i can’t wait for halloween! it will be olive’s first one and she will be trick or treating! of course, i got the little one a lovely little trick or treat bag. i couldn’t refuse a cute little black felt treat bag with her name emblazoned on it!
i spied this treat bag on pbk. i thought the black kitty cat was adorable and i loved the idea of personalizing it. i stopped by the store to check out the bag. i was sold! i purchased the bag and left it there to get embroidered. i was excited i could choose from a variety of colored thread and whether i wanted to place her name on the front of the bag or the back. i felt the back of the treat bag looked better. i didn’t want it to interfere with the cute cat face in front.
i was super excited when they called me and told me the bag was ready! yay! i swung on by and picked up the cute bag. i was totally happy. the pink thread was perfect and her name looked so cute on the back of the bag. i couldn’t wait to show little olive. to commemorate the showing of the bag, i dressed her up in an adorbs halloween outfit and presented her first treat bag. she was quite happy and you can see in the photos down below!
we played around for a bit, i snapped a ton of photos, then we decided to move on. or at least miss olive made that choice! i hung her bag up on her dresser; i’m sure the kitty cat is eagerly awaiting to be used and abused this upcoming halloween! bring on the sweet treats or tricks 😉
i made some caramel apples! so easy peasy. annndddd, i was able to finish out the bag of apples we had from our apple pickin’ outing. woot. woot.
i had to only pick up a few ingredients. i really wanted to use branches for the caramel apples but, honestly, i wasn’t about to go into the yard and hunt for sticks. although, i am really digging the aesthetics of it but not enough to treasure hunt. hmph.
so, lollipop sticks it was. i purchased a bag of sticks, a tub of marzetti’s caramel sauce, and sprinkles. i washed and dried the apples, then removed the stems. once that was done, i took a lollipop stick and tried my best to center them into each apple. i pulled out a sheet of parchment paper {what i had on hand} but you could also use wax paper if you have it.
[stick it to ya!]
i then warmed up the caramel sauce in the microwave. i did it in ten second increments because the sauce heats up quickly. between each interval, i would stir the sauce to even it out. once that was complete, i took each apple and dipped it around and around in the tub, evenly coating the apple. i then placed each apple on the paper to cool off.
i decided to do a variety of toppings. i crushed animal crackers, i crushed nuts, and i had halloween colored sprinkles. i then pulled out another sheet of parchment paper {it’s easier this way and neater!} and would pour the toppings onto the paper. i rolled each apple around and around over each topping. i covered the base first and then slowly rolled each apple until i got to the desired coverage.
i did tricolored toppings. just sprinkle toppings. mixed toppings. simple toppings. all sorts of yummy flavored toppings. i had a lot fun decorating each apple! i then cut out little squares for each apple to settle on.
[pummeling some animals…crackers that is!]
[walnuts and almonds]
after i decorated each apple, i then placed them all in the refrigerator to harden. after that, i wrapped each one in cellophane and finished it with a black ribbon. woooo! i was done and super happy with how they turned out. it’s so easy to make, totally festive and fun, and of course….yummy to eat! sweet and tart. a perfect combo!
not that long ago…hc and i celebrated our six year anniversary. six years of being together! not long compared to some folks i know but six years sounds like a long time but, honestly, it’s been a blink of an eye for me. it feels like we just met! which, i guess, is a good thing!
here we are in our hotel room {i can’t remember which hotel it was?!}, in chicago. we were celebrating our one year anniversary. we were so excited. one whole year together! hc planned for us to have dinner at le colonial. i love that place. it’s so yummy good. i love the ambiance and the decor.
we got ourselves ready and headed out the door. we walked to the restaurant and enjoyed ourselves a yummy, delicious meal. it was a wonderful time. after dinner we strolled back and enjoyed the bustling avenue. i love chicago.
it’s been a fabulous six years together. oh my, how eventful it has been! we have hit soooo many milestones in our short six years. so many wonderful milestones. i am thankful for all that i have been blessed with and i am fortunate to have this man in my life!
to celebrate autumn and halloween, i started to dress our abode with some festive fall decor. it took a few weeks to collect everything, especially since we have a new house and all the decor had to be bought {next year will be easy peasy!}.
i hung our pretty crate and barrel wreath on our door…always a warm greeting! this one is from a few years ago but there is a similar one here. we purchased a few pumpkins to put by our door too. another festive welcome to any of our house guests!
[the changing of the leaves]
[a view from outside…i wish i could capture a better pic! i just love the way the windowsill looks!]
i purchased a bunch of pumpkins from pottery barn kids…i just love, love that store! they had the cutest, most fun halloween stuff this year! my favorite purchases were the white star pumpkins, i love the way it looks! especially when i light a candle inside of it. it gives it an eery, spooky glow. the black cat and the orange pumpkin are actually treat containers but i thought it looked best as scary additions in my window display. i’m glad i bought the pbk decor early because all these items are sold out now!
i debated on placing burlap autumn leaves underneath the pumpkins but decided to go with a burlap runner. it was a more even, flat foundation than the burlap leaves on a wire {it was too bumpy for the pumpkins to lay flat}, plus it looked better.
i bought the regular looking pumpkins from hobby lobby. the burlap runner, the corn husks, and the colored leaves are from hobby lobby as well. oh, that store is wonderful…i can find so many wonderful things there. the fall leaves were the perfect, final touch to the window display.
[i was experimenting with different burlap…leaves or runner? the runner won]
of course, we hung the bright lab lights up! i love these lights. they were the final, final perfect touch to the halloween decor!
throughout the house, i added a few festive touches. like these pumpkin candles from bath and body works. the smell is so yummy. pumpkin, pecans, and spice, so nice!
i purchased these white pumpkins from hobby lobby. i love the look of these pumpkins. very ethereal and cool.
the halloween banner is from pbk and the burlap autumn leave are from hobby lobby. the candles are led vanilla scented candles from target. the pumpkins i bought while we were on an outing with our friend dana, one afternoon.
well, that’s it. that is all i have for this decorating moment. i had a great time scheming up ideas on how, what, and where to decorate in our home. it was so much fun putting everything together! i’m really enjoying our festive home right now and i hope you enjoyed it too!
we love holidays and festive fun stuff! i hope your home is full of fun, spooky, cozy decor and warmth. happy halloween!
so, after our apple picking fun, we ended up with a big bag full of delicious apples. buttttt, we couldn’t possibly eat all those apples! what to do. what to do. apple bread? caramel apples? apple pie? why, yes. apple pie. let’s make us some apple pie! i pulled up a recipe from the wonderful wide world of the web.
one night, hc and i got a crackin’ on making us some apple pie. it was total teamwork. he started the walnut base, i washed and peeled the apples, he started the pie crust, i cut and seasoned the apple slices.
[a small but crucial ingredient]
[the main ingredient!]
[slicing apples for the pie]
we both laid down the base of the pie crust. we learned a very important lesson: we should have rolled out the pie crust a little bit more. the issue we were having was that it was super sticky and not rolling out right. we figured out that if you put saran wrap underneath and above it, it rolled out quite nicely. so, before we figured that out…we ended up stretching out the pie dough over the bottom and trying our best to get it up the sides! we did a pretty darn good job.
[placing the crust for the base of the apple pie]
we placed down the base layer of the walnut mix. then the apples were coated with lemon juice, butter, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt. i scooped them onto the pie crust and hc proceeded to put the extra pie dough as the top crust. the first pie was okaaaay. the pie crust didn’t stretch out as far as what we wanted it too {remember, we didn’t figure out the rolling part yet!}. but nevertheless, it turned out pretty darn nice.
[cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, butter…yum]
[baking fools!]
[the pie above is the not so great crust pie :p]
our second pie turned out for the better…we rolled the dough out more and had a better pie crust overall. i brushed the top of the pie crust with milk and sprinkled it with sugar. phew! we were almost done!
we had preheated the oven and it was ready to go. we popped the pies into the oven and 55 minutes later, we had delicious pies! the whole house filled up with the sweetest smells. the aroma of apples and cinnamon wafted throughout our abode. it was fantastic.
ta da! our finished, tasty, edible product. i must say…they were delicious pies! it had a flaky crust, the apples were sweet and tender, and the walnuts added in a wonderful texture and nutty flavor. my tastebuds were in heaven!
we had a wonderful time baking these pies. total hubby and wifey teamwork! we still have some apples left…hmmm, what shall i make next?!! happy october y’all!
yaaay! we finally got a chance to visit olivia and aaron in their new abode in the city!
oh boy oh boy. we were running sooooo behind. i don’t know why i even agree on a time to meet up anymore! olive napped later than what we expected and that set us all behind. let alone we had to do some errands before we headed in to the city. so an hour and a half past our scheduled, agreed upon time…we finally made it into the city! phew.
they live in river north, in an area where i have had plenty of friends filter through. it’s a cute little nook in the city. you have to walk a bit to get to some good spots but overall, it’s pretty accessible to everything. hey, anywhere in the city is a favorite spot of mine. oh, chicago…how i adore you.
we headed on up to their place and walked in to some good, savory smells. aaron was literally cooking up multiple dishes. he was cooking a soup, salmon, brisket for his chili. but more on that yummy goodness later.
their place was too cute. a cozy, quaint place tucked away on the tenth floor. we snacked on salty chips and delish guac, while we caught up on life. the boys drank some sorta beer and we sipped our refreshing crispin’ beer {love that beer! i discovered it at beer hoptacular one year}. olive was loving life, she was happy as a clam pulling everything out of her diaper bag on the floor.
the boys decided to head out to the liquor store to pick up…yes! some more liquor. so, us gals got some quality girl time together! i love hanging out with olivia…it’s always a good time chatting it up with this sweetie!
[pouting like a pro // she sure loves her sunglasses]
[olive and her ‘cheeeese’ face! zara baby clothes: pants & sweatshirt]
once the boys were back, aaron served up his delicious soup/stew {while we watched the bears game!}. it was sooooo good. it was served with a sourdough asiago bread {purchased at cute little bakery shop in evanston}. the dish was hearty, tasty, and totally filling. i was stuffed. i was already so full from the chips and guac but i couldn’t stop eating the stew. so, yes, gluttony ensued.
[cooking some soup]
[the hearty soup turned stew?]
[daddy daughter time]
[olivia is so sweet with olive]
after eating, olivia and i decided to go for a walk. we wanted to pick something up for little olive {she’s teething and her sore little gums make her grumpy} and it was so freakin’ nice out, we had to take advantage of the weather! we walked down to their local mini mart, no goods for the gal available, so we walked up north and east to the walgreen’s and got what we needed. of course, it there is a starbucks, i’m there! so we swung by and i got myself an iced coffee {decaf of course}.
we strolled our way back {totes enjoying the weather} and back to the apartment. olivia’s brother henry {who came later in the afternoon} and their friend tom was there chillin’ {both there to nosh and hang out}. once inside, i needed to nurse olive and then it was time for us to go.
it was a lovely, lovely afternoon hanging out with the great couple. it was fantastic to just chill, hang, and relax. we love these two! what a perfect day.
one lovely evening, olive and i went over to my parent’s house to help my sister kim bake cupcakes for reagan’s soccer team. the occasion? his birthday!
we headed over and got crackin’ on eating dinner. hello. first things first! hc placed an order for pizza…enough pizza for a small village. after noshing, kim was so excited to give olive her gift. awwww, such a thoughtful auntie and godmother! she gave olive a hello kitty rattle plush toy {olive loves it!}, the kitty cat is usually olive’s buddy during car rides! she also gave little o an adorable pumpkin coat! so fun! of course, we dressed olive in the garb and she was like, ‘stop playing dress up with me…i’m busy playing’.
[hello kitty rattle plush toy // gifts from auntie kim]
[pumpkin coat…hmmm, not impressed]
[there she goes!]
[pizza night]
[holy pizza]
[same noses]
[stuffed mushrooms]
[being super silly with her cousins]
after the shenanigans, we got serious with our cupcake making. thuy started the cupcakes, i decorated them, and kim finished out the packaging. total sister work! they turned out super cute. it was, obviously, a soccer theme. kim had gotten the polka dot cupcake liners, soccer toppers, and cups. i added in the cellophane bags, sprinkles, black ribbon, and frosting. ta da! soccer themed birthday cupcakes for reagan’s team!
[getting ready to pipe some icing]
[whose pout is bigger?]
[goofing around]
after we assembled all the cupcakes, the kids were stoked to eat them! well, the kids and hc. olive wanted to partake in all the yumminess as well…she only got a taste. we gotta hold off on the sweets until her numero uno birthday! don’t want to spoil her tastebuds too much right now.
[cupcake time!]
[belly baring, frosted covered nose girl]
it was a fun evening. the kids always have so much fun together. hc took olive home early to bathe her and grace stayed behind to play a little longer with the boys. after a bit, we finally headed home {ya know, that long drive from my parent’s house 😉 ]. all in all, it was a sweet, perfect evening.
we were all so excited to go apple pickin’! kim mentioned the idea for reagan’s birthday…and we were all in! it was a perfect, perfect day to be out and about. the weather was just right, the sun was shining and the temperature was casually cool. we couldn’t have asked for a better day!
hc, grace, me, and olive packed ourselves up and got into the car for a loooong ride up to the royal oak farm. hmmmmm, and hour and a half later {um, it felt like two hours, at least!} we finally arrived at our destination. the farm looked amazing, i was super excited! we pulled in, parked, and scurried our way over to meet up with the rest of the gang.
thuy, lan, pete, and avery were already there at the farm. oh, we were starving! food was a top priority. kim, reagan, bennett, and terry arrived a few minutes later and we all met at the restaurant. we pulled some tables together and i held ground while the group bought their food. hc brought back a feast! chicken pot pie, mac n cheese, fruit, pie, bread, oh my! i nibbled from his plate and i gleefully fed olive mac n cheese and chicken pot pie. she is such an eater!
[mac n cheese, rhubarb pie, roll, fruit, chicken pot pie]
after noshing, we quickly peeked at the gift shop. it was soooo crowded! we perused around a bit but decided we wanted to get a start on apple picking. though, we knew we would come back to the shop to buy some goodies! you can’t leave an apple orchard without some sweet treats!
[royal oak gift shop]
[candied apples]
we headed on over to the apple orchard cashier. it was something like $20 per bag and they offered the option to hitch a ride on their hay wagon…duh, of course we wanted to go for a hay ride {hello, it’s also part of our autumn to do!}. we happily spent our time waiting snapping a ton of photos {what we do best!}, of course i have to document everything!
the wagon finally made it’s way back and we were off!
[getting on the wagon hay ride!]
the tractor dropped us off at the north orchard where there were mostly shensu {fuji sweet} and royal empire apples {sweet tart}. we had such a blast searching for apples. the kids had a great time! the orchards were beautiful and it was fantastic being outside in the fresh air!
the kids ran up and down each aisle. they got so excited when they found a decent apple! reagan and bennett were throwing loads of apples into their bag! we picked green ones, red ones, and watercolored ones.
[ready to pick some apples!]
olive helped out with the apple picking too! then grace and hc got creative on how to reach the high ones up on the trees! slowly but surely, we were getting our bag full of yummy apples.
[running through the orchard]
[and i helped!]
[apple picking]
after hitting up most of the north orchard, we started walking back. olive needed a diapy change and a feeding. of course, we snapped a lot of fun photos along the way. these kids are too cute together. best cousin combo evah!
[cousins]
[hanging out]
hc and grace ran to the other orchard to finish filling up our apple bag. while they did that, we perused another shop by their pumpkin patch {where they sold pumpkins, gourds, honey, and more decorative fall stuff}. i was really loving this orchard! there were so many fun things to do and it was a really nice atmosphere.
next on our list was the petting zoo. as we made our way towards the petting zoo, the farm also had a huge play area for the kids! they had a carousel, tee pee, a train ride, and lots and lots of play houses, cars, slides, etc. the kids were climbing all over everything, running in and out of the play house, and just having a good ol’ time playing with one another.
the kids finally made it to the petting zoo {after playing and playing and playing on the playground}. it was too funny to see reagan and bennett wanting to feed the animals but absolutely scared at the same time! they were worried that they would bite them, so i had to feed the animals first to show them that it was harmless. they were convinced and they were feeding pros within minutes!
[the sun is setting on this perfect day]
after the petting zoo and all the other things we did that afternoon, it was getting late. the farm was only open for another hour or so, so we decided to hit the gift shop for some last minute purchases. of course i had to pick up some apple cider donuts {copious amounts}!! yum. yum. yum. i grabbed a dozen for us, a dozen for the dick and jane, and two packages of mini donuts for kim and my dad! donuts for everyone! i picked up pancake mix, a cute little strawberry knit hat for olive, and a few toys for the birthday boy!
it was such a wonderful, gorgeous day. we had the best time with our friends and family! it was beautiful out and the farm was ah-maze. we loved apple picking {i smell a homemade apple pie in our near future!} and totally taking in all the glory of a fantastic fall day. every activity we did was so lovely and fun. plus, we came home with the best goodies!
happy birthday to the most wonderful, quirky, funny, sweet nephew ever! we love you so much reagan!!!
hc and i went to an apple orchard in woodstock with grace and his parents. it was such a beautiful day out. the sun was shining, the weather was perfect, and we were ready to have some farm fun!
there was little playground, where grace had some fun exploring all the obstacles & interactive stations. after watching her run around, jump around, and exhaust herself at the playground, we walked our way over to the petting zoo. here, we had a blast petting & feeding the goats, lambs, and llamas {well, really grace had all the fun doing so}. grace was super happy and excited to be able to be so close to all the animals.
a trip to an apple orchard would not be complete without some hot cider and apple cider donuts!!! yum! we indulged in plenty of both. i love fall!
of course, we came home with some pumpkins. we picked out a few good looking ones and had ourselves a carving contest later that night. it was grace’s first time ever carving a pumpkin!
i love doing activities like this. it just adds to the festive, seasonal holiday feelings of the month. it’s what it is all about! autumn = pumpkins, chilly temps, candy, farms, vibrants leaves, and fun!
matt and i have been dodging each other for some time. ya know, life’s busy schedule has caused us to miss each other each week. so, we finally got a day to ourselves and we were able to set up a brunch date!
we decided to meet up at the bongo room. a favorite brunch spot of mine. olive and i got there first. as usual, the wait was long…ugh. not the greatest when you have a little one. matt got there a few minutes after us {looking super dapper} and we contemplated on going to another place but in the end, i preferred to keep our wait with the bongo room.
so, we strolled our way up the street to get some coffee at…guess…starbucks! you guessed right! we walked back to the restaurant and chit chatted outside until the hostess called us for a table.
i love wicker park. *sigh* it was such a beautiful day to be out and olive and i had the best time strolling around. i really do miss the city. sometimes it makes me sad. i love the density, the chaos, the culture, the hipsters, the boutiques, the ah-maze restaurants. i do feel fortunate i am able to visit it every week and that most of my friends are still living there! thank goodness for that!
[silly rabbit // striking a pose at our favorite coffee place]
[nice look olive]
we were seated in a booth…score! i love sitting in a booth at the bongo room and it’s a rarity to get one. especially if you are a party of two. well, this time we were a party of 2.5, so we scored a booth!
olive was a happy camper {for a moment} sitting in her booster and eating cereal puffs. she eventually had her super fussy moments, but more on that later. so, matt and i got down to business. matt just spurred on and on and on about life, work, life, work, life, work. i just adore him. he is such a dear friend of mine and i am fortunate that we have kept our friendship strong throughout all these years.
we were set to order, he was a good boy and ordered a salad; whereas i was a bad girl and ordered the oreo pancakes. so decadent, sweet, and delicious. annnnndd, a side of bacon. duh! of course i did! my post pregnant hips and tummy protested but my taste buds won the fight. so, yes. i consumed the monstrous pile of sugar and fat. mmmmm, every bite was well worth it. hee.
[such a cool interior]
[decadent]
during lunch, olive was getting super, super fussy. baby girl skipped her morning nap {mistake! huge mistake} and started to have a fussy meltdown. she whimpered and cried. she was. so. tired. she threw everything on the floor, shrieked, and rubbed her eyes.
unfortunately our brunch date was short lived. i wanted to hang out longer but olive disagreed. matt and i said our goodbyes and parted ways on this gorgeous day. i quickly nursed olive in the car, put her in the car seat, and before the car even moved, she was out. she passed right out. thank goodness! she definitely needed her much delayed shut eye. and that was the ending of our brunch date with mr. matt.
