A couple of months back, Caleb, my usually amazing eater, decided he was going to get picky on me. He boycotted anything green, which started to give me a little anxiety. I took to Pinterest (you should go follow me!) and started looking up recipes for picky toddlers.

I tried a few and most were delicious, but I was unsuccessful in getting him to try them. I finally came upon a recipe for easy whole wheat banana muffins and I was able to sneak some spinach and carrots into them. They are so easy to make, and I make them mini, so his little hands can grab them. I'm including the basic recipe here, but know you can add chopped spinach, shredded carrots, shredded zucchini, and loads of other goodness in there to up the nutritional factor.  

​These travel well (store in an airtight container) and keep for about 5 days. 

A long time ago, Eddie and I made a promise to one another. After hearing about several friends' relationships ending, we talked about what some of the things were that drove a wedge between those couples. When relationships end, it's not usually one factor - there are typically many reasons that make a relationship reach its final stages. 

One thing that we kept coming back to was the fact that many of these couples didn't go to bed together every night, despite living in the same house and not being away from one another for long periods. Not that the husband was out until all hours of the night, not that the wife stayed late at the office. They just didn't go to bed together most nights. Why? One stayed up late watching TV in the living room while the husband went to bed. Another worked on his computer until 3 am while his wife slept. Still another stayed up late doing Pinterest projects while her husband stayed in bed waiting for her. ​

I've given you my packing lists (here and here) and my tips for travel. In honor of upcoming weekend trips and for the sake of planning ahead like I know many of us like to do, I'm sharing my top 5 travel essentials for ANY trip. These are things that aren't included in any of my packing lists, but they are essentials for me no matter where I am going. These work for weekend trips as well as longer trips!

I've already expressed my love for fall. One of my favorite things about not so hot temperatures is being able to have soup without feeling like you are burning from the inside out. I love soup, especially homemade soup. And I really enjoy making soup myself. A few weeks ago, we had a bout of bad weather and it was raining all day every day. It was still hot as hell, but it was definitely soup weather to me. I had also started feeling like a cold was coming on. Last winter, my dad made a carrot ginger soup that I couldn't get enough of, so I decided I would make that, but then I realized I also had butternut squash, so I decided to add that into the mix as well. 

The result was a savory, hearty soup with the nice kick of fresh ginger. It was so yummy. I was a little worried Caleb wouldn't like it because of the kick of the ginger, but he loved it as much as I did, and kept asking me for was (more). 

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we did! 

This post was sponsored by JORD Wood Watches. 

If you're anything like me, you are over summer and the heat and you are ready for the textures, scents, and flavors of fall. I'm an especially huge fan of everything fall. It's just too bad that in South Florida, it's pretty tough to get good use out of our fall wardrobes. So I try to incorporate fall accessories and textures in different ways, ones that won't necessarily make me sweat my makeup off. I turn to richer, deeper colors, dark nail polishes and lip colors. 

​When I saw these JORD Wood Watches, I knew that they would be a great addition to my fall accessory collection. I went with this watch, which is a dark sandalwood, because I love dark wood, and I figured it would be a nice contrast to the watches I already wear. 

The watch is beautiful. It is a lovely addition to my accessories and fits into my wardrobe seamlessly. For this look, I complimented it with some beaded bracelets that my mom made a few years back and this cork bracelet from Mieroglyphs (use code ATAATK10 for 10% off yours!). One of my absolute favorite things about this watch, and what surprised me most about it, it how light it is. It weighs almost nothing. This makes it even easier for me to incorporate into my collection, because it isn't a cumbersome thing to wear on my wrist. While I added other accessories to this look, I often wear it on its own because it is just so lightweight. 

If you like this watch, check out some of their other women's watches - they really have some gorgeous ones! 

Yesterday morning, I got a text message from my dad. He explained that my mom wouldn't be home until late and if we wanted a last minute date night, that he was available to watch Caleb for us. Naturally, we jumped at the chance, because duh, free babysitting. We decided on a movie (Jason Bourne, so good!) and dinner. Since we were doing something a little more low key, I figured I would keep it casual.