s'mores

{our friend Scott, my brother Ryan, and Jason}

{a night with the boys wouldn't be complete without them doing something at least semi-dangerous..}

For our anniversary, I got us a fire pit.  You might remember that over the summer we added to the cement slab in our backyard and had planned to use the extra space for a fire pit and extra seating, so it is nice to finally be putting that extra space to use!

This was our second time doing s'mores and most definitely won't be our last.  It's the perfect way to spend a cold Saturday night; staying warm by the fire with yummy treats.  I think this may be my new favorite thing to do this fall/winter!

{Jack watched over the s'more ingredients to make sure they were okay ;)}

an afternoon downtown; thankful for this amazing fall weather

Jas and I headed downtown Chattanooga after lunch on Saturday.  We heard there was a big rowing competition going on, so we decided to head to the walking bridge to check it out.  It was a gorgeous day to get out and enjoy our city; this year the fall season has really shown up and has been sticking around.  I am glad to have it for as long as it will stay....I feel pretty lucky since hearing about all the places getting snow already!

chilhowee

This past weekend we headed up to Chilhowee to do some Sabbath afternoon hiking. I was excited to get up there and see all the leaves changing colors - one of my favorite things about fall. I had originally wanted us to go camping up there, but the boys (yes, the sissy practical boys) felt that it might be a little too cold at night and maybe we should just make it a day trip instead...so I obliged their requests.

We hiked to Benton Falls and it was gorgeous!  I think I ended up taking a hundred photos...I tend to go overboard sometimes.  But I was a little disappointed because I didn't realize until we got home that most of the photos we were in, we looked totally washed out...oh well.

We could not have asked for a more beautiful fall day.  I am hoping we can get at least another day or two of hiking in this season, if the boys don't think it's too cold ;) (i kid, i kid!)

  What are some of your favorite things about fall?  

happy halloween weekend

My intention today was to do an outfit post. I wore a new blazer and I wanted to show it to you all. BUT as you can see, that is not what happened.

Here is the story - Jason is working and he won't be home until about 8pm. By that time, it will be too dark to take shots outside. You might be wondering, why not just try out self shots again? Well I tried that and the truth is it failed horribly. I did not like anything.

As a result, a tripod was immediately added to my Christmas list! haha

Instead, in light of this weekends holiday, I decided to share some of my autumn decor with you. I like adding small and simple decorations throughout the house; I fell like it makes the season come even more alive. I enjoy decorating for the holidays and each year I add a few more things to my collection.

Jason is working all weekend, so we won't be doing anything special for Halloween. But I am hoping that we will get some trick or treaters so I can see all the cute little costumes :)

Are you doing anything for the holiday??

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!!

black, white and read all over

varga cardigan, f21 leggings, banana republic top, betsey johnson belt, bakers boots

Have you heard this riddle before? - What's black, white and read all over?

It kinda doesn't work when you type it out because it gives away the answer. Oh well....(the answer is: a newspaper)

I was thinking today how awesome the blog world is.

You may have noticed in the right hand column of my blog, I have a world readers box. I love this feature because it allows me to see who from around the world reads my blog. Today, I got my first reader from Indonesia. I also recently got readers from Ukraine and Malta. How cool is that?!

Besides blogging, I can't think of any other way for me to connect to people across the world. Blogging has shown me how big, yet also how small the world really is. There are people all over the world that are interested in the same things I am. It blows my mind sometimes to think that so many people, that I don't personally know, care about my life. It's really touching actually. I love feeling connected like this.

So thank you, to all my international readers!!

I have also felt great connections with some of my fellow bloggers here in the United States. I have found a few that I would call my BBF's (blog best friends). If only we lived in the same place, we would totally hang out all the time :)

the changing of the leaves

We went on a picnic with family this weekend.

The weather was a-mazing! It is so nice to see all the leaves starting to change. In case I haven't said before, this is my absolute favorite time of the year.

We went to the Tennessee Riverwalk for our picnic, which is the perfect place for short walks and awesome photo ops. It runs right along the river and has several fun little play grounds and spots to just relax and enjoy the nature.

Question, why do the weekends always seem to fly by? I wish it was opposite, as in we work two days and have off five days. I wonder if my boss would ever go for that. . . I probably shouldn't hold my breath.

Do you remember teeter totters from when we were kids?! I forgot how fun they are! haha

chattanooga doesn't know that its fall today

Today my local newspaper said, and I quote, "Boots and sweaters can stay in storage."

My heart sank just a little bit when I read this. I obviously can feel that the summer heat is still in full force, but to read it in the paper made it just that much more official. It is now the fall season and I want the fall weather (picture me stomping my feet a yelling while saying this).

This entire summer has been filled with brutally hot weather and I am sooooooo over it.

photo via

I am ready for my boots and sweaters!