My Fall Balcony

In addition to adding some fall flavor to inside the apartment, I also added a little bit to outside. I wish I could use my real pumpkins out there, but I was afraid they would fry up in in the sun and rot really quickly. I am not sure if these pumpkins are for outdoor use either, but they have been outside for nearly 2 months and are holding up well. they have a good weight but aren't too heavy so I haven't had any issue with them toppling over in the wind.

All my herbs are doing really well right now. I think that it being less hot out (but still hot..) has been good for them. I also recently added some radicchio, but it's too soon to see if it will last out here.

Fall Arrangements

Fall is my favorite season. Sadly, the weather just gets slightly less hot and less humid here, and we don't have any beautiful foliage to look at, but I still like to bring some of the season alive with some fall themed decor and flower arrangements.

This year I became obsessed with heirloom pumpkins, but I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to find any anywhere. Lucky me we have a big nursery near us that sells them, even luckier for me is that I didn't buy them at the nursery and found them for less than 7 bucks at both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. I incorporated them into some of my fall arrangements on my table.

How incredible are these marigolds? They were HUGE. I am also loving the eucalyptus.

This one is a bit of a cheat, I did get a pre-arranged bouquet from TJs (couldn't resist that awesome protea) and then I added some orange mums. 

I actually got 2 weeks out of the previous arrangement, and then I combined some of the pieces with the above arrangement. The orange mums lasted 3 weeks!

This arrangement isn't really fall themed like the others, but I needed to add something to my stack of pumpkins and I scored 2 dozen light peach roses for $10 while looking for florals for my friend's upcoming wedding. Sadly in just 3 weeks I will be putting up my Christmas decor and pumpkin season will be a distant memory, so I need to enjoy my pumpkins while I still can!

Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte

I used to love pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks, but these days I try to only drink coffee from our french press and stay far away from sugar so I can't indulge. Thankfully there is a healthier and organic way to enjoy my pumpkin spice lattes at home, and they don't even take too much work.

Ingredients: 

1 cup prepared coffee

1 cup milk

1tablespoon canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (+ more for topping)

sweetener of choice to taste (I add agave)

(optional) whipped cream to top

Directions:

1. Heat milk and pumpkin in saucepan until warm/steaming

2. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and pumpkin pie spice until frothy

3. Divide coffee into 2 cups then pour milk mixture over each

4. Sweeten to taste, top with whipped cream (homemade if possible!) and additional pumpkin pie spice