Mackinaw Road Monday Fall Updates

Good morning and Happy Monday! This week, I thought I would just give some updates about various and miscellaneous topics. So, the usual Monday. Keep reading for entryway wallpaper updates, a new mirror enroute to the house, The Madison, Half Baked Harvest lunch favorites, and a sweater comb that has become a fast favorite. Side note: the stars must be aligned (or something like that) because I have been on a decision-making roll this past week! Very unlike me!

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Let’s start with the wallpaper! Last week, I shared our entryway in all of its Serena and Lily wallpapered glory. (If you missed it, you can catch up by clicking here.) There was about a roll and a half leftover from that project. I was brainstorming a place that I could continue to use some of the beautiful leftovers and thought it might be fun to wallpaper the ceiling. My friend’s lovely mom agreed to come back to do it. I guess that it was quite the feat and it may have looked like the wallpaper paste won when she walked out the door, but it turned out amazing! She did such a wonderful job!!! And I still have a roll left, so I’ll be mulling over a small space for that to be used sometime in 2021.

Because I moved the mirror from the dining room into the entryway, there was a blank space above the bar cart/sideboard/console/anything-else-it-could-possibly-be-called, complete with holes in the wall from our multiple attempts to get it straight years ago. Two of the walls in the dining room already have art, so a replacement mirror made the most sense to me. I narrowed it down to this mirror and this mirror, and ultimately, decided upon this one.

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You’ve been following. You’ve shared. You’ve liked. You’ve commented. You’ve sent messages. You’ve waited. A. Very. Long. Time. And now it’s here…. Go to stories for all the info because tickets are limited and you DO NOT want to miss this opportunity. #themadisongr

A post shared by Jean Stoffer (@jeanstofferdesign) on Oct 6, 2020 at 11:27am PDT

A friend snagged a few tickets to Jean Stoffer’s Madison Home Tour. I cannot wait! The backstory: Jean Stoffer, an interior designer who moved to Grand Rapids a few years ago, has been renovating a mansion on Heritage Hill. The home needed a lot of love and she was just the person to bring it back to life. She is offering tours (with proceeds going to a local charity) in November. I cannot wait to see the transformation in person!

With the weather so nice, I was able to have some friends over for lunches lately. I tried some recipes from the cookbook that I keep mentioning and can’t get enough of. (You can find it here.) The Butter Roasted Tomato Soup is delicious! It tastes like A LOT of work went into it when it was actually quite easy. I also made the Autumn Harvest Salad, and it tastes just like I imagine fall should. It is perfect for lunch or as a side at dinner. I have even made the pecans separately just for snacking. And look at these blankets that R ordered for the cottage. He let me borrow them on our patio before he took them out to the cottage this past weekend. (You can find a similar outdoor sofa here and the throw blankets here and here.) They remind me of outdoor dining in Vancouver last summer and a restaurant that had throws on all of the chairs outside. So cozy! (You can read about the Vancouver trip here.)

Remember this sweater? (And how teeny tiny Crew used to be?!?!) It was/is one of my favorites, but with so much wear it was getting unsightly pill-ing. Before declaring it a lost cause, I texted a close friend to see if she had any recommendations. She suggested this sweater comb. It is amazing and saved my sweater! I had purchased a battery-operated sweater shaver last year that did very little for the pill-ing. This one took care of it so quickly! I’m embarrassed to say that I find this slightly addicting. The sweater stone for thicker items is next on my list of things to try. (As always, I suggest reading the reviews and making the decision for yourself as to whether or not this will work for you!)

Well, I’ll stop myself there. I’m hoping to be back next week with the fall dining table!