I've been anxiously waiting for September since starting this "A Year of Chocolate Desserts" project.  This month's dessert combines my two favorite things:  peanut butter and chocolate.  I used this recipe to make September's dessert, Peanutty Brownie Bites.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  I've been waiting all year and it was totally worth it. 

This one is my favorite so far this year.  These were easy to make, but they stuck to the pan even though I greased it like crazy.  Next time I think I'll use paper liners.  Otherwise I would highly recommend this one if you like brownies and peanut butter.  Enjoy!

On Saturday, Katherine and I joined my mom at Vintage Market Days.  Hundreds of booths selling vintage and repurposed items?  Yes, please.  I can't imagine a more perfect day to go vintage shopping and to officially kick off the fall season.  I finally got my boots out of "winter storage" so it's officially fall in my closet. 

But more on Vintage Market Days.  I am always amazed at how people can decorate, display, and repurpose things.  I probably took 20 pictures with my phone while I was there.  It was so inspiring.  Here's a rundown of all the awesomeness.
Katherine was again, a perfect angel.

She shopped 'til she dropped.

We came home with a few goodies, mostly Halloween items (what else?)  Included in our new treasures were a couple of vintage books for Katherine and some yummy kettle corn.  I can't resist some fresh kettle corn and I can't resist cool books for Katherine.  Of course I chose Pippi Longstocking (a childhood favorite of mine) and all I could think of when I saw the flag book was "Sheldon Cooper Presents:  Fun with Flags."  So obviously I scooped that one up. 
Katherine and I ended the day cuddled up with a blanket on the backyard swing with some homemade Carmel Apple Spice (for me not her).  It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

On Saturday, Katherine and I met my mom for a beautiful day of rummage sale shopping.  It was absolutely perfect weather and a nice way to kick-off what will be a fall season filled with outdoor outings. 

{Saturday morning breakfast}

I was able to score a few items on my yard sale/thrift store shopping list and a couple of unexpected awesome finds. 


The milk glass candy dishes are exactly what I was looking for to organize make-up in my bathroom and the glass canister is perfect for Katherine's hair accessories.  The two antique metal yard chairs were totally unexpected and awesome.  I had to have them.  I still need to fix them up a little, but I love them regardless. 

{Baby hair accessories organization}



{I don't have drawers in my bathroom so I have to keep things easily accessible, yet neatly organized.}

{I love the idea of using milk glass dishes for displaying items I use daily.}

{Relaxing in my new chair after a long day of rummage sale shopping.}

Rummage sale shopping was a complete success.  Let the fall season officially begin.

How many times do you have left over tortillas after you make tacos, burritos, wraps, etc?  This always happens to me.  I usually end up throwing them out when they eventually go bad.  This week, I got crazy and decided to make homemade tortilla chips. 

{I started out by painting olive oil on a stack of corn tortillas.  I did this on the top of each tortilla.}

{Then, I cut the stack of tortillas into fourths.}

{I put them on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Then salted them.  I don't like a lot of salt so I added just a little.  Add as much as you want!}

{After baking them at 350° for about 10-11 minutes, they came out like this.}

I thought they were delicious.  They tasted like a restaurant!  I ate these for the next 2 days.  First after making homemade salsa (basically throw 2 cans of stewed tomatoes, green chilies, lime juice, salt, pepper, and cilantro in a blender):

{Homemade salsa.}

Then I made nachos with some leftover items:

{Basically, this was cheese, roasted corn, and tomatoes.}

This was a quick and easy snack and lunch for a couple of days, not to mention how gratifying it is to make your own chips! 


In other news, Happy Half-Birthday to Katherine!  I can't believe my baby is 6 months old!

I think it was around February when my friend Heather asked me if I wanted to participate in a "mud run" in September.  My almost nine month pregnant self was eager to get out and do some running and obstacles in the mud.  As the date of the mud run got closer and closer, I was a little apprehensive.  What had I signed up for?  I hadn't prepared all summer for a 5K like I had planned on.  Most days I'm too tired to work out, so I don't. 

The Dirty Girl Mud Run is a 5K run with an obstacle course.  So after my husband refusing to believe I would get dirty, a slight meltdown over being away from Katherine for a whole day, and a freak-out about the unknown of the course itself, it was time to run. 

I'll say this, it wasn't as bad as I thought.  I did every obstacle, I did get dirty, and Katherine did just fine being away from me for a day. 

{Glad we got there early.  This was the line to check in.}

{Waiting to check in.}

{Paul Mitchell was there braiding hair.}

{Ready to run.}

{Before.}

{After.}

{See.  I did get dirty.}

We all had a blast playing in the mud.  It was totally worth it. 

Here is a list of do's and don'ts for a mud run:

DO arrive early.  We had to stand in line for a while to check-in after also getting lost trying to find the place.
DO bring a change of clothes, towels, and trash bags for your dirty clothes.
DO wear sunblock.  We spent most of the time in the sun.
DO wear loose fitting clothing.
DON'T wear cotton.
DO wear longer fitted pants.  It will keep you from getting scraped knees when doing some of the obstacles.  I wore capri length work out pants.
DON'T wear new shoes.  They may not make it out alive.
DON'T try to take a 20 minute shower with shampoo and body wash in the "shower area."  You will notice that there are 200 women waiting in line to clean the thick, nasty mud off too.  Rinse that stuff off and get out.  Don't lather up like you're at home.  Geez. 
DON'T bring your nice Coach tote bag with your change of clothes in it.  It will get muddy.  Lesson learned.
DO wear sunglasses (if it's sunny).  It will help keep mud out of your eyes.  (DON'T wear good sunglasses.  I wore cheap ones.)
DO have fun, but DON'T take it too seriously.  It's not a race. 

The real fun for me happened after the run, when my inner "Monica Geller" came out trying to clean my muddy clothes.  They are officially back to normal.  It took hosing them off in the yard, then washing them on "super" load with laundry detergent and OxiClean, then washing them again on "super."  Even my shoes are back to normal.  Oh the satisfaction. 

When we moved into our house, we had to paint just about every room.  The previous owners, as darling as they were, had different decorating tastes than we did.  Lots of pastels.  We went pretty neutral in most of the house, but I decided to get crazy with the hall bathroom.  I'd been scouring Pinterest looking for ideas.  I came across a bathroom with bright green walls with black and white accents.  Bingo.  I wanted to prove that I wasn't afraid of color.  It turns out, I should've been a little afraid.  Read about the original makeover here.

{Bathroom before}

{Bathroom after}

I found the brightest shade of green paint I could find and got to work.  I liked the way the bathroom turned out, but over time the green color became nauseating.  Because we had so much updating to do at the time, we didn't upgrade the lighting or faucets when we painted the bathroom (we did update that horrible showerhead).  So last week, bathroom redo-overhaul was executed.



We repainted the walls a more neutral dark gray, painted the gold mirror covering the medicine cabinet, updated the sink faucet, and changed out the light fixture.  Ah.  Better.  Now on to the horribly 80's master bath.  I've learned my lesson when it comes to bold colors.

Labor Day has come and gone, marking the official end of summer.  This weekend I spent time with my family, got a new serger (more on that later!), and finished the ottoman I had been working on.

We have an ottoman that sits under the living room window.  This is where the dogs like to sit and look out the window.  Our poor ottoman has seen seven years of wear and tear.  I've been looking for the perfect replacement for months. 

I found this bright blue table/bench at a resale shop last week and immediately knew it was perfect.  After painting it white, I cut the cushion to fit the top of the bench, wrapped it in upholstery fabric (after ironing it), and attached it to the bench with a strong adhesive spray. 
I'm pleased with how the new ottoman turned out. 

But back to Labor Day.  Since Jason was working, I spent the day with my favorite girl.  We played in the floor and watched cartoons......


 We went to the park.....

And finished the day on the backyard swing.

Goodbye Summer.  Hello Fall.