Pumpkin Bread, Hunter Boots and Scarves

I know, I know; it's August 27. The official start of fall is still a few weeks away -- it happens on September 23, to be exact -- but in my mind, it has already arrived.

On Monday, I posted a photo of my pumpkin bread on Instagram (username is ablondeambition, if you like to keep on with folks on that platform), and had a few people ask about the recipe. I love sharing anything food-related, so here it is.

'Better than Cake' Pumpkin Bread
1-2/3 cups of all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 can pumpkin
1/4 cup of vegetable or canola oil
1/4 cup melted, unsalted butter

Directions

1. In a large small bowl, combine the flour, sugar (white and brown), baking soda cinnamon, salt, baking powder and nutmeg. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, pumpkin, oil, unsalted butter (melted) and water. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. 
2. Pour into a greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 65-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. Yield: 1 loaf (16 slices).

I've decided I'm definitely going to take the plunge on a pair of Hunter boots this fall. I figure, they'll probably be worn a lot if it gets nasty again this winter, so I may as well invest. And, if Mother Nature goes against the almanac and surprises us with a calm winter season, then I'll wear 'em anyway. Now the hard part...which color to buy? I'll probably go with basic glossy black to start and branch out with a fun color next time if I like them!

Scarves. Can you ever have too many? In my opinion, no. I've got my eyes on several, including these:

Cheetah Red Accent Printed Scarf

Soft Navy Jacquard Scarf from Zara

Lush Leopard Scarf from Forever 21

Tinley Road Faux Fur Infinity Scarf from Piperlime

Veronica Scarf from Banana Republic


Is fall on your brain, too? When does fall start in your mind?

Caroline Rose: {Five Months}

Weight/Length: As of exactly one week ago, she was 12 lbs. and 8 oz. Caroline is also 23.5 inches long and her head is measuring 40 cm.

Still a little peanut of a thing, but MAN goes girlfriend have some cheeks on her! I could squish and kiss those puppies all day. And sometimes, I do.

Hair: Hasn’t changed a bit. Still brown and still growing fast : )

Diapers: Size 1 Pampers Swaddlers. We tried on a Size 2 and, um, nope. The dang thing came up under her arm pits, haha!! She has a teeny booty, that Caroline.

Clothing: 0-3 month in Old Navy and Baby Gap, 3 month in Carter's and most everything else. She still can't wear any of her Mud Pie clothes - they're huge on her! I've heard this is common for that brand??

Favorite Things: Her Sophie the Giraffe toy, her Bumbo seat with play tray, her Olivia the Pig doll and her jingle bell ball.

Likes: Right now, our petite princess loves: looking at books with bright pictures, having songs sung to her, music, watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the iPad, bath time, getting her diaper changed. And "standing". She loves when we hold her in a standing position under her arms and let her put her feet down and straighten her legs. She likes this because it usually ends in us clapping and cheering for her like a bunch of buffoons.

On Wednesday in her stroller. 

Dislikes: The Nose Frida. Not funny, but kind of…she’ll grab the Frida when we’re trying to use it on her and hurl it at us.

Milestones: She rolled over from back-to-tummy on February 9th, then a week later started rolling from tummy-to-back. She began holding her own bottle around the beginning of February, also, right before she turned four months old. She is also starting to gear up for crawling and sitting. She also loves to "talk" and belly laugh, especially when her daddy plays peek-a-boo with her.

This month, she has also started imitating us. We can make a funny sound and she’ll mimic it. It’s so neat to interact with her this way!

She is also learning to pet the dogs. This delights Ruby (our miniature dachshund) to no end because she loves anyone who will dote on her. Ari couldn't care less, but he's a great sport while we let Caroline touch his ears and gently pat his head.

Sleeping: Up until the dadgum time change last Sunday, we were doing great, haha. She’s still sleeping through the night, but instead of going down at her normal time, it’s taking us about an hour longer to get her to sleep. We’re just being patient and looking it as though this just gives us more time to cuddle with her at night : )

She takes one long nap around 10:00 a.m. for two hours, then another nap around 1:30, then her final one around 4:30 p.m.

Mama Thoughts: 

Caroline is changing overnight these days. Clothes that fit last week don’t fit this week. Her little mind is like a sponge and soaks up new things every single day. I’m taking advantage of this and exposing her to as many things as I can. I noticed her staring at a flower in a vase on our countertop the other day. I took this opportunity for her to touch the petals, take in the bright red color and admire the beauty of this new discovery.

It’s true what they say.

When you have a child, everything is new again.

Faster than her little body is growing, is our love for her. I simply cannot imagine being more in love with another tiny human. I miss her terribly on the days that I work, although I do enjoy the time out of the house. But do you know what? That moment when I walk in the door in the afternoons and see her face light up - perfection. Can't put a price on that, friends.

Another stroller walk this morning.

Her blue eyes are getting bluer by the day, too. I'm still not sure if she favors Stephen or me more, but those eyes, y'all...those eyes. Someone said one day that she could probably cut glass with them because of the piercing blue color...I think they might be right.

Until next month, friends. 

....................................

P.S. Sorry about Confessional Friday, but I cannot get InLinkz to work this morning. And this little cutie took priority ; ) 

Confessional Friday: {Link-Up}

'Tis Friday, my friends! Thank you, thank you for stopping by to say "hello"! As we gear up for the weekend, I thought we'd do our little weekly confessional sessional.

1. I confess that after 12 weeks of going without highlights, I am FINALLY getting some new blonde today. See you at 10 a.m., Crown girls (and my stylist, Casie!)

2. I confess that after ogling a gazillion pairs of heels online last night, I ended up ordering a pair of Chuck Taylor tennies. I'm in need of a good pair of flats/errand-running shoes and I'm not really a fan of Toms. I love, LOVE heels on the couple of days I'm actually in the office, but when it's the kiddo and me at home? Bring on the Chucks! Classic, cute and boy, are they ever hot right now. (Got 'em here, if you are in need of a pair.)

3. I confess that NWA Fashion Week is going on right now and, I've gotta say, I'm really not that sad I'm not going. Why? The little bambina below. I have more fun spending my nights with her now. It's so funny how your definition of an enjoyable evening changes dramatically (and for the better) after kids come into the picture.

4. I confess that I am deeply considering buying a boatload of Reese's Eggs while they're on shelves. Holy Peter Cottontail, those things are good. I always say I'm going to buy a bunch and store them in the fridge, but this time, I may really do it.

5. I confess that I appreciate each of you that participate in this little link up every week. Whether it's just stopping by to read, or actually linking up, I appreciate the support! I know there are some pretty massive (and awesome!) link ups in the blog world on Fridays, so the fact that you'd take time to mosey on over here for this wee one just makes me smile!

What's on your mind this Friday?

Caroline Rose: {Four Months}

Weight/Length: I think she'll always be a teeny little peanut, but I love my little Polly Pocket : ) She weighs 11 lbs. 13 oz. and is 23 inches long. Her head circumference is 39 cm.

She's on the lower end of the weight/height spectrum, but frankly, I love having a little baby. We joke that she makes it easier to lift the baby carrier ; )

Hair: LOTS. A lovely chocolate brown. She kept all of her newborn hair and apparently loves to show it off, because she likes bows and whimpers when we take her headbands off, but hates hats. That's my girly girl!

Diapers: Size 1  Pampers Swaddlers.

Clothing: All 0-3 month

Favorite Things: Her Sophie the Giraffe toy, her pink monkey lovey and her V-tech faux "iPhone", which plays music.

Likes: Right now, our petite princess loves: having books read to her, watching TV, (go ahead and judge us - it keeps her happy while I cook dinner), listening to music (her fav is the Billie Holiday station), going shopping with momma, playing peek-a-boo with daddy and taking baths.

Dislikes: Having her feet touched, wearing socks or shoes, people with loud laughs, (we think it startles her).

Milestones: She rolled over from back-to-tummy on February 9th! She is also able to fully support her head and neck, bear her body weight on her legs with us holding her underarms, prop herself up on her hands and use her elbows to scoot for a few inches at a time. She has also started laughing out loud and babbling SO much. She is also learning to lift her little arms up when she wants to be picked up, which I adore.

Sleeping: She is sleeping amazingly well. She goes down around 8 p.m. and wakes around 8 a.m. most mornings. She takes one 2 hour nap in the mornings, then another one-hour nap around 2:00 p.m., then her final nap around 5:00 p.m. for an hour or so. I've had a few questions regarding how we got her to sleep through the night.

I will say, we never did any sleep training, per se. I don't believe in letting a baby "cry it out" either, and I think there are much better ways to help them sleep longer. She has also been exclusively sleeping in her crib since around two months.

If you have specific questions about our sleep routine now, feel free to email me. I'm not an expert by any stretch, but Caroline is sleeping soundly, so something's working.

Mama Thoughts: We dealt with that horrid bout of RSV around the end of January and we are still in recovery mode from that. There unfortunately have been a lot of issues with the daycare facility we were using, so we are currently in the process of finding a nanny/sitter for the two days a week that I'm in the office. Nothing against daycare at all, but for our family, we feel it's the right decision right now.

It has been THE BEST opportunity ever to be able to be at home with her primarily. I love our days together and especially enjoy being able to witness a lot of her "firsts" that I was afraid of missing. My favorite time of the day is when I can hear her stirring in the morning and I go in to get her. She lets out the biggest giggle and always greets me with a huge smile - melt me!!

I'm hoping to start exercising again, as soon as I can find the time. I'd really like to start doing my yoga again because it's such a nice way to de-stress. (And, okay, the added benefits of getting my tummy muscles back into shape is good, too!)

The hardest thing I've faced lately is just the challenge of balancing all my different roles. I'm a mom, a wife, a career woman, a friend, a church member, a blogger (in the loosest sense of the word). I will admit that I had five minute cry the other evening, just a few hours before the Mom Chats were supposed to happen.

Caroline was running a fever, which we attributed to an RSV flare-up and was cranky as a result. I also had two work assignments due the next day. On this same night, I also realized I hadn't cooked a proper meal in five days. I just felt incompetent and disorganized and I hated it. But Stephen reminded me that sometimes we just have to prioritize and push some things to the back-burner while the rest of the things finish cooking, so to speak.

So yeah, after a quick cry in the bathroom and a comforting hug from the husband, I was good to go again : )

That's it until March 14th when we have a - gulp - FIVE MONTH OLD!

AddiBug Designs + Giveaway!

Hey, y'all! I wanted to post about one seriously fabulous little girl hair accessory and hat boutiques - AddiBug Designs!

Recently, I was contacted by the very talented (and seriously sweet) Kristin about sending Caroline one of her beautiful handmade turbans. I took one five-second peek at her Etsy shop and was floored by the cuteness. I mean, the flowers, the bows, the woven preciousness...a girl momma's heaven, friends.

Kristin creates all of her bows, flowers and turbans by hand in a variety of seasonal colors and fabrics. I could not get over the amount of detail that went in to each and every single design of hers.

I'd go on, but I think I'll just let you see for yourself.

And no, the adorable child featured here is not included with the purchase of a turban ; )

The little white bow was one we already had, but I wanted to show how versatile these turbans are. If you have bows with alligator clips, you can easily attach them to the front to make them coordinate with multiple outfits. Hello, options!!

These makes amazing baby shower gifts for friends expecting girls, so keep Kristin in mind when you're buying. Also, Easter is right around the corner, so you might want to think about adding an AddiBug creation to your little gal's ensemble!

And, as promised in the post title, a giveaway!

Kristin is giving away this sweet little Valentine-themed headband set to one lucky reader! I'll announce the winner on Friday. To enter, please do the following and let me know that you did by commenting on this post!

1. Go "like" AddiBug Designs on Facebook
2. Follow ABD on Instagram (username is addibug_designs)

Be sure to also check out her blog, which is chock full of advice for momma's, pictures of her adorable daughter and much more!

That's it. How easy, right?

Check out Kristin's Etsy shop for more goodies, just like the ones seen here today!

Gravy and Gabbing

It's Friday, y'all. Let's give a collective golf clap, (or a big 'ol hoop and holler, if you're like me.) Another day, another post filled with random goodness - delicious and ready to be served. So let's do it!

Gravy

On Christmas day, I posted a photo of my Memaw's chocolate gravy, which I made for us. I got a couple of emails asking if the recipe was a family secret and I'm happy to report that I have cleared it with the source herself and I can post it : )

Here goes:

Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar (white, granulated)
3 Tbsp. cocoa powder (I like Hershey's, but hey - it's your world.)
3 Tbsp. self-rising flour
2 cups milk (skim actually works best.)
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp. real, salted butter
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions:

Mix the sugar, cocoa powder and flour together in a bowl until there are no lumps. In a sauce pan, combine the milk and egg yolk. Add the flour mixture and cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. It should take on the consistency of pudding. Once it thickens, reduce to low heat and continue to stir constantly until it's silky smooth. Add butter and stir again.

Serve piping hot on top of fresh biscuits for a crowd-pleasing breakfast!

Gabbing

I was BLOWN AWAY by the amount of responses from those of you interested in the mom Gmail chat forum and also the local mom playgroup. I'm currently organizing the emails and will continue to do so over the weekend! I'll email everyone next week with details of both the chat forum and the playgroup/meet-up for Northwest Arkansas moms.

Right click and save the image above, and post on your own blogs to spread the word! The more moms we get, the better the chats will be!

Thanks again for your interest in all this mom stuff! I'm so excited to talk to you girls and meet those of you who are local. Yay for new friends!!

....................

Okay gals, I'm out. Stephen and I are packing up the baby and our 150 pounds of baby stuff and heading to my parents in Heber Springs, AR to celebrate Christmas with them. I'll talk to you bunnies on Monday!

Let Them Eat Cake

via Pinterest

One of the most enjoyable (and most delicious) parts of planning this wedding has been the creation of our cake. Although neither one of us are really cake people (we actually prefer cheesecake or ice cream for dessert), we did want something that not only looked spectacular, but also something that tasted amazing for our guests.


We found so many inspiration photos online from sites like Style Me Pretty, The Wedding Chicks and, of course, 100 Layer Cake.

In the end, we chose something that is classic, understated and delicately beautiful. I just know our friends and family will love it as much as we do!

Here are a few inspiration photos of some of the beautiful cakes that inspired our own.

And before we go, just for fun, some footloose and fancy-free cake inspired photos...
 

 

I hope y'all have a great weekend! Here's to all the sweet things in life!

Be blessed, lovelies-

Viva 'La Weekend

Not relevant to post...but how fun is this?
via FGR


I don't usually blog on giveaway days, save for football season when my Hogs are playing and I feel the need to give pre-Saturday encouragement. But alas, I can't stand to send y'all off with no parting words of wisdom for the weekend. Sewwwwww.....blogging it is!

How 'bout that giveaway this morning? (I feel like I sound like my dad, "How 'bout them Saints?"...our family likes NOLA.) I was pretty pouty that I will not get to partake in the goodness of Charli Girls too, but that's how the blog giveaway cookie crumbles.

...and speaking of cookies, I'm PMS-ing and that sounds superb right now. Know any fabulous online recipes y'all would like to share? I mean, Bakerella and PW are always golden when it comes to delish, calorie-laden treats.

But maybe I'll bake these instead of cookies:

Holy mother of Snickers...

I saw this recipe on Kevin and Amanda and thought, "Hmmmm, that's just what my hips need!" If y'all all lived close I'd invite you over for one tomorrow afternoon when I bake. But my apartment is small and there's only one potty and parking can be tricky at my complex. So, instead I'll just describe how it tastes in great detail Monday, m'kay?

In case you live under a boulder, you probably know that Kelly is doing her latest installment of Show Us Your Singles over at her place today. I feel like one of those spokespeople on an infomercial, "It worked for me and trust me, it will work for you too!"...but no, for serious, if you are single or know a great soul that is, go over there and enter them. I found my fiance hanging out in space #32 last summer : )

I can assure you, you will get tired of this pic.

My e-Style queue is filling up for February, but I still have 2 spots left. If you want an e-Style, send me an email and let me know! (Or send your fellas over there and tell them it's your early Valentine's Day present.)

Y'all have a happy weekend.

Be blessed, lovelies-

Co-Co-Co!

via Hostess with the Mostess

Happy Christmas Eve-Eve, guys and dolls! I'm finally almost done with my Christmas shopping and preparations for the weekend. Now I can finally sit back, relax and sip some delicious holiday beverages with my honey tonight! We are heading to his parents' house for Christmas Eve, then to my parents' house for Christmas day, so I'm sure I'll be indulging in LOTS of this festive drink this weekend...

Hot Cocoa...my fav!

I'm not big on egg nog, but I do lurve some hot chocolate. My favorite go-to recipe is this one, from Hershey's. It's practically fool-proof and you can add extra awesomeness, like peppermint sticks, marshmallows and sprinkles to your liking.

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

Dash salt

1/3 cup hot water

4 cups (1 qt.) milk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Miniature marshmallows or sweetened whipped cream (optional)

Directions

Stir together sugar, cocoa and salt in medium saucepan; stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Add milk; stirring constantly, heat to serving temperature. Do not boil.

Beat with rotary beater or whisk until foamy. Serve topped with marshmallows or whipped cream, if desired. Five 8-oz. servings.

Be blessed, lovelies-