Haunted Houses, Book Lovers Day & Free Time

I'll start by saying this house has pretty much nothing to do with my life - beyond that I passed it recently and then during a work walk, was able to pass it again and I can't help but think that it looks just like the Haunted Mansion at Disney World. It's a house in downtown Winchester, and well - I am a little smitten with it but I am also 100% sure it's haunted from attic to basement and every spot in between... 

My weekend was a long weekend - I was able to flex out on Friday at 12:45 because I'd worked an event earlier in the week for work, so by 2:15 I was curled up on my couch, watching The Gilded Age and enjoying a chill Friday afternoon. I spent the rest of the day reading in the backyard, taking a short nap and getting our dinner together for Friday night. It was a really nice way to start the weekend! 

Saturday was a pretty busy day - busy but good! I have zero pictures, but Ryan and I headed to Front Royal to help for a little while with the ACC/Cars Changing Lives Car Show as part of the family fun day. Ryan sold raffle tickets and I manned one of the tables, mostly just watching over door prizes. We helped until about 11:30 and then it was off to my parents so I could meet up with my Mom to go to tea at Rosemont! 

I had not realized it but Saturday was Book Lover's Day - worldwide - and the tea we attended was a Book Lover's Tea! Our table was decorated with books; Nicholas Sparks at that, and the savories, scones and sweets were all themed toward books and reading. Afternoon Tea at the Rosemont is always so well done and this event was no exception, from the Raspberry Cordials to start the event, all the way to the end - when my Mom actually won a free tea, ha-ha!

All the foods were fantastic - Cucumber Sandwiches, Chicken Salad Croissants and Watermelon and Feta cups (I did pass mine to my Mom) as the savories. The scones were a Raspberry Poppy Seed and a Ricotta and Herb; which my Mom and I thought tasted a bit ... grass-like... in certain bites. Delicious even still. The desserts were to die for: Blueberry Lemon Shortcake, a Lemon Bar and a Chocolate Caramel Tart! I was positively stuffed when it was all said and done - with both treats and tea!

Since it was Book Lover's Day, I decided we'd pop by Miss Willa's Bookshop on the way to my house - and I'm so glad we did! My Mom hadn't gotten a chance to check the shop out and because it was book lover's day, if you purchased one of Jennifer L. Armentrout's books (which I did, of course) then she would personalize it! So I now have three signed books; one of which is personalized with my name! The shop remains so adorable and I am beyond tickled that this incredible little spot is so close to home!

Everyone who made a purchase also got a great little cloth bag to carry their books in, which had a magnet inside as well - and every purchase was 10% off. All in all, a lovely little visit to this lovely little shop! Once we got to Ryan and I's house, we relaxed a little bit, watched the cats figuring out their new automatic litter box (what a genius invention), picked the pumpkins from the backyard and I whipped up some spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner!

Our final outing on Saturday evening was to a newly opened shop near our house called Hope Ice Cream and Slime - which is exactly what it sounds like, ha-ha! A shop where you can get all manner of frozen treats and also make slime! The shop is really cute and the gelato I had was incredibly delicious! Another new shop that is dangerously close to our house, ha-ha! We will definitely be making a return visit to this little shop in the future! We ended our Saturday enjoying our new cozy rug in the back sitting area of our house - the cats are all in love with it, and I think Ryan is too!

Sunday was another sunny and simply chill day for us, which was so very nice. We went to first service at church, took a new friend home after church and then headed home ourselves - to have leftovers for lunch and relax in our backyard! We soaked up the sunshine, read some books and just generally chilled for most of the afternoon. We closed out our weekend with some more leftovers for dinner, a couple episodes of For All Mankind of Apple+ and I did a little cross stitching, which Maverick felt he needed to help me with. 

Monday was a day off for me - which was needed; the last few months have been overwhelming for me in several ways and even with the day off, I still had to meet with plumbers at our house, meet with the DRB staff for our year in house walk through and go to the doctor before I truly got to just "goof off" for a few hours at the swimming pool at my parent's community. It was really nice to just float around, read my book and even have dinner that I didn't have to plan or cook - a lovely Monday, for the most part! The weekend - even a long weekend - passed too quickly, but it was delightful while it lasted!

The First Weekend of August

The First Weekend of August has come and gone - and what I have to show for it is absolutely tons of cat pictures, and a couple pictures from around our house! We had zero plans this past weekend and it was so wonderful to have nothing to do, nowhere to go and no plans to keep - we all need those weekends every once in a while! 

I cannot even begin to tell you how much joy our cats bring to our lives! It's wild to think that a year ago, we didn't even own our cats yet and now they are seriously one of the most joyous parts of our lives! It's also wild to me that we started with Spook and Loki... sadly, lost our little Loki man in November of last year, then added Maverick the week of Thanksgiving... and added Bagheera in June of this year! Four little cat family members in less than a year, and each one is/has been so special and touched our lives! Pets really are the best little guys - aren't they?

I can't believe we've been in our house almost a full year either! It seems wild to me how quickly time flies - and we are still busy working away at making our house into the home we want it to be since we'll likely be here for the next five-ten years. We finally decided to turn our extra room (we have three bedrooms) into a reading room/study - since at the moment a little addition doesn't seem to be in the cards for us - I'm sure it can all be changed when/if that changes. I'm pleased with how it turned out, now I just need to get some art up on the walls! 

Our lovely low key weekend allowed me to finish two books before August really got started good, and start in on a third one - which was lovely! We spent a huge chunk of Saturday and Sunday just being lazy in our backyard because the weather was incredible; the mid-70's as highs during the day for the first weekend in August? Yes please! I will never complain about that! We lounged in the backyard, did some housework, watched some movies and generally just had a really chill weekend - which was so needed! All that chill also meant so many pictures of all the cats, ha-ha!

The temperatures were amazing - it was even slightly brisk on Saturday and Sunday morning - I never dreamed I'd be a little chilly serving at first service on the first weekend of August, but I was indeed! But hey, I'll take some early Autumn-like weather in August any day! Especially because I see the weather will already be back in the 90's by next week... summer is still hanging on! And yes, in the above pictures, Bagheera is waiting patiently in my lap while Ryan puts together the outdoor kitten ring.

I don't know about our future as pumpkin farmers, ha-ha! We have had such a wet summer and pumpkins are hugely made up of water... so to my mind, they should be growing well. However, I also noticed some bugs on them recently that I discovered were squash bugs and so I purchased some Neem Oil to combat that. However, they seem a little puny and the plant itself looks a little parched. Which is wild - since again, such a wet summer! Granted, I never set out to be a pumpkin farmer - so I'm not sure why I'm even worried, ha-ha!

Also of note - if you'd told me I'd find myself on Saturday night, the 2nd of August, curled up in my hammock with a book and a blanket because it was a little chilly - I'd never have believed you! But that is exactly what happened on Saturday night! After dinner and groceries, Ryan and I chilled in our backyard and I ended up wrapping up under a blanket to read my book! I could definitely be okay with weather like that for the month of August... but I know it won't last! 

After a peaceful Sunday with time spent outdoors, cuddling with the cats and some lovely sunflowers from my husband to brighten our home - the weekend came to an end much too fast! Time flies when you're having fun and this weekend was fun and calm and peaceful - all things I think Ryan and I both needed. Can't wait to have more calm, peaceful weekends like this in the future.