welcome fall + a recipe

The air has certainly turned a bit crisp
here in New England over the last week.

This past weekend, we took full advantage of the fall-like weather

and celebrated with some of my most favorite things about this time of year.

Saturday morning I broke out the crock pot and made a beef stew.

Eight hours later, the house was smelling delicious and dinner was ready.

Love the crock pot.

 I put out some fall decorations & candles, and baked.

You must try this recipe. The entire loaf only lasted a few hours here.

It was that good.

Harvest Bread

1 8oz can crushed pineapple

1 egg, beaten

2 tbsp canola oil

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup raisins

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup chopped walnuts

• Heat oven to 350. Spray 8x4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
• Discard 3 tablespoons of the pineapple juice. In medium bowl, mix remaining juice, pineapple, egg, and oil. Stir in remaining ingredients until blended. Spread batter in pan.
• Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool about 1 hour before serving.
  {if you can wait that long, we couldn't!}

Sunday we went to our favorite local farm to scope out some pumpkins and apples.

Sweet Berry Farm is super quaint and always has a great selection. I love the colors of fall.

We now have a couple pumpkins on our stoop and some mums as well.

Did I mention I absolutely love this time of year?

I love fall & a new obsession

Today is the most gorgeous New England day. I know I have said it a bunch of times, but fall really is my favorite. I think I truly appreciate the beauty of the world more as I get older. Today it is sunny and in the 70's and the foliage is at its peak. I am in the midst of a 2 week "stay-cation" from work and it is amaaazing! So far today, I have exercised, cleaned the apartment and taken Lil for a walk. May seem like just a normal day to you, but usually right now I would have to take a nap in order to prepare my body to stay up and work all night. But now? I still have the rest of the afternoon AND evening. And I get to sleep in my bed, with my husband, at night. I could really get used to this!...it's the little things.

Last night we finally carved our pumpkin. I always look forward to this every year. Its so fun to go to the patch, pick our your special little pumpkin and then bring it to life. And of course I love roasted pumpkin seeds.

I learned how to make a collage, woohoo! See, I'm getting better.

J and I have our jobs when it comes to pumpkin carving. Together, we decide on a face. Then I carve out the lid. He carves the face and removes the guts. I separate out the seeds for roasting! Works out nicely.

 

Notice the supervisor under the counter?  She is hoping some pumpkin guts fall on the floor.

The finished product:

His mouth is a little big. Either he is really hungry, or laughing. Either one will work in this house and I still think he's cute nonetheless.

Tonight we are headed to a dinner with J's work. It is at a restaurant in Providence I've been dying to try called Mill's Tavern. I've heard the food is delicious...and it will be free so you can't beat that!

And my latest obsession?

Have you tried these!? They are amazing. I am a sucker for anything with peanut butter and I would venture to say I like these more than the milk chocolate Reese's. Try them, your taste buds will thank you!

Halloween Party!

The Halloween party turned out to be a success! From what I've heard, everyone had a great time so that put a big smile on my face. The hubby and I dressed up as a 1920's flapper and a mobster.

Handsome hubs

 * us *

If someone could enlighten me on an easy way to make photo collages, I would be so grateful! I am not very good with Photoshop, but I'm trying to learn! How do you get a few pictures side by side?

Most of the decor is from target. Love that place!

My cake pops! They were harder than I anticipated!

We had lots of food! Appetizers, desserts and drinks. Buffalo chicken dip, spinach dip, veggies, meats & cheeses, witch's brew. Everyone brought something to share. Great times!

ICU nurses :)

MD's

weekend recap

We had a great weekend!  I felt like we were constantly on the go, but it was fun nonetheless. Just an upfront warning, I took a lot of pictures :)

Friday we started off the weekend right with a dinner date at a local Mexican place on Federal Hill. Margaritas were definitely the way to go after a long week! After dinner, we went for dessert at my favorite little place and shared some chocolate moose and tiramisu along with some delicious hot chocolate. If you're ever in the Providence area, you have to go to Pastiche. It's a little gem.

Saturday, J's residency put together a cookout. It was held on the Haffenreffer estate in Bristol and it was so beautiful there! J used to go on field trips there when he was a kid. It's a huge waterfront estate with lots of history.

  We had a great time with friends and did some exploring.

Sunday we continued our house hunt. One we saw was for a second visit...fingers crossed, we will be putting in our first offer! Sunday evening we went to the Roger Williams Park Zoo pumpkin spectacular. J and I had never been, but his sister said we would love it. We were not disappointed! One of the paths in the zoo is lined with jack-o-lantern. Tons of carved pumpkins! These photos are from my phone, so they are not the greatest...

Those are pumpkins hanging from the trees!

The theme for the pumpkins this year was "A Walk through Time." There were pumpkins carved with significant things and people throughout the decades. We saw pumpkins with everything you could imagine...from Christopher Coloumbus, to dinosaurs, to astronauts to the Simpsons. People are so creative!

List of Ten Tuesday

My friend Jenni over at Story of My Life does the list of ten Tuesday and this week I thought I would join in. You should check out her blog, it is super cute! And how delicious does this cupcake look? I think I'm going to have to bake today. 

This week my list of ten is in honor of some Rhode Island news I heard this weekend. Some very exciting news that will be like sweet music to my closet..(probably not so sweet on my wallet, but that's another story..) I heard that an Anthropologie store is moving in 10 minutes down the road this spring! No more driving to Boston to my favorite store!! Big news for a tiny state. We will now have an Anthro AND a Nordstrom. I love to shop!

So in honor of this announcement, here are ten things on my current Anthro wish list, in no particular order:

Oxer Jacket

Love everything about this jacket!

slanted plaid blouse

I'm really into plaid lately. I would pair this with leggings or skinny jeans.

kids meandering mums skirt

  Did you know they sells kids clothes now? How cute!

Laelia quilt

 Some day when we have a guest bedroom, I want this quilt. So happy and colorful.

filamentous cardigan

Chevron stripes? yes please.

two gardens serving bowl

 Pretty serving bowl.

precocious plaid scarf

 Again with the plaid. 

sweet biscuit tee

 Love the ruffles.

orimono flower pillow

We need some new throw pillows for the couch because I'm tired of ours...this is perfect!

defined betula necklace

Statement necklaces are so fun!

If only money grew on trees! :)

the weekend in photos

Remember that crisp fall sunshine I asked for last week? Well, we got it this weekend and I loved every second. Since my little point and shoot bit the dust, I figured it was the perfect time to get my big girl camera out again. I'm looking forward to taking another photography class, there is so much to learn!