The last day of October is sadly here, which means-- Happy Halloween, friends! I've had this idea to start this blog series for a while and I'm so excited to start the first one during my favorite month! I love being festive and all things seasonal and I feel like this is going to be a really fun project for myself to document what I'm loving in the upcoming months. I love the idea that every person has his/her own interests and favorite things and that is what makes them unique. I want my readers and friends to use this blog series to get to know me more and be able to connect with me! Feel free to leave in the comments what YOU have been loving this month!
1. Our Wedding Rings!
Okay, okay. Who saw this one coming? Haha! I couldn't help but start the list with my most favorite thing this month! Brian and I got married on the 5th of October and ever since then, I am constantly looking down at my left hand a little more than I probably should. Haha! I've had my engagement ring since Christmas Eve of last year when Brian proposed and now that I have the wedding band too, it gives me all the happy feels! We are finally MARRIED after dating for 7 years!!! Brian is not a jewelry wearing type of guy and I was okay with the fact that maybe he won't wear his ring all the time. But shockingly, he wears it every single day! He says when we're not together and he looks down at it, he thinks of me. *happy wife moment!*
2. Salted Caramel White Chocolate Mocha!
Did you think instantly when you saw this picture that it would be a pumpkin spiced latte? To be completely honest, I don't like PSL's at all! My every day drink at Starbucks is the White Mochas and when the fall season rolls around, that means that the sea salt is back at the Bux! This literally tastes like fall in a cup to me and I can't get enough of it! How I order it:
Grande Salted Caramel Mocha, substitute the Mocha sauce with White Mocha, only 2 pumps of WM and 2 pumps of Toffee Nut syrup, and at kids temperature! Please, & thanks!
The reason I only get 2 pumps of each of the syrups is because the original recipe calls for 4 pumps of each! That's 8 pumps of syrup! (just in a grande!!) Along with whipped cream, caramel drizzle and sea salt on top! That's a whole lot of stuff in one cup! Haha! Also, don't judge my kids temperature request because I like to drink it now and not have to wait 20 minutes till it cools off! Haha! You can actually order this drink all year round because Starbucks has all of these ingredients every day, except the sea salt. That is what makes this drink magical and why I only order it during the fall! Haha! How do I know all of this? Fun fact: I actually worked for Starbucks before for 3 years! Go try it today before they run out of the sea salt and tell me what you think!
3. Sugarfina Marshmallow S'mores!
Did you know that Sugarfina sells more candies than just the signature Champagne Bears?! Haha! These have been SO addicting this month and I can't get enough of them! They are a marshmallow inside that is dipped in milk chocolate and rolled in graham cracker crumbs. OMG! Right?! Is your mouth watering yet? How about when I tell you that you can actually microwave them for 5-10 seconds and they will get mushy like a real s'more! These are perfect to bring to a camp fire get together this season! You can find them HERE!
4. The Colorful Leaves!
One of my absolute favorite things about October is that's when the leaves start to change color here in Illinois. I have so many memories as a kid raking up leaves in my backyard and jumping in giant piles with my friends, and pressing them in heavy books so we can laminate them later into bookmarks, and I would make so many crafts out of them! I loved it! Now when I see the colors start to change, I know the temperatures are going to be dropping soon and that only means one thing. Sweater weather!! <3 I even incorporated leaves into a special part of our wedding day! I had a confetti bar set up! But it wasn't confetti our guests were throwing after we were announced as husband and wife, they were throwing bright red and yellow leaves up in the air!! I can NOT wait to see our professional photos of that!
5. GoPro Hero5 !
This was one of our wedding gifts that Brian and I received! We took a road trip honeymoon to the East Coast and we documented the entire thing! We recorded everything on this little gadget! (that video is still a work in progress but I can't wait to share it!) I really like that we got the Hero5 because it has a pretty big screen on the back so we were able to play back what we just recorded without having to plug it into a computer. This thing came with us through the mountains, on the Appalachian Trail, in the Atlantic Ocean at Folly Beach, and down the cobblestone streets of Charleston, SC! If you are a traveler that likes to document everything, I highly recommend getting a GoPro! It takes such good quality videos! I can't wait to see what #GogginsAdventure it will be recording next!
6. My Bucket List & Southern Weddings Wedding Day Journal!
These two books have been so much fun to fill out! I love notebooks that have prompts to help you document something. I will explain what each one is exactly below!
The Wedding Day Journal from Southern Weddings is seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen. This would make such a perfect gift for future Brides! It is jam packed with note pages that help you document every detail of your wedding day. It asks about what flowers you used, who gave toasts during your reception, how the Groom felt when he first saw his Bride, where you went on your honeymoon and it even has a ton of pages in the back to write down memories you and your husband are making during married life! This is such a special thing to have when you want to look back years from now and reminisce on your wedding day and read exactly how you were feeling that day during each of these moments! I will definitely be storing this along side our wedding album! You can find this in the Southern Weddings shop HERE!
This was gifted to us for our wedding shower along with a couple other wedding books like "The Nest: Newlywed Handbook!" I have seen this at multiple stores like Anthropologie and Paper Source but I never ended up getting it for myself! I'm so glad I never did because I feel like this is perfect for newlyweds! It's a time where you can combine both of your dreams and bucket list items and help each other check off your lists! We are both huge lovers of traveling and seeing new cities so on our honeymoon we started filling in the first 3 items! It gives you 101 things to have on your Bucket List and then there is a full page dedicated to that thing for you to fill out before AND after you accomplish that thing! There is a spot for the date completed, who you did it with, your favorite parts about it, the story of it happening, and even a place for a photo! I can't wait to get this book filled up with memories with Brian and I! It will definitely be a coffee table piece!
Some things I need to add to our Bucket List:
- Eat a macaron in Paris
- Spend New Years Eve in Times Square
- Fly in a hot air balloon
- Watch a movie at a drive-in
- Visit all 50 states
- Go to an airport and buy a ticket for a random flight somewhere new
What's on YOUR bucket list?!
Well, that's all for October 2017! I still can't believe this month is already over. Stay tuned for next months Things I'm Loving! Happy Halloween everyone! Be safe & have FUN!
xo - Megan!