Autumn Favorites...

Welcome Autumn! How I’ve longed for you!

Stephen makes fun of my Autumn-ness! Ask me if I care….

Fall is my favorite time of year. Hands down, no question. I insisted on an “Autumn” wedding. Yes, we could have waited another month and had it in the winter and not have to do ANY decorating at our church because it’s always so fabulous for Christmas…I don’t care. I wanted the Oranges, Yellows, Reds, and Browns! I wanted the crisp, not frigid cool night air. And it was perfect!

Then, around the same time the next year, we had our newest addition to our family…the fabulous Miss Annabelle, who will be celebrating her 1st birthday in about a week and a half!

So, I have been thinking about my favorite things of fall and in no particular order…here we go…

 Adorable clothes for my baby girl that I have saved since before she was born, and found at boutiques and consignment sales! Hello Baby LuLu, Baby Nay, Matilda Jane, cutesy fluffy leg pants and applique tops, Etsy finds like my Lovely Knits boggins, and other lovely finds!

I believe fall decor goes without saying for me. I LOVE it!! My sister in law, Audrey has cornered the market on it! She has the cutest pumpkins and gords that she monograms and her mom paints! They are stunning. I DID however find 2 incredible Restoration Hardware Lanterns that match in varying sizes that I plan to do a little something such as below with....

 

And I love that you can just go out and clip some branches and sprigs of beautiful fall foliage and put it in a few vases and hae a great centerpiece...Ahhumm...Ahumm..  Think Dixon Wedding Nov 1st, 2008. FABULOUS if I do say so myself!

 Buckets of MUMS from Fraziers Market in Goodlettsville. He gets his gorgeous Mums and Pumpkins from the Amish Farm in Springfield....GREAT prices!

Momma's FAMOUS Sweet Potato Casserole....

Is it a Dessert?  Is it a side item? I don't know!! But I LOVE IT!

Ingredients
• 4 cups sweet potato, cubed
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Put sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Cook over medium high heat until tender; drain and mash.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. In medium bowl, mix the sugar and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse. Stir in the pecans. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture.

4. Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until the topping is lightly brown.

 And of course BONFIRES!!  SMORES!! And Delicious Sweaters you wrap up in on a cool night!

FOR THE RECORD...Brachs is the ONLY Candy Corn worth the calorie space...

 HALLOWEEN is a fave too!!  Annabelle will be haunting the streets and parking lot at "Trunk or Treat" as a viciously spookyackular LOVE MONSTER!!

And TENNESSEE FOOTBALL goes without saying!  They may not be #1 on the charts...but they're #1 in our Hearts!

And for those who know me best....I'm a SUCKER for a Fall Festival!  I love em, love em, love em!!

Oct 1st-2nd: 30th Annual Octoberfest (German) in Clarksville, TN

October 2nd:  Fall Fest on Gallatin Square

October 2nd: National Banana Pudding Festival, Centerville, TN

October 2nd: Autumn Street Fair, McMinnville, TN

October 2nd: Hallowed Ground, Lanter tour of Stones River Cemetary, Murfreesboro, TN

October 2nd: Spring Hill Country Ham Festival

October 2nd-9th: 7th Annual Shakespear in the Park, Cookeville, TN "Merry Wives of Windsor"

October 9th: Germantown's Oktober Fest-Germantown-Nashville, TN

October 15-16th: Fall Harvest Show, Goodlettsville, TN

October 15th-17th, 39th Annual Fall Fest and TN State Pow Wow, Nashville, TN (Long Hunter State Park)

Oct 16-17: Music & Molassas Arts & Crafts Fair, Nashville, TN

Oct 23rd: Fiddlers Grove Fall Fest, Lebanon, TN  (Ward Ag Center)

Oct 23-24th: Mt. Pleasent Scarecrow Fest, Mt. Pleasent, TN

Oct 29th-30th: 3rd Annual Terror Train & Haunted Museum

October 30th: Franklin Pumpkin Fest, Franklin, TN

And Much Much MUCH more!  Check out more fun events going on in TN on one of m favorite sites, http://www.tnvacation.com/calendar/