A Life Ahead of Me

Autumn is finally here and it's my favorite time of year. Pumpkin everything, crunchy leaves, all those season premieres, fall fashion, and a some sexy Movember man scruff. The list far extends those I just noted, but I love every autumn-inspired item.

While I'm not too fond of the impending doom of Winter, except for the holidays, I equally dislike summer clothes. I'd rather be wearing layer over layer than next-to-nothing and sandals. This season also happens to be the one I allow myself a little splurging on some wardrobe updates.

These were my top picks for fall that I just purchased… of course another cozy sweater, a fun graphic tea that matches my blog inspiration (!), comfy boots for my pregnant feet, and a floppy hat.
What’s on your list this Autumn season?

1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Growing up I was never a chocolate girl (or a coffee girl, but that's a different story), but as I get older I've begun this ever growing appreciation for chocolate. From white, to milk, to dark, I do not discriminate. My favorite? Milk. Nothing gets better than creamy, milky chocolate. It is definitely one of life's little pleasures.

My biggest gripe lately though has been the fact that chocolate usually comes attached to something I can't eat like cookies, or cakes, or graham crackers (mmm!), or ... well, you get the picture. As I now live with a major gluten allergy, I've had to be a little more creative in how I prepare my chocolate. Eating bars or chips of chocolate can only get you so far, and it's just not enough.

Today we splurged here at home and I made gluten-free molten lava cakes. Sounds fancy huh? But honestly, it's so incredibly easy and simple that they could be a daily luxury if you wanted them to be.

Ingredients:

4oz mini chocolate chips

4 tablespoons of butter (unsalted)

dash of vanilla extract

2 eggs

(recipe adapted and found on myglutenfreecookbook.blogspot.com)

Begin by melting the chocolate chips and butter together in a bowl. I just microwaved mine because I'm pretty lazy like that. Once melted, stir until smooth and creamy. Add in two egg YOLKS (keep egg whites for later), 2 tablespoons of sugar, and the vanilla extract to taste. Stir well. With the egg whites in another bowl, beat until soft peaks form and then add in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Continue to beat for another minute or so until all blended together. Next, combine the two bowls and stir together and then separate the chocolaty mixture into ramekins. I used two 5oz ramekins and two 3oz ramekins. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet, for easy transporting, and bake in a 375 degree, pre-heated oven for about 25 minutes. Let cool for a tad and enjoy! Oozy, gooey, chocolate goodness.

I topped mine with strawberries, fresh mint from my own garden (very proud of myself), and gluten-free Talenti chocolate chip ice cream. (Side note: I highly recommend the added ice cream. It combines with the chocolate cake for this semi-gooey, chocolaty, ice cream surprise) Amazing. Sat outside in the NY sun today and enjoyed. Tan + chocolate = a mini-vacation in my backyard.

Gluten Free Molten Lava Cake with Ice Cream

I Love You More Than All The Stars - Pottery Barn Art

For those who don’t know, I’ve got a bun in the oven! This is our first, and we find out what we're having next Tuesday. I'll also be 20 weeks, so there's double the celebration. Can't wait to hit that halfway mark.

We bought the crib about two weeks ago, and every time I walk by the nursery I get this giddy feeling of excitement along with a sudden wash of fear. There I stand, staring at the empty crib in excitement, wonder and intense fear.

As a 27 year old New Yorker, I haven't spent a lot of time around babies. In fact, none of my close friends have had babies yet. I'll be the first momma among my group of friends (minus by good friend Shaina back in Seattle who is due any day now. Hi Shaina!) My nieces and nephews, gained my marrying my hubs, live in Boston and we don't seen them often enough. I don’t chat up random preggies in the grocery store asking when they’re due (you’d be surprised how often that happens), and I have yet to make 'mom friends'. I have zero experience with babies, sadly.

On the other hand, I’m married to my favorite person in the world and the thought of having a mini-hubby or a mini-me running around is the most exciting thing ever. The hubs will be the best dad, honestly. Plus the idea of having my own little family unit to love and take care of sounds all sorts of amazing.

Having said all that, I’m trying to focus my energy on my excitement and wonder. I've been perusing the nursery decor blogs and have become an obsessed Pinterest 'pinner'. I get so excited picking out tiny baby outfits and nursery decor for my little babe. I've been counting down the weeks until we find out whether we're having a girl or a boy but until then, I'm planning my dream nurseries for both. We’re trying to staying away from the all-blue or all-pink thing. Circa 10 years old, I hated my all pink room, I was quite the tom-boy when I was younger. So, we're going to try to make the room just an extension of the rest of our house (think dark wood, neutral colors, with pops color).

Gender reveal party coming up next week and I'm hoping to share some photos of our exciting moment!

Image: Pottery Barn Kids

A DIY Kitchen Nook: This past week the fiance and I finally did something with the awful space in our kitchen. We recently hit the one year anniversary of us moving into our new house and we're still trying to get everything to feel like "home". I came across several DIY ideas online for making a kitchen nook or kitchen banquette, but none of them were too helpful and unfortunately the fiance's lack of handyman skills doesn't help much either... So what to do? Get creative.

DIY Kitchen Nook (aka Banquette)

I started with my base. I came across these cabinets from Ikea. They're actually used to go over the refrigerator in kitchens but we re-purposed them. We bought three of them each measuring 36" long by 24" deep by 15" high. Optimum seating height is between 18" and 20" so after we add a cushion, we should be right on target. We picked out our favorite type of door - I think there might have been about 5 styles to choose from - and set off home. It took us about 1.5 hours to set everything up. I like to think of myself as an Ikea builder master - the fiance... not so much. Like I said, not the most handy of handymen. In total we spent $393.00 (before tax) for the cabinets, doors, and hinges.

(Pictures from Ikea)

We headed off to HomeGoods for pillows. I covet all things Pottery Barn, but sometimes my budget doesn't quite allow for splurges of that kind. I can always find something fab at HomeGoods and this time I got a real score. We picked up these high quality Pottery Barn look-a-like pillows at $30/pair. Great steal considering that's $15 a pillow. Just to compare, here's a Pottery Barn pillow at $35.50 each: Tonal Linen Flange Pillow.

We also grabbed a vase to put in the awkward corner space for our "sticks". Our "sticks" came courtesy of a 40% off coupon from Michael's Craft store. Never go to Michael's without a coupon... they have a new set of coupons every week and you'd be crazy not to take advantage. These "sticks" (I like to call them sticks in case you can't tell) cost us roughly $20 and look great in the corner between the wall and the windows.

The small wooden item is actually a crate from Michael's that I stained myself with two coats of wood stain. Sun bleach and then . Gives a great, rustic, beachy feel to the space. (Side note: I should really buy stock in Michael's)

My nearly finished product... it compliments our kitchen and we can finally have guests over for brunch or coffee. It's definitely my new favorite space.

Last week Emerson Fry debuted a sneak peek at their Warm Spring '14 line. The pieces just hit stores this past Tuesday and I couldn't be more in love with this line. If you haven't 'sneaked your peek' yet, you're missing out. The jersey Ts look comfy and sophisticated, and I've got my eyes on these tie sandals! The pairings of minimal pieces is stylish simplicity at it's finest. The "complex colors" layer well and can be matched interchangeably. Love, love, love. I've compiled a few of my favorite looks from their line below, but you can check out the full line at emersonfry.com

DIY Kitchen Nook (aka Banquette)

Emerson Fry Warm Spring '14

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