Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

Last week Brian's grandparents game to visit. I am not going to lie. The goal in making these Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars was to impress his grandma. The running joke in the family is that she is such a good cook that she even makes a bologna sandwich taste special. Ha! It's totally true. Everything she cooks is the best thing I have ever ate.

With that in mind, I knew I couldn't touch her Chocolate Pecan Pie. She makes it every Thanksgiving, and no one can eat enough of it. However,  this recipe was easy, delicious, and it let me have my "hey, hey, look what I can do." moment.

Store this in the fridge, but serve it warm topped with ice cream. So good!

Oh, and she told me she loved it. Mission Accomplished.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese

After Brian's birthday weekend (aka a weekend of non-stop eating and drinking), I decided that I was tired of my jeans being too tight. Seriously, it should not take 15 minutes to squeeze into a pair of pants. A few of my friends have had a lot of success on Weight Watchers so I decided to give it a try. So far it seems to be working. Now it is only taking 10 minutes to put on my jeans :). The reason I am telling you all of this is because as I started looking for "point-friendly" recipes, I found this great website. Everything on this site already has the points calculated for you! Score!

Yesterday morning, I made this recipe for Pumpkin Cream Cheese, and I have officially become an addict. This bagel paired with a giant cup of coffee is breakfast perfection in my book.

One 'Bagel Thin' and 1.5 tablespoons of the spread is 5 points.

Fall Decorations

A couple of weeks ago Hobby Lobby had their Fall/Harvest decorations on sale for 40%-50% off. (I'm sure at this point they are practically giving the stuff away. I love me some Hobby Lobby.) Anyway, I thought I would share some of my old and new fall decorations. Oh and naturally, most of these ideas came from Pinterest. What was my life like before that wonderful website?



My attempt at being festive.

My mom gave me these pretty apothecary jars as a house warming present. This pin gave me the idea to fill them with candy. The downside of decorating with candy is that starring at Reece's pieces, candy corn, and jelly beans sets my already crazy sweet tooth into overdrive. It is an inexpensive way to use what I already have so it is totally worth practicing self-control!

Candy doubles as decoration.


I found this $40 lantern on sale for $20, and it reminded me of this pin. Not that $20 is cheap, but I should be able to theme it up for most holidays, and use it as an indoor/outdoor candle holder year round. I found the pumpkins and gourds (which were all half off) in the wreath section. I just pulled out the wreath wire and loaded up the lantern.

Candle holder lantern

Bath and Body Works' 'Pumpkin Patch' is my favorite scent during the fall. I don't know how scent evokes emotion, but it really does. Not only does it smell wonderful, it makes the whole house feel warm and cozy. If pumpkin isn't your thing, I bought my mom the Autumn candle for her birthday, and she loved it!

Bath and Body Works Candle Brand is Slatkin & Co.

Happy Fall, y'all!