You may now update those google readers. Thanks and hook ‘em.

I left Houston behind with hot, 90deg weather and came back to the cool 70s. Hello, fall, I’ve missed you! Today was my first day in tights and a dress at work and I am so excited. I’ve already been eyeing a couple new pair of boots — and I hit up H&M on vacation for some tunics and oversized sweaters to wear with skinny jeans — so needless to say, I am ready. Bring it on.

So, what else am I excited for this beautiful autumn season?

1. Egg Nog Latte from Starbucks.

It’s no secret that I love my coffee. But thanks to Meagan, who introduced this to me years ago, I will forever be madly in love of this yummy concoction available starting in November.

2. Pumpkin pancakes from Kerby Lane.

Brings back memories of SRD and walking to Kerby Lane that first year of college at 3am just for a pancake.

3. Pecan Pie from Royer’s Café

I’m obviously hungry since the first 3 are food. BUT YUM.

What are you excited for?

Eeeek!! I am so pumped.

In honor of my “it’s one-week until vacation so time stands still” blues, I will be purchasing this lovely art to be placed on my mantle when I return to brighten my day… and hopefully, until then, make the days go by a tad faster.

How cute is this cupcake ring from sudlow? Tasty.

So when I stumbled across dearcolleen, I knew I had come home.

Not only does she refer to one of my all time favorite movies, her prints are amazing! They had me cracking up.

Swoon-worthy and soon to be purchased.

A year or two ago, Ellen introduced me to this super simple recipe — which is also great for parties! — so I couldn’t resist and made them last night. It’s pretty simple: breakfast sausage and cream cheese stuffed in a jalapeno half and roasted in the oven until the jalapeno skin is a lovely shade of roasted brown. So simple and such a crowd pleaser!

To start, pour yourself a glass of wine.

Last night was a cab. Yum.

I love the Waterford wine glasses because they are huge and to scale, that looks like your normal, run of the mill, amount of wine.

In actuality, it was almost half a bottle.

No, mom, I didn’t finish the glass.

But I digress.

My grocery store had some of the largest jalapenos and they were on sale! I guess since it is the end of the season, they are trying to push them out but really. Send them my way.

Up next on my list was real cream cheese.

Not reduced fat.

Not fat free.

The real stuff.

Meanwhile, I started browning the breakfast sausage. Since I was only chopping up 6 jalapenos, I used about ¼ of the package.

The whole spread!

Notice how clean the stove is? Yes, I spent Saturday morning up to my elbows in grease getting that range under control. I even went and got new drip pans since I am pretty sure they had never been cleaned and I wasn’t about to spend all Saturday afternoon cleaning those and instead opted to run to Home Depot.

So much nicer.

While I was admiring my handy work, I halved, deveined, and seeded the jalapenos.

About halfway through, I started crying.

No, not because I realized “The Bachelor Pad” finale was last night and I was going to miss that show… but because the jalapenos were ridiculously spicy. Couldn’t breathe, not pretty tears, sneezing, spicy.

Blonde me had also forgotten to take out her contacts so I took one for the team and slept in them last night.

That spicy.

Sorry, mom. And Dr. Ton. I promise it was a onetime occurrence.

So I decided to forgo the last two jalapenos and only chop up 4.

In hindsight, this was an excellent idea. My body thanked me.

After the sausage is brown, mix in the cream cheese and turn off the heat.

Doesn’t look appetizing but I promise… It is!

I then took that mixture and stuffed them into the jalapeno halves.

At this point, I believe Ellen would make a comment that you need to cover your pan in foil but I knew that I wasn’t making that many so I wasn’t too concerned about them sticking to the pan.

But, if you are making them in large quantities, foil is recommended.

I stuck the batch into a preheated oven and watched them.

After about 30 minutes, just about the time for me to be at the starving point of no return, they were ready to be devoured!

Brown, tender, and oh so delicious.

Normally, at this time, I would have taken pictures and sent it to everyone I know about what they were missing out on.

Oh wait! I did that too.

YUM.

Plated! Chopsticks optional. I can’t help it. I live with Asians. But chopsticks surprisingly come in handy rather frequently.

As a side note, this cream cheese, breakfast sausage mixture also tastes delicious stuffed in mushrooms or bell peppers and cooked the same way.

Thanks, Ellen! SO YUMMY!

I found I have a slight obsession with following all of the NYC fashion week shows. It consumes my days — you know, when work should be.

I blame Project Runway and my ever slow slight desire to live the fabulous life in NYC (yes, one of my favorite HGTV shows is “Selling New York”).

But what caught my eye today is this lovely color palette from the Diane Von Furstenberg show. I love their heels, the dresses, the patterns… and you know I rock the messy pulled back hair look. The reds! The blues! The oranges!

Le sigh.

{images from nymag.com}