A relaxing weekend.

In my mind, I woke up this morning at a reasonable hour to a clean house and child who's eyes weren't crusted shut. I didn't find three inches of snow in my yard and I didn't have to cancel brunch with my brother due to Calvin's increasingly red eye. I didn't have to bundle up my son and drag him out into the cold and snow (which I didn't have to spend 15 minutes scraping off my car) or drive 45 minutes across town in treacherous conditions to urgent care. I didn't have to hold my son down so the doctor could examine him and diagnose him with pink eye, and I didn't have to drive another 45 minutes back across town in treacherous conditions to get his prescription filled at the Target near our house. I didn't spend 20 minutes wandering around Target trying to console/entertain/constrain a hungry, cranky little boy who was getting dangerously close to naptime, nor did I find out upon my return to the pharmacy that they didn't actually have the medication I was waiting for. I didn't have to wait even longer while they called other pharmacies in the area to see if they had it, only to determine the closest place was a Walgreens in the opposite direction of my house. I didn't have to drive my overly-tired-darned-near-starving kid to yet another place in treacherous conditions to drop off the prescription, and I didn't have to sit in the parking lot and feed him a random assortment of groceries purchased at Target for lunch while we waited for it to be done. I didn't hear from the Walgreens pharmacist that the Target pharmacist had miscalculated the dose and they'd probably had enough back at Target after all. And I certainly didn't come home to even more snow needing to be shoveled or the task of putting eye drops in an ridiculously exhausted and very crabby boy.

In my mind.

Shopaholic and friends.

I spent last weekend with six women I adore: my mom, the two Marys Breyer (my mother- and sister-in-law), and our friends Lisa, Karen, and Dawn.

Five years ago, my mom, the two Marys and I pioneered the first of many shopping trips to Galena, IL — home to many adorable things available for purchase. It started as kind of a mother/daughter trip (my SIL's mom and sister came, too), and ended up expanding just a bit to include a few other friends. We rent a darling little cottage that fits our group perfectly, and then spend the weekend shopping, eating, drinking, playing games, and talking late into the night.

It's REALLY fun.

And a little tiring. Because we don't just shop in Galena. We S-H-O-P. We shop like it's our full-time job. We wander up and down the main street for about eight hours on Saturday, and then usually a few more on Sunday. The second day of shopping is always the result of Saturday evening's show and tell, because inevitably someone wonders how they missed something someone else found and insists on going back to get it the next day.

I got home Sunday night at 4:30 and whined to Nate about how tired I was. I had no business whining about anything related to sleep after he survived two days of single parenting our toddler and daylight savings time...but I was tired. Shopping (er, S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G) will do that to you.

So, what did I buy during our little excursion?

Here are my finds, minus the big one — a gorgeous paned mirror for my dining room. It was too big for us to bring home in our car, so my mom took it home and is bringing it to me at Thanksgiving. I can't wait.

I got a few fun things for the kitchen, including a cookie scoop (it's almost time for holiday baking!), a really cute cutting board, new dishcloths, a Christmas dishtowel, a set of Halloween dishtowels (a gift from Mom...thank you!) and a little Halloween ghost bowl (all the fall holiday stuff is on clearance when we go, it's kind of fun).


I also got this sweet set of three antique puzzles. I'm going to mat and frame them for Calvin's room.


And these tin stars, which were on clearance at the first store we visited. I think I'm going to hang them at various lengths from navy ribbon on my front door for the Fourth of July.


Every year we all gravitate toward these little seasonal signs/figurines. I have a bunch of them. We all got the "Rejoice" one this year, I thought the mummy was cute (and appropriate), and the crow made me laugh. But nothing made me laugh as hard as my mother-in-law figuring out that her pair of pilgrims consisted of two women and not a male/female couple. The lesbian pilgrim figurines are officially my new favorites.


The only things I purchased for myself (well, it's all for me...but for me to wear) included a teal infinity scarf (one of those big loop ones), a scrunchy brown pashmina-y scarf, and a cool pair of earrings from a handmade jewelry store.


This year when I got home Nate actually complimented me on my shopping choices. I think he was just relieved to see me come home with a single bag. I also think he forgot about the massive mirror that's yet to arrive.

Wild hair on the streets of Galena:


With my lovely sister-in-law:


The girls (Lisa, me, Mary):


The ladies (Mary, Dawn, Mom):


And Karen (she was goofing off in the group shot, so she gets her own here):


The goods:


Relaxing in our cute house:



And Mary with her hat. She's definitely a hat person, don't you think?

Thankful for Thursday: Part Deux.

By reader request, another Thankful for Thursday post. I don't know why this has been requested of me, but it seems like an easy enough way to get something new on the blog. Sorry for the dud of a week, gang. I'm kinda tired, and no blog post is better than boring blog post.

Without further ado, today's list of things for which I am thankful:

1. 102.9 LITE FM. I keep this station as a pre-set in my car even though it's full of stuff I hate like Phil Collins because come mid-November it becomes all Christmas music, all the time. And today while flipping through my stations I landed on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. HOORAY! (Somewhere Nate is crying, because it's highly unlikely we'll be listening to anything else between now and December 31.)

2. Pumpkin spice creamer. I can't afford a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks everyday (though I'd like to think I can), so I was anxious to get this beloved creamer for work and home. It took multiple visits to multiple stores and a few fist shakes to the sky (WHY IS SUPER TARGET ALWAYS OUT OF EVERYTHING I WANT?), but I finally found it last week, and I'm enjoying a steaming cup of happiness as I type. Nate recently said "Why don't you and fall just get a room?" and to that I would like to publicly reply "If only!" because I love fall and would gladly get a room with it if for no other reason than the ability to sleep in.

3. The shirt I'm wearing. It looks like a blazer but it's a sweater. Similar to leggings, this jacket allows me to be dressed down while looking slightly dressed up. If I keep this up, I might be able to patent an entirely new genre of work apparel. It will be called "Business Lazy" and I will make millions. Which I will use to buy more leggings and sweaters that look like jackets, of course.

4. Boden. I remain hopelessly devoted to this brand, because they give me no other choice. I got a clever little letter from Mr. Johnnie Boden this week, thanking me for helping to make Mini Boden a success "across the pond." It came with a $25 voucher for Mini Boden, no minimum purchase required. Which is like a free item of clothing for Calvin! (Almost.)

5. The power of social media. There was a Twitter/Facebook firestorm yesterday over Amazon selling a disgusting, disgusting book that is extremely harmful to children — and they ended up taking it off their site. Seems all you need to change the world these days is a web-enabled mobile device and a hashtag. Technology is good. And, thankfully, people still are, too.

6. Glee. This week's episode tackled bullying in all forms, and led to a shocking and sweet turn of events. It's been kind of weird this season, so I was glad to be sucked back in.

7. Tuesday nights. My mother-in-law spends every Tuesday night at our house with the munchkin so Nate and I can have some free time. I love and appreciate this so much; if not for Mary I would never get to have dinner with my friends, get my hair done, or have a date with my husband. Tuesdays and Mary are the best.

8. Google. Every time I hear a song I like in a commercial, I Google some random vague description of whatever I can remember from it and wa-la! Google figures it out. This week it was the song from the McDonald's McRib commercial, which for some reason I thought was a Target commercial about sandwiches. Google still figured it out. Matt White, Love. Cute song.

9. Infant's Motrin (Target brand). LIFESAVER. It's been a rough week in our house and Calvin's mouth.

10. A plans-free weekend ahead of me. Nate's working and it's supposed to snow(!!), so I'm going to decorate for Thanksgiving, bake, and spend some quality time with my little man. Can't wait.

Happy Thursday!

Thankful for Thursday.

In no particular order, these are the random things I'm thankful for today:

1) The pumpkin spice latte keeping me awake this morning. Calvin got up at bloody 4am and spent the next two hours rolling all over our bed. Nate and I were like zombies heading off to work.
2) Leggings. I don't know why I shunned this trend at first — it's like wearing pjs to work.
3) A work environment where leggings are considered appropriate office attire. At least I think they are. No one's said anything to me yet...
4) The tv show Castle. I love it. I don't know why, but it's kind of addictive. Actually, I do know why: Nathan Fillion is quite charming.
5) My sweet husband, who is flying solo again this weekend so I can get away for my annual shopping trip with my mom, mother-in-law, sister-in-law and friends.
6) My college roommate, who is flying from Michigan to Minnesota to go see Joshua Radin in concert with me two weeks from now.
7) Calvin's latest and greatest phrase: "Whasat? Whasat? Mama, Mama, Mama! Whasat?"
8) Peanut butter-filled pretzels from Trader Joe's.
9) Trailers for the upcoming Harry Potter movie, which I'm pretty darned excited about.
10) A lunch date with my girlfriends from work this afternoon.
11) The conclusion of political ads on tv.
12) Bobby pins. I am way overdue for a haircut and I would probably shave my head out of frustration if it wasn't for the bobby pins containing (most of) my frizz.

Things I am not thankful for today:

1) Teething.

And earlier that day...

We went to the park with Uncle Mike. Calvin is waaaaay into Uncle Mike right now. In fact, while trick-or-treating that night, he kept saying "Mike!" and reaching up to be held by him.

This came as no surprise to us. Uncle Mike is the coolest.

A few cuties of my cutie at the park:






And where was I during all of this?


At 31 years old, it's still hard for me to pass up a swing.

Itsy bitsy.

Enthralled by the spidery legs of his costume...and his ability to hit the dog with them.


Really into the pumpkins. Kind of hard to get him off that stoop, actually.


My favorite. He didn't sit still much. What spider (or toddler) does?


Our attempt at a family photo. Calvin was out of there almost immediately.


Next best thing.


Again with the pumpkins. Once we lit them he was no longer interested in anything else. Baby pyro?


Striped heiny.


Starting out with Daddy.


The addition of gloves, per Mama's order. Hey, what's another set of stripes?


Checking out his loot. A full basket after a loop around the block. Tip: the itsier and bitsier you are, the more you get.


Reward for being a brave little trick-or-treater? A sucker.


Which he kind of loved.


A lot.


And a mini 3 Musketeers. Which I finished. Not so much with the chocolate yet.


Candy Man. (We gave out 150 pieces of candy and had to turn our lights off at 8pm because we were out!)


Nate and Calvin's pumpkins were scary...


As you can see by my pumpkin's expression.


And, finally, a silly video of Calvin, his spider legs, and his Grandpa Breyer.



Happy (belated) Halloween!

755.

When I was around 10 years old, my friend Amy and I tried to bake brownies from a mix. We baked them, and checked them, then baked them some more, then checked them again...those brownies never got done. I think we baked them for nearly two hours, and ended up with brownie soup.

To this day, neither of us knows what went wrong. All I know is that I have a major cooking complex, and I blame the brownies. (Well, the brownies plus about a million other failed kitchen experiments.)

I'm no Barefoot Contessa, that's for darned sure.

While I really stink at cooking, over time I've become a pretty decent baker. I go crazy at Christmas and I bookmark dessert recipes all the time. I don't bake often because I don't like to have that much dessert sitting around my house. But, come fall, I'm always itching to get in the kitchen.

Last fall I tried a new recipe: Caramel Apple Bundt Cake. It's divine. I forgot just how divine until I made it again this weekend — and I have testimonials to back me up. I sent a piece home with my brother-in-law last night and a few hours later Nate received this message from him: "Tell Abby that cake is ridiculous."

Ridiculous, indeed.

I am going to share this recipe with you because I love you and want good things for you. And I'm going to type it here instead of linking to it because it's best if you never know how many calories are in it. Just print up this blog post and make it. Trust me.

Caramel Apple Bundt Cake

Cake Ingredients:
3 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
3 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1/3 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
3 large eggs
3 teaspoons of vanilla
1 cup of chopped pecans

Glaze Ingredients:
1 stick of butter (no substitutions)
1 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of half and half
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and set oven rack to second lowest position.
2. Grease a 12-cup bundt pan (I'd use butter vs. Pam...less chance of sticking)
3. In a medium bowl, sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the flour mixture into the bundt pan; tilt pan to coat.
5. In another medium bowl, place the chopped apples and 2 tablespoons of the flour mixture; toss to coat.
6. In a large bowl, combine 1 1/4 cups of brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla; beat with an electric mixer until combined and thick (3-4 mins).
7. Gradually beat in the remaining flour mixture until combined.
8. Fold in the chopped apples and pecans (your arm will hurt, it's super thick).
9. Transfer to bundt pan and bake for 1 hour or until cake tests done with toothpick.
10. Pull out the cake, set aside. Begin preparing glaze.
11. Melt butter in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan.
12. Whisk in 1 cup brown sugar, then half and half.
13. Continue whisking until glaze is smooth and comes to a boil.
14. Stir in vanilla; remove from heat.
15. Spoon 1/4 cup of the hot glaze over the cake (still in pan).
16. Let the cake sit for 15-20 minutes to absorb the glaze.
17. Turn the cake onto a platter, then pour the remaining glaze over it.
18. Let stand until cool (at least 1 hour) before slicing.