Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, my friends!! Today kicks off my favorite time of year - HOLIDAY SEASON! Don't agree? Deal with it! Are you one of the grumps who hates talking about happy things like Christmas? Don't talk to me.

I don't get it. Who cares if we talk about Christmas now? It's a time of warm and fuzzy! It's a happy time of year where we can give gifts and eat yummy food and feel joy! What's so bad about being excited about that? Ya bunch of Scrooges!

But before I get myself too wrapped up in all that mumbo jumbo, let's get back to Halloween, shall we?

What are you being for Halloween? Have any fun plans for tonight?

Pumpkin Pie White Chocolate Chip Blondies

So it's fall. It's the last week of October, which means it's more than acceptable to be dressed up for Halloween on any given day, sip on apple cider on the regular, wear boots and little denim jackets, talk about Thanksgiving plans, and pick out pumpkins as big as our heads to put on our door steps.

That makes me happy.

Wanna know what else makes me happy?

Pumpkin treats: muffins, donuts, bread, pie, cookies - I'll eat them all!

One thing that I think is missing out on the pumpkin action? Blondies!

It's All a Bunch of Voodoo! (Along With Some Thoughts on Body Image)

At first, I didn't know what I'd write to complement this kickass Voodoo Vixen dress that I scored off Zulily recently. I usually like to tie in a story or an activity in my style posts or at least keep a theme going for the post. I am not one to post photos and outfit details and leave it at that. Nah, I talk too much for that!

Then, as I was brushing my teeth this morning, I knew exactly what I'd discuss and highlight in this post.

My chubby. flabby, arms.

Woah - she's gonna highlight her flaws? Make everyone zero in on the parts of her body she hates?

Yep!

Why?

Daniel's 1st Birthday Cake Smash!

 A couple weeks ago I met up with one of my favorite families to photograph their littlest celebrate his first birthday the fun way - with a cake smash photo shoot! Not familiar with what a cake smash is? It's when you introduce your baby to cake for the first time in honor of their first birthday - with a photographer present to capture the experience.

I photographed them a lot when I worked in the studio and I so miss them! They're so fun! It can go one of two ways, really. The baby can either dive in without abandon and totally love every bite or the baby will take one lick of the stuff and totally despise how it feels on its fingers and lips and throw a fit. I've experienced both situations.

Both can actually produce some pretty awesome portraits...

Never Fail Apple Crisp

Do you have a favorite dessert (or even dinner) that is so stupidly simple, it feels bizarre even calling it a "recipe" when you refer to it? Even better - you don't even NEED a recipe when you make it?

Apple Crisp is definitely one of those. I feel like you couldn't ask for a more simplified fall treat. I mean, how can you mess it up? It's apples with a flour/butter/sugar crumble on top. BOOM! You've yummified the literal fruits of your apple picking labor.

I have always loved Apple Crisp. It is the entire purpose of apple picking, if you ask me! What else are you gonna do with that huge bag of apples? OK, actually, there are a lot of things you can do with a big bag of apples: muffins, cakes, even a yummy topping for some pork chops!

Still, what it all comes down to every fall is a classic Apple Crisp.

Frosty Fall Leaves

Do you believe in love at first scroll?

It took me .2 seconds to decide I needed this skirt from ModCloth in my life. When I spotted it, we were on our way to Six Flags for my dad's annual family picnic at work. Since the park is over an hour away, I was killing time on my phone browsing the new arrivals on ModCloth. What else was I supposed to do?

Orange Lemon Funny Cake: Guest Post for Miss Amy May!

Have you ever tried making a recipe from a vintage cookbook? It can be super fun! It can also be super...interesting.

Head on over to Miss Amy May's blog to check out my guest post featuring the recipe for this Orange Lemon Funny Cake from 1959's The General Foods Kitchens Cookbook.

It truly is a funny but delicious treat!

What's Sara Reading? October Edition

Holy Moses, it's October. THIS IS EXCITING! Unlike most of this world, I am so happy to see Summer go away. See ya next year, your humid b*tch! Sorry, too far?

As a Fall/Winter gal, I am in my happy place. My favorite months of the year are the ones that end in BER! It has cooled down some (thank GOD!) and the countdown to the holiday season has begun! Go ahead - ask me how many days are left until Christmas. I dare you.

We've got Halloween in just a couple weeks - the kick off to the most wonderful time of the year. Have your costume picked out yet? Don't worry - you'll get to see mine on this blog come Halloween.

Before we get too wrapped up in trick or treat, I bring you this month's edition of "What's Sara Reading?" Boy, it's a big one! Thanks to my trip to Amsterdam I did a lot of reading (aka devouring) last month. Mindy Kaling's book? Yeah, read the entire thing on the flight home the day after it was released.

A Retro Revolution: Julie Mollo's Pink Lemonade "Retroversible" Skirt!

I am so calling this skirt (along with all of Julie's designs) a Retro Revolution because, well, isn't reversible clothes pretty much just that? I mean, it's 2 skirts in one! Can't decide between yellow and pink? Guess what? You don't have to! Get sick of wearing pink halfway through the day? Just unzip it, flip it, and voila! New skirt for the afternoon!

As you may know, I met Julie Mollo a couple weeks ago at the New England Shake-Up, where she was a vendor. She had a cute little tent out on the sunny parking lot in the car show and her personality matched the weather! She greeted me with a warm smile and told me all about her designs - all of which she calls "retroversible." Her dresses and skirts are all reversible! I nearly died.

She got me to try some skirts on over my dress (that must have been a sight to see!) and we talked about crappy zipper quality - a HUGE pet peeve of mine. She agreed with me and told me how she only used heavy duty utility in her items, especially since they have to be adaptable to the reversible concept. I could tell! The zipper on this skirt is definitely heavy duty and zips so cleanly, it nearly gave me chills.

On A Bicycle Built for Two

Well, well, the Liebster Awards are back in town and the adorable Mona over at Curls & Cakes nominated little ol' me! Well, I'm beside myself. Thanks, chickie!

For those who don't know what the Liebster Awards are, here is the quick and dirty of it: you get nominated, you list 11 random facts about you, you answer 11 questions, then you nominate 11 more bloggers. BOOM! Fun, no?

I figured this would be fun and casual - just like my new Matilda dress from LindyBop covered in bicycles! I wish this had arrived sooner so I could have posed in it among the hundreds of Amsterdam bikes I spotted in my adventures a few weeks back but can you believe it arrived the day I left? Figures...

But it's here now! And I love it to pieces! It's so fun and super casual feeling. It runs a bit larger than my other LindyBop dresses but not terribly so. Hey, perhaps I found my Thanksgiving dress? More food for me! Priorities, people...

Emma's Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Today, I've got a guest post to share! It's my very first one, too! 

What makes it even better is that it's my own little sister, Emma! 

You've heard her name mentioned many times before in my posts and even saw some recipes I borrowed from her (Crab Rangoon Cupcakes, anyone?). I sort of dared her to take a ton of photos of her next famous creation a few weeks back, egging her on to write a full post herself, and to my surprise, she did! One day, I got an email full of photos of her insanely good Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars and got her to write up a post for you all! 

Because, seriously, you need these bars in your life. LIKE NOW. 

So without further ado, here's Emma!

Like Mother, Like Daughter: My Mother's Non-Traditional Wedding Dress

Today is my mother's birthday and last week was my parents' anniversary so I thought I'd share something extra special today to honor her. She's been such a strong role model in my life, struggling with depression all her life but still managing to raise her 3 girls so well and never ever letting her battles get in the way of our happiness.

So to honor her bravery, strength, and endurance, I decided it was time to try on her wedding dress.

It's so funny to me how blue it photographed in natural light and how dark it looks in all their photos! I always believed she wore a black dress covered in florals when it was actually navy all this time!

I'm All Shook Up!: My Weekend at the New England Shake-Up

You may know from Instagram (if you follow me there) that I spent this past weekend in Sturbridge, MA rockin' and boppin' at the New England Shake-Up. What on earth IS the NE Shake-Up? Well, it's hard to explain but essentially it's a 3 day event of all things retro and rockabilly including a classic car show, songwriting seminars, pinup makeup lessons, vintage shopping galore, and all night parties with bands and DJs.

I had first heard of this event last year when I was at the Brimfield show. It seemed exciting but it intimidated me at the time since I had only just started branching out into the vintage/retro world. This year, I knew I had to go! Especially since I only lived 45 minutes away!