What a luxury it is to drive with no destination and no itinerary – with absolutely nothing to do. Let yourself get lost in the hills, find a cute spot to grab a bite to eat, get some fresh air, and go home.

This quarantine is definitely starting to wear on me – it hadn’t been since we had Harper and have been so busy adjusting to life as new parents. We don’t socialize as much, we haven’t been traveling, but these Saturday morning drives have been breathing life into my weekend.

I’ve found that music has been helping a lot to set the tone for us – for our day during the week, for our mood. I’m all about a good playlist for a drive – always changing up the music depending on the season.

Quarantine is weird, isn’t it – you kind of feel like you’re home “doing nothing,” but then you take a step back and realize how busy you are. It’s a constant cycle of cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, cleaning more, cooking more. Meetings and emails. All while being home “doing nothing.” But a slow weekend – not even necessarily a lazy one – a slow weekend is really helping me savor this fall season.

It’s been nice to take a break, slow down and just enjoy. It’s fun to explore when we typically save exploring for traveling. It’s fun to be able to soak up and savor the moments with our little family.

I love the moodiness of fall, and always start gravitating towards a darker color manicure. You can bet I’m asking for Linkin Park After Dark and Wicked for a manicure or a pedicure. But I found 3 new colors this fall I am LOVING.

The first, In Stitches by Essie. It’s a more youthful take on a rosey mauve, and I’m so into it.

Then there’s Essie’s Limited Addiction, which I swear is the shade of red I’ve been searching for. I’ve been gravitating towards this color two or three times already.

Finally, OPI’s Rub-A-Pub, which is a gorgeous charcoal and has been taking Wicked’s place this year.

What are your go-to polish colors for fall?

I’m obsessed with this farmhouse style wreath my sisters in law gave me for my birthday from Joi Prints.

I’m not into Halloween decorations (but man is my neighborhood!) – I stick to general fall for Octoer and November, before we shift into holiday decorations. Feels like I get more longevity by sticking to generic fall – which just means lots of pumpkins, mums, and a welcoming fall wreath!

You don’t have to put a wreath just on a door, either. i’ve hung wreaths over the fireplace mantle, small ones on cabinet doors and windows, and even my entry way wall.

How do you decorate for fall?

These guys are super easy to put together, just some flour, eggs, peanut butter and bacon. You can cut the treats into any shape, but I use these cookie cutters. I like that I can make any size, which is great when you make treats for a gift!

The one thing I do love about making these is seeing how excited our pup gets when he smells the bacon cooking. I may or may not throw him a little piece while I’m making the batter.

I will say it’s best for your dog if you use a natural peanut butter where the only ingredient is peanuts – or peanuts and salt. All the other stuff isn’t great for them, and I won’t make dog treats for my own or for anyone’s dog with extra oil added.

If you have concerns about ingredients, talk to your vet!

You can get the recipe for my peanut butter pumpkin dog treats here.

1. This multi cooker crock pot – it can be a pressure cooker or a crock pot, and when you have it in crock pot mode you can use the glass lid. Love a good multi-use appliance, especially for those of us with limited kitchen storage! $40 off!
2. Kitchen utensil set – sometimes ya just need a refresh, and this has all the essentials. $15 off!
3. Emeril’s Air Fryer – okay, so we’ve not been eating super well this quarantine and we’re trying to get. it. together. I’ve been wanting an air fryer and at $40 off mama’s feeling like it’s time to pull the trigger on it!
4. A polymarble cutting board – chic! It’s $3 off (ha), but it’s only $12, this feels like a must have! This is a great dupe of a real marble cutting board (which are expensive and stupidly heavy).
5. Staub braiser – I have so many pieces of Staub, they’re my favorite (just know they’re also v heavy) and they’ll last you forever if you take care of them. One piece I don’t have is a braiser and I’ve had my eye on this one FOREVER. $90 off.
6. A hand mixer – if you don’t have room for a stand mixer, you have to have one of these! $15 off.
7. My stand mixer is $100 off! $100 off!!!!
8. This pot set is looking mighty fine considering how much pasta we have been making. I’ve always wanted the pot with a strainer insert. $10 off, which makes it about $35!.
9. A toaster oven! – We don’t have one and with a new baby, eventually we’ll want one. $84 off!
10. Immersion blender – every kitchen needs one, especially if you like to make soups! And if you don’t have room for a food processor, this is a great tool to make hummus. $15 off.

I love a consumable gift, especially for a hostess gift, and when I saw this olive oil set from Trader Joe’s I knew this would be a great part of a gift! The set comes with three oils, one each from Italy, Greece and Spain. Together they would make a great present, but you can separate them and get 3 gifts out of the $10 set.

I scooped up some small trays at Target for $10 each and a set of three dish towels at Home Goods for about $6 total. Target, of course, has great options for the towel – I like these, these, these and these for friends celebrating Hanukkah.

I grabbed some festive ribbon at Michael’s and just layered tray, towel and olive oil, topping each with a few sprigs of evergreen off our tree. Each of these cost about $15, which feels perfect for a sweet hostess gift everyone will love to receive!

Come November 1, I am ready for the holidays. I really love this time of year – there’s something about it that’s still magical, no matter how old I am. And one thing I’m totally a sucker for is a great holiday scented candle – especially when it means making the house festive before it’s appropriate to put up a tree!

This year, I have a few scents that work together around the house: the kitchen, the family room, when you first walk in to our home, and the bathroom. Here are my three favorites from Target this season!

Hearth & Hand with Magnolia’s Sugared Birch is a must have – it totally smells like Christmas! I went for the largest size in the kitchen and popped it in this little basket from their line, too. Every season I swap out a candle in the basket. (PS I have the large size of the basket that I use to hold a few cookbooks!)

Sugared Birch is also available in a green apothecary style jar that I love, a 6 oz amber jar, a silver container, a white ceramic container, a 4 oz mini tin (hey stocking stuffer idea!), and a blue ceramic container I also love.

This Whiskey + Oak candle sits in our family room and is the first scent you smell when you walk into the house. It feels a little apple-y to me, and I love it! I actually grabbed it in October and have been burning it ever since.

Sadly, this specific black container is no longer available, but it comes in a 6.5 oz black jar, an amber jar, a 2.3 oz tin with two wicks, and a large amber jar with a three crackling wicks.

I literally cannot pull through a season to our bathroom – always requires a seasonal candle, like this mini tin in Silver Pine and a seasonal guest napkin. You should see the stash of guest napkins!

Silver Pine also comes in an 8 oz glass jar, 29 oz (!) frosted glass container, and a glass cloche that I love for a gift idea!

You just need a few of the right supplies and a little bit of patience, and I promise you, you too can have this centerpiece. And I’ll even tell you how to make it better than how mine came out!

Okay, so this is what you will need:

• Floral foam
• Greening pins
• Kitchen shears or floral scissors
• 2 types of greenery, and one that flops/drapes if you want it to be better than mine!
• 1-2 bunches of carrots (I’d go with 2 because when you move around the room, if you catch it at a certain angle it looks like you skimped on the carrots)
• 2 colors of spray roses or just any 2 flowers with sturdy stems (I would skip ranunculus for this unless you are super confident and skilled at not stabbing yourself with straight floral pins to really get them in there)
• 9 radishes, on the stems
• 9 brussels sprouts
• A pretty large vase

First, you’ll soak your foam until it sinks in a bowl of water. Do not skip, do not pass Go, do not collect $100. You have to soak that foam if you want your flowers to last. Then, cut your foam to fit snugly into the opening of your vase. Next, you’ll scrub your carrots and trim the tops. You’ll have to clean them well to keep the water looking clean.

Using the greening pins, insert the pin to the tops of the carrots so they sit in the bottom of the U and insert the two pointy ends right into the foam. Repeat with all of the carrots. I placed mine in a circle but you could start in the center of the foam and work your way out. Gently tuck the carrots into the vase and sit the foam in the opening.

Then it’s time to start cutting your flowers!

Trim the flowers and greenery to the length you want and just start sticking them into the foam. Remember to constantly turn your arrangement so you are evenly dispersing your flowers/greenery/veg. You don’t need to put any holes in ahead of time, just use the stems to pop the pieces straight into the foam.

You will use the greenery pins the same way you did for the carrots for your radishes and brussels sprouts. And don’t stress so much! Have fun. You can always move something around, start popping them in the foam and adjust as you go. Can’t tell you how many times I moved the veggies!

But, we all know not everything is online! I kind of think of it like an artists’ music on the radio. We are all out here enjoying Luke Bryan’s What Makes You Country song but you don’t get to hear the album on the radio. So, yeah, Chrissy Tiegan’s Bagel Bake might be online, but not the whole book – ya know?

There are so many good cookbooks coming out in 2019, and these 10 are the ones that are on the top of my list.

Dinner for Everyone: 100 Iconic Dishes Made 3 Ways – Easy, Vegan or Perfect for Company by Mark Bittman

Release: February 12, 2019

First of all, Mark Bittman wrote this one and anything he writes, I’m into it. I very, very easily fall into weeknight dinner ruts so I’m hoping to find a whole lot of inspiration from this one. Bittman is a wonderful writer to learn from, and really, anything that includes recipes for company and/or entertaining will get me. every. single. time. Also, you should know that while this says 100 recipes, each recipe has 3 variations – meaning the book actually contains 300 recipes!

The Founding Farmers Cookbook Second Edition: 100 Recipes from the Restaurant Owned by American Family Farmers by Founding Farmers with Nevin Martell

Release: March 5, 2019

First, you should know that Founding Farmers is my absolute all-time favorite restaurant. Hands down. We will literally go to Washington DC, pretend we are interested in museums and such, but are really just passing time until dinner reservations at FF. Also, my cornbread recipe is 100% inspired by FF and their recipe in their cookbook. Side note: it’s the best cornbread you will ever, ever have, unless you go to the restaurant. That will blow you away. Your homemade one will be a close second. My recipe takes the cookbook recipe one step further and I think is closer to what they serve rather than what they tell you in the cookbook. They can’t give away all their secrets, right?!

Second, this cookbook is the second edition. I own the first, and have already pre-ordered this version. I’m not 100% sure what the differences will be, but I don’t even care. Their work is incredible and there is so much to be learned. It is important to note that at least with the first edition you will run into many recipes that take more than one day to make.

Food of the Italian South: Recipes for Lost, Classic and Disappearing Dishes by Katie Parla

Release: March 12, 2019

I cannot wait to sink my teeth into Parla’s new cookbook, focused on southern Italian cookery. This one goes far beyond what you might think of typical Italian cooking, like tomato sauce drenched pasta. As much as I’ve been able to read about this cookbook, you’ll find super fresh ingredients, unique preparation and historical and cultural insights – sounds so interesting, right?!

Tu Casa Mi Casa: Mexican Recipes for the Home Cook by Enrique Olvera

Release: March 27, 2019

When I went to Mexico for the first time last fall, I really fell in love – such an enchanting country! I definitely had a few moments where I thought I might be able to drop everything and go live in Mexico for a few years and learn to cook. There’s something about Mexican food that speaks to me. I think it might be how much care and thought goes into the dishes; the development of flavors that drives my curiosity. And, seriously, there’s so much beyond tacos and quesadillas. Must learn more. Must buy this cookbook!

Dinner at Buckingham Palace: Secrets & recipes from the reign of Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth II by Charles Oliver

Release: April 1, 2019

If you know me, you know my obsession with the British royal family, especially the Duchess of Cambridge. I know, just like every other #basicbitch. If you don’t know me, you should know that I’m obsessed with the British royal family, especially the Duchess of Cambridge. Therefore, it will come as no surprise to anyone that I don’t just want this cookbook, I need!

Diner A La Maison: A Parisian’s Guide to Cooking and Entertaining at Home by Laurent Buttazzoni

Release: April 2, 2019

Since living in Paris is officially on my bucket list after our last trip to the City of Lights for New Year’s, this book is necessary. If I’m going to be Parisian, I must learn to cook like one – right?! Seriously guys – if I was to take a DNA test I’m pretty sure I’d be 99% French. Even though our family isn’t French. It’s where I belong! #someday

Love & Lemons Every Day: More than 100 bright, plant-forward recipes for every meal by Jeanine Donofrio

Release Date: April 2, 2019

There was a time in my life when I was vegan and relied on Love & Lemons’ amazing recipes. Whether you are leaning into a plant-based lifestyle or just trying to level up the volume of veg dishes in your life, this cookbook promises to be a great one! I mean, don’t you just want to dive into that cauliflower?!

Smoked: One Man’s Journey to Find Incredible Recipes, Standout Pitmasters and the Stories Behind Them by Ed Randolph

Release: May 7, 2019

What sold me on this book is knowing it will be chock full of tips and tricks for grilling and smoking. We own an electric smoker and of course a grill, both of which intimidate me a little. But also, my 2019 bucket list included learning new techniques and using new tools, so here we go!

A Taste of History Cookbook: The Flavors, Places and People That Shaped American Cuisine by Chef Walter Staib and Martha W. Murphy

Release: May 7, 2019

It sounds like this one is going to be part history book part cookbook and I’m here for it! I have been wanting to dig into American cuisine and its roots for a while, so I’m definitely looking forward to this one. I also really love a cookbook that is more than just recipes and from the overview it sounds like A Taste of History will deliver.

Piatti: Plates and Platters for Sharing, Inspired by Italy by Stacy Adimando

Release: May 7, 2019

Another May 7 release! This has everything I love: food for sharing and Italy. I’m all about that small plate action. And, this whole blog is centered around the idea of entertaining, sharing food…so this is right up my alley. I’m always looking to learn a new technique, try a new recipe, and I’m definitely excited for this one! Would be great to learn how to make a few Italian dishes that aren’t just that New Jersey-Italian tradition, but a motherland-Italian tradition, ya know?

And for you, dear, sweet readers, I have a little treat for you!

If you’ve been wanting a stand mixer to dip your toe in the water of Stand Mixer Ownership, this is your shot! Share your favorite Valentine’s gift idea, or your favorite you’ve received, in the comments section for FIVE entries. If you need a little inspiration, scroll down for some more gift ideas!

PLUS, for more shots at winning this precious pink DASH stand mixer, head over to my Instagram post here and follow the instructions for some extra entries. You will have until February 10, 2019 to enter and the winner will be announced on February 11, 2019. For residents of the US only.

I love this little stand mixer, it’s perfect for a new baker, a college student who loves to cook, or for someone who doesn’t have a big kitchen, or isn’t 100% convinced they want to invest $300+ in a stand mixer.

Along with this mixer, here are a few more ideas for your V-Day gift giving:

1. Target gingham table runner | 2. DASH Stand Mixer | 3. Williams-Sonoma Heart Coasters | 4. Sur La Table Lemon Meringue Candle | 5. Je T’aime Mug | 6. Shun Chef’s Knife (20% off!) | 7. Sugarfina Champagne Gift Set | 8. Heart Bamboo Spatula | 9. Staub Mini Hearts | 10. Valentine’s Day Dish Towels