All the decorating fun of Christmas, none of the shopping stress!

I was coming home from the grocery store last Saturday morning, and I saw it! It is one of my favorite things to spot-- and I get excited the first time I see it each year.

It's just a little thing, a twinge of color, a twinkle of orange/yellow/red in a sea of green...

It's the first tentative start to fall color.

Which means I am offically allowed to put out the fall decorations and buy mums!

Now, I know this is not an official rule-- I have imposed it on myself. I love Halloween so much, however, that I need to set some boundaries. If there were no imposed limits, a week after Fourth of July, you could come to my house and see the orange pumpkin lights.

Once the first little shadow of color is out, however, decorating is fair game!

These are some pictures of just a few decorations I put up on Saturday... You have to know me well enough by now to realize there are so many more around the house...