Happy Friday Everyone!
One – Milestone Wedding Anniversary!
Happy Friday, friends! Well, Brian and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary this month. Brian was kind enough to take the day off work and we went to Rooster’s for brunch. Rooster’s is one of our favorite date day spots, because they have delicious breakfast cocktails plus sweet and savory crepes! We toasted to our marriage with two Sunset Mimosas, which have fresh orange juice, champagne and a splash of raspberry in them. So delicious! We both got savory crepes for breakfast and then each had our OWN sweet crepe. Mine is in the photo above and I had Nutella, strawberries and bananas.
I surprised Brian with a lock with our initials on it for our anniversary. On our wedding day, he had us lock a lock together and we have it on this really cute picture frame in our living room. So, I thought it’d be fun to lock another lock together! We he proposed to me in Paris, we saw the Pont des Arts Bridge when we were walking around, which is the lock bridge. So, locks are kind of our thing! Then, when we got home from brunch Brian surprised me with a GORGEOUS bouquet of fall flowers that he had picked out himself. So pretty!
One thing that I’ve always wanted for our 10 year wedding anniversary is an anniversary band! So, after we rested at home for awhile we went back to the place where we got our wedding rings and Brian let me pick one out. I tried on SEVERAL anniversary bands, but the one I landed up selecting was the one that Brian had pointed out to me at the very beginning. He must know what I like! Ha, ha! I wanted a rose gold band, because ALL my jewelry is gold except for my engagement ring and wedding band, which are platinum. I decided to wear my anniversary band in-between my engagement and wedding bands, since it is a different color and shape. I REALLY love it!!
Two – What We’ve Been Up To
We have been SO busy this fall! I think last year it wasn’t as busy, because we were still coming out of Covid a bit. But, this year there has been SO many activities, sports functions, work trips (Brian has 4!!) and more. Here is a photo of a DELICIOUS spiked apple cider I had at a restaurant in St. Charles called Magpies Cafe. We always stop here to eat lunch after we pick up my race packet for my fall race. They have delicious salads, sandwiches and soups, plus a beautiful patio to sit out on.
Nathan has been fighting through some shin splints this cross country season, but he has really taken off! He has been going back and forth on the last spot on varsity with this other kid on his team. So, if he stays in varsity on the meet on Thursday, he will be going to Districts and possibly State this year!!! So far his fastest time (and a PR) this year is 20:06 (for 5K distance) and man I wish I could run that fast. We went out to Columbia, MO for his Gans Creek Classic race and then enjoyed lunch at Pierpont before the drive back. Brian’s cousin suggested Pierpont to us, which has such a cute patio along with cocktails and cafe type food. There is even one gas pump and a little general store inside of the restaurant. It definitely has some old time charm to it and was fun to check out before we headed back to St. Louis.
Nathan has also been playing in pep band at the Friday home football games this fall. I went to 3 of the games and it is fun to eat a little concession food, talk to friends and hang out outside. One night they had an alumni tent set up and since I’m a high school graduate of Lutheran South ’96, I got an alumni t-shirt, beer, warm appetizers and beer cozy! Fun, fun!
Nathan had his first band concert of the year at Holy Cross Lutheran church. This old yet charming church was SO gorgeous inside!!
I don’t have any photos of Autumn, just because I try not to post close ups of other kids on here. But, she’s been busy with volleyball and she is still doing competitive dance!
I picked up my mom and we met my brother for lunch at a newer place by him called UKraft. It is a fun little cafe with coffees, smoothies and other cafe type food. Afterwards, we went to Jeff’s house and saw his English bull dog Hickory and he showed me his new Peleton.
Shop Vest:
It is always fun to go out on a fall day and I wore my new Aventura Astoria Vest in brown sugar (it comes in 2 other colors). I thought this vest was perfect to wear for a PSL iced coffee drink! Ha! I also got a salad that was topped with avocado and all kinds of delicious fruits and nuts and a sandwich.
I went over to a good friend’s house to help her tidy up her garden. Her mom has had cancer since before Covid and she doesn’t have a lot of time other than carrying for her mom. One of my other high school friends and my mom came over to help too and we tackled a lot in a few hours. The garden was so pretty, there were grapes and a pond (with fish that you can’t really see in this photo). Please pray for her mom as she attempts another chemo round, her name is Peggy.
Three – What I’m Loving Right Now!
I used to use Bloglovin’ for all of my blog reading, but it hasn’t been working for months!! So, I decided to make the switch to Feedly and it has been working out a lot better. If I haven’t been visiting your blog as much I am hoping to get back to my regular blogs that I read now that I have Feedly to help! What do you use?
My friend Jess who lives nearby loves to do holiday gift swaps with me. We have done one for the holidays and for the fall for a couple years now. She did really good this year with my surprises. She has a small shop called Rural Cute Creations and she gifted me these pumpkin earrings she made. They are so cute! She has a fair coming up and there are some earrings she’s made with a pine tree inside a mason jar that she’s holding for me. If you’re looking for some original gift ideas and want to shop small, be sure to check out Rural Cute Creations.
Usually I go pick up my mums at a nursery that is right around the corner from my house or at Lowes, but this year I decided to try this mum delivery service. Tony Tomatoes is based in Chesterfield, MO (right outside St. Louis) and they were delivering mums in ALL colors (even white!) and would drop them off on your front porch. It was so convenient and the mums were HUGE! They also deliver tomatoes year round and some other veggies. You can check out the Tony Tomato Instagram page HERE.
Shop These Products:
Ok, SOOO… here are some favorites around here lately. I saw this Gingerbread Cookie Dough creamer at Schnucks the other day and it is LEGIT. I was worried it would pour out Grinch green, but no worries, it is a regular cream color! Ha! I like to brew coffee to pour over ice and then I usually add 2 tablespoons of flavored creamer. It is an easy way to add a little flavor to my coffee with not a lot of sugar.
Then, the kids have been raving over these Smart Sweets lately. But, WOW there is a lot of fiber in them, so watch out for that. Ha, ha! But, I tried a bag of the watermelon ones and they are really good!
Shop These Items:
It seems everyone has one of these 40 oz Stanley tumblers and now I do too! Ha, ha! I found this end cap full of them at a Dick’s Sporting Goods store. I took the rose gold one home with me!
Shop Advent Calendar:
I’ve gotten the Glossybox Advent Calendar for a few years now and I love it! It has all these drawers you pull out with individually wrapped gifts. I did a post earlier this year that featured my 10 favorite items that I received from last year’s calendar, you can see that post HERE. I really love how it has high quality items and most of them are full size. It lets me try out products I wouldn’t normally find for myself.
Four – Latest Books I’ve Read & Shows I’ve Watched
Shop This Book:
So, I am still trying to finish this book. I have found NO time to read lately.
And, I’ve had zero time to watch shows… so, still looking forward to watching Handmaid’s Tale season 5.
Five – How Often Do You Wash Your Hair Debate
Autumn told me that washing my hair everyday isn’t as healthy for it and so I’ve been washing it only every other day for a couple of weeks now. This is something I’ve been wanting to try out for awhile, but I’ve been afraid to!! It has saved me a lot of time on the second day and I can actually wear my hair down. My old routine was putting my hair up wet in a messy bun every morning, which wasn’t good for my hair either. I did a poll on Instagram to see how often the rest of you wash your hair and I was really shocked by the answers! I don’t think I could go more than two days without washing, since I run three times a week. But, those of you that go 4+ days? Wow! How do you do it?!!
Shop Dry Shampoo:
For those of you that don’t wash your hair everyday, do you use a dry shampoo? I’d love to hear what you are using and how well it works for you (tell me in the comments). I was at Sephora with Autumn and I decided to pick up this Detox Dry Shampoo from Dry Bar and I’ve been pretty happy with it so far. I do have to shake it up VERY well or it’ll leave a spray of residue in my hair!! I also turn on the fan in the bathroom, because I don’t want to breathe in all of the dry shampoo mist!! Does anyone else worry about that? PLEASE tell me your dry shampoo and any other tips you may have on how to avoid washing your hair everyday in the comments. I’d love to hear them!
I hope everyone has a nice and relaxing weekend!
