Monday, September 22, 2008

Officially Fall

So, you probably know by now that I love fall. There is no other time of year when the cool temperatures and crisp blue sky and the smell of pumpkin bread collide in ultimate seasonal perfection.

And it makes me so happy that I have a little girl that I can use as an excuse for going to the pumpkin patch. It's fair to say that I love it every bit as much as she does. And much to Ricardo's disgust, I keep the pumpkins around the house, as decoration, as long as I can. I think it was around February when he finally told me, "Look...these things have got to go." And I only agreed because they were starting to rot a little.

I am so far off topic.

My point in all of this is...I really wanted to do something with my blog design that was warm and cozy and seasonal-y. But I am frugal. I have been wandering around to different blogs, sighing over the cute designs and wanting one of my own, but knowing that I just could not justify spending money on it right now.

And so because I had absolutely nothing to do this weekend (cough *exceptclean* cough), I sat myself down and tried to make sense of this whole design thing. I had no clue what I was doing, but Google covers a multitude of sin HTML ignorance. Or is it even HTML? See, I don't even know. But this is what I came up with. The perfectionist in me is having a hard time with all of the glitches and design flaws that are glaringly obvious to me, but the practical person in me is saying, "Ummmm...it is now 1:00 a.m., I'd really like to sleep if you don't mind...give it up already." So Practical Me is winning out on this one.

I also made some fantastic pumpkin cookies this weekend, which clinched all the feel-good fall feelings around here. I used a relatively healthy recipe, but then I could not resist topping them with a caramel drizzle. Which might have un-done the health aspect, but oh, they were good.

Happy Fall, everybody!

Photobucket

25 comments:

Cheri said...

Well I LIKE the new bloggy look - it's wonderful!

Casey said...

Girl, you did great! I love it!! :)

Tracey said...

For not knowing what your doing you did amazingly well!!! Looks good!

Wendy said...

I think it looks great! I love Fall, too.

Unknown said...

Great Job! If you have a free moment (HA!does that ever happen for us busy mommies!) could you point me in the right direction to the instructions of how you put the little name tag on the end of you post?

The Sullivan Sitcom said...

Looks great!
I too am a lover of FALL!

Wendi@EveryDayMiracles said...

Jackie!!! You sly girl you. If you don't know about codes and HTML and all that techno geeky stuff than how in the world did you do this amazing lay out??? You are way smarter than you let on my friend! :) a.maz.ing! :)
It's beautiful and very "you" (the you that I know via blogging any way...) :).

Sarah@Life in the Parsonage said...

Way to go Jackie! It looks great :) Hope you get a nap today...

SmilingSally said...

Good job changing your look to reflect your favorite season! I like it.

The cookies with caramel--ummm, that I would like even more!

Anonymous said...

Jackie, great job! I am impressed, considering the fact that you 'thought' you didn't know how to do it! Looks really good :) I am ready for fall too...except it's still 80 degrees outside, and for some reason that deters me from wanting to making chili?

If you ever think about it, I'd love to have your pumpkin cookie recipe! I love all things pumpkin and I especially love cookies. Sounds like a match made in heaven.

Unknown said...

I am in amazement. You did this yourself? It looks great! I just let other people do mine. I'm way too ignorant of all that techno-jargan.

I posted about your award today and linked you.

BTW, I heart fall too. It's my favorite season.

DeeDee said...

I love your lay - out. And I sure would like some of those cookies. :)
Blessings.
DeeDee

Jodie | Velour said...

I am IMPRESSED! You did this by yourself!? Go you! AND baked pumpkin cookies?!

Hey, so maybe we could work out a trade... I'll loan you cute shoes for as long as you agree to give me a steady supply of those cookies...

As my 5 yo says, "deal or no deal"?

ttm said...

Love your new page! I don't think you give yourself enough credit girl! I can imagine how delicious the cookies were...excuse me while I wipe my chin. JK!

Chel's Leaving a Legacy said...

I love the new look!!

We must be on the same wavelength, because we had our first "fall" dinner last night.

We had a turkey breast in cranberry sauce cooked in the crockpot, green bean casserole, mac and cheese, and Stove Top!

But THEN, for dessert...Pumpkin Pie Cake. It's like a dump cake (which I LUV) but with pumpkin pie filling instead of cherry pie filling. YUM!!!!

It's good to see you get in the mood, too. I wouldn't even know where to begin to do what you did!!

Elena said...

This is a really nice design. I am looking forward to taking Mary to the pumpkin patch. We have a nationally know catalog company here called Harry and David and they have a marvelous pumpkin patch. I just bought pumkin cookies and dipping carmel at the store. Mary just loves them both. I used the carmel on apples but I am gonna have to go put some carmel on the pumkin cookies:) Have a blessed day. Elena

Marci @Finding Joy in the Journey said...

I think it looks very cute! I have never figured out how to do anything with the side tags! I too cannot justify $$ for blogs...maybe if it was bringing some it! =)

Glad you made it to bed before dawn. I always get stuck on these projects and before I know it it's 3 am!

Happy first day of fall!

Lizz @ Yes, and So is My Heart said...

Wow! I'm so very impressed!
It looks great. How did you figure all this out?

Happy Fall! It's my favorite too.

Anonymous said...

Happy Fall to you! We had wonderful Fall temps this weekend. 70s and then today - first day of Fall, we're back up to 80. Either way, it's nice.

Your new look is beautiful! And Congrats on all of your awards! :)

Tracy's Porch said...

I think this looks GREAT and I don't see any glitches. This is way more advanced than I could do. All I was able to do for my blog was find a free background :-)

VERY Cozy!

Grace Acres said...

I love fall too. I am so excited to take the boys to the pumpkin patch and do all the festivities there. I also love love bomfires in the fall!! I think your new blog desighn is great. COZY!

SarahHub said...

I love the new look! I have to say, I am impressed. I'm still using a Blogger template.

Alana said...

Love the new look! I need a new look. I need to start bugging my hubby about that ;-)

Gretchen said...

It looks good to me...You're not a recovering perfectionist, are you? ;)

Mozi Esme said...

Very cute design! I was with you all the way on this post until I saw the design - I'm doubting I could do this. At least not at 1 in the morning . . . Good job.