Peanut Butter Fingers

Hi friends! I definitely didn’t mean to disappear from the blog yesterday but a tough bout of food poisoning had other plans. I actually had a day-in-the-life post 80 percent drafted but couldn’t sit up at my computer to finish it without making a dash to the bathroom, so I pressed pause and now I’m here again today. I began throwing up around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday night and didn’t feel much better on Thursday morning. I’ve had food poisoning before but yesterday’s incident was probably the worst I’ve experienced. My body clearly wanted something O-U-T and I struggled to get any food or liquids in my body.

I was also a bit stressed because I had a lot on my to-do list yesterday and everything got neglected. The bright side? I think Sadie and Chase thought Mom being sick was the best thing ever. Movies and couch cuddles galore!

I was a bit nervous my sickness would stay around and I’d have to cancel my weekend plans which would’ve really, really bummed me out. Thankfully I’m doing much better (though still not 100 percent) so I am heading off to Michigan this afternoon! One of my best friends of 20+ years got engaged over the summer and I cannot wait to celebrate Carrie and also spend some quality time with our mutual BFFs Leah and Michaela who will also be flying in town.

We have some pampering on the agenda and also hope to visit a cider mill in addition to heading off to a boutique to help Carrie shop for a wedding dress! I am so excited and will be sure to recap everything on the blog next week.

I still have to pack and travel days always feel a bit frazzled around here but before the madness sets in, I wanted to be sure to share my usual Things I’m Loving Friday blog post with you guys! See below for a short roundup of some things that are making me smile this week. As always, I’d love to hear a little bit about something you’re loving this week in the comments section.

Enjoy your weekend, my friends! See ya on Monday!

Things I’m Loving Friday

Babe

I consider Babe one of the most underrated movies of all time (I wish I was joking) and absolutely LOVE it. Ryan always laughs at my love for the talking pig movie but you better believe I jumped at the chance to use my sick day yesterday to introduce Chase to this classic. He was SO into it and pointed out all of the animals and quickly picked up on their names so I think I may have a future Babe fanatic on my hands. The silver lining to food poisoning, my friends.

Shortcut Pumpkin Spice Lattes

I gave a quick rundown of how I make my pumpkin spice lattes on Instagram Stories earlier this week but then I received a few messages from you guys asking me to detail everything on the blog as well. Ask and you shall receive! I begin by making a batch of pumpkin spice milk by combining 1 cup of milk (I love a combination of 1/2 cup whole milk and 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla cashew milk) and mix it together with 3-4 heaping tablespoons of pumpkin, 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice and a couple of drops of liquid vanilla stevia. (A little bit goes a long way with stevia drops! You can also use honey, sugar or maple syrup.)

I use my Aerolatte frother to mix it all up and then microwave it until the milk is hot, froth it again and pour it over my hot coffee! Viola! It’s not the fanciest method but it’s SIMPLE and that’s what I like! Also, one batch of pumpkin spice milk usually yields two pumpkin spice lattes for me and I like a very full cup of coffee!

Toast with Jelly

jelly toast

Toast with jelly? I know, I know but before yesterday I cannot remember the last time I had a simple piece of toast smothered in butter and jelly. That’s kind of sad, right!? I feel like I always use restaurant’s toast to soak up egg yolks and typically gravitate toward heartier, more filling breakfasts at home but toast and bananas were pretty much all my stomach could handle yesterday. Thankfully toast with jelly and butter is so tasty and assuming it doesn’t now remind me of being sick, I think it will pop back up into my diet a lot more often in the near future.

Purple Hippo Customized Children’s Book

How adorable is this book!? Blog reader Amanda sent me this absolutely beautiful children’s book completely customized with Chase’s name and a story about animals selecting the letters for his name after he was born. The book is colorful and fun and Chase instantly LOVED it. We read it three times before bed the first night it arrived! Amanda has an Etsy shop and personalizes these beautiful children’s names books and I am so impressed with her creativity. Thank you for the sweet gift, Amanda. We love it!

Friday Flashbacks

Apple Pie Spice Chex Mix (In a season dominated by pumpkin pie spice everything, don’t forget about apple pie spice! This snack mix is a sweet and salty way to enjoy the flavors of fall!)