It has been a long time since I had a heart-to-heart with my readers! Since we came back from England, the life became so busy but this one had been an amazing week – finished Downton Abbey for the third time – yes Owais and I are that crazy about it! Touring Highclere Castle, the filming site of the drama was on top of our list-to-see things for our England visit this past summer, other than the must, have-to-have tea in England! Besides this glam 20s show, I thoroughly enjoyed with a heartache the book Namesake, a beautiful novel that I will be blogging about under books & author tab. Ironically I had watched the movie on one of my trips to Pakistan years ago. Related to it then but related more this time. Somethings only age can bring… To finish off the weekend, I went to a yoga class this morning! I love the instructor! She really did a great job de-stressing the group and believe me I walked out much lighter (burden wise).
So I acquired two orange velvet chairs – vintage and in awesome condition! Just perfect for the upcoming Halloween, Thanksgiving and other winter gatherings. I styled it such for my page (the picture below).
Considering the upcoming trends and where the color palette is moving to, the jewel tone decor continues to rise in popularity and the chairs became an instant favorite with some fellow vendors! The rustic elements blend so well with this prevailing trend of elegant+cleaner and at the same time traditional look. The chairs along with the halloweeny decor made to a shoot last week. I just got done sorting out the pictures resulting from the shoot. Loved the photographs by Kg Pixels Photography. The shoot took place at Vuestra Studios & Event Space which is run by talented Jasmine from DFW Bridal Guide, who planned this shoot. Didn’t they turn out super spooky! 
The velvet pumpkins are from here and the other ones I painted for my last year’s Thanksgiving tablescape (below). The jewelry is provided by Antonio & Frankie, makeup by Brite Bar Beauty and Soft Glamour Beauty. The pretty vintage brass candlesticks are part of our inventory for rent! The beautiful models are Jessica, Jazmyn, Toni and Mahoganie.
This shoot sort of took the burden off my shoulders to actually have to plan something for Halloween and photograph it! Thanks to Vuestra Studios for checking if off for me.
I do love Halloween though – it is my favorite holiday. It also reminds me of Harry Potter. All books are favorite but Prisoner of Azkaban – both movie and book are dearest to me. When I did Harry Potter Halloween few years ago, I chose most of the quotes from this episode. My favorite is, “Mysterious thing, time. Powerful, and when meddled with, dangerous. Sirius Black is in the topmost cell of the dark tower. You know the laws, Miss Granger. You must not be seen. And you would do well, I feel, to return before this last chime. If not, the consequences are too ghastly to discuss. If you succeed tonight, more than one innocent life may be spared. Three turns, should do it, I think. Oh, and by the way. When in doubt, I find retracing my steps to be a wise place to begin. Good luck.”
I decorated these little cups with quotes for the hot chocolate bar and signs were made by a dear friend who happens to be my favorite calligrapher and runs Scarlet Scroll.
The year is flying by but believe me if you stop yourself every now and then and re-run the events of life in your head, the time does seem to slow down and is more cherishable! Do so every now and then – oh and yoga does help! I love doing it in a room full of other peace-seeking, soul-searching individuals but if you are more of a DIY (pun intended) type, here is a great streaming option for you!
Enjoy your week!
