Weekend Review

Happy Monday, friends! Hope you had a great weekend. Ours was full of things like sunlight peeking over the mountain ridge behind the house (after the rain, it’s just gorgeous), caramelized apple upside-down cake, mums & pumpkins galore, mulled wine with friends, roasted chicken with apples and rosemary, toddlers in swings hung from trees (the swings, not the kiddos), hard cider, the smell of leaf piles burning in the distance, giggling children, and so much more goodness.

Fall color is definitely popping on the hills here. In a week, it’ll be insane, no doubt. All just in time for our tiny Englishman’s birthday this coming Sunday. Two years. TWO! YEARS! The time really does fly just as quickly as everyone tells you it will. Seems like just the other day I was holding this tiny, wiggling thing, looking very much like a plucked chicken, and now he’s pointing to pictures of tomatillo salsa on the cover of a preserving cookbook in the kitchen and (astutely) saying “spicy!”

I’ll be busy all week baking (3 types of cookies today alone!), cooking, and writing all week, for the new book, for Huxley’s “The Great Pumpkin” themed party on Sunday, and more.

Whatever happens this week, try to work in a bit of apple cider (fresh or hard), something pumpkin-y, and a walk amongst the leaves, if you can. This is my most beloved time of year, when color abounds in every direction, the temperature dictates sweaters in the evening and warm socks in the morning, and hot coffee tastes its best.

Hope the week ahead brings nothing but happiness for you and yours!

*The last image above is one Hubs took, behind the scenes of the Country Woman shoot. I got my hair did, ya’ll, in about 4 different styles. Hair rollers, curling irons, and all. Fancy! Last time I did pretty much anything, at all, with my hair was 5 years ago, on my wedding day. I’m about as low maintenance as it gets, in terms of my look, so warming up to hair and make-up for the shoot was a big, big step for me. I decided to just embrace it, though, and enjoy the experience for what it was.