The Year of Chocolate Desserts challenge is almost complete!  November's dessert is Chocolaty Rice Pudding (recipe here).

I was dreading this dessert for two reasons.  One, I'm not a fan of rice pudding.  Two, I can't make rice.  I literally can't do it.  I mess it up every time.  Every.  Time.  I never get the rice to water ratio right.  The rice is always either soupy or crunchy.  So, I don't make rice. 

It was a Thanksgiving miracle that I was able to correctly make the rice and the pudding. 

This turned out how I expected.  It was ok, but keep in mind I'm not a rice pudding fan.  The recipe called for pistachios as a garnish, but I opted for whipped cream.  Overall, not bad.  Not my favorite of the year, but not bad. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

On Thursday, I met a couple of friends for lunch and a little pre-Christmas shopping.  We met in downtown Kirkwood, which is one of my favorite places to visit.

After lunch at Dewey's Pizza, it was time to shop (or in my case, browse).

{One of my favorite pizza places around!}

{Loved these onesies at Paperdolls}

{Interesting Christmas display at the Rusted Chandelier}

{A little clothes shopping at Sole}

{Of course my little shopper found something at Down by the Station.  A Santa bath mitt!}|

{A repurposed vintage Nativity at Found.}

{Also at Found, these antique ceramic Christmas trees.  I remember my grandmother having these!}

I love supporting local small businesses.  Most Christmases, I never step foot in a shopping mall.

Saturday, November 30 is Small Business Saturday.  I know we all love good deals on Black Friday, but don't forget to shop small and support your local businesses!

Did you know that every time a Christmas tree is lit before Thanksgiving, an elf drowns a baby reindeer?  Ok that's not true.  But I do feel like every year, Thanksgiving takes a backseat to early Christmas craziness. 

I have a strict rule in our house, that Christmas doesn't go up until after Thanksgiving.  At the very earliest, we've put the tree up the week of Thanksgiving so that it's already up when we get home from Thanksgiving.

So in keeping with tradition, our house is decked out with Thanksgiving loveliness.  I want to have one last week of fall serenity before the hustle and bustle of Christmas. 





One last week of pumpkin, before I usher in the season of peppermint everything! 

Where is the time going?  Katherine is already 8 months old, and I literally can't believe it.  She's growing and changing so much each day.  She's also starting to get her own attitude and personality.  Those chubby, kissable cheeks are disappearing by the day and it makes me so sad.  She loves laughing, reaching for iPhones, taking off her socks, watching videos, sharing her slobber covered toys, and she loves loves her daddy.

{8 Months}

{I'm not sure why I got this look.}

{Months 1-4}

{Months 5-8}

Before we know it, she'll be a year old.  I feel like these last few months will fly by even quicker than the first eight did.  With the hustle and bustle of the holidays coming up, it will be March before we know it.  Let "Operation:  First Birthday Bash" planning begin. 

This weekend, we headed out to some area craft fairs. 

{I'm pretty much obsessed with the STL Craft Mafia.}

{My little shopper and her new sock monkey.}

{Ready for Christmas.}

{Loved these necklaces and screen printed tees.}

{Antiques.}

We ended the day antiquing in the city.  It was a nice way to spend a beautiful Saturday.  I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Life has changed so much since Katherine was born.  I work from home now, I don't get out much, and there's no such thing as a quick run to the store/ to get lunch/ to get coffee.  It's hard to make a quick run to Starbucks these days with a 7 month old, but sometimes I still need that pick-me-up that I used to look to Starbucks for.

I started looking online for replica recipes of my favorite coffee shop beverages.  After experimenting with several recipes, these are my favorites. 

I found this recipe for Starbuck's Carmel Apple Spice here.  Who knew that you don't use apple cider, but apple juice? 
What You Need:
Bottle of Apple Juice
1/2 Cup of Water
1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
About 1/2 to 1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
Whipped Cream
Carmel sauce

Make the cinnamon syrup by combining sugar, water, and cinnamon in a pot over medium high heat.  Stir, then let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes over low heat.

While that is cooking, heat up the apple juice.  You can do this in the microwave or on the stove top.




I found the perfect Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe here.  It's super easy and delicious. 
What You Need:
1 cup of strong coffee
2/3 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 tablespoon of pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

What To Do:
Whisk together the milk, vanilla, pumpkin, brown sugar, and spice. 

Heat in a small saucepan over medium heat or in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.  (When I'm in a rush, I just use the microwave.) 

Once heated, pour over hot coffee. 

Add whipped cream and a dash of pumpkin spice as garnish.  Enjoy!

And because I try to be an over achiever in the kitchen, I make my own whipped cream.  It's very easy.  You just need powdered sugar and whipping cream.  I use a stand mixer, but you can use a hand held one too.  Just pour the whipping cream in a chilled bowl and beat with a mixer until it's light and fluffy.  I add a little bit of powdered sugar until it's the right sweetness.


I actually like making my own drinks at home better than going out.  I spend a lot less money, and my homemade drinks actually taste better in my opinion.  I may never leave the house again. 

We're all still recovering from a very soggy Halloween.  The day didn't exactly go as planned but at the end of the day, we had a great Halloween and I had a great birthday. 

{On Halloween Eve, we watched Hocus Pocus.  It's probably going to be our new tradition.}

{Halloween breakfast for Katherine....}

{....and for us.}

{Halloween birthday breakfast at La Bonne Bouchee.}

{Our Halloween was pretty low key.}

{First Halloween = all day photo shoot}

{Halloween birthday cupcakes from Jilly's.}

{Mommy and mini.}

{Family costumes!  Rockford Peaches!}

My mom surprised me with t-shirts and hats from A League of Their Own for Jason and I to wear to match Katherine.  Even Jason was excited.  In his own way.

{"Jimmy Dugan" and "Betty Spaghetti"}

We considered Katherine to be "Dottie Hinson" because she's awesome. 

{Trick-or-Treat}

It poured down rain all day and night, so trick-or-treating was out.  We had planned on taking Katherine to the mall to trick-or-treat, but Jason had a work meeting that put that plan on hold.  Katherine was battling a stuffy nose all afternoon, in addition to cutting teeth.  This made for a very unfortunate afternoon for me while daddy was gone to his meeting. 

My parents and brother and his girlfriend came over for a Halloween birthday dinner, presents, and cupcakes. 

We had five trick-or-treaters.  Those five kids got lots of candy from us.  I bought a five pound bag of candy because the local weather said the rain would be gone by trick-or-treat time.  Not so much.

{Sadie watching for trick-or-treaters.}

{This sums up our Halloween.  Rainy.}

{Lots of cupcakes.}

{I had help opening birthday presents.  Katherine even got some presents of her own.}

We had planned on lighting up the fire pit and making s'mores.  In fact, I bought tons of candy, marshmallows, crackers, and cookies to make s'mores but Mother Nature had other plans. Now I have tons of ingredients for a s'mores bar. 

{There's no crying in baseball.  Until it's way past your bedtime.}

Despite the rain and work meeting, it was a great day.  Katherine won't remember her first Halloween but we will.  It was the first Halloween that Jason agreed to dress up.  I guess being wrapped around a tiny little finger will do that to you.

{Someone was really interested in my new birthday books.}

I also turned 30 on Halloween.  It was the best birthday, because my best girl was there to celebrate with me for the first time.