Fall Flavors: Pumpkin + Chocolate

Happy Thanksgiving week!  I am so excited to be with family this week and totally stuff my face.  This past weekend, we had friends over for a Friendsgiving brunch.  I've made this recipe a few times this fall, and it's been the perfect breakfast... or dessert!  What I love about this recipe is that you can make bread, muffins, or mini muffins from the same batter.  

Ingredients:
- 1 and a half cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 15oz can pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup milk
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips (or try chopped pecans, cinnamon chips, butterscotch chips, etc!)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a your choice of pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, combine eggs, sugar, and brown sugar.
4. Once smooth, add in pumpkin, vegetable oil, and milk to sugar mixture.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold to combine, using a wooden spoon.
6. Once combined, mix in chocolate chips and pour into the pan.
7. Bake accordingly: bread - 65 minutes; muffins - 20 minutes; mini muffins - 10 minutes

I am always a fan of a little butter on any breads, but this bread almost doesn't need it.  Especially straight out of the oven, it's so warm, light, and rich.

Also, I could eat about 10 of these mini muffins in one sitting.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable, food-filled, restful, and fun Thanksgiving weekend!

Calvin's Nursery

Next week, Calvin will be 6 months old, and this weekend, we are starting to transition him into his nursery!  For the first two months of his life, he slept in a bassinest next to our bed, then, for the last four months into a Pack 'n Play in the full-size bassinet.  I will absolutely miss waking up next to him every morning, but I'm excited for this little bit of independence as he gets older.  Before his room becomes lived-in, I made sure to snap a whole bunch of photos to remember what everything looked like at the start.  If you're interested in any of the product details, I've linked to everything at the bottom of this post!

Our inspiration: Obviously, I'm a big fan of Target, and their Cloud Island collections for nurseries are so cute!  I was between a night sky theme, an animal theme, and this theme with shapes.  I went with this, and primarily gray, navy blue, turquoise, and mint green for colors.

The "Before:" The upstairs of our home has 3 bedrooms, and this space shares a jack-and-jill bathroom with Mike's office.  Before it was Calvin's nursery, it was our second guest room and golf/running catch-all. 

The Progress: Mike was a boss at putting everything together, and the cats loved "helping."  

The "After:" We just love the way it turned out.  We wanted a cozy space that Calvin could grow with, and my favorite part is that even with only one window in the room, it still feels so bright!

crib ||| crib mattress ||| ottoman ||| side table ||| glider ||| bookcase ||| dresser ||| nightstand |||

circular mirror ||| curtains ||| changing pad ||| changing cover ||| wipe warmer |||

ceiling fan ||| Amazon echo ||| Hatch Rest+ ||| Owlet monitor and smart sock |||

"Calvin Michael" wooden sign ||| mobile ||| thumb print sea turtle ||| thumb print alligator ||| personalized name blanket

Unfortunately, it looks like the Target PillowFort lamp and exact crib sheets are no longer available, but here is the link to the throw blanket over the chair and here is a similar set of swaddle blankets.  All Simmons furniture is 'rustic white.'