Thinking Ahead To Autumn

I had to make a special trip to Dollar General this morning for coffee filters. I've had it on my list the last three times I was out, and I STILL forgot to pick them up. But not being able to make coffee tomorrow morning made the trip today a necessity. I try to avoid having to make special trips for one item, but in this case it was a happy inconvenience as they had just begun to put out their autumn decor.

I don't know if any of you frequent Dollar General. They get a bad rap for often being dirty and disorganized. But luckily we have a fairly new location just a few blocks from the apartment that is well managed and always well stocked. I buy all of my cleaning products and toiletries at DG as I haven't found the prices to be cheaper anywhere else, and with their weekly $5 off $25 coupon every Saturday, it makes it even more affordable.

But the thing I think I love the most about DG are their seasonal decorations. I've been shopping there for years now for cute additions to my decor, especially for autumn and Christmas. They always have a few pieces every year that I just can't resist, and almost always for under $10, and often even $1-3!  They only had a few items out today, but already I picked up these cute little buffalo check pumpkins. They were in a bag, 6 for $3 in two different sizes, small and large. I put them out as soon as I got home, because I didn't see the point of pulling out the bins when my plan is to decorate in just a few weeks. I hope to have everything out and ready for the season by September 1. Thankfully I don't have nearly as much autumn decor as I do Christmas, so it's easy to do in a day.

In the mean time I've still got a few projects on my summer to-do list that I hope to finish up this week. On today's agenda was to FINALLY paint an old bookshelf that used to belong to my grandmother.  I remember it well from my childhood, it's where she kept her stacks of  favorite back issue magazines, and my grandmother LOVED magazines! It's also where she set aside some copies just for me, especially McCall's so that I could cut out the monthly Betsy McCall paper doll! Such fond, sweet memories.

I've had it ever since she died, and originally I painted it white and distressed it to match the other items in my daughter's nursery.  It housed a small collection of her books for a number of years, until finally she decided she didn't want it in her room anymore.  I've wanted to paint it black and had it on my to-get-around-to-someday list for about five years now, and over the weekend I decided that it was high time.  I had some left over paint, just enough to get the job done, and so this morning that is exactly what I did. It's drying now, and then this afternoon I'll check for the places that need a little touching up, and then tomorrow I'll distress it and then put it back in its place and fill it with my favorite books.

So what about you, are you trying to wrap up summer projects, are you excited for autumn and have you started decorating?  I'd love to hear from you!

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