleaned the house this morning, ran a load of wash, and ran some errands, so now it's time to relax. :) I just fixed my second cup of coffee and downloaded 8 new books to my Kindle, so I'll be curling up with a good book and my kitty by my side for the rest of the afternoon. Hope y'all have a great day!

Remember you can follow along with my daily happenings on Instagram @texasdecor

~Lisa 

Dining Room Changes

Well, it's not even Halloween yet and I've already gotten out a few Thanksgiving decorations. My house is a mix of Fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. I think it's seasonally confused. :)

I only made a few changes. I'll share some today and save the rest for a post later this week. 

On Thanksgiving Day, this buffet will be filled with all kinds of pies, cookies, and candies but for now it's home to a few pumpkins and a turkey platter. 

I was happy to see my "Gather Here With Grateful Hearts" sign again.

Had to move my soup tureen to make room for all those pumpkins on the buffet. 

And now for a very fancy addition to the living room...

Hee hee! Holly bugged me until I got her beloved teepee out again. She stayed in there all day long. Such a silly kitty. Hope y'all enjoy your week!

~Lisa 

Around The House

Okay, so y'all know I mostly refrained from getting out any "Halloween" decor this year. Now that my boys are older, I don't feel like I have to get out all the little ghosts and goblins. :)

But the closer it gets, I couldn't resist adding in just a few favorites...

Y'all probably remember this little witch window cling I just slapped on a plate. So easy to remove after the holidays. 

So, little Holly Joaquin turned THREE a couple of weeks ago! I just snapped this pic of her this morning. Napping, as usual. :)

Speaking of kitties, these are my mom's twins, Trixie and Cecil. They've grown so much! 

Okay...WARNING...the pic below is NOT real. My son texted this to me while he was in school. They are making a movie and were playing around with scary makeup...

Gross, right? He's a little too good at this stuff. ;) After I picked him up, we went to Whataburger. The girl in the drive thru gave us some weird looks. Ha!

Y'all have a good weekend!

~Lisa

Suave Moroccan Argan Oil Products...My New Best Friends

Have I got a deal for you today!

Of all the Favorite Things Posts I've done, this has got to be one of my very favorites...

Suave Moroccan Infusion shampoo, conditioner, and styling oil.

Here's a close up of the shampoo...

The conditioner...

And the styling oil...

Okay, y'all know I have naturally curly (frizzy) hair, right? Well, I've been hearing all the buzz about Argan oil and even contemplated buying a bottle on Amazon...until I saw how expensive it was.

Then I remembered Suave had their own version. For only a few dollars, how could I go wrong? 

I paid about $4 each for the shampoo and conditioner and about $6 for the styling oil. 

The shampoo and conditioner did a great job and I could already tell it was working to make my hair soft and smooth and it smelled amazing!

But the real star of the show, is the styling oil. This stuff is spectacular! I towel dried my hair and used about four pumps of the oil on my hair from mid shaft to the ends. I have really long hair (past my shoulders) so you may not have to use quite as much if your hair is shorter. 

Anyway, I combed it through to evenly distribute it and blow dried as usual and was so pleased with the results! I don't remember my hair being this soft and straight...ever! 

I even used it on my dry hair after I'd spent some time outside in our 90 degree weather with lovely humidity and it worked wonders to smooth it back into place. 

It really made my hair soft, straight, and smooth and of course I had to share. :) Love this stuff! Let me know if you've ever tried this or another product that you love. 

Y'all have a great week!

~Lisa 

Already Making Changes...

Well, I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I'm already making changes to my Fall decor. :)

If you missed my Fall Home Tour, you can view it HERE.

I kept feeling like something was lacking on my mantle. I wasn't happy with the candle holder on the far right. 

I knew I wanted to add something more colorful, so I got out my Fall decor boxes again and started rummaging around until I found these floral seed pod looking things. I have no idea what they're supposed to be, but the colors were right, so I went with it. 

I used some extra wheat as filler for the vase. 

I love the Fall colors and I was so happy to find an excuse to bring back my hob nail milk glass vase. I was already missing it. :)

I added a book under the wheat bundle and white pumpkin to give it a little height (and more color)

Ahhh...much better. Now I can sleep at night. ;)

I also added this free printable to my shelves...

What? You can't see it? Hee hee! It's got very subtle colors (which I love) but that makes it hard to photograph. 

Here's a closer look...

You can click HERE to get yours. 

I love Anne of Green Gables. It was only a few years ago that I read the books for the first time. I now have the whole collection on my Kindle. Some of you may remember this other quote from the Anne of Green Gables books I have in my dining room...

Here's what it says...

One of my favorite quotes of all time. :)

I added this fall candle ring to my dining room table. I used to have this out year round, and I might just do that again. I love the sparkly leaves.  (This was actually garland that I cut up to make little candle rings.)

I recently had to remove my beloved burlap runner because Miss Holly pants discovered how much fun it was to rip little strings of burlap from the edges. I was afraid she'd ingest it, so in order to save it, I had to remove it. Hopefully she'll move on to other things and I can put it back soon. :)

One more thing...due to a fantastic sale at my local garden center, I decided to try my hand at growing Azaleas again. I've had Encore Azaleas before, but never had much luck with them. This time around, I got a Judge Solomon Pink Indica Hybrid Azalea. Long name, huh? 

It won't bloom until Spring, but I can't wait. We actually bought some Azalea potting mix to boost the acidity of the soil. Azaleas love acidic soil, so this should help it get a good start. Lots of people in my neighborhood have these, so I hope it does well. 

Hope y'all have a great week!

~Lisa