Fall Into the Holidays - The Dining Room

For our last installment of Fall into the Holidays, we are moving into the dining room! Definitely an important space for so many entertaining needs, so I'm glad we are touching on this with Thanksgiving just a week away. For our dining room, I wanted to maximize the use out of the space and create a few different "stations" for entertaining purposes. To see what the rest of our dining room usually looks like, you can see it here - I did this room for the One Room Challenge this past Spring! On the vintage sideboard, I wanted to make use of it as a bar. I already had the drinks and bar tools in place, but I swapped out the coffee table books and decor that I usually have there (primarily for looks), and added straws and glasses instead. Like most people, we rarely use this room so it doesn't have to be totally functional for serving/entertaining 365 days a year! 

I tied the plaid ribbons to the liquor bottles as a fun touch! I know its a simple thing but adds a lot to the little space! I have been adoring this simple plaid this year. I think it's the cheeriest, classic that takes you from now through Christmas!

I pulled out a few of my favorite wine glasses and low ball glasses and set them on top of a marble cutting board. We have plenty more glasses stored in the china cabinet if we need them, but this is sufficient to have out for now. I also realized I needed to clean them because they had gotten a little dusty not being used! Tip - It's a good to clean them before company arrives, even if they have been stored in a china cabinet!

On the opposite wall we have another small glass door cabinet that I wanted to stack some favorite serving pieces on as a reminder. Does anyone else go through a holiday or event, only to open a cabinet and realize you completely forgot to pull out a favorite serving piece? For right now, I pulled out my chargers, some china, tartan napkins that I got as a Christmas present last year, gold flatware from an estate sale this spring (just the forks are out now, the rest is stored but at least with them in sight I will remember to actually use them!) and then a small monogrammed bowl that is perfect for snacks.

I highly recommend visiting your dining room and tweaking it to make it the most functional for your needs over the next couple months! It's a great feeling to know the dining room is ready for guests whenever that may be!

This series has been a blast and I have walked away with so many new ideas from the following ladies for prepping our homes for the holidays. I hope you all have enjoyed it too!

Shine Your Light

Dimples & Tangles

Crazy Wonderful

Less Than Perfect Life Of Bliss

This Is Happiness

Simple Details

Our Superbowl Lineup

Like a lot of you ladies, I get really excited about the Superbowl, not because the game, but the food of course! Truth be told, that kind of food is my very favorite food. I could snack all day, every day and not have a meal and be perfectly content. Even though the game is come and gone until next year, I secretly love to see what people have served for it! Because, whatever someone is having on the Superbowl is bound to be a good option to keep in my recipe back pocket for entertaining purposes to come. Everything we had was pretty simple, no recipes here. It also made for really easy serving come game time, not a lot of last minute hustle which is nice!

We ordered a few dozen wings from a local favorite at 4:30 and picked them up by 5. Then, we just let them sit in the oven on 350 to warm them back up when it was time to eat. Stephen is pretty picky about takeout wings and can't stand them to be soggy- this kept them crispy! PS- always get the ranch dressing to go with, Kraft from a bottle just doesn't cut it.

In my opinion, ordering the wings was probably the key in making this a simple meal because that would have been a big job and lots of cleanup. Definitely an idea to keep in mind for events to come.

My mother in law made the classic queso dip- velveeta, sausage and rotel in the crockpot. I love some cheese dip and I will eat it until I hate myself. I just can't quit it! We have really cut back on our dinnertime snacks and apps so I was really excited to indulge in this for a night!

Cucumbers and ranch! Never met someone who can turn these down. I like the english cucumbers this time of year, served with sour cream and a Hidden Valley Ranch packet. Mix that up ahead of time so it has time to combine and boost the flavors.

Last but not least, pulled pork nachos! My mother in law cooked the boston butt on low all day, and then Stephen shredded it at game time. I had toppings on hand: lots of mexican cheese, black beans, black olives, salsa and sour cream. They were delish!! If you make the boston butt, just know you will have a ton of leftover pork as well.

What did you all have for the game?

Entertaining Idea: Pineapple Centerpieces

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Blame it on all the Lilly I've had on my mind, but I came across this idea and wanted to share. As you all know, I am obsessed with fresh flowers and keeping our garden full of blooms. This is such a fresh take on integrating natural elements into your tablescape. All of these images were from beautiful weddings, but I think it would be fun to dress up your ordinary dinner table with a pretty centerpiece just as well. Enjoy!