We’re almost a week away from December, which makes looking back at the start of October feel a bit odd. Between a few book tour stops that threw off our normal schedule and Thanksgiving break, this month’s yearbook-style wrap-up of October is arriving a little late. As always, you can read past monthly roundups dating back to January 2011 in a condensed series — much easier than digging through hundreds of posts. We’ve also tucked a clue about Monday’s giveaway at the bottom. Hope you’re enjoying a great Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends!
Most Adventurous: Sherry, for bravely crawling into our overgrown butterfly bush to get this shot before we started cutting it back. It felt adventurous because we later found a snake in there — proof that braving the bush earned its merit.
Simplest: A tiny key art project Sherry whipped up that represents the four Petersiks — me, Sherry, Clara and Burger (who doesn’t stand upright like the rest of us). It was quick, sweet, and perfectly personal.
Biggest Eyesore: The trash-filled Bagster that parked at the end of our driveway for a couple of days before it was hauled away. It was ugly in the short term, but it helped create long-lasting improvements in our basement — totally worth it.
Hottest: Sherry’s School Nostalgia mood board, which scored high on the style meter. It was our first round-up mood board of this type, and since readers liked it, we’ll likely do more in the future.
The Hand-Me-Down / Hang-Me-Up Award: Our old bedroom sconces, which never quite found a place here. We gave them to our cousins and even helped hang them at their home outside Washington, D.C.
Most Asked: “How do you decide when to DIY and when to hire a pro?” That question came up a lot, so we finally dedicated a post to the topic using our french door non-DIY as an example.
Most Coveted: Items spotted during a Target run that made it into one of our Window Shopping posts — small things like an arrowhead notebook that caught our eye.
Most Open: The wide access to the deck after our french door installation — this “after” photo really shows the difference it made in how the space flows.
Fastest: Sherry’s fall mantel decorating, sped up with a time-lapse so you don’t have to watch every minute of her arranging and styling.
Most Satisfying: Hosting a low-key yard sale to clear out overflow items we’ve accumulated — including things that hadn’t found a home since our old house. It felt great to pare down and make space.
Most Satisfying (Runner-Up): Removing heaps of liriope from the backyard and discovering that our brick pathways were wider and more charming than we’d realized.
Oddest: A moose lamp found at a moving sale in West Virginia. After a coat of white spray paint and a colorful shade (mocked up in Photoshop to keep a book project secret), it went from odd to oddly awesome.
Most Nerve-Wracking: The release of our book. Sherry wrote candidly about the anxiety and excitement of seeing it finally be published, and Burger’s hiding-under-the-covers pose captured the feeling perfectly.
Cuddliest: A baby squirrel we spotted while bushwhacking. We didn’t try to cuddle it, but Sherry wanted to — luckily it scampered off so we could get back to yard work.
Most Boring: Drilling holes in pumpkins. It was oddly satisfying to see orange guts spill out as we bored into squash so Sherry could later weave in fake snakes.
Manliest: A roundup of fabrics that skew more traditionally “guy-friendly.” It included tips for choosing patterns and a few less-feminine florals that still work well in many rooms.
Most Historic: Little treasures uncovered while cleaning up the basement workshop — like a fire extinguisher last inspected when we were about Clara’s age.
Creepiest: A Halloween photo of Sherry from 1994 that she used to announce a seasonal Pinterest Challenge. For the record, the costume was meant to be something specific — but the mystery adds to the creep factor.
Most Polarizing: A fast and inexpensive duck makeover that some readers loved and others didn’t. It was quirky and fun — and it only needs to live in our house, so opinions can safely differ.
Nerdiest: Us, especially Sherry, at our first book tour stop in Cincinnati. We geeked out seeing stacks of our book, fussed over babies, stuffed our faces with chili, and even photobombed near Cortney Novogratz. It was a blast.
Most Improved: Our backyard, which looks completely different after clearing overgrown bushes and creating open grassy areas. A few rounds of digging, leveling, and seeding made a huge difference.
Most Obsessed: Sherry, particularly when it comes to Nate Berkus’s collection. We drove to multiple Targets to track down pieces she wanted to bring home.
Spottiest: A kid-friendly pumpkin project we did with Clara this year. Instead of carving, she loved decorating with tissue paper polka dots — perfect for little hands and sticker lovers.
Biggest Flirt: Me, when I’m standing in front of my basement pegboard. Seeing tools neatly organized gets me weirdly excited — think a Kristen Wiig character energy around the workbench.
Most Pinteresting: Our fall Pinterest Challenge project: a rustic oversized chalkboard made from scrap plywood and cheap framing lumber, stained and painted with chalkboard paint. We also added magnet paint so it’s magnetic, too.
Most Pencil-tastic: A shadowbox we made to commemorate our book-writing process, filled with meaningful items like the many pencils we ground down while editing through multiple rounds.
Most Adorable: Clara (or “Jessie”) in her homemade Toy Story-inspired Halloween costume that Sherry made. Burger’s Slinky Dog costume probably deserves the title “Most Likely To Require An Explanation.”
Most Likely To Give You $200: Monday’s giveaway from one of our favorite stores. To make it fun, we hid the store name in an anagram image below — rearrange the letters to find the answer. Hint: the solution doesn’t match the original word-for-word letter distribution.
How was your October? Did you tackle any big or small projects? Can you even remember that far back now that December is almost here?