If You and I Had Coffee

If you and I had coffee...

We'd meet up at one of our go-to coffee shops near a few of our favorite shops. I definitely plan to order a seasonal latte and pastry. We'd stay indoors since it's cold and has been raining for most of the week. If the rain lets up, maybe we'll stop by a few shops after enjoying our drinks and pastries. 

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I'm so excited for Halloween! I can't wait to take the kids trick-or-treating and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters as well. I'm looking forward to Florence + the Machine's album, Everybody Scream which will be released on Halloween. 

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I'm starting to get in the holiday/Christmas spirit. I'm already thinking about how I want to decorate our home for Christmas. I even started reading holiday-themed books. I recently finished reading Mistletoe Meet Cute by Bella Matthews and absolutely loved it. Then I found out there will be an author signing at one of my favorite local bookstores, Sincerely Yours Bookstore, featuring Bella Matthews and S.J. Sylvis. I've never been to an author signing, but I think I may go to that one. 

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that this month was a fun-filled month. We went to a couple of festivals, like the Spooky Festival and Crafts & Drafts Festival. We also went to our city's birthday celebration. We went to the farmer's market almost every week. I was a bit sad when we went to the last farmers' market of the season. However, I am looking forward to the holiday market pop-ups. We celebrated my little sister's birthday, and I was so excited to see my niece and my nephew. They have grown so much. Gabriel received an honor roll award from school, and we're so proud of him. Raphael and Michael are also doing well in school. Overall, October has been such a fantastic month, and I'm so grateful for that.

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I hope everyone is exercising their right to vote. I took advantage of early voting and went immediately after I got off work. It didn't take long at all. I was surprised that many people didn't realize there were two elections in our county, only two weeks apart. So this is your friendly reminder to go vote. Also, please, please, please make sure to research your candidates and go vote. Make your voice heard. 

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I'm so glad we were able to catch up this month. It's been an incredibly busy month. October is almost over, and I was genuinely worried that we wouldn't be able to catch up this month. I really hope we get to catch up next month, and I'm hoping that it won't be so late in the month. I hope you enjoy the last couple of days in October, have a wonderful Halloween, and have a great start to November.  See you next month!

What would you tell me?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Sunday! Today I'm linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly happy and grateful list link up.

1. This week went by so fast, even though it was an exhausting week at work. In fact, this entire month is going by so quickly. I have mixed feelings about it. 

2. A list of little things that aren't little.

3. Dunkin' Donuts' Halloween campaign and social media posts. Their marketing team is amazing. 

4. A song on repeat: Golden Brown x Love Story by Apollogirl. This mashup is perfection!

5. I went to Frothy Coffee's pop-up at Sincerely Yours Bookstore and absolutely loved the Boos and Brew cold brew. The chocolate toasted marshmallow cold brew was perfection. It was the perfect amount of sweetness. I also loved the Halloween decor at the bookshop! It was so cute!

6. Currently reading: Mistletoe Meet Cute by Bella Matthews. It may be spooky season, but I had to read this book. The cover is gorgeous. And it may be my favorite book of the month.

7. We helped Raphael with his pumpkin book report project, and it was so much fun. He chose to do his book report on the adaptation of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. I loved that the pumpkin was easy to decorate. We even made a pumpkin Zero. 

8. We went to the Smyrna Crafts & Drafts Festival. We loved checking out all of the vendors. It was so much fun. I went back to the festival the following day, mainly to buy some Fried Oreos.

9. After we left the Crafts & Drafts Festival and went home, I saw a post about a local bakery and suddenly had a craving for fall treats and baked goods. I stopped by McEnytre's Bakery and bought a bunch of different cookies and pastries. 

10. The weather. The changing color of the leaves. All the baked treats. All things fall. Fall forever. 

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Sunday! Today I'm linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly happy and grateful list link up.

1. The school book fair began on Tuesday and lasted until Friday. I was incredibly excited about it, as I had always loved book fairs when I was a kid. John even went by the school and took Raphael to check out the books. 

2. Variety's piece on Disney's Versa has now made me want to watch the short film.  

3. We went to the Smyrna Spooky Festival and had a blast. We all dressed up in our costumes, and Raphael had a great time trick-or-treating. We loved the decorations and enjoyed checking out the vendors and small businesses that attended the festival. 

4. On Saturday, we visited Mami and celebrated Jaileny's birthday early. I loved getting to see my niece and my nephew. They have gotten so big, and I can't believe my niece will be turning a year old next month. Time truly flies by. 

5. A song (in this case, album) on repeat: Tame Impala's newest album, Deadbeat

6. There are so many stores that have their Thanksgiving and Christmas displays up, and now I'm even more excited for the holidays. 

7. A delightful read: Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate

8. We finally finished getting all the supplies needed for Raphael's book report project, and I'm excited to work on it. 

9. I finally got my hands on Chobani's Cookie Butter creamer, and I'm excited to try it. Even though it's late in the day, I may make a small cup of coffee so I can try it out. 

10. It definitely felt like fall this morning. It was a rainy and gloomy morning. And the weather was very cool (in fact, next week it's expected to be in the high 40s and 50s during the mornings), which made me think of winter. A few hours later, I read Katherine May's post on twenty ways to enjoy winter, and I love that you can still do some of the things on the list during fall. 

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Just Five Things

1. Remember when I said that October arrived like a whirlwind. Well, it most certainly did, and the month continues to be a whirlwind. I mean, how are we already halfway through the month?! Work has been busy, and some slight changes to my schedule have been made as a result. We've also been busy attending various events, and we still have several more to attend this month. However, the events are going to be fun. We plan to go to a couple of local fall festivals, a few school events, and we are also celebrating my little sister's birthday.

2. After reading this post by Lian Cho, I went down a Wikipedia wormhole and read about Henry Winstanley and the Great Storm of 1703. Honestly, I learned so much about the Great Storm and ended up doing more research about the event. My little historian heart was content.

3. It's still fall (thank goodness!), but the hints of the holidays are starting to appear. A few of my favorite shops have already started selling winter and holiday items, and I've added a few to my wishlist. Swig Life's Holiday Shop is out, and I have my eye on their Winter Cardinals mug. Kate McLeod's seasonal collections are now available, and I'm hoping to try the Winter Rituals Mini Body Stone Gift Set.

4. This weekend is going to be so much fun. We're going to celebrate my little sister's birthday at Mami's. I'm excited to see my niece and my nephew. We're also planning to get our pumpkin, carve it, and roast the pumpkin seeds. We'll also probably watch a few Halloween movies. Do you have any go-to Halloween shows and movies for the spooky season?

5. This weekend, I'm hoping to bake Puff Pastry Ghosts. This recipe by Jacqui Saldaña seems like such an easy one to make. It may just be one of the treats we'll have while watching Halloween movies. 

What have you been up to?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Sunday! Today I'm linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly happy and grateful list link up.

1. This week really felt like October. Yes, we had a few warm afternoons, but the chilly air in the mornings and sometimes close to noon has been a delight. I'm excited to start pulling out my fall sweaters and jackets.

2. The latest post on Brittany's Notebook made me so excited to add more spooky books and movies to my list of things to watch and read this season. I also love that she included a spooky podcast and a soundtrack. *Side note: If you'd like to receive 30 free days of paid subscriber benefits to Brittany's Notebook, please feel free to comment or send me an email.

3. My coworker gifted me some Loop earplugs, and these earplugs are amazing! I received the Loop Engage 2 earplugs and...10/10 highly recommend. I plan on buying a pair for John.

4. This little ghost cluster is adorable.

5. A song on repeat: October by Adrián Berenguer

6. I just found out that GoNanas has a few new flavors coming out on Sunday. I'm excited to try their Chocolate Coconut Banana Bread mix. 

7. On my wishlist: Kate McLeod's Winter Rituals Mini Body Stone Gift Set.

8. I finally went to a new boutique, Jonquies, that opened up at the Village Market, and it's such a cute little shop. My niece's birthday is next month, and she's turning one, so I'm trying to figure out what to get her as a gift. I may stop by the shop again, as they have some adorable items for babies and kids.

9. Inspired by Andrea Nelson. I absolutely love her spooky drawings and paintings. 

10. I've been enjoying autumn-themed poems. And the poem below has been stuck in my head for a couple of weeks.

 "Listen! The wind is rising, 

  and the air is wild with leaves, 

  We have had our summer evenings, 

  now for October eves!"

  -Humber Wolfe

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

October Goals

Happy Tuesday! We're a few days into October, and this month is going by fast, just like September did. Although October came in like a whirlwind, and I won't complain because it's one of my favorite months!

September was a fun-filled month. We celebrated John's 40th birthday! What a blessing to experience all those years! We celebrated his birthday with breakfast from one of our favorite restaurants, and then we had a day date at the Marietta Square. We had a blast checking out an art gallery, an antique shop, a bookshop, and a few more shops around the square. Later on, John, the boys, and I enjoyed pizza from our favorite restaurant, Marietta Pizza Company. Later in the evening, after singing happy birthday and enjoying a delicious birthday ice cream cake, we went to the Village Green and played frisbee. There's a lovely pond at the Village Green, so we stopped by and watched the turtles, fish, and geese.

The first day of fall coincided with fall break, which was so cool. Fall break was a much-needed break. During the break, we went to the fair and enjoyed the rides. We also had to get some fried Oreos. We visited several farmers' markets, and, of course, I bought some apple cider and apples from a vendor who works at an orchard. We also bought the boys their Halloween costumes. We had a fun time checking out the scary Halloween animatronics at Spirit Halloween. All in all, September was an amazing month. 

This month, I'm looking forward to going to a couple of fall festivals. The farmer's market season will end in a couple of weeks, so I'm looking forward to going to the market for the remaining weeks. I'm looking forward to a few of the boys' school-related events. I'm looking forward to watching all the scary movies and series, as well as reading a bunch of books. I'm also looking forward to Halloween. If you don't know, Halloween is my favorite holiday. We've already bought candy for trick-or-treaters and have our decorations ready. We have a few things to still put up, but we're almost done. 

With September being such a busy and fun-filled month, I realized I didn't really focus on my monthly goals. I foresee the same thing happening this month, which I'm ok with. However, I did set some goals for October. And since I mentioned goals, let's have a quick recap of my September goals and take a look at my new goals for October.

Recap of September Goals

• Read 2 books I borrowed from the library: I read 13 books I borrowed from the library. 12 of those books were children's books that Raphael and I read together. I really enjoyed reading Don't Feed the Coos by Jonathan Stutzman and Fairy Walk by Gaia Cornwall.

• Read 1 book I received from NetGalley: I read Twisted Tales to Tell in the Night, which is an anthology of spooky stories. It's also similar to Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and now I want to reread the series. I also read Claimed by Her Monsters by Lexi Davis. I also finished reading The Little Book of Winter by Brittany Viklund, which made me a little excited for winter. 

• Participate in Exhale's September blog hop: Unfortunately, I was unable to participate in the blog hop. I worked on the prompt and came up with a few different formats, but couldn't decide which one to use. 

• Work in my sketchbook/journal: I did not do this at all, and I have conflicting feelings about it. I'm disappointed because I was hoping to spend some time playing with my supplies and using a few new things I bought, but I just didn't. 

• Make 1 scrapbook/Project Life layout: Yikes. I completely forgot about this, but I did set aside a few supplies for a layout I'd like to make. Also, this just reminded me that I need to place an order for some prints for the layouts.

• Try 1 new recipe: I made a red velvet banana bread loaf and a fudge banana bread loaf. I was particularly fond of sweet loaves in September. Also, banana bread just screams cozy to me. I also made a buffalo dip. It wasn't even close to tasting spicy, but it was still ok. I also made lots of whipped coffee and felt like a barista.

October Goals

• Read 1 book I borrowed from the library
• Read 2 books I received from NetGalley
• Participate in Exhale's October blog hop
• Work in my sketchbook/journal
• Make 1 scrapbook/Project Life layout
• Try 2 new recipes

What are your goals for October? How did you do in September?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Photo by Marissa Grootes on Unsplash

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Sunday! Today I'm linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly happy and grateful list link up.

1. This was an incredibly busy and at times stressful week. However, I made it and I'm so grateful that the week went by quick. 

2. I received an e-ARC of Amber McBride's The Leaving Room, and I can't wait to dive into this book. The cover is absolutely gorgeous.

3. This Halloween gift bag is so cute. I even considered buying it and using it to create a layout or some other crafty project.

4. On repeat: Scream My Name by Thomas LaRosa

5. How cute is this pop-up card?

6. We went to the Smyrna Birthday Celebration and had a blast. While Michael and Gabriel walked around the village green, Raphael enjoyed playing on the bouncy houses. We also walked through a mini inflatable corn maze, which was a lot of fun. 

7. Since we went to the celebration early, we decided to grab lunch while we were there. John and the boys got tacos from the Corner Taqueria, and I was delighted to see that Ponko had their food truck at the celebration. It was my first time trying their food, and it did not disappoint.

8. If Beetlejuice Were Latino. I would watch this version of Beetlejuice if it were a full-length film.

9. Old Navy had some great sales, and I used my Super Cash to grab a few things for the kids. This happened at the perfect time, as we had been experiencing a few cooler mornings, and it was time to update our fall wardrobe. 

10. I signed up for Hallie Bateman's Substack, HALMAIL, and I really love the handwritten format she uses for her newsletter.

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...