I love birthdays. I love them way too much. Any excuse to throw a party and celebrate my people is pretty much my favorite thing. I love gift giving and themes and extravagant cakes, but guys, I might finally be getting too old to freak out about my own birthday and still seem normal. SO for the last few years my family and I have celebrated my birthday by going into our town and performing random acts of kindness. We leave popcorn and dollar bills on Red Box machines, we pay for the cars behind us in drive throughs, we tape lottery tickets on gas pumps, and we spend such beautiful quality time together. I love the awkward and touching  moments we have made and experienced together. It feels like growing up to spend your birthday giving back........and THEN having a themed party with a massive cake. Check out our 23 Random Acts from this year below and comment to help me start gathering my 24 acts of kindness for next year!

Fall is hands down my favorite season. There is nothing like bringing out your coziest clothes, cheering at a Friday night football game, or taking long walks in the cool weather. But I love feeling of fall most, the cuddly, colorful, bustley fall moments. Here are three quick finds that are making this fall so fun. 

I wear blanket scarfs WAY too much. But I'm not sorry. I like to say I started wearing blanket scarves before they were cool and now that they are socially acceptable I wear them literally every day. I get chilly pretty easily so these giant scarves help ease the transition to winter weather and I feel so comforted and cozy all day. People are always asking me where I get my scarfs and they are all from Amazon. I may have the scarf pictured above in three colors.....

I love this adorable little spot! It's in Downtown Columbus next to Dirty Frank's (which I've been to maybe a million times) so I've seen it tons of times. But when I finally got the chance to stop in, I was in love. Try the Black and White Cupcake and the Carmel Apple Chai Latte. 

Ok so actually this isn't a new find at all. My family has been gathering here every October that I can remember to take pictures and pick out pumpkins for carving. As you can see, the picture opps are perfect and the selection is great, but the real reason to visit is the sweet family who runs it. I don't think we have ever paid full price for our pumpkins and they put up with a LOT of Anderson antics. 

What are your favorite fall finds? And be on the lookout for my lazy pumpkin "carving" tips coming soon!

Since this was our third trip to Chicago in the last few years, this weekend was all about finding the hidden gems of the city, and I couldn't have been more thrilled by what we stumbled upon. Before we left I collected every local Chicago shop, restaurant, and hotel recommendation I could and we tried to pop by as many as possible. Ben and I had a specific route planned and an hour-to-hour itinerary. But when we got there, we realized that instead of more busy and more hustle, we wanted our weekend to be about spending quality time with my parents and being surprised by the city. It turns out a little spontaneity can be good for you (yes, even me).
 

We did make (and stick to) some reservations to restaurants we definitely did not want to miss and every single one of those was a keeper. We had lunch at The Walnut Room on the seventh floor of the State Street Macy's and it was stunning. The room is covered in dark oak paneling and the floor to ceiling windows have a perfect view of the city. Ben and I had some Asiago Chicken that was out of this world. We had a dinner reservation at Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse that night (which is directly over the torture chambers of some very mean mobster.......we may of explored the basement without asking). Anyway, it was everything it was cracked up to be and my Dad and I may never recover from that insane chocolate cake. ​

As we were strolling along State Street, we stumbled upon two absolute gems that happen to be right next door. One was The Alliance, a French style bakery full of sweets that might have been just too pretty to eat. I LOVE finding a good bakery, and this one made my heart happy in every way. We kept walking toward the Mag Mile and on absolute impulse I decided I needed a coffee and we popped into Beatrix. This bakery/restaurant/coffee shop/bar somehow made all of those things work together so gracefully. We sat at the bar and had drinks and lattes while we talked the leg off our bartender from Athens, Ohio. If you find yourself there, order a Whistle Pig and a Pumpkin Cream Nitro. You’ll thank me. ​