Five Things that Make this November Feel Good

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away, which means I would normally be mentally rearranging the dining room. This week’s favorites are all about the season of gathering: a small house with a big heart, a table set for four, a few easy tricks for the front door, an outfit I’d happily wear to dinner, and a recipe worth making. Several of them come from a chapter of our lives I look back on very fondly. Pour yourself a cup of coffee (or something stronger, I won’t tell) and let’s get into it.

A House: Our Little Fixer Upper

This week’s house is one I know very well, because we lived in it. For twenty-five years it was our family’s rental, and then Steve and I moved in and spent two years making it ours. It was smallish, the porch was cracked, and the entry light was original (we went back and forth on that light more times than I’d like to admit). But it had a wonderful old bones and a lot of heart. It is now a rental again. You can read about the transformation in this post Fixer Upper Living Room Before and After, and the house decked out for Fall in my post Natural Collected Fall Home Tour here.

California gives us more of a fake fall, so I leaned on texture instead of color: twigs, moss, raffia, linen throws, a shed cow horn, and pumpkins everywhere. My twig wreath had already been on duty for almost ten years. And the ancestor portrait Steve found creepy? I loved it with the antique wood forms. Some battles you just win.

What I loved most is that it proves a house doesn’t have to be big or perfect to feel collected.

Two Outfits to Wear Thanksgiving Day

It is hard to beat the fit of a Veronica Beard blazer. This one makes the price a little more palatable with the option of switching out the collars for different looks, add a pretty scarf from Aritzia, a splurge bag from Parker Thatch, Madewell Jeans and gentle souls comfy booties that I live in.

I am loving this jacket from Quince, these versatile pants from Wit and Wisdom, my favorite layering t-neck from Uniglo and fun mules from Etsy.

A Table: Thanksgiving for Four, Covid Edition

Same little house, different season of life. During Covid, our Thanksgiving shrank to four: Steve and me, plus Colin and Lauren, who happened to live a few blocks away then (lucky us). We were on lockdown but we finally cheated. I set a fall table using only things I already had. No shopping trips, no deliveries, just a lot of rummaging through cupboards an packed boxes. It turned out to be one of my favorite tables ever, and one of my favorites. A small table has a way of making everyone actually talk to each other.

Something from the Garden: Simple Ways to Amp Up Your Curb Appeal

Curb appeal doesn’t need a renovation budget. It needs a few good decisions and a willingness to raid the garage. Some of my favorite tricks:

Let nature do the decorating. Choose pumpkins, gourds, leaves, moss, and twigs that echo your surroundings. I filled a pair of pots with branches from a neighbor’s cuttings, left to dry naturally, plus pumpkins from Trader Joe’s and Grocery Outlet. They cost me almost nothing and looked like they’d always been there.

Refresh, don’t replace, your wreath. I reused a grapevine wreath I’ve had for years and added faux greens, preserved fall leaves, and faux pumpkins. I only used a glue gun on a few leaves, so everything can come apart and be used again.

Make the door people actually use look good. Our front door barely gets used, so I gave the side entry some love with a big Brazilian ironwood console that used to live in the wine room. Look at how your guests really arrive and put your effort there.

Borrow some architecture. Steve repainted a pair of vintage shutters to match the courtyard ones and hung them around a window. They aren’t a perfect fit, but they’re close enough.

Create symmetry. Matching pots on either side of a door or window instantly make a house look put together.

And it isn’t only for your own pleasure. A Michigan State University study found that attention to curb appeal can increase perceived home value by 5 to 11 percent. Not bad for a few branches and a glue gun you barely use, right?

Immune Boosting Soup Recipes

These are the soups I make on repeat this time of year. You can find them all in my post Seven Healthy Soups Loadeed with Immune Boosting Power. I am making Leslie’s Reset Soup today. I like to make soup on Sunday so we can enjoy it though the week.

What I love about this time of year is that it asks us to slow down and notice what we already have: the people around the table, the pots by the door, the wreath that’s been with us for a decade. None of it has to be new or perfect to be lovely. If you’ve been waiting to start your holiday shopping, hold on until Thursday, when Annie, Mary Ann, and I are sharing our gift guides. Be sure to visit them both today to see their Sunday favorites, too. I’d love to hear what you’re planning for Thanksgiving this year, so leave me a comment, and if you know someone setting a table this month, please share this with her. Kim and I will be back on Tuesday sharing sharing new ways to wear what you already own for the holidays. Have a great Sunday!

most lovely things

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