Hello everyone, happy Monday, hope you had a great weekend!  The hub and I spent our weekend in San Francisco, and apparently everyone else in the world did too. Oh my word the traffic! It was Fleet Week and the Niners were playing at home, but we had great seats at Candlestick and oooooooohhhh yeah, we kicked some boo-tay!  So sorry to you Buc fans, but the Niners played at their very best yesterday. 48-3.  ‘Nuff said.

The game was awesome and we had such a great time watching in the autumn sunshine, I needed that!  Fall is simply incomplete without great football. 

So I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about things I may or may not have mentioned around here, and I thought I should offer a few As to some frequent Qs so here goes!

Q: I was wondering what color you used to paint your white kitchen cabinets. ~ Jenny

A:  Hi Jenny, I didn’t paint the white cabinets in my kitchen, the cabinets arrived in that finish from the manufacturer (Kemper) in more of a cream color called ‘Toasted Almond’.  However, I did paint my kitchen island last year.  A recent match of the creamy white cabinets reveals that the two closest color matches are "Floral White" by Benjamin Moore and "Ivory Dust" by Valspar.

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Fall weekend greetings all, let’s take a peek at some of the picks in this ‘Best of the Blogosphere’ series, shall we?

Do not miss this master bedroom makeover by Lauren at Pure Style Home, this neutral palette is so elegant and serene!

We’re loving these DIY tall planters by Cleverly Inspired, stop on by for the full ‘how to’! 

Check out this $6 Nail Head Side Table by Jessica of Mad in Crafts (spotted over at Decor Hacks) using thumb tacks, very inventive!

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Hello all, the sun is shining, and the forecast is for a perfect fall weekend, yes! The hub and I are headed to the City by the Bay on Sunday with great seats at the 49er football game, I’m so excited!! I haven’t been to a professional football game in so many years, we’re going to have a ball while the kids are home with a babysitter, woo hoo!!  

The winners of the Waverly Fabric Giveaway are #1,344 Anneke of RustiChic and #2,053 Jenny of DIY Newlyweds. The Matthew Mead Tiered Stand goes to #8 Kathy Ellis, congratulations ladies, I sent you all an email.

This weekend’s giveaway is brought to you by Purple Lemon Designs, an Etsy shop filled with delightful personalized products from customized stamps to stationery.

Five free personalized stamps are up for grabs this weekend, just in time for the upcoming holiday mailings!  Pick an everyday or Christmas version, winners choice!

Purple Lemon Designs is also offering all of you a 10% discount when you shop – simply use the code CG2011.

Eligibility to win one of five free personalized stamps from Purple Lemon Designs

1) Hop on over to Purple Lemon Designs and pick your favorite stamp, then leave your choice in a comment.

2)  For a second chance to win, link to this giveaway on either Facebook or Twitter, then leave a second comment telling where you linked (FB or Twitter).

3.  For a third chance to win, Like Purple Lemon on Facebook, leave another comment here.

Five winners chosen at random, free shipping, US and Canada only. Giveaway ends Monday October 10th, 8 p.m. PST. 

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

Five winners:  #12 Anne, #210, Amanda S., #349 Cynthia, #405 Penelope, #651 Sunday.  Winners all notified via email!

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Oh we love our tablescapes during the holidays don’t we?  I know I do.  Most of the year, you’ll find a simple bowl of fruit and some fresh flowers on our dining room table but during the holidays, like many of you, I set it with a pretty centerpiece.  Friends appreciate it, and an attractive centerpiece on a dining room table is a great way to creatively get into the spirit of the season. 

Better Homes & Gardens

Beckie from Washington sent me this email with a great question about what to do with decorative centerpieces when you’re serving guests a meal:

“Hey Kate. This is one of those questions that I think a lot of people (ok me) have always wondered how to do gracefully but seem too afraid to ask. Real life just doesn’t work the way you see it in a magazine, so here goes.

You go to all the trouble and creativity to set a beautiful table for a special occasion, you set up a nice well thought out centerpiece and you bring out your best dishes and set up the place settings and your nice stemware and everything looks perfect . . . You’ve cooked your meal and now everyone is sitting at the table ready and waiting with baited breath, but wait… there is nowhere to put the food as you have filled your table with beautiful things. How do you deal with that?

Do you set up a buffet?  Remove the centerpiece? Fill each plate and serve each person like a waiter? Am I the only one who doesn’t know how to do this right? Awaiting you answer for the holiday season.  ~ Beckie”

Hey Beckie, great question! I don’t believe there is any one way to “do it right”. There are several ways to work around your table decorations during a meal, it just depends on your preferred method of serving guests.

When it comes to how to serve your meal and where to put the food, you have a few options. You can clear your centerpiece and make room for the food on the table, family style. You can set up a location for the food elsewhere such as a sideboard, and serve buffet style. Or you can choose the formality of serving your guests on a plate one by one. 

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Well, it is finally done. Nothing like a series of link parties to kick my booty in gear for the autumn season. Sarah is hosting the final get together, so I added some autumn touches to the front porch.  Now it’s time to sit back, relax, and enjoy this season!

I’m completely embracing all of the fall hues this year with no regard for one color and no playing favorites. Bring on the all the harvest colors I say ~ burgundy, yellow, orange, green, and aubergine.  No muted or monotone color palette this year, I felt like throwing all of them together. Hey, if the rug can do it, shucks, so can I.

I swapped out the white iron benches that have sat on the porch for years for my wine barrel side tables. I’m in a ‘use what you’ve got’ kind of mood and these came from the outdoor cabana which we retired due to the oncoming rains. The cabana will return next year, so I made use of the half barrels on the porch instead ~ how very harvesty of me.

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