It’s been another beautiful week in the Chicagoland area!  I’d like to share some tidbits from my life last week as well as an accompanying photo recap with selections from my Instagram with you.

We were graced with summer-like balmy temperatures at the beginning of the week and I thoroughly enjoyed busting out my beloved Birkenstocks for what I assume is their last hurrah of the season.  The trees in our neighborhood continue to show off their fall palette.  It truly is such a beautiful time of year and I am grateful for the time I get to spend outside enjoying it.

By the end of the week, the temperatures dropped and we experienced our first cold snap of the season.  Apparently cooler weather puts me in the mood for more of those amazing 3 Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins I made earlier in the season.  They are absolutely perfect served with a cup of tea for an afternoon pick-me-up!  I’ve also started reaching for soup as my lunchtime meal of choice, which is one of my typical cold weather tendencies.  Homemade is best, of course, but when we don’t have any on hand, my go-to canned options are from Amy’s organic line.  My favorite is the lentil vegetable.  It’s delicious and filling!

I spent most of the week either in front of (or behind) a camera or computer, but our weekend was jam-packed with fun plans.  Our friends came over on Friday to hang out and spend the night.  We ate snacks, ordered pizza, built a fire, and roasted s’mores – a classic friends-night-in for us.  We’ve never been big on going out for fun in our little group.  We enjoy hanging out and unwinding together at one of our places.  They stayed through Saturday as well to watch the Cubs game with us.  Don made his amazing grilled fajitas, which were a big hit.  Sadly, the Cubs didn’t win, but we still had a great time laughing together!

On Sunday, I took my Mom to see the Joffrey Ballet perform Sylvia.  While this wasn’t our favorite production of theirs, we still very much enjoyed the beautiful dancing and music, and of course our time together.  I snapped a pic of my outfit on Sunday to show my 28 weeks bump.  Baby Girl is definitely growing!

Speaking of which, now that I’m in my third trimester I am working on putting together the nursery.  I found a paint color I think will work perfectly in her room (Benjamin Moore’s Lambskin).  We’re having it painted this week!  I’ve started researching area rugs and window treatments and am planning on setting up the closet next.  That’s about all I can do until her furniture is delivered (possibly not until after she is born), but it’s still fun to see the pieces come together.

I decided to try something a bit different this year and am snap-vlogging every day for the month of October over on my Snapchat.  It’s a way for me to vlog in a super casual way daily for a change of pace.  You can follow me there at prettyneatlivng if you’d like to see live posts.  I’m also compiling that footage into a weekly vlog in case you’re not on Snapchat.  Here’s my third weekly compilation:

I hope you enjoyed this peek at my week!
I’d love to know what made your week special if you care to share.
Happy Fall!

* This is not a sponsored post.  All opinions are genuinely my own. *