Fall Must-Haves 2014

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For me, Fall always started with school year, whether I'm studying or not. It's always been the time for apples, hot cider and layers. We can definitely feel chill of autumn air every morning in these parts, and to be honest, I love it. Unlike summer, we have been having some golden fall days, filled with cool, crisp mornings followed by warm, sunshine-filled afternoons. 

I love it.

Also, on my radar, cooler tones and some layers. I always like styling my summer pieces for fall, layering cardigans and jackets. It's so much fun! This season I'm pretty much on board with all the trends like black and white, sneaker-shoes, leather, leopard print and floppy hats. And I may actually give camo print a try. Maybe.

I hope you see something you like, and get  some shopping done because the season is upon us. 

BUDGET TIP: for the trends that you aren't sure of (like leather) try your local consignment, or thrift store. You can buy the item and not feel bad about it if you end up wearing it only once. 

#happybudgetshopping

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend! 

Bathroom Inspiration {House Make Over}

As some of you know, we bought a house about a year ago and thank God it was in good enough condition to move in right away. We did a few paint jobs in bedrooms and closets but nothing major. Now, more than year later, I'm so sick and tired of my ugly bathroom that I can't even go in there without loathing everything about it. I hate the color of the walls (ugly sand brown) and the blue built in plastic tub (yup, it's blue!). It's time to change things up but my budget is very limited as we need to change heating in half the house. Husband says it's more important than bathroom looking pretty (blah blah blah). So, I'm taking on myself the monumental task of remodeling our bathroom with lots and lots of DIY projects. It's going to take time, patience and new-skill learning.
My bathroom is tiny (I mean, it's really small) so I want to use the visual tricks of designers with lighter paint, and low contrast. Grey, white and more grey is what I'm gravitated towards with some of these as inspiration. Thank God for Pinterest because I don't know how people did anything back in the day without this handy tool.
Have any of you done anything like this before? Re-doing a room on the cheap? Please share some of your ideas, tips and tricks. Thanks for stopping by! 

Almost Fall

top: Forever21
jeans, watch: Target
bag: Ali Express
shoes: Franco Sarto (DSW)

Happy Friday ladies! This post is brought to you by the best time of the year - the perfect combination of sun and cool air. I love early fall, when you can still wear light summer pieces and layer them with other things. Hope you enjoy your weekend and thank you for stopping by! 

Bacon and Corn Chowder

 

This recipe came to be as a combination of a few different recipes I found in my Soup Bible Cookbook. I loved the end result, and what's more important, my toddler loved it too. He ate the soup for breakfast lunch and dinner for three days and still wanted more. It's a very easy and delicious recipe but make sure to use fresh corn which is in abundance this time of year. You know when you put bacon on it, everything becomes instantly better.

 

 INGREDIENTS:

2 corn ears 

1/2 lb bacon

2 potatoes

1 large green bell pepper

1 yellow onion

1 garlic clove

2 small celery sticks

4 cups of chicken stock

3 bay leaves

2 tbsp corn starch 

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp water

salt and pepper

 

PROCESS:
Chop bacon into small pieces and fry in a large pan. Remove from the heat when crispy and drain, setting bacon aside.Take the fat from the bacon and pour it into a Dutch oven pot.

Chop onion, celery, pepper and potato into small bite size chunks and sauté with the bacon fat for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the corn kernels off the ears and throw in with the rest of veggies along with garlic. Let it sweat for another 5 minutes, then pour the stock. Add bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste, and simmer the soup for about 30-40 minutes. Once the potatoes are cooked through, take a potato masher and mash the soup a little bit, creating a thicker consistency. Leave some potato chunks in the soup.

Combine two tablespoons of water with cornstarch until it dissolves and add the heavy cream, then pour the mixture into the soup. Increase the soup to high heat and bring it to boil (turn it off as soon as you see bubbles form). Let the soup rest for about hour before serving, if you can. You can freeze it easily and it's even better the next day.
Serve soup of bacon on top and a piece of black bread on a side. Delicious!

Leaving a Child

As we were planning our vacation, I had no doubt in my mind that I wanted it to be just the two of us. We haven't been away from Jonathan for more than a day in the last two years and it was something we needed as a couple, as parents, as adults. 

So we booked our vacation and arranged babysitters for Jonathan but as the day to leave him behind approached, my heart dropped. I was worried and besides myself. Honestly, I could hardly sleep the night before thinking about the worst possible scenarios happening while we are gone.

How could I do this? How could I leave my baby behind (with family, mind you) and just enjoy a week without him? How will he be without my constant care and attention? How am going to survive without his flamboyant personality and happy giggles? 

And to be honest, I don't know how.

Just to paint you a fuller picture of how much of control freak I am, here is exactly what I did before leaving. I scrubbed my house from top to bottom and washed all the laundry, changed all the bed sheets and stocked fridge with milk. Then I packed Jonathan's bag which included pretty much everything from ten spare shirts to fever medication and bibs. I wrote out a detailed list of his every day routine and gave to family members (yes, I know). 

Let's just say that packing for this vacation was heck of a lot more work than it would have been staying home. But I had to make sure that people who were able to raise a few children of their own would be well equipped looking after mine (oh the irony). 

In the end, I know he's in safe hands and that this time away from every day life is so good for our marriage and relationship. I know it in my mind and I know it in my heart. So I'm putting my dear baby in The Father's care and praying for him to be safe and content while we are gone. 

No matter how much we love out children, relationship with our spouse should always come first. I know sometimes it's hard to get away but it's absolutely needed to renew, refresh and rekindle the love. After all, children thrive in a loving and caring atmosphere and  benefit from a happy marriage.