October recap

Is it really the 30th of October? It feels like I was just celebrating the arrival of my favorite month yesterday. It has certainly flown by but here are a few of the things I've been up to this month.

I celebrated the end of September at my friend Brittany's annual fall party where we imbibed on sangria and warm apple cider and completed this DIY rope vase project.

I made this delicious pumpkin cheesecake pie with a secret ingredient passed down from my grandmother that shall remain unnamed.

Here is the finished product with fresh whipped cream with a touch of maple syrup.

Made a Sunday roast - my famous Simon & Garfunkel chicken. Bet you can figure out why I call it that.

Went to Sonny Acres farm with my family. I've been coming here since I can remember. Fall isn't fall without a trip to this place.

My niece got her face painted.

Got spooked.

Enjoyed an apple cider donut.

And took this picture because no trip to Sonny Acres is complete without it.

I went to a Chicago Ideas Week event and got to see Cat Cora, Graham Elliott, and the Fabulous Beekman Boys.

Speaking of the Fabulous Beekman Boys, I went to their book signing the following night at Williams Sonoma in Lincoln Park. They recently published their second cookbook: The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook. The desserts look divine and they were the sweetest people. I discovered them over the summer after I picked up Josh Kilmer-Purcell's memoir, The Bucolic Plague (Josh is on the right), and I immediately fell in love as soon as I started reading. I am so inspired by these two and I highly recommend the memoir and their cookbooks and everything they do! I ended up meeting this awesome girl in line who'd driven there from Grand Rapids and we decided to grab dinner together at Girl and the Goat. I have no pictures from Girl and the Goat because it was so dark, but it was pretty damn delicious.

Then Brittany had an impromptu bonfire one Friday night and we roasted s'mores.

Stay tuned for the upcoming post about the costume party I hosted last Saturday. It was a spoooooooooooky good time!

Autumn in one post

Can you believe it's November already? The election is over, Thanksgiving is in a couple of weeks, and time marches on. Time has definitely gotten away from me this season, which happens to be my favorite. Instead of sitting at home blogging about life, I have been out experiencing it but I haven't forgotten about you dear reader! Fret not, I am here to tell you all about how I've been spending my fall. 

October began with a bang in the form of a baby. Julie, one of my best friends, gave birth to her first child, Dane. I got to meet him on his real birth day and he was a snuggly little bug who didn't open an eye the entire time I was holding him.

My friend Brittany had a Sunday funday fall party at her new pad and went all out with decorations. I swear we are kindred spirits when it comes to fashion, decor, and entertaining. I get so much inspiration from her.

Specifically, things like this. So clever!

I got to see my nephew Oliver play a mean game of soccer - or so one might think by looking at this picture, which happened to be the one time during the entire game that he was paying attention to the ball.

I decorated my apartment for Halloween like a fiend. This photo is just a taste. I started at the end of September and I don't think I stopped until the weekend before Halloween!

I got to go to Sonny Acres Farm with these two freaking awesome people who had a fantastic time on the "strawberry."

And I took obligatory pictures of piles of pumpkins.

I had a Halloween party with a fridge stocked full of beer. Ain't no party like a Jacobs party!

And I dressed up as a 70's soul diva a la Foxxy Cleopatra from Austin Powers: Goldmember. That jumpsuit just happened to be in my closet - it was my grandma's!

Then, last weekend, three of my good friends came over for an impromptu brunch. Jessie is not pictured, but that's my pal Becky and her fiance Eric. They're getting married in April and I am officiating their wedding - that is if I don't cry or laugh through the whole ceremony. I can't wait to give them the awesome gift of a personal and meaningful ceremony and I'm seriously just honored to get to be up there with them guiding them into their lives together. More posts on restaurants I've recently visited coming up!