Applesauce Cake & Guest Posting

 

Do you all read the Culinary Couple?  If not you must head over there and meet Emily, Nick and their sweet baby boy.  I was thrilled when Emily asked me to write up a guest post for while they are busy caring for Samuel.  Do you like to take over a homemade goodie to parents with a newborn?  The applesauce cake recipe I am sharing over on Culinary Couple is perfect for that - or for just enjoying on a brisk fall day!

Loving Right Now.

I am so looking forward to autumn leaves.  There are little glimpses into what is ahead scattered around our neighborhood.  That brings a smile to my face. 

Also bringing a smile to my face are a few super inexpense wardrobe additions.  Nothing big ticket here... just a few simple and easy things.

Flats by Toms
Lip Treatments by Burt's Bees

A fresh lip color is something I always get at the change of a season - right now I am loving burt's bees red dahlia lip balm that I found out about from a friend's post on red lipstick.  Red lipstick is not for me but this lipgloss has a nice tint to it that makes it easy to wear.  Jeans are such a challenge - a classic bootcut is working for me right now.  And I am so glad that I picked up a lightweight button down shirt from Target - it is so comfortable and a nice change from tshirts on the weekend. 

The winning number is...

The less than fun part about doing giveaways is that I seriously want to give everyone who entered a Minted gift certificate.  But there is only one winning number as selected by random.org. 

And the lucky number is 13!  Melissa commented that she would use this for her wedding invites - I am going to bet that they will be beautiful!  (Melissa, an email from me will be coming your way very shortly!)  Cheers!

Minnesota Weekend Getaway

Weekend getaways are kind of necessity.  I absolutely love to travel and need to get out of the city every now and then.  Weekend roadtrips maximize the travel budget, make it easy to take the dogs, and give me a nature fix.  This past weekend we set out for northern Minnesota.

I can't believe that I have lived the majority of my life in the northern(ish) midwest but had yet to make it to the northern portion of Minnesota.  What a beautiful area.  There were many conversations about how lovely it would be to be close enough to have a vacation cottage up there...

 

It was such a good time.  A simple trip for sure but so nourishing.

The hiking was amazing.  I want to go again and experience more of the trails.  And we kind of want to see this area in the winter... even though it would be so very cold.  Minnesota is very pretty and quite the welcome place to visit.  I was not even close to being ready for fall before this little getaway... I was feeling pretty pouty about summer ending so quickly to be honest.  But the crisp air and hint of pretty fall colors won me over.  I am ready now for the fun that fall will bring.

Oh and that last picture - it will be the family pic of September. 

If you haven't entered in the Minted Giveaway you should do so now as time is almost up! Details on this post.

Green City Market

The Green City Market is one of the bigger farmers markets in Chicago.  It is a market where you might find yourself shopping for radishes next to a chef for one of the city's restaurants that focus on seasonal and local food.  It draws quite the crowd on Saturdays so I have been actually holding off on going to this market... I don't like to be in people's way when I am trying to take photos (and it can be a nightmare to try to park over there on Saturdays).  I had this Wednesday off from the day job so decided it was time to head over there.

Guys, this market is basically yummy town.  Every direction I turned there was something beautiful catching my eye.  Dan and the dogs abandoned me for a bench since I was so absorbed.  The peppers are amazing- there were so many awesome looking varieties. 

I would have given almost anything for a bit of sunshine but at least the rain held off till after my visit...

 

Lots of yummy stuff, right?  There is so much abundance of color at the market right now but you can feel that it is about to change.  It felt an awful lot like fall on this trip and I am guessing that root veggies are just about to take over the markets.

Did you notice all the dogs?  I LOVE that the Chicago markets are dog friendly.  We make these trips a family event and to leave the dogs home while going to the park would feel absolutely mean... they like to get out and see new things too!  This past Saturday I got everyone up bright and early and we headed to Oak Park to check out that market.  As we drove up there was a big sign for no dogs...  We kept driving and circled back to a city market.  My dogs love the social aspect of the farmers market, it is so exciting for them...

{more in my flickr farmers market set}