Fall Favorites

Happy Friday! It's hard to believe today is the last day of September - this weekend brings the start of October and this fall season will be in full swing.  We're heading up to Penn State this weekend with a big group so hopefully the rain can clear out tomorrow - it's been quite dreary around here! 

I'm sharing a few items that are perfect for fall below... 

Fringe Vest / Poncho / Plaid Blanket Scarf  / Booties / Boots / 

Satchel / Shoulder Bag / Baseball Cap / Floppy Wool Hat / Plaid Infinity Scarf / Flannel / Twist Top

Enjoy your weekend! xx

Looks & Life Lately {27}

It's been a little while since I did a "life lately" roundup so here's a peek at just a few things we've been up to...

Labor Day:
It's hard to believe this was almost a month ago at this point but my parents had us all over for a Labor Day BBQ.  Appetizers on the porch and then a burger bar with the usual summer salads for the main course on the deck.

Anniversary Cake:
Each year for our anniversary Derek picks up the top tier of our wedding cake.  This year there was a mix up at the bakery and he ended up with two so we used one as dessert for our tailgate at Penn State and the other for Labor Day dessert.  We've got half frozen in the freezer to enjoy sometime soon.

Wedding Festivities:
One of my oldest and closet friends got married the weekend before last and we had the best time celebrating them.  Everything was gorgeous and it was such a fun wedding to enjoy.

New Office:
We moved offices!  I've mentioned before that I work for a family business and we found a great little office just off the main street in a town close by.  My commute significantly was cut back - to about ten minutes now and the office was a house made into an office space so its a quaint nice spot.  Plus it has a rooftop - my favorite part!

Life Lately:

One of our final summer appetizer nights on the deck to finish off the season.

Derek went with the second year anniversary cotton theme for a little surprise after our trip.

Splurging on donuts on a Saturday morning was a huge treat.

How cute are they?

Fall blooms for the new season.

This Fall...

Fall officially started last week, the temperature around here finally cooled off over this weekend and it's starting to feel/look like fall.  We've got some fun things coming up this season that I'm looking forward to...

Annual Dallas Trip
We make a trip down to Dallas each fall  (2015 / 2014 / 2013)  and this year we're going a bit earlier than usual so I'm looking forward to taking advantage of some different things.  Each year I pick a day (since for Derek, we have a day of football) and this year I think it's making the drive down to Waco to make a visit to Magnolia Market.

last year wine tasting in Grapevine.

Tailgates & Football
It's been a few weeks since we've been in State College and we had a horrible loss this past weekend but I'm looking forward to the rest of our tailgates and games! We'll be back up in Happy Valley for three more games with great family/friends to host for each game and may even try to host an away game party here at home for one of the games.

Home for Halloween
Between our annual Dallas trip and Penn State's football schedule, the past few years we've been traveling the weekend surrounding Halloween.  Since Halloween is a Monday, that ensures we'll be home - time to make some pumpkin cookies and enjoy.

My mom caught us trying to make pumpkin cookies last year after Derek had some fun with the flour.

Election Night Party
With the first debate last night, Election Day will be here before we know it.  It's looking like this election is going to be very close and should be interesting to track that night.  It falls just a couple days after Derek's birthday so I'm thinking of maybe having some people over to spice up the night.

Plan/Host Our First Holiday 
We are hosting our first holiday, Thanksgiving this year!  We'll be hosting both my family and Derek's along with possibly some extended family members too so it'll be a big crowd.  I've already got more than enough ideas and am really looking forward to finalizing everything and enjoying the day.  This also means no traveling over the holiday weekend so thats a big win since we'll be able to spend part of the long weekend enjoying family and the other part enjoying some quiet time alone and getting ready for Christmas with a little decorating/shopping.

Enjoying some apple cider mimosas last Thanksgiving for brunch with my family then traveling for dinner with Derek's.

Basic Fall 
It wouldn't be fall without the "basic" things - picking pumpkins, enjoying the cooler nights, trying out new crockpot recipes, testing out a fall sangria recipe, making our annual visit to Pumpkinland, trying out some fall dessert recipes, taking our Christmas card photos and maybe even checking out a local high school football game.

I'm also looking forward to blogging this fall but not as frequently.  With the start of October I'm planning for three times a week - some weeks maybe more, some weeks maybe less.

Happy fall! xx

Kiawah Island: Ryder Cup Bar

The gorgeous lobby at The Sanctuary taken on the way to the beach.

Today I'm sharing the final part of our recent trip.  Derek met a golf for friend so I was left to fend for myself which meant sleeping in, reading on the balcony and grabbing a snack/milkshake to watch the start of the Penn State game.  Before too long I headed off to the beach to get us some chairs where we spent the rest of the afternoon before finishing the day at the pool.  Our typical routine for the entire stay.

A highlight for both of us not only at Kiawah but of the entire trip was our night at the Ryder Cup Bar.  We'd heard great things and Derek especially wanted to go.  The setting is gorgeous combining the course and the beach and it was the best sunset!  We got there in time to grab a drink and enjoy the day light then watch the sunset and finished the night with dinner on the patio.

We enjoyed some final time in the lobby and outside on the adirondack chairs to enjoy our final night once we got back to the hotel.

We had some time to enjoy before making our way back to Charleston to fly out so it was off to the beach for our final morning.  The tide was way out this morning and it was nice to enjoy a quiet beach since we were so early.

Loving

Happy Friday! It's been a busy week and I'm more than ready for the weekend.  We're looking forward to a more quiet weekend and knocking some things of the to do list.  One thing on my list is to get our closet switched over to fall.  With the official start to fall yesterday I'm ready to have some cooler temperatures to enjoy.

I picked up this top just before our vacation and have been waiting for things to cool off so I can pair it with black skinny jeans for a night out.  It comes in eight different styles (here) and is an off the shoulder that easily stays off the shoulder.

bangle set / off the shoulder top / choker / black pumps / leopard clutch / essie polish 

Enjoy your weekend! xx 

Kiawah Island: Beaching

After the start of our trip in Charleston, we spent the final weekend on Kiawah Island.  It was just a 40 minute drive from downtown and a pretty drive at that!  We stayed at The Sanctuary and everything was beautiful. 

After stopping for some lunch on the way onto the island, we headed straight to the beach to enjoy some sun.

To finish off our day we spent our final time at the pool... 

All of our dinners were at the resort and since we enjoyed some extra time in the sun we had a late dinner at the Italian restaurant for our first night.  

Charleston: Magnolia Plantation

For our second day in Charleston we decided to head out a little bit to the plantations and spend the morning at Magnolia Plantation.  We explored the gardens and did a tour of the house - a beautiful setting and all the history was so interesting.

We got back into the downtown area just in time to walk over to Poogan's Porch for lunch.  We sat out in the little courtyard area - it was the cutest setting and everything was delicious - especially the mac and cheese appetizer and their biscuits.

Part of the afternoon was spent strolling along King Street and doing a little shopping in the stores on our walk back towards the hotel.

It was quite hot during the daytime while we were there (very pleasant at night) so we cooled off at the hotel pool before each grabbing a quick massage to unwind.

Our final Charleston dinner was at Magnolia's - pretty fitting since we spent the morning at another Magnolia.  Everything was delicious and we tried a couple things from the Restaurant menu as it was Charleston's restaurant week during our visit.  Before dinner we made a stop at the ever popular Husk for a happy hour cocktail.

Before taking off for our weekend in Kiawah the next morning we stopped at the Charleston City Market to pick up some treats to bring home.