I’ll admit, I was a little bit nervous when I posted my first entry in this new series. I wasn’t sure how people would react introducing this new part of my life into the content here. I did notice a few followers drop off from Instagram when I jumped into the topic, but overall I found it was some of the most engaging conversations I’ve had on blog posts in a long time! So, the verdict is the bump diary posts will continue — both for my own love of recording all of phases of life (seriously, I found a box of dozens of my journals in my parents attic when they were moving houses this summer!), and for the every so helpful advice and comments I’ve gotten from sharing my pregnancy journey here and on social media. The past five weeks have zoomed by faster than I can could have imagined, which brings many new changes and updates on my ever-growing bump! 
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This post was created in partnership with Keurig Green Mountain®. All opinions, images, and ideas are my own.
Earlier this year I threw a little blogger potluck party with some of my blogging-buddies from Boston Bloggers. We always bump into each other out at events in the city, but rarely get time to really hang out and catch up. With the cool weather creeping in this time of year in New England, I decided to host another potluck get-together – this time with a seasonal theme featuring everyone’s two favorite fall flavors: pumpkin and apple! 
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Pulsar Watches sent me one of their newest solar light-powered watches to try out and help me celebrate “Life in Real Time.” This new campaign is about savoring each and every moment in time. With our new family addition on the way, I was totally onboard with this idea; savoring these quiet moments while we have them has been a new priority for me. It’s so easy to get caught up in my full inbox, and ever growing to-do-lists, but my husband and I have been making it a point to slow down a bit more on the weekends, live in the moment, and appreciate the time we have together as a family of two.
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So, nesting is a real thing, huh? I love me some decorating, but I’ve never really been so meticulous about a “plan” for a room before, until I started thinking about how we’re going to decorate Baby B’s room. We were both on board with finding out the gender, so it’s nice to go into the planning process with a girl-scheme in mind. It’s been really fun to research the pieces we want to use in the space, and now I feel like I have some clear marching orders for what we need to invest in, what we’re adding to our baby registry, and what little details will pull it all together. 
We’ve still got a few more hours until the official first day of fall, but I’m jumping in head first while planning for a little autumnal get together this weekend! I had so much fun with my potluck dip party earlier in the year, that I decided to revive the idea and invite a few friends over for a pumpkin-spice themed potluck. Everyone is bringing pumpkin or apple themed recipes and I’m serving up some treats of my own, along with warm apple cider and pumpkin spice coffee from my pretty new white Keurig Brewer! For my party preparations I got a chance to visit the new World Market near us and stocked up on the prettiest palette of fall tabletop decor, and some classic white serve ware pieces. I’m planning on coupling these pieces with lots of pretty white pumpkins for a soft, serene fall tablescape. Can’t wait to share more after the party! 
How gorgeous was the weather this weekend? It had that crisp hint of fall that makes me so darn happy. We spent what felt like our first glimpse of autumn up in Portland, Maine this weekend to celebrate some the wedding of our good friends. While our trip was brief, we managed to pack a ton in and I thought I’d share my mini-itinerary should you ever find yourself with 24 hours to kill in Portland, Maine!
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I’m off to NYC this week for one of my favorite blogger events, Better Homes and Garden’s Stylemaker event! I’m rocking my best blogger outfits (which is a challenge with a baby bump!), plan on hearing from some great speakers on the BHG editorial team, and can’t wait to mix and mingle with design and style bloggers from around the country. This year I’m a bit more excited about the event, because I had the opportunity to work with Better Homes and Gardens and TRISCUIT Crackers on fall-inspired snack that will be served at the event!
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Labor Day is a friendly reminder of those fleeting summer moments, so I took it upon myself this weekend to make sure I got in as much summer flavor as I could. That meant pizza on the beach, ice cream from our local ice cream shop, and any recipe I could think of that was chock-full of summer corn and juicy end of summer tomatoes. This pasta dish is a new weeknight dinner favorite in the summer, it takes about 15 minutes to make. The base of the dish is based on a traditional Cacio E Pepe, a super simple Italian pasta that combines butter, pasta water, parmesan cheese, and tons of fresh cracked pepper. I gave the classic a summer-spin by folding in the sweet flavors of corn and tomatoes, which are a perfect balance for that bite of all of the cracked pepper. Full recipe below:
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I’m having a little bit of trouble coming to grips with the fact that summer is coming to a close this week, I’m not quite ready for the warm weather, and beach days, and patio cocktails (and mocktails!) to end. This weekend I had a girl’s night with some my girlfriends and we enjoyed the fading summer with some al fresco dining and porch swinging and all around warm-weather merriment. In preparation for our hang out I set up a make-your-own style margarita bar with all of the essentials, and thought I’d share a few of my tips for setting up a margarita bar of your own. Once you have the tools, the garnishes, and ingredients in place, it’s super fun to let your guests mix up their own cocktail creations.
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Right away when I found out I was pregnant my friends and family jokingly asked if I was ready to become a “mommy blogger” and I scoffed at it with such repulsion! After keeping my new secret from the blog for so long though, I realized that there was no way I could really separate something so big happening in my life from my writing here. When I first started the site, I was decorating our first apartment, and a lot of the content focused on decorating. As I got engaged, wedding content started popping up here a lot more often. My favorite part about maintaining this blog is that it has been like a living diary for me to catalog my experiences, and I don’t think this next phase of my life will be any different.
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