Fall

I’m a sucker for fall and football season, due in large part to the awesome football parties my parents used to host when we were kids. Today I’ve teamed up with my friends at Walmart to share my take on a festive fall tailgate party layered with cozy fabrics and featuring the yummiest foods! You can take these ideas to the backyard, to the stadium or to the living room parked right in front of the television. The idea here is to channel both the essence of fall and the spirit of football season. Plus, dessert! We have lots and lots of dessert today.

Want to know a secret? We shot these photos over a year ago and with the craziness of getting married last October and everything else I had going on, I’m just now getting around to sharing the recipe. Any chance you’ve been craving pumpkin snickerdoodles? Today is your day! (p.s. Yes I know I still have to share wedding photos. Soon! I promise.)

We’re pretty crazy about where we live in New York. I’ve visited well over 30 states and a couple dozen countries, and I will confidently tell you that New York is one of the most stunning places in the world. We have rolling hills, the most incredible sunsets, huge apple orchards, majestic maple trees, and countless jewel-like lakes sprinkled throughout the state like confetti. We’re the home of two Great Lakes, the Adirondack mountains and the keeper of the Thousand Islands, one of the most astonishingly beautiful places you’ll find the world over.

Making homemade mulled cider is one of those feel good fall traditions that just feels so right this time of year. It’s such a simple thing to do, mixing cider and spices and fresh orange slices, but it elevates the whole experience. Today I’m collaborating with my friends at Truvia to share my go-to mulled cider recipe, with fewer calories and less sugar! It’s simple enough to make on the stovetop, but it can easily be made in a slow cooker, too, so you can revisit it all day and keep refilling your mug. I made mine with Truvia Brown Sugar Blend so it’s sweet, but tart, spicy but citrusy and just the very definition of delicious. For an adult twist, you can add a generous splash of good brandy or spiced rum to your mug, which I find particularly appropriate on chilly fall evenings or when you get home from trick or treating with the kids and need a little warm up from the inside out. And, because it’s made with Truvía Brown Sugar Blend, a yummy blend of Truvía Natural Sweetener and brown sugar with 75% fewer calories than traditional brown sugar, you can sip to your heart’s content with a lot less sugar.

Hello, friends! It has been such a whirlwind in our world over the last few weeks, but we shot these photos of our fall front porch decor a while back and it feels like high time I give you a little peek at our house all decked out for fall. At least, my version of “decked out” which is probably a bit simpler than most of the front porches you’ll find on Pinterest this time of year, but that’s how I like things. Oh, p.s. We got married! If you haven’t yet seen it you can catch the quickest sneak peek on Instagram, and I’ll be sharing a few more photos here and there while we wait to get our hands on all the amazing photos our photographer shot. Because we had our wedding at our home, I wanted every aspect of our exterior decor to feel warm, welcoming and cozy, so taking some time to really make the front porch feel inviting was important to me. I used a lot of pieces we already had and just made sure to add enough color and texture to give it that warmth that fall begs for. (Keep scrolling for all the details and shopping sources below!)

Fall in Upstate New York is effectively synonymous with apple season. On weekends you’ll find the local apple orchards packed full of people filling baskets with their freshly picked bounty and the local cider mill with lines a mile long waiting for fresh cider and donuts. We get really crazy about the change in seasons around here and apples definitely take center stage in fall. I love these chocolate dipped apples on a stick as really fun seasonal treat that doesn’t require hours of peeling, coring and rolling of dough. If you have kids, let them pick out and sprinkle on their own toppings! I like a mix of mini chocolate chips, granola, shaved coconut and almonds, but you can switch out the toppings for whatever your crew will most enjoy.

In the little village nestled in a valley where I went to college, there was a coffee shop where we used to flock on crisp fall nights for big cups of steamy, creamy chai tea latte. In truth it was probably the first “real” coffee shop I ever frequented and it smelled of good coffee beans and freshly made espresso in a way that makes me nostalgic just thinking of the place. Not a fall season has gone by since where I haven’t longed to be there with a big mug in hand. Today I’m once again teaming up with the folks at Truvia, this time to bring you the most delicious homemade chai tea latte recipe you’re ever going to try. After a few years of attempting it, I think I’ve finally settled on the right mix of spices and tea and milk to make a seriously solid cup of chai. Because it’s sweetened with Truvia Natural Sweetener it also has delightfully less sugar and fewer calories than the chai you pick up at the drive-thru and is far more delicious.

You wouldn’t know it based on the sunshine and 80 degree days we’ve been experiencing, but in my mind it’s officially sweater weather season! Fall in Upstate New York is a serious thing of beauty. On the weekends it means apple picking and trips to our local cider mill where their apple cider donuts are famed for all the right reasons. During the week it means crisp cool mornings and extra large cups of coffee while I’m checking my morning email. Also, it means adding pumpkin to anything reasonable like donuts, cocktails and cheesecake parfaits. Or in today’s case, oatmeal energy bites! These are one of my favorite quick and easy little breakfasts these days. A couple of these, a piece of fruit and coffee makes the perfect start to the day. They’re also a great dessert, a great mid-day snack and loaded with protein and good-for-you ingredients. I make them year round without the pumpkin, but this pumpkin spice version is perfect for fall. Give them a try, I think you’ll love these!

Yesterday morning I started the day on the phone with my dad discussing Thanksgiving. Bob and I are hosting this year because, frankly, we couldn’t hear of any other options with it being our first holiday season in our new home. With my huge family and his family combined, we will be serving up dinner …

Ready or not, fall is coming! With Labor Day crossed off the calendar and the start of school in our area this week, we are officially in a losing battle with summer. The mornings and evenings are just ever so crisp around the edges now, but the days are still sunny and hot. Mornings are …

Summer feels like it is winding down this week as everyone around us is preparing for the start of school next week. The intense heat we’ve had all season is starting to edge off a bit and the mornings are feeling cooler. Don’t hate me for saying it, but I am officially starting to get excited …

There is no denying that fall is here if the weather this week is any indication. It’s chilly, rainy and honestly a touch miserable. Is it weird that I am kind of enjoying it though? I’ve been wearing pants and big oversized shirts all week and not sweating to death. It’s kind of amazing. With …