Fall Favorites

How many times do I have to say it?

I love fall!

I really love fall. I love everything about it. I love when the leaves change colors and the whole world looks warm and golden. I love when the sun goes down around 6pm and the air is cool. I love getting cozy and lighting candles in the house. I love sweaters and boots on me and newsboy caps on my boys. I LOVE apple cider and cinnamon sugar donuts. I love the smell of burning leaves and pies baking. I love soups bubbling on the stove and cheese melting on chili.

Here are a few of my favorite fall things...

Soup pots on the stove

Pumpkin pie candles burning

Fresh baked banana bread with melting butter

The last corn of the season and the BEST corn ever!

A freezer full of 30 ears of shucked summer corn, 5 homemade soups, and "everything" bagels.... home SWEET home!

Babies in knitted sweaters (thanks Elizabeth... even better the 2nd time around!)

Even cuter in knitted sweaters and matching hats!

With an impish grin

Ready for fall with rugby stripes

Getting cozy with a knitted pillow

Fall + flannel = LOVE

Devon, Devon what do you hear? I hear a Dinosaur, roaring in my ear!

Love hats on kids!

My sweetest boy...


Relaxing...

And jumping for joy!


I hope you are enjoying fall as much as we are!

Together Again

"Wherever you are, it's your friends who make your world." - William James

My world is made so much better by the addition of Debbie and Bethany, true friends that feel more like sisters.

When Bethany lived in Atlanta, it was so much fun to hang out and cook and spend the whole evening in our favorite pajamas. Now that she's in Memphis, it feels extra special when we can all be together again.

We had so much fun, just hanging out, antique shopping, cooking up a storm and snuggling Grayson. We got to relax in our pjs, watch our babies playing and catch up... it was perfect!

We ate our way around Atlanta, from our kitchens to all the great restaurants Atlanta has to offer. We had Debbie's gourmet veal meatloaf sandwiches, my Barefoot Contessa filet mignon dinner, French macarons, Viatnamese banh-mi sandwiches, and Antico Pizza's hot bubbling thin crust pizza. But Bethany's birthday dinner was our final stop. We surprised her with dinner at Empire State South!



We shared the most glorious chesse plate for our appetizer and even had a little taste of Grayson cheese. (yes, that really was the name) Tragically, my only photo of this beautiful cheese plate was the scraps that remained after we had pillaged it. Ha! You know it's good when you literally *eat* your photo opportunity!



Why take pictures of people, when you can take pictures of their food? It's so much more flattering! :)

"Looking good Bethany!"

"Bon Appetit Debbie!"

"Hey there sexy!" (Firoze)

Ok, now you know what they ate. If dinner was the contest, I was the winner! Here is my glorious dish...



It was grouper, on a bed of "rice grits" (which is basically like a risotto), cooked in butter, cheese and bacon. Oh my. It was to-die-for amazing. I'll be seeing this dish in my dreams for years to come. Do you dream about the best things you ever ate? I do. :)

Like any perfect dinner, it had to end with the perfect coffee. And it was perfect. Vintage mug, retro biology-lab style glass pitcher, some fancy Ethiopian type coffee bean.... how cute is this?



On the way out, Bethany modeled her glamourous vintage find. Note the gorgeous waterfall pleats in the back that give it that volume! Happy Birthday Girl!



And we worked it like the Kardashian sisters...


Do you notice that space between Debbie and I? There is a fourth diva in this picture. Can you spot her? Her name is Lauren Bacall. She has exotic skin and she is the most gorgeous shade of orange. :)

On the way home, we laughed so hard that we might have peed a little on Bethany's new car. It's ok... we'll still blame Grayson.

That's what good friends are all about, the girls you can glam it up with, laugh so hard that you cry, and then go home and change into your favorite pjs! Debbie and Bethany.... you two are the BEST!

Oh Abigail...

So, my sweet friend Annie had been hoping and dreaming about a baby. I think more than anyone else I have known, she has truly wanted a baby from the depths of her soul and had to go through a lot to have this little one. She got her wish with baby Abigail, born last month. I got to hold this precious little one on her birth day - day one. That was an honor and something I'll always remember. About a week after she was born, I went for a visit and took a few pictures. I think this is the cutest baby I have ever seen... And she is a little angel too! With Devon and Dean, I always had the idea of taking these pictures with my new babies posing in baskets or garden pails, or all the hundreds of other amazing photo props that I see in pictures on Etsy. Seriously, go on Etsy.com and just search "baby hat" and you'll see what I mean. Anyways, my boys would have their eyes wide open and as soon as I tried to prop them in anything, they would start screaming. Not sweet Abigail, she was happy to be propped in a basket and slept....well, like a baby... through the whole thing. And I even caught a fleeting little newborn smile! Isn't she like a little doll? So, Annie... Enjoy your precious gift, your beautiful girl. She is truly an angel and you are so blessed to have her. I know the love you have for her and she is lucky to have a mama like you! I am so happy for you and can't wait to shop for all the amazingly cute girl clothes that I have had to pass up all these years. Now Abigail is going to have to let me play dress up with her every once in a while!

The Place Where I Come From

I graduated from Clemson University in 2000 and left school with my diploma in my hand and never looked back. But, all those years of school changed me. I grew up at Clemson and became the person I am today. I learned and grew, not in the scholarly way (well, maybe that too), but learned about life. There were so many hard lessons and it felt good to close that chapter of my life. Sometimes in these eleven years, I've been wistful about that time when I was on the horizon and the sun was rising and my possibilites seemed endless. I really wanted Firoze to visit Clemson with me, but for some reason, we just never did.

Well, finally after our trip to Greenville, it just made sense. We were heading home in the same direction and Clemson is literally 10 minutes from the highway. It just made sense to go. We had the boys in the car and I felt like I wanted my family to see the place where I came from, the place where I became myself.

It's hard for most people to understand because they probably lived it up in college and partied every weekend. But I was different. I had this drive and it literally pushed me to the breaking point. I wanted to be an engineer and be "better than the boys." I wanted to work full time and pay for things myself. I wanted to take risks and push myself, figure skating full time and rowing crew and learning Russian. I pushed and pushed until I was mentally and physically done. There were so many amazing and wonderful moments, but at the same time, it broke me down. It's hard to describe because I loved it and hated it all at the same time. That's why going back had my stomach in knots and my heart was beating fast.

But we went and for a moment, I was 18 again and time seemed strange.



I was in this same spot on my first day on campus. I had so many questions about my life. Now I have the answers to those questions. That's what I was thinking.



As we were driving up to my old dorm, the marching band literally spilled on to the street in front of us. It brought back those warm memories, of orange and purple, of school spirit, of the fun in being young.



Sitting outside my dorm, it was surreal. I lived there for almost seven years. It was exactly the same. The trees were the same and the branches that I looked out on were in the same spot. The only new additions were my husband and kids next to me. It was amazing to be back in that spot and to show Firoze where I lived and where I walked every day. It felt good to walk those paths again.



We walked down to Death Valley and it was so amazing to show Firoze and the boys around campus. He finally got a picture of the images I have described to him for years.



When I told Firoze, "I can't believe it's been 11 years since I have been here." He said how fast time flies and said "in another 12 years, Devon will be ready to start college." I think I got weak in the knees. What if the next time I'm here, Devon is starting college? You just never know. That's what is so amazing about life. It always surprises you.



Maybe Devon or Dean will follow in my footsteps and go to Clemson. I would rock my orange and purple and be so proud. Proud and happy!



And I'll tell them all about the place I came from. The time at Clemson when I learned about life and grew up and became myself.

Passing the Torch

Back when I was a kid, the best memories I had involved two things... either swimming at the pool or celebrating a holiday with lots of family all around. Swimming was just about the most fun we could possibly have as kids. I even got excited when my Mom would drag out the suitcases for our trip and I would unzip them and inhale the beautiful smell of chlorine. Chlorine meant fun. Chlorine meant games of marco polo and my Dad catapulting us into the pool, over and over for hours. We were little fish and we could stay at the pool for 8 hours if they would let us.

And then there were holidays. The days we spent at my Grandma and Grandpa's house at the lake. There was my Grandma, making the huge pot of mashed potatoes in the kitchen. My Grandpa was always putting on a cool record, like Elvis or Dean Martin. And cousins were everywhere! There was always an awesome friend to play "paint the turtle's back" (not approved by PETA), or "let's try on all Grandma's jewelry," or any number of amazingly fun cousin related activities.

Anways, back to the point... We surprised my Dad with a family reunion for his 60th birthday and for the first time in my life, I felt like I was passing the torch. Devon was so excited about being with his cousins and swimming in the pool that I knew he had finally got it! Even though it took a lot of planning, we all wanted to make Dad's birthday extra special this year and it was worth it in every way.

All my Dad really wanted was for us all to be together.





We had meals together and lots of fun moments, but I was busy wrangling Dean and letting our family click with the shutters of 3 cameras. So, I'm missing the photos from almost all the major events of this weekend, but I'm sure Court will post on her blog and Rebecca will post on facebook and they'll share more of what happened.

But, I did capture the happiest memory from the weekend...

Devon and Judah were holding hands all weekend. Holding hands walking to the restaurant. Holding hands walking through the parking lot. Sharing giggles and talking about dinosaurs. Having that feeling of "I'm with my cuz and my cuz is so cool!" That is what Courtney and I dreamed of when we both had tiny little bundles and we thought "one day these kids are going to love each other." And now it has happened and it was so fun to watch.


Judah - it's ok, boys will be boys. ;)


Can you tell who the brave one is?

Even Quinn was part of the pool jumpers and it was so cute to see them all jump together.



But the best part was seeing Devon learn from his cousins that jumping into the pool and being brave is easy and fun and by the end of the vacation, he was jumping with abandon!


Seriously, how handsome is this boy?


YESSSSSS! Brave boy.... finally!


Court - Love you sooo much and your two little cuties too! Can't wait to meet the one on the way!!

So, Happy Birthday to my wonderful Dad and I couldn't say it any better than Courtney. She wrote the most beautiful blog post that made me cry and was the perfect way to sum it up...

A Life Worth Celebrating

The torch has been passed and now Devon will be remembering how much fun he had at the pool with his cousins and years from now, he'll think back on these days as being the happiest memories of his life.

P.S. No one in the world could possibly be happier at this moment than Guillermo... about to take his first bite of the world's biggest burrito!!!


"Man vs. Food! Man vs. Food!" - Seriously, the restaurant started chanting. :)

One thousand and one reasons to love him...

Before I had Devon, I didn't know how much love my heart could hold. The moment I saw my precious baby and his beautiful eyes and long eyelashes, I was smitten. There are a thousand and one reasons why I love him, but here are just a few...

He's such a good soul.



He is so kind hearted and caring towards Dean. If we make a joke, like "should we put Dean out with the trash?" he immediately gets upset and says "No! I want Dean to be with me!" When he sees the way I act towards Dean, he copies me and tries to teach him and care for him in the same way. Lately, he's been teaching Dean lots of words and helping him whenever we walk up the steep hills in our neighborhood.



He is so responsible and mature. I know he can help me follow a recipe (and he'll even remind me if I miss a step that we watched on Barefoot Contessa). He always keeps an eye on Dean for me and will warn me before disaster strikes. He can organize his own playroom and can remember who bought him every single toy and book in the entire house.



He's completely adorable and melts my heart with his beautiful smile and sweet disposition. He made me love him so much that I just had to have one more...


Do I have another heartbreaker here, or what?

Devon is loyal to his best friend to the end...Baby! Baby has been everywhere with us, from London to Sri-Lanka and he has to be with him for every nap and every night since he has been old enough to ask for him. And now Baby has a baby too... baby Panda! :)



He's so smart that he just blows me away. Sometimes I don't even know how he knows the things that he knows. Really. He can't read yet, so how can he possibly know 200 dinosaur species? Just look at his drawing - he told me what everything was and I had to notate it for him. This is what I came home to one day and he said "Mama, I wrote my first word with no help..." And the word was:

Eudimorphodon

Seriously. I'm not even kidding. He's almost 5 and his first written word without me hovering over him wasn't car or cat, it was Eudimorphodon. Can you spot it?



I feel like I could go on and on, but out of all the thousand and one reasons why I love him, the newest reason is because...

He can secretly be a little naughty.

After months of not hearing a peep out of his room during nap time, many days he would say "I didn't sleep at all... I was reading my books" (and by "reading," he means looking at pictures of dinosaurs). Well, one day we pulled back the curtain and found that he had secretly, Shawshank Redemption style, piece by piece... broken his vinyl blinds in a perfect "window" to let in the light so he could read in his dark room.



He's my little angel though and I love him more than all stars in the sky and fish in the sea and dinosaurs that ever lived!

Shining Star

Well, it's been on my mind. You need to see this kid! My little Dean has gotten so cute and loving. He's been really into kissing lately and one day he gave me one kiss after another for about 2 minutes! But, at the same time... I have never met a kid that requires second by second supervision. If you turn your head for even a second, you are most likely to find him on top of the couch, on top of the coffee table, falling down the stairs, holding a knife in his hand, removing any and all baby safety latches, and doing anything else remotely dangerous. I had to put together a little video of his greatest hits...

Here's my little shining star!