BATES NUT FARM

Bates Nut Farm is the perfect description of Fall in San Diego; people walking around in shorts & flip flops while choosing huge pumpkins amongst the dry hills of Valley Center. Over the weekend, we headed up to this farm to revel in the 85 pound pumpkins, dried fruit and goodies from the general store, and spend time with friends. We had a great time watching our friends little ones pick out their own pumpkins, ranging from monsters to tiny "baby pumpkins" as Lexi & Henry called them. Of course we couldn't leave empty handed, so some Sarsaparilla & Salt Water Taffy were our take homes from the patch. It was such a fun afternoon celebrating one of the greatest seasons, even if we were sweating a little in the 90 degree heat! 

INDIAN SUMMER TURKEY CHILI

Growing up, and now living in Southern California, gives you a skewed idea on weather and seasons. Normally, May and June are some of our cooler months, leaving us with high temperatures and hot days long into September and October. I never remember a year growing up when we actually bought jeans/pants to wear back to school. This strange weather phenomenon has come to be known, “Indian Summer”; where our Fall becomes more of a deep autumnal summer of endless warmth and sunshine. This chili, much like the weather, is a perfect world of warm days that can be spent at the beach, and cool foggy nights snuggled under blankets by the fire. No wonder I have always loved these months so much! 

FABULOUS AT 50 SURPRISE PARTY

Can I just say, I totally lucked out in the in-law department. I'm not just saying that. I married into such a wonderful, loving, and FUN family. In January, my sisters in laws decided that we should try to surprise my sweet mother-in-law Trina for her 50th birthday in September. We managed to pull off a total surprise by corresponding via texts, e-mails, and phone calls, all while being long distance from each other! Between Katie, Whitney, and myself, we managed to shop, create, decorate, and figure out all the fine tuning, while sweet Grandma provided her lovely yard, Aunt Tanette and Tami gave us lists of friends to invite, and ALL of us for keeping a tight lip for about 9 months, we totally pulled off the surprise without a hitch! Alright, I might have slipped a couple times, but HOW do you not?!