Recently...

I'm sitting at the kitchen bar on Saturday morning enjoying a bit of "down time" while the baby is napping. Brian is in the bedroom, on - what sounds like - a very important business call, and Payton is happily playing with Legos. My new Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin candle is burning next to me and all feels right with the world (it doesn't take much to make me happy - apparently, just some quiet time and a good candle).

So recently...

 The front door went from this:

To this:

(note to self: we need a new door mat. Maybe a monogrammed one??)

And a few other fall decrations have appeared throughout the house.

The lighted fall leaf garland and pumpkins above the entertainment center:

(I love the way this looks at night)

 My new fall subway art along with another pumpkin on the kitchen counter:

And I made a little trip to Bath & Body works yesterday and picked up some delicious smelling soaps and candles in a variety of fall flavors.

(It makes me want to wash my hands all the time!)

And speaking of pumpkin-y things, I went to Fresh Market last week and picked up these yummy goodies:

The coffee is really good - very flavorful. The Reese's pumpkin was for Brian, and the cookies were for me & Payton. Fresh Market cookies are THE BOMB!

And since we're on the topic of high-calorie foods...have you ever tried Talenti Gelato? Oh. My. It reminds me of the gelato I used to eat when I lived in Italy. It's THAT good. And it's THAT fattening. Of course, it's really rich, so you only need a small bowl to feel completely satisfied.

This is one of my favorites, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup:

 

But my favorite is their Black Cherry. I normally wouldn't have picked that flavor, but they were giving out samples at Publix and I almost accosted the sample lady and took the whole pint. It was that good.

Okay, on to some other items that are calorie-free!

I scored a new purse this week at my fav store, Francesca's Collection. My old black purse, which I had purchased at Target, was starting to fall apart. Literally. The shoulder strap was shredding, which kind of makes it hard to carry around.

Anyhow...this beauty was calling my name the moment I walked into the store:

It has beautiful hardware, is buttery soft, and has LOTS of compartments, which this organized girl loves!

And the BEST part...it was only $30!!!

Apparently it is "last year's style" and it was the last one in stock, so they put it on major clearance. I have to say, I love something even more when I get a good deal on it.

On a completely unrelated note, here are some recent pics of the boys:

Parker and I were talking about elephants the other day and what kind of noises they make, what color they are, etc. Then it was time to pick up Payton from school and he ran to his stuffed animal basket and pulled this little guy out:

His name is "Gerald" for those of you who don't recognize him from the Mo Willems "Elephant & Piggie" book series. He carried him around all day! It is so cool that Parker is really starting to "get" what we are teaching him. His little brain is such a sponge right now, I hope I am filling it with lots of good things!

He is also very into these Edy's fruit bars. They have no artificial coloring added to them, which I love. And they taste great!

And for those of you not on Facebook, I created a little "drawing wall" the other day in our hallway. Basically, I just covered the wall with some Ikea craft paper I had laying around. The boys LOVED it!

Of course this is an activity that has to be closely monitored. But so far, Parker has not become an errant Picasso on any other walls.

Okay, that's all I've got for now. Off to do some laundry before heading out for baseball.

Have a great weekend everyone!