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Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites #64

Hello All! Happy Friday! I hope you had a great week. I can’t believe we are one week out from Halloween weekend! This month has flown by, but I have made the most of it between fall walks, apple picking, baking and fall fests!

Hello Fall!

It’s been a great month and it’s not over yet. Today’s roundup is all things fall as I link up with Erika and Andrea or a fun roundup of Friday Favorites!

Pinterest Boards– Kicking things off with all things fall, my Pinterest boards reflect how I feel about fall and they bring me so much JOY!  Give me all the fall vibes, from nature photos to recipes I want to try, cozy scenes indoors and book and movie recommendations. I go through phases where I am always pinning things up for ideas or inspiration or I am not on the app at all. I’m currently pinning all the fall things, all the time. I love to go on Pinterest at the end of the day for inspiration and to unwind. Here’s my page to follow along, not just for fall but for recipes, fashion, home decor and organization.

SO much JOY!

New Room Scent– New season, new scent! Does this scent not scream fall..honeycrisp apple for fall?! I love apples and and the fresh and sweet scent they bring and I know this was the perfect scent for the next few months for fall! Whenever I have it on, I am drawn back into an apple orchard. Bath and Body Works is my go-to for all the sweet scents, they always get me with their deals for lotions, car scents, body spray and candles.

The perfect fall scent!

Near in the Night– Emily Ley’s latest book, Near in the Night just came out and I can’t wait to dive in. I’m still deciding if I want to start it now or wait until the new year to begin, stay tuned! This is a companion or part two to her first set of devotionals, Sure as the Sunrise. I loved starting my day with Sure as the Sunrise, after some journaling and quiet time and I was thrilled when she announced she had a set of 100 nighttime devotionals coming out. Ley is such a talented writer and I have loved all the different genres of books she’s penned and published. I’m looking forward to ending my day with some quiet time and devotional time and can’t wait to start Near in the Night.

Stuffed Butternut Squash-My boyfriend made Stuffed Butternut Squash for a date night in and it was delicious. The perfect fall recipe. I asked him to share the recipe if you are looking to try it!

A delicious fall meal!

Ingredients

2 acorn squash, halved and seeded

1/2-3/4 pound ground sausage of your choice

½ teaspoon salt and pepper, more or less depending on seasoning of sausage

herbs and spices to taste, depending on which ones pair with the sausage of choice

¼ cup breadcrumbs

1/3 cup milk

1.5 cups cooked rice, ideally cooled

1 diced bell pepper

½ diced onion

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients except breadcrumbs.
  2. mix well and divide into squash halves.
  3. Top with breadcrumbs and a melty cheese if desired, very lightly drizzle oil or spray tops of each
  4. Place squashes into lightly oiled baking dish
  5. 5) Bake covered at 350 for one hour, then uncovered for 30 minutes 

Sitting in Bars with Cake– If you are looking for a movie for girls’ night or a mother-daughter night in, I have you covered. I found the movie, Sitting in Bars with Cake on Amazon Prime and watched it with my mom, it looked so cute and fun. Two young best friends living together in LA head to bars with cake as a way to make new friends and guys while making memories along the way, what more could you ask for in a movie?! I loved the story of friendship, seeing them make all these unique cakes and creations, but the movie had a lot more depth than I realized. This was a tearjerker and really showed the power of friendship and how it endures all. Make sure you have tissues on hand when you watch you have something sweet to indulge in, because the movie will leave you hungry!

That’s a quick look into what I have been loving this week, lots of fall favorites, from scents to inspiration, recipes, and movies! Tell me, what have you enjoyed the most about the fall season? Let me know in the comments below! Happy Fall Friday!

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Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites #20

Hey hey! Happy Friday and happy day before Christmas Eve! I hope you are able to slow down and enjoy the next few days with family and loved ones. I absolutely love this time of year, after all the anticipation and build up, we can all (hopefully) enjoy some time to slow down and reset with family and friends. 

Here’s a few things I’ve been loving this past week for this week’s Friday Favorites with Erika and Andrea for another edition of Friday Favorites:

Cleveland Trip: My boyfriend and I took a day trip to Cleveland last week and had the best time. From ice skating to walks around the park and dinner and a show. It was the best way to celebrate the Christmas season in a different city. A truly spectacular Christmas gift!

Christmas in the city!
The best Christmas gift from my boyfriend.

Christmas Snack Mix: I have been in the Christmas spirit since the day after Thanksgiving and it hasn’t slowed down at all. The holiday displays at the front of stores always suck me in to try new things. I picked up this holiday snack mix from Giant Eagle and have been loving it. It’s the perfect mix of sweet and salty and holiday cheer. If you are looking for a sweet snack for a holiday party, this is it!

The best Christmas mix

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies: Speaking of Christmas cheer, I tried this peppermint flavor mix in a batch of chocolate chip cookies and loved how they turned out. I have been doing lots of holiday baking over the past few days, from new recipes to classics, it’s been so fun to do some holiday baking. This cookie mix has the perfect blend of peppermint and chocolate. There was also mini marshmallows and chocolate chips in the mix too. Yum!

The start of baking season.

Long Sleeve Blouses: I am always on the hunt for new pieces to add to my wardrobe and found this long sleeve blouse by Ralph Lauren at Marshall’s for a great deal a few weeks back and couldn’t wait to try it.  There’s so many things that I love about this top, first the colors, I adore the classic blue and red. Second, I love the cut and style with the sleeves and the bow at the top. Lastly, I love that it’s long-sleeved. I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for more tops like these.

I love a good long-sleeve blouse

Christmas in Paris: Just in the nick of time, I finished another Christmas book. I loved this story about a young woman who calls off her wedding and retreats to Paris. The description of Paris in the winter is beautiful. I loved the character development and it was so interesting to see this young woman find herself and love again. Christmas in Paris gets 5 stars from me.

That’s a look into my Christmas-filled week. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Eve and Day and I will see you back here next Wednesday for my 2022 Recap!

Merry Christmas!

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Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites #14

Hello all! 

Happy Friday! I hope you had a great full week of November. It’s been a busy week, so I was happy to enjoy a few days with limited plans. As always, I have another edition of Friday Favorites and today as I team up with with  Erika and Andrea.

I hope today’s post gives you some inspiration for new things to read, watch, and get organized ahead of the holidays.

Here’s a few things I’m loving.

Ticket to Paradise-With so many movies going straight to streaming, I haven’t been to the movies for a while, so I was very excited to head to the big screen to see Ticket to Paradise. I love watching George Clooney and Julia Roberts interact on screen together, so this was another treat to see them back together. The movie follows a divorced couple who reunite and slowly start getting along once again. This movie was filled with beautiful sights, great one liners and laughs too. This is a great rom com to watch with your girlfriends or take your mom for a mother-daughter date! It gets 5 Stars from me.

The Last Mrs. Parrish– I know this is an older book, but it was new to me. The Last Mrs. Parrish a suspenseful book with a touch of mystery and intrigue. It follows the story of a young woman who wants to befriend a wealthy woman to get close to her husband. The first half of the book is told from one point of view until it switches to another character’s perspective, and you see the story through an entirely different lens. This book will make you angry at some of the characters, but you won’t want to put it down at the same time. I finished it in less than a week and keep talking about with all of my friends. I’ll definitely be reading more of Liv Constantine’s books. 

Kindle App-Speaking of reading, I love to read hard or soft cover books as opposed to them on a tablet or app, but I was so hooked on The Last Mrs. Parrish that I downloaded it for free on my Kindle app so I could read on the go. I’ve done this with books in the past and it really encouraged me to read when I had downtime as opposed to just scrolling on social media. You can buy books or read others for free. I personally just like reading free books through Prime reading, but you can get so many other titles when you purchase them. This is definitely a great tactic to use if you are looking to read more but don’t want to bring a book everywhere.

Notes App– I have talked about all my many uses for my Notes app on my phone but I have been using it a lot more recently with the holidays coming up. I’ve been keeping lists of gifts to buy, activities to do and things to remember. I follow Emily Ley’s system by using three emojis followed by what each list is for. This is such an easy way to keep track of things and have everything you need to know or remember with you at all times.

From Scratch– Have you seen this mini series on Netflix?! It’s so good and worth the watch. The mini series follows the story of a young man and woman who meet in Italy and fall in love. The show chronicles their ups and downs as a couple. Everything from making career moves, to handling large family dynamics, dealing with heartbreak, illness and falling in love. It was such a beautiful journey to watch unfold from start to finish. Just be warned there were a few tear jerkers. The best part is that it’s based on a true story!

That’s just a look into some of my favorite things right now. Tell me what are you loving this week and looking forward to this weekend? Happy Friday and happy weekend!