October Thankfulness Part 2

Sadly, my favorite month has come to an end, but not without many more moments of thankfulness. Here are some highlights from the second half of the month.

Friend gatherings with great food

I am blessed with friends who enjoy good food, and this month had no shortage of foodie gatherings. One friend had us over for a pumpkin themed dinner party with 3 different homemade pumpkin pastas & pumpkin cheescake!

Later that week, Kat & I hosted this month's book club and made 3 delicious pizzas to share with the ladies. We read The Marriage Plot, and even though only me and one other girl liked the book, we still had great discussion and a fun evening.

Kitchen time

With fun foodie gatherings also comes time spent in the kitchen. I sometimes forget how much I enjoy turning on some tunes & cooking away for a few hours but have been reminded many times this month. I love putting on my favorite apron from my friend, throwing on some classic tunes (preferably Frank Sinatra, but I chose Michael Buble on the cooking day below), belting my heart out, and pouring some love in to a dish.

My cooking day making pumpkin butter
aka my addition to the pumpkin dinner party.

Decorating time

After moving offices earlier this month, I finally got around to ordering and hanging photos. I love the new additions, and our Creative Director even popped her head in last week saying she loved how the office has the look and feel of an apartment. I didn't know if I should take it as a compliment or a hint that I spent too much time at work...I decided to take it as a compliment for my own sanity.

Travel pics & our fun photo clip lines.

Kat & I also finally got around to decorating the wall in our living room with Chicago photos and prints. We had been planning it all year long but just hadn't done it. Thanks to a few trips to Michael's, a Sunday morning of hanging photos, and only hitting my thumb twice, the wall is complete. 

The turning of fall also meant new fall flowers for our door hanger :) 

Tea!

Anyone who has been out with Kat & I during the cold months knows that we bypass after-hours bars and come home to make tea. There are few things more comforting than a warm cup of tea on a cool day, and a warm mug in hand is one of my favorite things about chilly fall weather. I drink at least a cup or two a day, and have really been loving my Zen Green Mint tea in the mornings and Chamomile Vanilla Honey tea in the evenings.

Random shenanigans with my roommate

And by 'random shenanigans,' I mean attempting to catch the mouse in our apartment. The silly mouse has been living with us for the past few weeks, and even though we have 4 traps set, we can't seem to catch it. We have torn apart nearly every room in our apartment in search of it, which each time has ended up with Kat & I laughing at our ridiculously horrible mouse catching skills and a mouse still on the loose...

Last Tuesday night after tearing apart my room when I saw the mouse scramble in my door.

A honky tonk day

With a roommate from Texas, country music can often be heard in our apartment and she is always searching out shows to go to at Joe's. I've made a pact with her to have one honky tonk day a month, so this month's was the Josh Abbott Band show at Joe's. It's usually fun, but this night was an absolute blast, even if my feet did hurt from the boots by the end of the night.

Halloween festivities

I have carved pumpkins, roasted pumpkin seeds, eaten too much candy, visited Halloween stores in search of costume details, dressed up twice (once as a flapper & once as a sheriff/cowgirl), drank my weight in pumpkin beer, and enjoyed a night out on the town with good friends. Even though I spent actual Halloween working, the overall Halloween holiday was a good one.

Decorations from our work party

The lovely ladies I went out with Saturday night.
We had a jellyfish (!), Peter Pan, a sorceress,
a sheriff/cowgirl & Katniss :) 

My beautiful friend Clare aka the sorceress

Wow, I knew October had been a good month, but honestly didn't realize how much I had done or how great it really was until writing this. 

October may be over, but now we're on to November where there happens to be an entire holiday devoted to thankfulness... :)

I hope everyone's October was as blessed as mine was, and is looking forward to a fresh month.