His Plan, Not Ours: Random Friday

1. Book Lover's Cravebox

Last week I received the Book Lover's Cravebox. I snagged this special edition box a few weeks ago and was interested to see what would be inside. I received a book, a couple snacks, and a bracelet. The book that came in the box was "How I Came to Sparkle" by Kaya McLaren. Here's a synopsis: "Set in a Colorado ski town, How I Came to Sparkle is a remarkable breakout novel that chronicles three people and their journey from loss to love; heartbreak to hope." I haven't started reading the book yet, but I'll get around to it at some point. It's not really the type of book that I would normally pick out for myself, but we'll see. The strawberry-flavored Natural Vines premium licorice was super delicious. I did not like the snack mix because I don't really like soy nuts that much and they were the predominantly featured ingredient of this mix. It was a little too salty as well. The bracelet is not something that I would ever wear as it's a cheesy "count your blessing" beaded bracelet. Overall, I don't think I would do another book box because people's taste in books varies so greatly.

2. Julep add-ons

My Julep add-on nail polishes came in the mail recently too. I added on "Keira" and "Sofia." Keira is the burgundy color and I love it so much. It's currently my pedicure color. It actually looks a little more purple-y than it does in the bottle. Sofia is a really pretty sheer glitter and while I haven't used it yet, I plan to layer it over blue for my next pedicure. As far as Julep goes recently, the company has revealed a new website design and a new rewards system. The rewards system gives subscribers points for more than just referrals, which is nice. So far they are still transferring over everyone's saved referrals and getting stuff set up. I'm assuming they will be finished by the 20th, when they reveal the colors for November.

3. Little man (aka Cute Pics of Owen)

Owen's newest clothing accessories are two new ties. We bought them for Owen to wear to the wedding last weekend and he looks so stinkin' cute in them. They cost $7.95 each at The Children's Place. I think that they were 25 percent off when we bought them. We have the red one you see below and a green and navy striped one as well. Don't mind the jeans shorts in the below picture. He wore them with dress pants at the wedding, but I wanted to have him try them on and see if he would have issues with a tie and try to strangle himself. Luckily, he seemed to agree that he looked super cute!

4. Pantry organization

One of my recent accomplishments this week and something I've needed to do since we moved in, was organize our pantry and food cabinets. They were packed with a bunch of random things and I wanted to have things a little neater and better organized. The motivation for this project came after we visited Katie and David in Florida and I had major pantry envy after seeing her super huge pantry filled with basically any nonperishable food you could ever want. Tim helped me to organize everything because he's really good at that sort of thing. So now we have baking supplies (and my stand mixer) on the top shelf, boxes of pasta, rice, breadcrumbs, and more on the second shelf, snacks and a basket of onions on the third shelf, and breakfast foods, breads, and more on the fourth shelf. In the food cabinet, we put all jarred and bottled foods on the top shelf and canned goods and broths on the bottom shelf. Another cabinet holds oils and vinegars and spices. I feel so happy about having everything organized and I'm getting a good stockpile of extras so that I don't have to buy so much at the grocery store each week. I will keep it up by buying items when they are on sale 10 for $10 at Kroger.

5. Halloween costume idea

Because I am the worst mother on the planet, I haven't really given too much thought to what Owen will be for Halloween. He's too old for all the baby-ish costumes and he hates having anything on his head. So my options are kind-of limited. I also don't want to go overboard and spend a ton on a costume that he's only going to wear for one day, and more accurately, just a few hours. We aren't taking him trick-or-treating or anything, so it's basically more about taking a few pictures. I was trying to come up with an idea for something we could do on the cheap and after buying him a white button down and the ties, I had the idea of having him wear a Superman onesie underneath and have him be Clark Kent changing into Superman. All we'd need to buy is the Superman onesie and maybe a cheap pair of black glasses. And I found this photo online to illustrate what I was thinking. What do you think? Any other ideas?

6. Pumpkin obsession

Oh Fall. My favorite season of the year. And one way that I celebrate the season is to indulge in all things pumpkin-flavored and scented. If it's pumpkin, I will buy it. Below are some of my recent pumpkin finds. Do you have any favorite pumpkin products?

7. Fall recipes

Another reason I love fall is because of all the delicious soul and tummy-warming meals. My favorite recipe blog Skinny Taste has tons of great fall-inspired recipes that I can't wait to make. Some are old favorites and some of ones I haven't tried before. Anything with pumpkin (of course) or a tasty-looking soup is right up my alley. If you're interested in some yummy fall recipes from Skinny Taste, go here to check out all the recipes for fall from this awesome food blogger all in one convenient place.