For October

Sorry I left for so long. I promise it won't happen again (until the next overtly distracting thing occurs in my life...). Here is a post about my favorite season. I hope you enjoy.

So many wonderful things are planned for October. Autumn is, by far, my favorite season. I love the leaves turning various shades of orange, red, and gold. I love stepping out into the crisp chill of the morning. I love sipping pumpkin spice lattes with my favorite people. I love planning costumes and eating candy corn. It's all just a wonderful, glorious time of year. Here's what I'm looking forward to most:

Superman groom's cake.

Autumn weddings - I went to one this weekend, and it was lovely. A good college friend married her own personal superhero (complete with a Superman groom's cake), and I got the pleasure of knowing I played a role, however small, in their meeting. Another wedding is coming up in November, and I can't wait to go. I love weddings!


Candy corn - I had my first "kernels" this weekend. Twice. They are magical little bites of sugar-coated happiness. (Which is odd, because as a child I detested candy corn. Hated it. But now I find it delightful.)


Knitting - I've been invited into the Tuesday Night Knitting Club, where I am learning how to knit scarves, cowls, tea cozies, and hats for the crisp autumn weather. I learned how to knit last year when we went on a road trip to Michigan (side note: I don't like road trips), and I've actually continued to knit throughout the year. It's quite relaxing and, because of the season, quite practical as well.

My husband, on a random adventure.

Adventures - I'm amazed at the cool and random things John and I have found in our 15 months of marriage, and I can't wait to go on more fall adventures together. Last year we went to the corn maze, Eureka Springs, and Devil's Den, and this year who knows what we'll find driving or biking around...


Costume parties! - Yes, I am attending a costume/pumpkin carving party! Maybe two! And I am in dire need of ideas for cute couples' costumes. 


Autumn food - finding recipes for chili, soups, and other "cold weather" foods is a ridiculously time-consuming process, but thanks to Pinterest and a couple of awesome Facebook pages, I am all set. I did not realize how comforting a bowl of homemade chili can be on a cold autumn evening, but now I look forward to it! Especially when it's shared with our community group :)

Mama Carmen's latte

Lattes - I've found a few homemade recipes for pumpkin spice lattes that I've yet to try, but I must say Starbucks has the best PSL I've ever tasted. It's also the most expensive though, so it will probably be a very rare, but delightful treat. In fact, any warm coffee drink is delicious this time of year, and totally appropriate for the cooler weather. I am a huge fan of lattes, and Mama Carmen's makes the best ones, no question about it. I could drink 3-4 a day. (I'm not kidding.) They do something amazing with the milk so that it just foams up in and around the espresso in a fantastically creamy fashion. Mmmm.....


Pumpkin - I love pumpkin, and now is the time to bake with it. You can find recipes for pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin smoothies, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin ice cream...just about anything you can think up. So far this year I've made (or eaten) pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin dump cake, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin fluff, and pumpkin cake.


Hot Air Balloons - we are planning a weekend trip to the Poteau Balloonfest! How much fun will that be!?! Both my parents and John's parents are going, and we may even (fingers crossed) get to sit in a hot air balloon! There will also be a dog costume contest, miniature airplane stunts, and carnival rides...I am excited. Very, very excited.