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charlottehouserevival

Ok I know we said we're ordering out for Thanksgiv

Ok I know we said we're ordering out for Thanksgiving, but we ran over to @centralmarketlancaster today and grabbed a big drumstick & thigh to throw on the smoker for Thursday.

At least we can say we cooked SOMETHING ourselves, yeah? He's trying out a new brine, so we'll report back.

Ever do a non-traditional bird for Thanksgiving? My parents used to inject one with hot sauce and deep fry it, but that was for a holiday party, not actual Thanksgiving. This will be the first time we've smoked one, though!
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#thanksgiving #turkeybrine #holidayswithkids #lancasterpa

As pretty as this kitchen is, life has us spread s

As pretty as this kitchen is, life has us spread so thin at the moment that we're outsourcing most of our Thanksgiving meal next week. I'll be including "online ordering" to my list of things I'm grateful for this year 😂

Speaking of lists, the house & holidays To Do lists are both running VERY long at the moment. Do you guys decorate pre- or post-Thanksgiving? I usually save it for Black Friday, but everything takes a million years these days, so I'm considering starting a little earlier just to buy myself more time 😬

But a Christmas tree at Thanksgiving? I don't know, guys...
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#oldhouseyoungkids #oldhouserenovation #greenkitchen #openshelving #kitchenrenovation #lancasterpa #holidayswithkids

🌼🏵️🌼🏵️🌼 There's one more import

🌼🏵️🌼🏵️🌼 There's one more important day for us at Charlotte House before we move onto those bigger holidays

The kids obviously love Halloween, but what we celebrate & decorate for at our house is Día de los Muertos / Día de los Inocentes

It's not a holiday Jim or I grew up with, but we were really drawn to it after our first son passed away when he was an infant. We then lost our first daughter shortly after to medical issues when I was halfway through her pregnancy.

While many of our friends were sharing cute kid pics of costumes and candy bowls those first few years, we were desperately missing our kids and wishing we could be celebrating with them, too.

Day of the Dead has been such a huge part of our little family ever since, even as we have grown into a not-so-little family anymore

It isn't always easy, but this holiday has given us a way to honor and remember the children we've lost with the ones that are still living, and to talk with them about our passed grandparents and loved ones.

We had a sick kid last night so we got a little behind on our ofrenda, but we'll be having a drink "with" Mommom and Poppop tonight and imagining all the love those babies are being smothered with from here and beyond.

Whether or not it's a day you celebrate, I hope you get the chance today to remember someone who was, and always will, be very special to you

🏵️🌼❣️🌼🏵️
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#diadelosmuertos #diadelosinocentes #holidayswithkids #oldhouseyoungkids #lancasterpa

Admiring their handiwork from the front window 🎃 When we make over this living room, I'm torn between keeping this spot open or putting a bench under the window for our little squad of onlookers.

What would you do? Bench or open? There's a big (and functioning) wall vent under the window, so we can't block it completely 🤔
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#oldhouse #oldhousecommunity #oldhouserenovation #wroughtiron #pumpkincarving #holidayswithkids #interiordesign #lancasterpa

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! The third f

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! The third floor doesn't see much action these days, so it was so much fun to host this spooky Halloween photo shoot over the weekend 📸

Eventually this floor will be converted to living space, but in the meantime it was the perfect space for this family's Beetlejuice themed photos. It's been YEARS since I saw this movie, but now I need to go find it somewhere to relive my youth 😂

Our usual photographer @melissaenglephotography set everything up, although she had to call in a sub due to illness. @emily.avila.photography stepped up and it was so fun to see the shoot in action – can't wait to see how they turn out!
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#lancasterpa #familyphotography #halloweenphotoshoot #beetlejuice #attic #historichomes #oldhousenewtricks #spookyseason

Charlotte House has a gutted third floor that does

Charlotte House has a gutted third floor that doesn't get much attention these days (aside from a few squirrels, that is), but next week it'll be the backdrop for a fun Halloween photo shoot 📸

Jim's spending a good chunk of the weekend cleaning things up and organizing what we've been storing up there, so I thought it'd be a good time to take a few pics & document the current status.

One day this whole floor will function like its own apartment, although we'll probably first need to use it for a while ourselves for all these kids we've got running around.

We're a ways off from that, though, so I'm glad @melissaenglephotography & her clients will get some use out of it in the meantime. Check out our stories today for a look around, plus a few snapshots of the 3rd BEFORE we gutted it in 2017

Anyone else have any old pics of the third floor in the Fraternity era?
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#oldhousecommunity #oldhousenewtricks #homerenovation #lancasterpa #hauntedhouse #halloweenphotoshoot

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REAL TALK: We tend to go a little overboard when choosing items to buy for our home and family - we want things that function well, look good, and fit within a given budget. Everything must check AT LEAST two of those boxes, but ideally we’ll hit all three. This usually means that we spend WAY too much time researching and reading reviews, but whatevs - our obsession is your gain, right?

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