2021 Fall Favorites No. 1

I am a strong believer that summer doesn't end (and therefore fall doesn't start) until October. It's still so hot in September these days, so I just keep the summer fun going. However, I've found that the cutest of the fall items sell out super early, so I've ordered a few things... in preparation. Here's a look at a few of my early favorites: 

Leaf Peeper Sweatshirt, Apple Purse & Apple Coin Purse, Pumpkin Punch Bowl, Fall Hand Pie Molds, Charlie Brown Candy Bowl, Pumpkin Waffle Maker, Embroidered Napkins, Pumpkin Pillows, Natural Woven Pumpkin, Seedstitch Pumpkin Pillow, Snoopy Door Mat, Pumpkin Baking Mold 

Metallic Fall Feels

Jacket / Sweater (old Kate Spade) / Skirt / Heels / Handbag

Doesn't this just give you all the fall feels? I'm thinking it just might be the perfect look for Thanksgiving. 

I had no interest in this skirt initially; until my two friends both bought it. I tried it on and thought it might be fun, so I bought it but still wasn't sure what to wear it with. I played around with the idea of a turtleneck, but just wasn't sold... and then my friend DeAnn asked if I had the Kate Spade pom pom sweater from like 2-3 years ago. Ummm, I did! I had never worn it, but am so glad I had held on to it because it pairs perfectly (this is why I don't get rid of things!) 

I thought this purse was adorable the moment I first saw it, but didn't feel the need to purchase it immediately... and then it sold out. I was bummed, but figured it just wasn't meant to be. Until my store called me two days later saying someone had just returned it. Now I knew it definitely WAS meant to be. Matching green shoes followed shortly. 

What do you think of this look? Too much? Just right?
I'll tell you my boyfriend thinks it's way too much. 
I think it's just right :)

Festive Fall Favorites

I'm not big on Halloween decor in my apartment, but I do love a good pumpkin!

This year I've seen a bunch of cute pumpkin pieces, so I compiled a little collage to share...

The Big Cozy Fall Leaf Sweater -  it's all in the name.... big cozy + fall leafs 

Le Creuset Pumpkin Dishes - I am having the HARDEST time deciding what color pumpkin dishes to order... big orange & small white, big white & small orange, or all 4 dishes?? Ahh I just love them!

Enchanted Pumpkin Warmer - I have a few of these warmers for Christmas and think the pumpkin would be the perfect edition to my fall decor. It's so friendly and warm. 

Fluff Mini Quilted Boots - these aren't very festive for fall, but I always love a new pair of UGGs and these are leopard.

Orange Houndstooth Headband - I'm collecting these headbands like it's my job. There's also a Pink Houndstooth Headband that's super cute.

Plush Whale Pumpkin Basket - my fictional child would absolutely have this. No question.

Pumpkin Mini Waffle Maker - this waffle maker is only $9.99. Must. Have.

Dotty Pumpkin - polka dots + pumpkins make me veryyyyy happy 

109th Annual Circleville Pumpkin Show

My dad's side of the family is from (and for the most part still live in) Circleville, Ohio. Each year the town puts on the Circleville Pumpkin Show on the 3rd Wednesday - Saturday in October. I've gone to the show for the past 24 years and my dad has gone for the past 56 (every year of his life). It's quite the to-do in Circleville with schools and business shutting down during the week. My dad and I drove down on Thursday to see the 'parade of bands', walk around, and visit with my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousin. 

One of my favorite parts of the 'show' is the pumpkin donuts from Lindsey's Bakery. They are delicious and Lindsey's sells over 100,000 every year at the show alone. I love the glaze and how cake-y they are. You'll never find any better. My dad is a big fan of their thumbprint cookies as well, but be prepared for a line well out the door and around the corner - it's always our first stop!

Every year there is a contest to see who can grow the biggest pumpkin. This year's #1 pumpkin actually wasn't that big - only 1666 lbs in comparison to the winning pumpkin last year which weighed in at 1964 lbs. My grandparents are friends with one of the families who always have a pumpkin in the top 10 (they had the winning pumpkin last year), and attend their 'vine cutting' party every year. They have to cut the pumpkin off the vine, lift it using a large sling-like contraption and put it on a flat bed truck that they then drive in to town for the weigh-in on Wednesday. It's crazy!!

Every year I admire the gorgeous glass blown pumpkins, so this year I bought one - the big pink one!! I loved the curled ribbon-like stem and the fun pink color. I think it will be a fun fall decor piece that I can use for years to come. 

The weather couldn't have been more perfect (77 degrees is amazing for October here in Ohio) and it definitely got me in the mood for all things fall!

Halloween 2014 Recap

As an adult I have never been a huge fan of Halloween. I loved dressing up as a child and really enjoy passing out candy to the kiddos in the neighborhood, but dressing up as a 23-year-old and hitting the bars just isn't my scene. So, my version of Halloween involves decorating pumpkins and eating fun sized candy until I get sick. 

I tried to get creative with my pumpkin decorating this year, and this one was so easy to do. I just stamped on modge podge with a circle sponge and then poured glitter on top. The pumpkins ended up looking absolutely adorable (I made a gold one for my desk at work too). 

You can't celebrate Halloween without a #TBT photo. 

I am so proud of this polka-dot pumpkin. I unfortunately do not own a drill so I had to carve all of the circles by hand, but I love the way it turned out! 3 hours well spent in my opinion! That is until the mean little 5-year-old in my neighborhood tried to knock it over. Not cool Mulan. 

Fall Flavors {Macaron Edition}

It's no surprise that fall is often associated with food.  It seems that  everything is available in pumpkin flavor now-a-days, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and Jeni's now has my favorite sweet potato marshmallow ice cream... yum :)  Pistacia Vera (my favorite spot in Columbus for a tasty macaron) has definitely nailed the flavors of fall with these two seasonal flavors: 

 

 If you're not an Ohio-an it may be hard to understand our fixation with buckeyes. First of all, a buckeye is a poisonous nut. Secondly, some genius decided to make buckeyes into a candy in the form of peanut butter dipped in chocolate. I need to thank this person. Pistacia Vera's macarons are the best I've ever had, and when you add chocolate and peanut butter they just get that much better.  Oh, and this should go without saying, but in case you were unaware The Ohio State University's mascot is a buckeye... Brutus Buckeye.

You had to have known this was coming.... Pumpkin Chai Macarons. I tried these for the first time last week, and may have died and gone to heaven. Please, just give me pumpkin everything.

I've seen lots of fun, fall macaron flavors on Instagram over the past few weeks, which is your favorite?  Oh, and take at the other fall treat I'm currently drooling over here.

It's Fall Y'all

This weekend it finally felt like fall. The temperatures dipped into the 50/60s, the leaves were bright red, and my family and I made our way to a local farm to pick some pumpkins!

We were boring and didn't participate in many of the activities the farm had to offer (mainly because we were too old), but they had an in-ground trampoline, go-karts, huge plastic cylinders that parents could roll their kids around in, a hay ride, zip line, petting zoo, and probably 10+ other attractions that I can't recall. Leeds is definitely a family-friendly farm that you could spend a full day enjoying.

My younger brother, Andrew, even came home from college for the weekend to join us on the excursion! Side note: this picture is currently entered in an Instagram contest. If you could go here and like it I would appreciate it!

Our main purpose for the trip was to pick out some pumpkins, and let me tell you - we found some of the biggest and best priced pumpkins I've found in a few years.

My mom wasn't thrilled with the amount of pumpkins we ended up taking home with us.... she thought it was a bit excessive, but my dad and I love carving and decorating them. I've already begun my pumpkin crafting (more on that in a post to come), and may have to run back and get a few more - the possibilities are endless with pumpkin decorating!

Have you had any fall fun yet this October?

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Let me start this post by saying I am NOT a good cook, baker, etc.  I can literally count on both of my hands the number of times I have used a mixer, stove, and/or oven by myself in my entire life (thank you college meal plan - yep, I was on one all four years).  However, lately I have been trying to broaden my horizons and try some new things, so when my friend Erin brought some delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies into the office the other day I knew I had to try them myself.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup pumpkin (canned or homemade) 
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spray cookie sheet or line w/ parchment paper

2. In a small bowl combine the pumpkin, sugar, oil and egg.  Set aside.

3. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and cloves.

4.  Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and stir into the wet ingredients.

5.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

6.  Add the vanilla and chocolate chips.  Stir until well distributed.

7.  Drop 1-2 tbs of batter onto the baking sheet, leaving a 1 inch space b/w each cookie.

8.  Bake 10 minutes or until the cookies are completely set.

This recipe made exactly 2 dozen cookies when I tried it, but some of my cookies ended up pretty large, which I obviously did not have a problem with.  

Prepare to be addicted. 

Fall Favorite: Scarf

I've never been much of a scarf girl.  I always wore scarves out in the cold with coats, hats, gloves, etc., but I was never one to wear a scarf all day long as part of an outfit. Until last year...

Last year I starting building my scarf collection, and have loved searching out unique scarves with fun colors and prints. My favorite by far is the 'patchwork stripe scarf' from J.Crew, and the best part is it's on sale for $26.99 with code "WEEKENDPLANS." The patchwork stripe scarf that I have on is peach/grey/black, but there is also another adorable option that comes in navy/pink.

Which scarf are you loving for fall 2014?

Pumpkin Time.

Around this time every year I get a little pumpkin crazy. My dad grew up in Circleville, Ohio (home of the Circleville Pumpkin Show), so I suppose it's in my blood to love all things Pumpkin....

These "Mini Pumpkin Pies" from Trader Joe's are where it's at.

Like holy cow these things are delicious. And the best part? They require no prep time. Just take them out of the fridge, open the box, pop some cool whip on top, and you're good to go.

Now that my brothers and I are "old" (22, 19, and 16) my parents seem to think it's no longer necessary to decorate for holidays.  I think that's absolutely ridiculous, so last week I took matters into my own hands and picked up some pumpkins. 

Riley was a huge fan of the pumpkins, and tried to drag the smallest one around by the stem all day. If I can find a spare minute in the next two weeks I'm going to attempt to paint a glitter paw print on it for him....hopefully it will end up like this adorable polka dot pumpkin on Pinterest, but my Pinterest projects never seem to turn out as planned. 

How cute are these wood-chip pumpkins I found at our local garden store?! I didn't buy them, but if I had my own apartment these most definitely would have been mine. Fingers crossed that they'll pop back up this time next year!

The one pumpkin thing I haven't tried? Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte. 

I've heard that I'm missing out and I plan on trying one very soon...I'm sure my Instagram followers will be the first to know (especially if they give me one of those little pink cardboard sleeves).

J.Crew Style Guide Sneek Peek

I started off my morning extremely irritated that the Lilly Pulitzer sale crashed for the second year in a row.....I couldn't click on sizes, colors, or scroll. But I can't say I wasn't expecting it considering what happened last year and how much they hyped it up this year. 

So, I headed to Pinterest to kill some time while they worked on the website, and stumbled upon the J.Crew "Style Guide Sneak Peek"

The sweater on the left is similar to J.Crew's "Swiss Dot" sweater from last year that sold out super fast and was going for like $300 on Ebay. I called a J.Crew personal shopper and she said the sweater will be available for $98 online Wednesday. Snatch it up early girlies! 

Oh, and if you're eyeing that animal print skirt.....it's J.Crew Collection and a whopping $1800.....

I know, I know :(

I'm loving the dress on the right for work in the fall. Throw on a blingy necklace, a black sweater, and some wedges and I'll be good to go for work. (The personal shopper said it should be $178). 

 

Every year I love (and end up buying) J.Crew's tweed pencil skirt, and this year's is no exception. The personal shopper said it's going to be $250....I think I'll be wait for a sale on that one. 

So I think the saying "everything happens for a reason" rang true for me this morning.  No need to buy summer Lilly when all of this fall goodness is going to be hitting J.Crew.com Wednesday! 

Fall at Miami

I'm so fortunate to be able to experience autumn on such a beautiful, historic, and prestigious campus. Everyday I look around and can't believe how lucky I am...

"The most beautiful campus that ever there was" - Robert Frost

 (via)

Hello October!

  In my mind October 1st is the official start of fall. 

The leaves are finally starting to change, the weather starts to consistently stay below (or around) 7o degrees, and it's time to start eating, drinking, and enjoying all things pumpkin. Pumpkin donuts anyone? Yummmm.

October is also what I refer to as "the month of flats" - there is literally no better time (or weather) to wear flats with all your outfits. They are the perfect transition when it's too chilly to wear sandals but still not late enough in the fall to wear riding boots.

This October I'm excited to...

stomp on crunchy leaves

pick a pumpkin (and go to the Circleville Pumpkin Show)

go through a corn maze while snacking on a carmel apple

curl up in a comfy spot with a good book

...and while this isn't really a fall-related sport, college hockey officially starts in October (October 7 at 4:00 pm here at Miami to be exact).

What are you excited about this October?

Lost In A Corn Maze...

This weekend was full of little adventures/activities that I'll be posting about throughout the week. One of which occurred yesterday afternoon when we decided to go pick some pumpkins and find our way through a corn maze.

I'm not very good at corn mazes. Normally I wander around until I get bored and then cut through all the corn to find my way out - but my friend Kierstin wasn't about to give up.

Lost in the corn...I finished my carmel apple about 5 minutes in and that's when I lost interest and demanded photo shoots. (Top: Theme, Jeans: Joe's, Shoes: Converse, Bag: Coach)

Kierstin took a turn posing with the corn. I then got the bright idea to pick corn off and throw it on the ground so we would know where we had been. Which resulted in...

Successfully completing the corn maze in about an hour and thirty minutes - I almost had my friend Eddie come rescue us.

First Day of Fall

Happy first day of fall! It's hard for me to believe it's fall based on how warm it has been this week - every year I seem to forget what time it really starts feeling like fall, or maybe the problem is every year fall comes at a different time. Last year it felt like we went straight from summer to winter with no in between time. To celebrate the season I did a little pinterest searching and found some fun pictures :)

Doesn't this look great? Grab a book, some blankets, and a Caribou Coffee Hot Apple Blast (I've never had a pumpkin spice latte) and curl up in one of these.

My dad went apple picking and brought me some honey crisp apples - my favorite. I have at least 40 in an abercrombie bad in my closet, I'm not sure if I can eat them all! I wish I had a center piece like this to display them all in.

I've never been to New York, but would love to visit the city in the fall and at Christmas. My dad keeps promising to take me, hopefully the trip occurs soon!

My mom makes these at Christmas but with red and green M&Ms and regular hershey kisses, and they are addicting. I'm making these next time I head home!

The leaves are starting to chance here at Miami, the campus is absolutely gorgeous during the fall. Actually, it's gorgeous almost all of the time.

I love everything to do with pumpkins and these monogrammed one's are such a cute idea. My dad is from Circleville, Ohio and they have "The Pumpkin Show" festival every year. My grandparents, aunt, and uncle are all really involved with it still so we try to head down every year and make sure to get some pumpkin donuts. yummm.

What are your favorite things about fall? I can't wait to wear my riding boots, go through a corn maze, eat a candy apple, have some home football games, carve some pumpkins, and get some Circleville pumpkin donuts in the mail!