Pumpkin Patch Day + Ollie's Belated Birthday

Hello everyone!

The best part about working at a Jewish agency is all the holidays in the Jewish calendar. This year, there are 7 holidays in October allowing me 7 paid days off that does not come out of my PTO.

During the Jewish holiday season, I had the opportunity to go to the local pumpkin patch with my nephew, his newborn baby brother, his other auntie and of course his mama.

The pumpkin patch is one of my most favorite places. I love fall and going to the pumpkin patch just screams FALL!

Oh...and I also picked up an iced coffee with one pump pumpkin beforehand ;)

My nephew Ollie also turned 4 on 9/28 so we had an opportunity to celebrate since I was unable to make his birthday party due to a wedding and out of town visitor.

Baby boy has got swag ;)

Is anyone else looking forward to all things fall???

Xoxoxo

Last Seasonal Starbucks Meal of 2014

I am one of the biggest gimmicky consumers out there. Slap on "Limited Edition" or "Seasonal" on a product and you know I'm on it.

As much as I detest the cold, Fall and Winter are my favorite seasons because of all the seasonal flavors - pumpkin, chestnut, gingerbread. And then there is the savory like stuffing! OOH STUFFING.

Starbucks is my biggest weakness this time of year! The amount of money I shell out each year on their holiday drinks is pretty embarrassing...though I must admit, half of my purchases were for others. Sharing is caring! :)

This year's holiday favorites included: chestnut praline latte, holiday turkey and stuffing panini, and the frosted snowman cookie.

In late December, Starbucks will stop ordering new shipments of holidays flavors (or so I was told). Whatever you can find in late December and early January are the last stock. I just had to get my last fix before they disappear til Fall 2015.

My Starbucks holiday favorites

I actually had to drive to two different Starbucks to find the frosted snowman cookies. The first one were all out with nothing coming in anymore. Thank goodness for living in a big city like Los Angeles where there are Starbucks everywhere. I found the cookies at a nearby Starbucks. Oh the joy!!!

Trust me when I say I was so close to buying nearly all of them just to stock up! My little nephew loves them. One of my best friends loves them. We would all be in seasonal cookie heaven.

Until next time holiday menu....you will be greatly missed and craved.

<3<3<3

November Grateful Challenge Part 3

Reflecting on the past week, there is always plenty to be grateful for. Let's get started :)

1. My little two year old nephew, Baby O. I totally adore this kid.  I spent all of last Monday with him. He's now taller, heavier, and just as cute! We were real Handy Mannys "fixing" things around the yard with his toy hammer. These baby toddler years go by fast. I am thankful I am able to share many moments with this little guy. 

(10/9/14)

2. Heavenly treats. I am a sucker for seasonal treats or any food/drinks that are limited edition. Those promos and gimmicks? They get me every time! DOH! 

(a) I found these Milano Pumpkin Spice cookies at Ralphs and bought one bag for my friend for us to munch on during our girls' night sleepover. DELICIOUS DOT COM. We went back the next day and bought 6. Granted, two were for me and of the 2, one was for my work party which they gobbled up! One coworker even "stole" the bag and brought it back to his office. LOL.  

(b) The Franken Frappuccino from Starbucks. This was a Halloween promo that I finally had last week. Oh my word, oh my word. This was definitely heaven in a cup, or rather diabetes in a cup. It definitely has a lot of sugar (Green tea frap, 3 pumps white mocha, 3 pumps  peppermint, java chips, whip cream, and mocha drizzle). I got the lighter version (green tea frap, 1 pump of each white mocha and peppermint, java chips, whip cream and light mocha drizzle). It was absolutely amazing!!!!! I will definitely order this again but with just 1 pump peppermint and java chips as a once in a while treat (and gulp a bottle of water after, lol). It tasted like mint chocolate chip heaven. YUM.

3. Friends that just get me... Self-explanatory. This has been a rough week. To top it off, I'm PMSing (TMI, sorry) so I'm more emotional. Stepping back, I feel so blessed to have people stand by my side through the storm. They get me, they feel me, and they love me anyway. 

4. Meeting Mindy Gledhill. I talk about it in detail in my post here but I feel so grateful to have been able to attend Mindy's concert. I adore her! I love her music, especially her albums Anchor and Winter Moon. She is definitely a true artist and one of my favorites.

5. My parents are off to the Philippines. They left today! They will be gone for a little less than 14 days. I'm not so much celebrating their departure. I'm celebrating their return to their motherland. My dad hasn't been to the Philippines since he came to the US in the late 1970s. My mom hasn't visited since 2007. The occasion for their return is not happy as they are visiting my Lola Mommy's grave. My Lola Mommy (my grandmother) passed away in August. I feel eternally grateful that I was able to see her in April before she got really sick. Although their return will be sad, I am sure my parents will be so happy to be back home to see family (well, my dad's family are all here in the US). 

May you all have a beautiful week <3

<3<3<3

The Autumn Tag

Fall (or Autumn, whatever you prefer) is probably my favorite season! Boots, scarves, beanies, leggings, coats, warm seasonal drinks, pumpkin!, coziness, ahhhhh. Just listing those fall favorites put me in a sudden daydream of happiness.

When I saw +Maj Valencia 's post TAG: The Autumn Tag, I had a big smile on my face. Although the weather in Los Angeles hasn't quite jumped on the Fall train just yet, her post reminded me that FALL is HERE!

I love love love Fall and just had to do the tag myself. 

Here goes it:

1.  Ok we're talking coffees - what's your favorite seasonal drink from Starbucks or another coffee shop?
Usually the PSL (pumpkin spiced latte), but I get it "altered" because if you order a straight PSL, it's very sweet. I don't like sweet coffee too much. I'll get a grande latte with one pump pumpkin spice syrup. It's less sweet AND you get charged the price of a latte instead of a specialty drink (which is more expensive than a latte). Hey, hey coffee addict working the system!! ;) Sometimes, sometimes, baristas charge you for that one pump. BOO.

2.  Accessories - what do you opt for, scarf, boots, gloves?
All of the above! I have Raynaud's Phenomenon in addition to Lupus. Raynaud's is also an autoimmune condition in which I have irregular blood circulation. This means I get abnormally cold. So if you're cold, I'm freezing! And when I'm really cold, it feels like the cold is "eating" my body (sorry, TMI). It's awful. Anyways, if I had to choose one accessory, I would say boots. There is something about boots that make me feel confident, empowered and sexxxay! (Is it just me?! LOL)

Photo credit: Macy's catalog 2013

Franco Sarto Boots Cymbols

<3<3<3

A present for me last year! Can't wait to bust them out again :D

3. Music - what's your favorite music to listen to during Autumn?
Whatever's mainstream? :) LOL. Didn't know there was Autumn music! Hmmm..I would say "Rosie and Me" station on Pandora. I love every song that comes up. It's mellow and cozy just like Autumn.

4.  Perfume - what's your favorite scent for this time of year?
I wear Bath and Body's Sheer Freesia Body Spray all year long. I am looking to  "grow up" and venture off to perfume but I think perfume smells way too strong with one sniff. I'm still searching for the perfume that is just right! Suggestions for a sensitive nose?

5.  Candles - what scents will you be burning this season?
Anything PUMPKIN!

6. What do you love most about Autumn?
The return of the PUMPKIN. I love pumpkins. Too obvious? I love the coziness of Fall as well as fashion of Fall which is pretty cozy. And I made a full circle. 

7. Favorite make-up look?
This Fall, I'm been into the vampy look! I'm not quite rocking the dark dark lip just yet. Baby steps! I recently purchased NYX's matte lip cream in Copenhagen and Wet n Wild's Sugar Plum Fairy.  I think those two are a good start. I almost always wear winged liner and heavy mascara (if not at work) all year round. That's just my signature and go to look. My lip color is the only thing that really changes.

8. What are you looking forward to most in Autumn?
Besides the fashion and the seasonal treats, I am excited about coming together with friends and family for little pot lucks and get-togethers. Life gets busy for all of us, but somehow, in Fall, we find time to really sit down, chat, and enjoy some good food! And you guessed it...we also have pumpkin parties.

I tag all of YOU! And specifically +Chaunalea Tricia , +thriveonnovelty (although it's spring for you), and +Kreyola Journey 

<3<3<3

Fall Treats: Oh My Pumpkin!

Tis the season for PUMPKINS! Just like most of the world, I am wholeheartedly excited with the seasonal appearance of pumpkins. My family, my friends, and even my coworkers know how much I love pumpkin! They always make my day when they see me and bring me a pumpkin goodie telling me, "I saw this and thought of you." AWWWWWWWW. I am loved! or either very loud about my pumpkin obsession....HMMM ;)

To kick off the beginning of Fall and Fall yummies, one of my best friends and I had a mini pumpkin kitchen party!

Here's what came of it:

Pumpkin oatmeal cookies with pecans and dark chocolate chips

Homemade pumpkin spiced lattes

I take no credit for the recipes. I found both via the web:

Pumpkin oatmeal cookies

http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/10/02/favorite-pumpkin-oatmeal-cookies/

I actually stumbled across this recipe by chance on Instagram. I "clicked" on #pumpkin and the first picture was of pumpkin oatmeal cookies. I had to ask for the recipe. And the woman so graciously shared it with me. The online world can be a kind, kind place :)

Pumpkin spiced lattes 

http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/234849/quick-pumpkin-spice-latte

It was delicious and not so sweet like the PSLs that you buy at coffee joints. I prefer my coffees not sweet so it was perfect! Of course, you can add more sugar if you like that extra sweetness.

The only thing I would need for the future is a mesh cloth or cheese cloth to strain the milk after everything was mixed. That's the only tool I didn't have. 

Future menu includes:

Pumpkin ravioli 

Pumpkin martinis

Pumpkin poptarts

Stay tuned! 

<3<3<3

Hello Fall, Hello Pumpkin!

Fall technically started about two weeks ago, but in Los Angeles, summer is still lingering! Right when the weather was cooling down two weeks ago, Los Angeles was hit with a heatwave just last week. It's really dry, really hot and really gross. I'm over it!

However, the hot weather cannot stop the influx of pumpkins: pumpkin coffees, cheesecakes, cakes, bread, cookies, candles, everything!

And the hot weather definitely cannot stop the new annual tradition of going to the pumpkin patch with my most littlest main squeeze, my nephew. He turned two just two days after these photos were taken. My little man is growing up too fast :(

This blog post is more so for me. It's an inside look of my heart and what makes me happy. 

Apparently, watching Mickey Mouse was more entertaining than picture-taking with aunty

My most favorite picture of the night :)

His new thing is to be an airplane.

We have a similar picture like this from earlier this year. He was so tiny then.

Oh how time flies.

All pictures taken at the Halloween Harvest Festival at Pierce College. If you live in the LA area, you should totally check it out. Admission is free on weekdays ;)

<3<3<3