OOh-LA LA! The scents of fall and winter

Who doesn't love the smell of a fresh baked pumpkin pie or cinnamon sticks, a crackling fire, and hot chocolate. It's that time of year. Here are some of my picks for winter scents -for your home and yourself...What are your favorite scents this year?










Bodie and Fou Cinnamon and Orange Body Wash

Caldrea Pomegranate Countertop Cleaner

Mistral Winter Berry Soap

From Bath and Body Works
Slatkin and Co. -Winter Concentrated Room Spray

Adorable blocks

I saw these at a coffee shop I frequent and it reminded me of a fellow blogger Samantha over at the nestuk. She also makes these adorable blocks herself. http://www.thenestuk.blogspot.com/

The beauty of northern California

It was a cloudy day yesterday here in northern California. I was just in one of those moods to snap a few shoots on the way to take the kids to school. As I rounded the bend by the lake and headed up the hill I thought of how I loved fall here. I had the windows cracked just a bit and the smell of rain in the air was awesome. Just seeing the pretty clouds and the fall foliage made me appreciate the place I live. People come from all over to see this part of California and I am fortunate enough to live here.

Beautiful fall colors are here.

Arriving to drop kids off at school.

Copperopolis-The Town Square

We spend lots of time here-getting coffee, letting the kids run around, and chatting with the merchants. We love our town square. I thought I would post several pictures to show the various buildings made to look like and old 1800's gold rush town. Actually Copperopolis was one of the towns that copper was mined out of and used in the various world wars. It left here went to Stockton, CA. then onto San Francisco then shipped to the east coast. We still have the general store and hotel from the 1800's on main street. The town square was built last year a few miles down the road from the main street to draw tourists as they come to explore all of the gold rush towns and ski at Bear Valley Ski Resort.

Couldn't you just see a wedding here under the gazebo. It also has lights and a ceiling fan underneath. My kids love coming here. My little guy loves running up and down the stairs and going in the gazebo. You can check out there website. http://www.copperopolistownsquare.com/

Organizing is on my mind

This picture had me thinking alot about organization. It's probably the one thing that drives me nuts around our house. You need things to store your stuff in, but even when you have that- things just somehow don't make it there. All the experts say you make time to go through your mail properly every day, edit what you don't need, and even have a basket that you can walk around and pick up the extras then go through it and put your stuff back in its place. These are all great suggestions. I've decided to head on over to the Simplified Bee's Blog and take some inspiration and tips from her. I think it's high time I get busy organizing. Check out her interior design photos also. I love them.http://www.simplifiedbee.blogspot.com/

Midtown Daycation- A popular hangout in Sacramento

Decided to leave the hills and head for the city. Sacramento that is. Trying to decide what to feed three kids once we arrived there was the challenge. Thankfully pizza was an easy answer. Popped into Paesano's Pizza in Midtown. Midtown is a quaint area of shops, eateries, lofts, coffee houses and more. A great fit for us. Outside the locals were walking in and out of places and it was a perfect day for it. It was a crisp, sunny, fall day, perfect for strolling. Then we headed on over to Broadway to hit some thrift and antique stores to peruse furniture, decor and more. I'm always on the hunt for that. Then headed back to the foothills as the sun was setting over the hills ahead us. All and all a nice day!

Banana Bread and a fall Saturday morning

Nothing like waking up to the smell of banana bread on a crisp fall saturday morning. This recipe is hands down one of my very favorties. It is so moist, it practically melts in your mouth. My kids love.....love....love it.
2cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 1/8 c. sugar
1/2 c. veg. oil
2 tbsp buttermilk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 ripe medium-large bananas mashed
1/2 c. to 1/3 c. chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a loaf pan and dust with flour. Blend together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set it aside. Mix the egg, sugar and veg. oil until combined. Add the flour mixture and when blended add the buttermilk, vanila and mashed bananas and mix until combined. Fold in 1/2 c chopped walnuts and pour batter into loaf pan. Top batter with the remaining 1/3 cup walnuts. Bake for 45 to 60 min. until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 min before removing from the pan.

HAVE A YUMMY SATURDAY!