fall family photos

my family means the world to me and i wanted to share them with you all in my dots & details world! i rarely post family pictures but we recently had our fall family pictures taken and we loved how they turned out. we took the photos at my parents home in sullivan, indiana and also at my grandparents property where the rustic red barn is located. i love the scenery back home and with the fall leaves in the background it was a perfect match. as you can see in a few of the photos, i was born and raised a hoosier and of course we had to take a few photos in red and white. of course my husband being the southerner that he is, he needed to throw in some volunteer orange as well ;) 

in these photos you will see my mother, father, brother,husband,and paw (and me of course). our friend katie smith of katie marie photography took these photos and we loved working with her. she is very talented and i admire her work. i hope you enjoy these photos as much as we do. i hope you all have a great week with your loved ones! i can't wait to see my parents soon when we get back to indiana in a couple of weeks. have a great week!

for more information about katie smith & her work go to www.photographybykatiemarie.com

fall details

i have mentioned this before, but boy oh boy do i love fall and this time of year. between the crisp weather, foliage, pumpkins, sweaters, apple cider, and so much more how could you not love it? reed and i spent the weekend with my brother and friends attending a fall festival and shopping in downtown franklin. we had such a great time, as always. i also attended a good friend's bridal shower which was so beautiful! today, we went to church and called it a lazy day and catch up day. i feel our sunday's almost always consist of this. (which is wonderful)

i am also packing my bags to attend a gift show in dallas this week for work, which will be a lot of fun! in the meantime, i wanted to share a few pictures of more fall details in our home. these pictures are of our kitchen table decor and a few fall details like candy corn (my fav) and our cozy fireplace. 

you can find all of these decor items at:

www.athome.com

(basket, blanket, & vase)

www.kirklands.com

(mini wooden pumpkins & give thanks sign)

www.hobbylobby.com

(burlap & white bowl)

www.target.com

(linen napkin & candycorn)

www.wholefoods.com

(cinnamon scented pinecones)

i hope you all had a great weekend and enjoy your sunday :)

oreo & brownie cookie bars

wow, this is the easiest recipe ever! any recipe that involves cookies, oreos, and brownies in the same recipe is probably going to be pretty good and gooey. i made these this week for my co-workers and i think they enjoyed them! thank you kayla for the suggestion on what to bring to the office this week haha :) 

literally, did i mention how easy this is? 

ingredients:

-cookie dough

-brownie mix

-oreos

details:

-start with making your cookie dough first (or just buying cookie dough, either way)

-spread the cookie dough throughout your pan or glass dish

-place oreos on top of the cookie dough (enough to fill the dish)

-lastly, mix your brownie mix or make it from scratch

-then, pour the batter on top of the oreos and cookies 

-bake for 25-30 minutes (keep an eye on it)

-let this cool for 30 minutes before cutting and serving

deeeeelish! and very very gooey and a lot of chocolate. FYI! :)

i hope you enjoy this easy recipe!

Have a great day!

fudge pudding cake

this is a great recipe i found on pinterest! we decided it was a chocolate dessert day at the draffin house. this chocolate fudge pudding cake is exactly what we needed for a mid work week pick me up haha!

here is the recipe!

ingredients:

-1 1/4 cups of sugar (divided)

-1 cup of flour

-1/2 cup of cocoa powder (divided)

-2 teaspoons of baking powder

-1/4 teaspoon of salt

-1/2 cup of milk

1/2 cup of unsalted butter melted

-1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

-1/2 cup of brown sugar

-1 1/4 cups of hot water

-vanilla ice cream & whipped cream 

details:

-preheat your oven to 350

-heat a pot of water on the stove to the highest temperature until boiling and then let it sit for a few minutes 

-in your mixer or bowl, combine 3/4 cup of sugar, flour, 1/4 cup of cocoa, baking powder and salt

-stir in your milk, melted butter, and vanilla and mix until smooth

-pour the batter into a greased ban or glass dish

-spread the batter evenly throughout the dish/pan

-in a small bowl mix together the rest of your sugar (1/2 cup), brown sugar, and the rest of your cocoa powder (1/4) and blend well.

-take this small mixture and cover your cake batter in the dish

-then, take your hot water and pour the hot water over the top, but do not stir 

-Bake for 30-45 minutes or until the center is almost set

-remove your dish from the oven and allow it to stand for 15-20 minutes

-then, spoon the cake into a bowl with a few scoops of ice cream and a dollop of whip cream and you have an easy yet delicious dessert! 

yum!!! i hope you enjoy this as much as we did. whoops! :)

fall decor

finally, my favorite time of the year is here (besides winter and christmas) :) i am so excited to decorate for fall and the holidays. especially in our first home! 

i started gathering my fall decor when it was 90 degrees,  just hoping it would cool down soon. then, i went on an early hunt for white pumpkins for the inside of my  house and then regular orange pumpkins for the outside. 

i purchased a few crates from jo ann's to stain a light grey color to match the inside of our home. then, sanded down the crates and coated them with a light grey stain. i didn't want a lot of color, just a hint of grey. the pictures above show one of the crates completed with details. this is the foyer area of our home and also a few shots of our front door. i will be posting more fall arrangements as well soon, but i wanted to share what i have been working on. 

all of the decor/details are from kirklands, old time pottery,silver steer, at home, and flea market finds. i am super in love with my new fall wreath from kirklands! 

www.kirklands.com

i hope you all enjoyed your weekend and i hope you have as much fun as i do decorating for each season. it doesn't take much to excite me though :)

thank you for stopping by and i will be sharing more details soon!

nashville weekend

whew what a weekend! it was jam packed with activities and my family was in town from indiana. they came in late friday night and left sunday evening and as always; we had such a great time. 

here is a detailed list of what we did:

Friday

-dinner at Henpeck Market Village in Thompson Station (so good)

www.henpeckvillagemarket.com

Saturday

-early start at the nashville flea market (our favorite end of the month activity) we found a ton of great pieces for our house and also a few diy projects as well. i am excited to get started on those this week to show you what i came up with.

www.nashvilleflea.com

-lunch at merchants in downtown on broadway. a super great lunch spot that we had been wanting to try. i had fish tacos and sweet potato fries as you can see in the pic above. great spot and loved the interior elements

www.merchantsrestaurant.com

-the afternoon was spent walking down broadway, shopping, and people watching

Sunday

-lunch at the row in midtown. a great spot for live music and good food. we all shared appetizers and desserts as you can see. the biscuits and jam and fried pickles were great (and of course the brownie sundae)

www.therownashville.com

-then we walked to nissan stadium to watch the colts and titans games. thank goodness the colts pulled out a "w" because we would have been one group of disappointed indy fans. 

-we ended the day with dinner at luigi's city pizza on broadway and then relaxed for the evening in pajamas

www.luigiscitypizza.com

we had such a great weekend and we always love spending time with our loved ones. we spent last weekend in memphis with the draffin's and had such a great time there as well. we are always on the go but taking time to appreciate our family is the most important part.

side note: we are in love with the fact that fall is here and in full swing. i can't wait to share our fall decor with you later this week.

have a great day!!