A Hostess Gift Perfect for a Fall Gathering

My perfect evening on a cold fall night usually includes some wine and cheese.  So if I'm hosting there would definitely be not only cheese, but baked warm cheese, preferably Brie.

The most common gift a hostess gets in my circle of friends and family is a bottle of wine.  Some bring the bottle of wine with a dessert and most hostesses end up with way too many desserts!  In my household, it's not a good thing because I'm usually the one who ends up eating those desserts.  So here is an alternative.

Last week I was at Think Kitchen, a nice houseware and kitchenware store in my area and I saw these great Brie baking dishes by Gourmet du Village.

Via Gourmet du Village

Via Gourmet du Village

Via Gourmet du Village

Via Gourmet du Village

Via Gourmet du Village

These make wonderful fall gathering hostess gifts, accompanied or not, with a bottle of wine.  I love Brie, and I love baked Brie especially as a fall/winter appetizer and I would love to receive any of the above dishes. They come in such a nice variety of colour, in different sizes, and are very reasonably priced.

 An option to consider for your next dinner outing at a friend's house!

My Favourite Shoe Storage

About a year ago I found what in my opinion is the best way to store shoes, especially when you don't have a huge walk in closet like in the movies where the shoes can be displayed just like in a store. What I did was purchase plastic shoe/storage boxes and I got rid of the original shoe boxes.  I bought these from Home Depot.

Via Home Depot

Via The Container Store

As I was packing for our upcoming trip and going through my closet, I realized again how much I love these boxes.  They stack up nicely, they fit well (more than one pair of flip flops, for example) and you can see what's in them.  Seeing what's in them is the best part because you can really see what you have when picking which shoes to wear or which shoes to pack.  The boxes can be found at many other retailers, like Canadian Tire, and The Container Store.  Best storage solution ever!

Blogging Oh How I have Missed You!! - Halloween Planning

Halloween is finally on my mind.  Both boys have their Halloween costumes now.  I am not sure they will beat my son's costume of last year (he was the cutest skunk I have ever seen) but I am sure they will be nice. The little one will be a dinosaur and the older one  a monkey.

With the costumes figured out, I would like to give my home some "Halloween curb appeal"!  I don't usually go all out with my outdoor fall themed decorations but this year my intention is to do at least a little.  I enjoy carving pumpkins and usually to the typical scary faces or designs, but I saw this design and I hope I can pull it off.

Via Princess Pinky Girl

My oldest son loves playing "Boo" and pretending he is scaring us, so this design makes me laugh every time I see it.  Yesterday, we went to a pumpkin patch to pick the pumpkins. It was so much fun; beats just picking the pumpkin from the grocery store.

It will be my goal this week to get cracking on the decor. Stay tuned!

Happy Thanksgiving to all those celebrating today!