Nine Favorite Things.

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Nine Favorite Things | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

{leftover roses from a recent shoot}

Thanks for joining me for another Nine Favorite Things post!

Hey guys! Happy Sunday! It’s been such a crazy past few weeks over here, and today I have it as my goal to do some things that feel comforting to me, as well as to prepare for a trip back home to Cleveland later this week to say a final goodbye to my Nonnie. On Thursday night my Nonnie passed on, and while it was sad and incredibly hard to let her go, it was possibly harder to watch what she was going through (and to see the pain my mom, her siblings and my grandpa felt). We are thankful Nonnie is no longer scared or suffering and has moved on to a better place. Again, thank you to everyone for being so kind this last week, it’s so appreciated.

Life has a way of moving on and showing us blessings in the midst of despair. My aunt is a reminder of all this, she is due to have her third baby any day now. Like any day. She’s been having contractions since Thursday, so while one life has moved on, another will soon be brought into the world and will be loved by so many. I am personally very excited to get meet yet another cousin..okay and to hold a newborn again!

I will be heading back to Ohio later this week (I think, no dates have been set, we need that baby to arrive first! ), so today I’ll be working on some recipes for the blog. I am so grateful that my job is also something I truly enjoy as well. There’s nothing I love more than cooking on a Sunday, and the bonus is that I get to call it “work”.

Coming up this week on the blog we have a healthy…ish take on pasta, a meal that was inspired by a request I got from my brother (hint, it’s Mexican), a late summer soup, a back to school breakfast recipe, something chocolatey, and two very exciting cookbook announcements…so a fun week ahead!

As always, here are my favorites from the week. Have a great Sunday and don’t forget to checkout my weekly dinner plan (it’s #9 on my list of favorites!)

1. Feeling Foggy? The last few weeks I have been having the hardest time staying focused. By the end of the day my brain feels like complete mush. I was so excited to find this article on the vitamins and foods to eat for a sharp brain. Be sure to read the full article and find out the benefits of vitamins and what your brain needs to function at it’s best. I am so excited to give this energy food a try (literally just hit the purchase button).

2. Which Hogwarts House do you belong in? you guys all know I am obsessed with Harry Potter (see this forbidden forest cake, this butterbeer hot chocolate, and these butterbeer cupcakes), so I was pretty excited to get placed in Gryffindor on this fun Buzzfeed test. For all you HP fans, go take this fun little test and tell me what house you got? ps. if you got placed Slytherin we can’t be friends anymore…JKJK…no not really.

3. Some Fall Style Pieces: with August here the fall styles are rolling out. These are some of the pieces I’m dying to have…or may have already ordered (I mean I can’t wear my leggings and sweatshirt to the book release party!). I don’t know if you guys have noticed or not, but I’m just a little bit addicted to clothes right now and could not be more excited for the fall fashion.

4. Want a NYC style loft bedroom? Ummm, yesss! For as long as I can remember I’ve found lofts to be so cool, and so very NYC. Loving these tips on styling a loft bedroom…even if you don’t have a loft bedroom. Interior design has always been an interest of mine. Rearranging my room as a kid was my favorite weekend activity. I think my own (barn) loft could use a bit of freshening up as well.

5. New videos:

–> Cheddar Cornbread Waffle BLT…life changing BLT.

–> Slow Cooker. BBQ. Chicken…meaning, no oven, no fuss, and minimal clean up.

–> Mozzarella in Carrozza (a fried mozzarella sandwich) with Blueberry Jam… two words: SO GOOD.

6. Back to school lunches: the theme of this month is all things back-to-school. Focusing on kid’s foods is great and all, but some of us adults need to freshen up our back to work lunches as well and I’m loving these healthy work lunch ideas. ps. below are my three favorite recipes for brown bag style lunches.

Mediterranean Avocado Chicken Salad