{fall inspired florals}

On a recent trip to Whole Foods, I could not help myself, but to pick up all these amazing dark fall florals.  Our local Whole Foods usually gets some pretty boring selections in the flower department so when I spotted these lotus pods, hypernicum berry and thistle (all on sale!) I just knew I had to put something together!  I threw in a bunch of deep pink spray roses to give it a little femininity and pop of color.

I know it's been all over pinterest, but the first person I saw make an arrangement in a hollowed out pumpkin was my mother when I was in grade school and I remember thinking at the time that it was just about the coolest thing I had ever seen.  I picked up three of these "pie" pumpkins also from Whole foods, hollowed them out and then popped a small glass vase in each one.  I am sure you could skip the vase part, but I was concerned the pumpkins would get super soggy within a day- these ones are still going strong about 4 days later.

Be sure to check back tomorrow to see the full tablescape that went along with these arrangements!

{what i loved this week}

on pinterest:  Pumpkin ice bucket- totally genius, but I wonder if it gets gross inside?  We will be hosting Thanksgiving in Chicago for 11 people and I have become obsessed with the idea of finding a bunch of vintage candlesticks for the tablescape.

on instagram: I generally prefer to keep our liquor in their original bottles (with the exception of this), but every time I see a display of crystal cut decanters it makes me re-think the whole bar situation.  All the photos from the Martha Stewart Weddings party this past week were amazing, but I especially loved this idea to use a star cut out on appetizers.  Swan art - disregarding the fact that we already have this massive piece of swan art I think we need more swans adorning our place!

on the blogs:  I am a huge fan of simple ways to dress up store bought food- especially these quick ways to fancy up a store bought cake.  I love this new-to-me blog, The Love List, especially her music playlists and snarky writing style. 

on my wishlist:  A fall appropriate floral dress? yep I need it.   Loren Hope makes some real good stuff in the earring department- love these vintage inspired baubles.  Another dark floral, but this time its an adorable lingerie set from Anthropologie.  

{friday cocktail: the dry dock}

We own a scary amount of bitters, but even with the wide variety available us, I tend to gravitate towards a select few on a regular basis.  I decided to give one of the the lesser loved bottles some attention with this friday's cocktail by searching around for a recipe to utilize the Scrappy's Cardamom bitters.  The spice infused bitters just seemed so perfect for the gloomy Fall weather we have been experiencing lately in Chicago.

The best recipe for unique bitters and liqueurs generally come straight from the source so I went directly to Scrappy's website in search of a recipe they personally recommend for their bitters.  The Dry Dock fit the bill perfectly since I had all the ingredients on hand and it included lavender simple syrup which is basically a direct route to my cocktail heart.  This recipe reminds me of a more sour version of a lavender collins and even though you are only adding a few dashes of cardamon bitters, they really make this drink by adding an interesting spice to the overall flavor.

Cheers!