Shut the front door

One of my sister's had sent me a picture of a wreath a friend of hers made. Oh? I love a well-crafted wreath, but usually they're $50+ and I don't pretend to be gifted in the art of wreath-making. I'll try just about any other craft, but somehow I don't see wreaths and I getting along. Usually they're more than I'm willing to spend on something I'll only hang a few weeks out of the year, but when my sister said she makes them for $40, I was all, "Shut the front door." I can manage $40. The image she had sent was a burlap and hydrangea wreath. Perfect for a spring or summer, but I wanted a fall wreath. My wish was delivered. Now I want a wreath for every season. Adds a little bit of happiness to our entry, even if the only people who can appreciate it are the occasional visitor and myself when I go to check the mail. Love the "G" nestled in there. Initials make my heart pitter patter.

Recipe: candy corn bark

It sounds too good and rich to be true, but I'm going to make it anyway. And you should too. Or buy it!

Lobsters mark the spot

All the right pieces for a lobster skirt (J. Crew) in the fall.

---

To watch: Soprano's James Gandolfini's Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq is no Italian mob documentary. Alive Day Memories gives you an inside look at those who've served their country in the Iraqi war—a true guerilla war. The loss of limbs, eyesight, and enduring other tramautic injuries may have robbed their bodies, but not their national spirit.

To read: Jane Austen's Mansfield Park.