Right when Ryan gets off work today, we’ll be heading off on a quick two-night getaway with the boys and Sadie. We are hoping to see lots of colorful leaves and spend most of the weekend outside. As always, I’m planning to recap everything on the blog next week but until then, let’s dive into my weekly roundup of Friday favorites, shall we?
Things I’m Loving Friday
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Halloween 2019
Halloween gave us a run for our money this year! The forecast called for thunderstorms all evening and throughout the day, we received updates from various neighborhoods postponing the festivities to today. We didn’t know what to do because the weather didn’t seem that terrible but right at 5 p.m. pouring ran hit! We decided to follow through with our plans and headed off to our friends’ Carrie and Nick’s house for a Halloween pizza party with our fingers crossed that trick-or-treating might be a possibility. Right around 6:15 p.m., the rain dissipated and the kids flipped out when they realized trick-or-treating was back on the table!
Our crew dressed up as Paw Patrol characters because our boys share the names of two of the prominent characters from the show.
Chase was Chase, I was Marshall, Ryder was Ryder and Ryan was Rubble! (For those unfamiliar with the show, we were the four characters beginning with the dalmatian on the top row of the photo below)
Fun fact: The fact that Chase and Ryder are both names of characters from Paw Patrol is one of the reasons Ryder didn’t have a name for 48 hours after he was born! (It’s actually the name I alluded to in this pregnancy post.) I initially refused to have kids with Paw Patrol character names but, in the end, we went with the name Ryder because we loved it so much. And he’s totally a Ryder!
Anyway, our Halloween ended up being a good one. We got a little wet when the rain returned but thunder and lightning held off so I’ll consider it a success!
The kids clearly had a blast (we practically had to sprint to keep up with the big kids this year!) and watching Ryder attempt to trick-or-treat for the first time was adorable. Half the time he put candy from his pumpkin bucket back into the dish of the house the kids were visiting and the other times he just wanted to pet the homeowners’ dogs.
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Pumpkin Granola
There are so many pumpkin granola recipes on the internet but a surprising few call for real pumpkin in the ingredient list. Leave it to the masterminds behind Pinch of Yum to create a pumpkin granola recipe with simple, clean ingredients that includes real pumpkin, maple syrup, olive oil and a perfect combination of sweet and salty spices. Chase and I teamed up to make a batch of the granola earlier this week (the recipe, as written, makes a LOT of granola) and poured some into small glass jars for his teachers who said they also loved it! If you’re not pumpkin-ed out yet, keep this recipe on your radar!
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One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid
You’re not surprised to see another Taylor Jenkins Reid novel pop up in today’s post, are you? Once I find a talented author whose novels I enjoy, I often go on a bit of a reading spree with their work (I’m looking at you, Beatriz Williams and Sarah Jio) and Taylor Jenkins Reid is my latest obsession. Though it’s hard to top Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I am enjoying her earlier work as well. In her books that touch on relationships and romance, she has a way of creating characters who seem so real and writes in a way that I find myself highlighting her words as I read because they feel so poignant.
The premise of One True Loves instantly captivated me. Emma Blair married her high school sweet heart, Jesse, and built a life with him that she loved and adored. They were passionately in love and living a life of travel and adventure when Jesse suddenly goes missing following a helicopter crash over the Pacific Ocean. Emma is left heartbroken and unsure how to move forward. She moves out of their California home and back to her small childhood hometown in Massachusetts where she helps run her parents’ bookstore. It is there that, years later, Emma crosses paths with Sam, a friend she knew from her high school days when they worked together at the bookstore. Emma finds herself falling for Sam and is soon engaged with a man she loves deeply. And then Jesse returns. He somehow managed to survive stranded for years on a small piece of land and dreamed of the day he’d be reunited with Emma. Now faced with an impossible decision — choosing her husband or her fiance — Emma struggles to figure out whether it’s possible to have more than one true love.
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Friday Flashbacks
Snickerdoodle Smoothie (I added a hefty scoop of pumpkin to this recipe earlier this week and it was SO GOOD!)
10 Blogger Recipes I Make Again and Again (I still love all of these recipe and have been meaning to do an updated version of this post!)
Question of the Day
Have you made any must-try pumpkin-based recipes this fall?
What is one thing you’re loving this week?
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Love your family Halloween pic, so cute and would be a great Christmas card photo! Glad you all had a great time last night and have a family getaway this weekend. I’m grateful my boys had a great time at my son’s preschool party because they didn’t trick or treat last night due to heavy rain, thunder, tornado watch! 😟 Grateful we were able to have a family movie/treat night. Thanks to your reader for recommending Gruffalo on Netflix, they loved It!
It seems like the weather was really intense a lot of places yesterday but I’m so glad you still had a wonderful Halloween!
I made a double batch of your pumpkin muffins….so good!
Hi Julie! Your family looked adorable for Halloween. I can’t wait to try the pumpkin granola and thank you for the flashback on the snickerdoodle smoothie. If you have not tried Ambitious Kitchen Pumpkin pie over night oats with chia. I highly recommend it. Another recipe I have been loving is Eating bird food’s Apple cinnamon baked oatmeal. It is delicious. I double it and bake it in a 13 by 9 pan. Have a great weekend and Happy Anniversary!
Yum! Those both sound like winners and right up my alley! Thanks for sharing.
Good morning Julie,
You make my day every time I see your photos or posts! 💕 Thank you!! Happy Anniversary to you two!
Glad you all were able to get out for the trick or treat festivities. This morning I’m going to try the snickerdoodle smoothie it definitely looks yummy! Also thank you for the book recommendations I have read some and always pass on your take of them when someone is asking about a good book.
Have a wonderful day and weekend! Safe travels! 🌸
I’m currently overdue 😑 with a baby boy that will be named Ryder. Friends of ours with young kids have warned us about the cartoon character, but we love the name too much to care!
Hi! You may have shared this in a past post, so I’m sorry if I missed it! How do you read/purchase all of your books? Are they ebooks? I currently don’t have a kindle or any other reading device and I always want to read your suggestions, but I’m *trying* to be a minimalist and don’t want to purchase a bunch of hard copies. I might need to add a kindle to my Christmas wish list!
I love your costumes SO much! I am so glad you went with the name Ryder – love! I think the Paw Patrol connection is adorable. I wan ted to name my first son Brady but my husband (being a Ravens fan and therefore, not a Tom Brady fan) said only if we had a second boy. It all worked out because my Tyler is such a Tyler and my Brady is such a Brady! 🙂
We live in VA and we started trick or treating early, at around 5:45 when it was still light out. The crazy storms weren’t going to happen until after 7. I’m so glad my boys were able to go trick or treating – and yours too!
I LOVE that you guys went as Paw Patrol for Halloween! I would hope that people don’t make unkind comments about your boys ending up with the same names as two characters from Paw Patrol, but having lived with a last name that lends itself to jokes my entire life, I’ve found that the best way to keep it from becoming a hurtful issue is to lean into it. I used to be so embarrassed by my last name when I was in middle school, but once I started embracing it and making puns about it myself, it became a nonissue. I think what you did is super awesome, and I love it.
Your comment about going on a reading spree of a certain author’s work was totally relatable. I tried to do the exact same thing earlier this week (But unfortunately my library only had one of the author’s books in its collection. Boo 🙁 ). I just finished Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane and immediately wanted to read everything else she’s ever written. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for something to add to your list. It’s a beautiful story (both from a writing perspective and from a storytelling perspective) and I really enjoyed it.
Please do update your favorite recipes post! I am way more inclined to try a recipe you’ve made & enjoyed, & find your round-ups so helpful. Have a great trip!
I always stop making smoothies whenever fall hits but then I see a pumpkin smoothie and it gets the craving going again! Now I have to try this snickerdoodle + pumpkin :). Enjoy your fun weekend away!
I’ve loved everything by Taylor Jenkins Reid but I think I actually love her earlier stuff more. Also highly recommend books by Christina Lauren, also great light reads
I love Minimalist Baker’s Pumpkin Maple Pecan Granola recipe and just made a batch tonight, along with Pinch of Yum’s Pumpkin Energy Bites – love that both call for REAL pumpkin and are so tasty!
Love your halloween costumes!! It poured rain here but it didn’t stop us, I feel like creating memories through awful seasonal weather is the way to go!!
I loved One True Loves thought it was such a neat idea! My friend just read a few others so now I have to hop on the train again
So glad you had a nice halloween!!
Your wedding kiss snafu was so cute! Ours was rather embarrassing. We didn’t “practice” either even though Matt tried to ask questions about it at our rehearsal dinner. I brushed him off because I mean, we’d kissed countless times. Welp, when it came time, I genuinely forgot anyone was present, and it was cringe-worthy in length. Face palm. Sheesh. But we just sort of laugh about it now.
Love this post! This Halloween was rough in the weather department here in TN too! I was always bummed when my mom made me wear a jacket as a kid because it covered my costume. Ha.
The pumpkin granola and smoothie both sound delicious!