Tastes and Smells of Fall

This week was pretty glorious.  Everything about this month and this season makes me happy, and it didn't hurt that this past week was a Cooking Club week. Girl time is so needed in this stage of life. #amenandamen

Here are some things that made this week sunnier in my world...

Wax Buffalo.  If you're from Nebraska, you have probably heard of this small shop that carries the most beautifully scented candles in the land.  I want to burn this candle every second of every day, and yet, I don't want to, because then it will be gone.  (Insert sad face emoji.)  I picked up the autumn scent and it makes my house smell exactly like October.

I'm all about bringing the outside in.  Since I hosted Cooking Club this week, I spoiled myself with some beautiful buds from Trader Joe's, but these burgundy beauties are from my backyard.  I have tons of mums blooming right now and I decided to pluck some to put in every nook and cranny around the house.  This color, spot on.

This pumpkin found it's way inside my cart at Trader Joe's, along with a few friends.  I love the shape and color and I'm forbidding myself to go back and get any more because...I want them all.

Banana bread is yummy in any season, but I really love it in the fall.  The kids and I whipped up this recipe for almond banana bread on a slow morning this week and I found myself slicing off a piece and slathering it with butter anytime the kids weren't looking.  I blame this boy in my belly...

I can't end without saying more about our Cooking Club.  It was my month to host and I am so blessed that the girls drove all the way from the city...on a stormy night...got lost twice...and brought the most delicious food with them. I might venture to say we ate some of the best food our little hands have created this past week.  Butternut squash pasta with goat cheese, sweet potato and sausage bake with gruyere cheese, vegetable soup, green well salad, and pumpkin ice cream sundaes for dessert.  My mouth is literally watering.  We do what we do every Cooking Club night and had great food and even better conversation.  These girls fill my bucket and it feels good and necessary to have like-minded women to talk to, listen to, and do motherhood with.  I am blessed with the best!

Hope you all have a Sunny Saturday wherever you may be today!