Ladies! I think a Friday afternoon deserves a celebration. We’ve almost made it through the entire work week! Woo hoo! We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This is always the hardest part of the giveaway because we’d love to gift all 3,911 of you, but alas, we cannot, which I guess is what makes a giveaway so fun. With that said, join me in celebrating our SIX beloved winners for this fabulous giveaway. Believe me when I say we here at the office are coveting each of the gifts and almost threw a fit when we realized we couldn’t enter the giveaway ourselves. We love fun stuff like this just as much as you do!
So, without further ado, congratulations to…
Grand Prize Winner: Cara Koski
Second Prize Winner: Ansley DuRant
Gift number 3: Victoria Gelberg
Gift number 4: Kim Tipton
Gift number 5: Anne Dailey
Gift number 6: Leslie Wood
If y’all would please email me (Lindsee) at [email protected] with your mailing address we willl get these prizes to you ASAP. We love y’all so very, very much. Thanks for playing along. Hope you each have a beautiful, fall weekend!
DEAR SIESTAS! THE MERE THOUGHT OF YOU IS MAKING ME GO ALL-CAPSY.
It has been FOREVER and then some but I have been thinking about you. I know I haven’t been in this here blog-space much recently but I can assure you that I’m still at LPM. My days are full since I’m working and going to school part-time. AGAIN. Yes, again. Somehow even when I vow to walk away for good, I end up right back in the classroom in some capacity. This time around I’m working slowly on a M.A. in Biblical Languages at Houston Baptist University. When I’m not researching something for a project at LPM, I’m taking a Greek class in the Septuagint and a Hebrew readings class in the Joseph narrative. Oh, and how could I forget to mention Winston Jeffrey Fitzpatrick?! A little over a year ago Colin brought home a baby rottweiler and our life has never been the same since (even when I desperately want it to be!). Winnie is SO, SO bad but we love him madly.
Here is W posing in my dining room. Or demanding a filet mignon cooked over medium, I’m not really sure.
Here he is again furious about having to wear his birthday hat:
But really, enough about us.
I want to talk about YOU and a fall giveaway we are doing because we love you and appreciate you.
Now, I should mention at this point that if you are one of those people who is SO OVER all the talk about pumpkin-flavored anything, then you will want to run for your life.
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE.
Do I have a faithful fall remnant?
This weekend we had our first legit “cold-front” here in Houston. It was even down in the forties one night. Glory be! The crisp cold air in my lungs got to me in the best way possible and, of all things, I wanted to cook. There’s just something about fall that always brings me back to the kitchen. Nothing better than listening to a little Norah Jones or The Civil Wars with the windows cracked open, cool breeze dancing through the house, while a chili or stew simmers on the stove. I thought just maybe fall might do the same for some of you so the grand prize winner will get a red Le Creuset signature round dutch oven (red not orange like the one on the box).
I love it passionately and do not want to let it go. I even enjoy posing with the beloved dutch oven:
The second prize to be claimed is a $100 gift card to Pottery Barn because, let’s be honest, Pottery Barn during the fall season is heaven on earth:
Gift number 3 includes an amazing decorative pillow, fall flower arrangement, and Hill Country Home candle.
Gift number 4 includes a fun little clutch from Anthro, a scarf, several pairs of boot socks, and some gorgeous MAC makeup in fallish colors.
Here is Lindsee modeling the scarf. Love her and she can work a scarf better than anyone I know:
This MAC stuff is tough to photograph but fantastic (includes three eye shadow kits and two lipsticks in shades of Russian Red and Viva Glam III).
Gift number 5 has a bunch of fun stuff: Cook’s Illustrated Fall Entertaining magazine, kitchen towels, mulling spices, Hill Country Home candle (again this is one of my faves!), autumn cupcake decorating set, beautiful engraved silver dish, Trader Joe’s Pumpkin bread mix, and more.
Gift number 6 comes with a fun autumn welcome mat, potpourri, decorative kitchen towel, and my favorite ever mulled apple cider candle. DIVINE.
Here is Mom sorting out all the gifts. Isn’t she cute?
So dear friend, for a chance to win one of the six prizes, please leave a comment with your first and last name and tell us something you love about fall.
We love you so much,
Melissa
(Lindsee not pictured here ONLY because she was out of the office when we snapped this photo)
I love the changing seasons. Fall is nice because it is a slower pace than summer. There is something cozy about snuggling up with a good book and knowing all the harvest is in for the year. I love the full freezer and canning shelves from a summer of work.
I love this time of year because it always brings with it talk of airplane tickets to get my babies (ages 25 and 28) home to me for at least part of the holiday season.
Our youngest finished his bachelor’s last Spring and moved to NY, just as our oldest moved from NY to LA. Since we’re right in the middle of the country, they both are about as far from us (and each other) as they can be.
Laura Nichols
Fall favorites: boots, sweaters, apple picking , cider !
I LOVE Fall!!! The colours and beauty are my very favorite part of this time of year. Of course I do love an occasional pumpkin spice latte as well! 🙂
FOOTBALL!!!!! And naps!!
I love all the gorgeous colors, and the fact that Christmas is just around the corner!
I LOVE the colour of the autumn sky….God gives such an aMAzing shade of blue this time of year!!!
Jessica Butler- I love the way the air feels when I walk outside…there is something different about fall air!
Making some homemade pumpkin & sausage soup, hot apple cider and sitting by the fire under a warm, cozy blanket with my totally adorable husband (and of course our two “children” with fur at our feet)! Oh, and since we live in Tennessee we get to enjoy some impressive fall colors outside!
Joy Peterson
I love fall!! I know I’m supposed to only share one thing I love about fall but I feel conflicted because I can’t decide which is my favorite! (Does it count as one if it’s only one sentence? ha!)
Alright, here goes:
I love the crisp air, pumpkin flavored everything, layered clothes and snuggling under a soft blanket with a hot chai tea. #perfection
Tracy Leary
Richlands, NC
High school football on Friday nights
From: The Wife of a High School Football coach of 17 years
My favorite thing about fall is all the time spent with family.
What I love about fall in the Pacific Northwest is the changing colors, sporadic rain mixed with sunshine, and maybe just maybe the fact that all of my kids are in school during the day and out of the house 🙂
It’s like the calm before the storm. It’s all of the joy of looking forward to the holidays, without the craziness I tend to get swept up in when they actually draw near. It’s a Mona Lisa smile of anticipation. It’s a longing and a sense of fulfillment all wrapped up together. It’s a gift!
I love the crisp mornings, beautiful red and orange hues, college football and most of all….the excuse of adding nutmeg and cinnamon in nearly everything I bake. I love fall!!
One thing I love about fall is the beauty in nature just waiting to reveal itself to us when we least expect it. Trees boast leaves in a variety of colors that would put an artist’s palette to shame, leaves make that unmistakable crunch underneath my boots, and the combination of a chai tea in my hands and the sun’s rays pouring down warm me from head to toe.
What a fun give-away! At this time of the year, a few of my favorite things are…..caramel apples, candy corn, hot cider, the beauty of the trees/leaves changing.
Thank you!
Janet Cline
St. Louis, Missouri
Jessica Vickery
I love fall for the cool mornings, sweaters, boots, and time with family. 🙂
What do I like about Fall? I love just soaking up how God shows out His amazing color schemes for all of us to enjoy…..and I really enjoy them so much that I just sometimes have to wollar (is that a word?) around in them…you know, the leaves! Also, I think of how wonderful the smaells are in the Fall time……even the burning of leaves and striking up of fireplaces in the crisp evenings and early mornings! O yes, I love Fall, but to be honest, my favorite thing about Fall is knowing that Winter is just around the corner and I am definitely a SNOWGIRL!!!! Thank you all for the privilege of posting here! Walk in blessing today because we are all so Blessed in Him!
Even though I have lived in Florida for the last 10 years, Fall is still one of my favorite seasons. I think it just brings up happy childhood memories of fall colors and raking and jumping in leaves and just the approach of Thanksgiving and Christmas!
Fall is the most fantastic season of the year! I love the change in weather when it starts to cool down and you get to bring out the scarfs and warm sweaters. I love the beautiful colors of the leaves and hearing them crunch under your feet after they fall. Fall also means apple picking and pumpkin pie, pumpkin flavored teas and coffee, and the excitement that Christmas is just around the corner!
I love the crispy, crunchy, colorful fall leaves in the Pacific Northwest!
I love the crisp air and the changing colors of the leaves. Especially when sitting on a porch, drinking coffee in the mornings.
I love fall baking!
Fall: chilly temps, family, holidays, cooking, scarves, football games, cute hats, jackets, mittens, possible snow, candles, fires, leaves, wreaths, pumpkins, cookouts, snuggling, hot chocolate, starbucks, apple cider….oh and did I mention….scarves?!?
I love the Fall when the temps start going down and the leaves change colors. The secrets of the woods that are revealed when the leaves are gone and you see that old abandoned house or barn. The pumpkins and scarecrows together with the reds, yellows, oranges and brown colors just make you feel warm and cozy. And of course the”FOOTBALL”.
I LOVE fall…not quite as much as I LOVE Winter. Cooler temps, beautiful colored leaves against the blue, blue sky, apples and cider from the orchard, sweaters and snugly clothes, the sound of crunchy leaves when I walk, the smells of leaves, watching leaves fall. Thanksgiving…..
Fall is my favorite! I love all the pretty colored leaves, hot chocolate & bonfires! 🙂
Sallye I love the cooler weather, means flipflops go in the closet and the cute fall boots and shoes along with sweaters and jeans get to take their turn as must wears.
I love fall because of the fun opportunities for family togetherness and the way God shows off each and every year in the colors of leaves and all of nature this time of year
Fall is the best time of the year. The weather is perfect! The smell is fresh and the leaves change colors. I do not know his it can get better than that.
I am a Psychiatric Direct Support professional mainly working with individuals with profound intellectual disabilties and Autism, so I have learned to appreciate the small things. My list of loves is crackling crispy leaves under your feet, digging into a raw pumpkin and pulling out the pumpkin goop and seeds, singing Five Little Pumpkins together, digging in a bowl of kernels of unpopped popcorn to find the candy corn and counting how many are there, baking homemade cookies and letting them put sprinkles on them, and lastly, tucking them into their beds, letting them know that I love them and kissing all 9 of my boys goodnight. It’s a good life!
Fall means sweaters, jeans, and fresh pressed apple cider. It means the smell of fires and in our house it also smells like grease. My husband is a farmer and fall means HARVEST. Corn and soybeans! Harvest is always a difficult season now that we have 4 littles underfoot, as the days are especially long. BUT the way the sunshine catches the trees and makes them ablaze always sets my heart singing.
Love to you guys at LPM! AND I’m dying to know what our Siesta Mama is working on. I always pray that the Lord would heap blessing, protect, nurture her spirit, but its always fun to know how we can pray “closer.” 🙂
My favorite thing about fall is walking out in the autumn colors. It’s a reminder to me that God is always near in each season of my life.
Too, I LOVE breaking out new recipes for cooking and baking. There’s always something cooking in my kitchen!
Fall is my favorite time of the year. The temperatures are slowly cooling and I love that. The trees are changing colors and are beautiful and the wind blows more. I love it when the wind blows and I can watch the trees move, and as winter approaches and it turns cold, I love to hear the wind whistling through the trees.
I love so many things about fall but have you ever noticed how good the pumpkin/Carmel candles
Smell in the fall. Or even the Apple pie candle.
So warm and cozy. Love it.
Rhonda.
I love the cool weather and the excuse to sit in a big comfy chair with hot cocoa, a good book and warm blanket.
I love a good fire to roast marshmallows over and fall is the perfect time to do that. Also I love how God displays His creativity and love for us in the leaves as they change color. – Sarah Gibbs, Bowling Green, KY
I love seeing the leaves turn, and the delicious foods made with pumpkin!
Fall…everything is going to sleep for a long winters nap….the coolness, changing of colors….Thanksgiving…..EVERYTHING!!!
I love Pumpkin and Snickerdoodle coffee, two wonderful flavors of beans that seem to hit the shelf the minute Fall is in the air.
I love the Fall sooo much that I moved to Denver from Alabama, just so that I could live in a place where fall runs from August to December! I knew since I was a very little girl that I would get married in the fall. So I did! My husband and I married on September 14, 1996, on a gorgeous, no-cloud, low-humidity, Saturday afternoon (so that we could watch our beloved Auburn Tigers play football on our wedding night!) The scent of my home is ALWAYS Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin, regardless of what date is on the calendar. God’s wonderful creation is dressed in jewel tones in the fall, and I personally, CAN NOT think of a more wonderful time of year!
Fall the first snow on those Rocky Mountains…..and a husband and 3 sons that get that hunting fever so bad is almost does us all in:)
I love all of the wonderful colors of Fall!! I love to cook chili and bean soup and bundle up on the couch and watch movies!
My favorite part of fall is the brisk mornings & the beautiful mix of colors in the foliage.
I absolutely adore watching leaves gently float to the ground!
I love how the cooler weather and smells associated with Fall help you to feel refreshed and alove.
This fall has s
I love that the mornings that are crisp and cool enough for an insulated jacket, but then the sunshine comes out strong enough for shirt sleeves. I love warm apple crisp right out of the oven, from the apples our hunters bring; pumpkin bars and cream cheese frosting; carving pumpkins with my kiddos; driving the 50 mile loop to go trick-or-treating in the country; long sweaters and tall boots.
It’s truly my favorite time of the year!
You’d never know I used to be a teacher. I totally forgot to read the directions… so much for one thing! I was just so excited!
I love all things fall from the colors and weather to college football! But I think my favorite fall activity is the first fire in the fireplace! There’s nothing like the crackling sound of wood burning, the warmth of the fire, a hot cup of texas pecan coffee in one hand and a good book in the other…so good makes me want to freeze time.