Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake with Pumpkin Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Last week I hosted a girls' night at my house, and I used it as an excuse to make this pumpkin cake. The cake in itself was delicious, and it really could pass as a coffee cake or even pumpkin bread (and I'm not just saying that because I may have eaten a piece for breakfast). The cream cheese frosting with a hint of pumpkin and cinnamon is what takes this cake to the next level. It is such a good combination and the perfect treat for fall. 

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake with Pumpkin Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

for the cake:

1 15 oz can pure pumpkin, divided

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs at room temperature

2 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 cup whole milk

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

for the frosting:

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 Tbsp butter, softened

2 Tbsp pumpkin puree from above canned pumpkin

1-2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray all surfaces of a 12-cup nonstick bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour, or grease and flour the inside of your pan. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugars together with mixer until fluffy. Remove 2 Tbsp pumpkin from the can and set aside for frosting. Add remaining pumpkin to the butter and sugar mixture, beating until combined. Add eggs, one at at time, beating just until the yellow disappears after each egg.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture in thirds, alternating with milk in between each third. Beat until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips just until combined then spoon batter into prepared pan. Tap pan on counter a few times to get rid of any air bubbles. 

Bake until a wood pick inserted near the center of cake comes out clean, 75-90 minutes. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare frosting, beat cream cheese, butter, and pumpkin together until smooth. Add milk and cinnamon and gradually beat in powdered sugar, adding additional milk if necessary, to reach desired consistency. Frost cooled cake as desired.

source: recipe barely adapted from carlsbad cravings

Slightly Stationery Card Club

It's no secret that I love pretty stationery, so I have to share about my newest find! For the past four months I've been receiving the monthly card club from Slightly Stationery. It's five cards delivered to my mailbox at the beginning of each month, and I LOVE it. The subscription is only $15 plus $2.95 for shipping, which means each card is only $3.59. I consider this a steal because birthday cards at Target that are 1) not cute and 2) have lame words are usually more than that. I am all about sending someone a unique, cute card where I can write my own words inside! Each month there has been a birthday card and several all-occasion cards, as well as a thank you note and/or special occasion cards. I haven't had to buy any cards since I started receiving the card club, which is a huge win in my book, since I send a lot of mail! Here are some of the cards I've received so far...

June's collection

a combination of July & August's collections (since I mailed some before I could take a pic!)

September's collection

Aren't these just the cutest?! If you've gotten a really cute card from me in the past several months, more than likely it's one of the ones I've received from the card club :) I cannot tell you how much I love having a refresh on my stationery stash, and I especially love that the collections each month are seasonal (i.e. the September ones get all the heart eyes!). 

You can get your first month free (!) by using the code SLIGHTLYFREEMONTH at check out. All you pay is the $2.95 for shipping for your first month!

disclosure: this post is not sponsored. I just love sharing about the things I find + love.

5 Things I'm Loving for Fall

As much of a summer girl as I am, I have been so ready for fall! This pregnant lady can't hang with the intense heat here in South Carolina, so I am very thankful for weather in the mid-80s! I also am excited for cozy days of cooking + baking in the kitchen, fall clothes, and the upcoming holidays. Here are 5 things I'm loving for fall:

Essie nail polish in hues for fall. I love swapping out my hot pinks

and corals for these perfectly autumnal shades.

(clockwise from top: Ladylike, Mink Muffs, Recessionista, Chinchilly, In Stitches)

The Jones Market fall collection. So many good pieces! 

I had a hard time picking just one to order!

Fall candles from Twine & Cotton. I can't get enough of how perfect this scent is!

Nars Satin Lip Pencil in Rikugien. I pulled this from my stash because I wanted

something darker than my typical pinks without entering into the bold-red-lip territory.

You can see how this shade looks on me here.

 All the pumpkin baked goods. I can't be tempted by a PSL, but pumpkin

breads and muffins are another story. I'll be sharing the recipe for this pumpkin cake

with pumpkin cinnamon cream cheese frosting next week, so stay tuned!

There you have it, 5 random things I'm loving this season. What are some of your favorites for fall?

(The Jones Market picture from instagram)

On Stocking the Freezer with Meals

This past spring I decided to stock my freezer full of easy dinners I could pull out and serve. I was hoping that I would be getting pregnant soon and fully anticipating I would have another rough first trimester, making cooking dinner a huge struggle. I researched some meals that would freeze well, but what I mostly found were crockpot "dump" meals. Those aren't always my favorite, because they're either too creamy or just don't have enough of an interesting flavor. Below are links of the recipes I ended up making, if you're interested in stocking up your freezer! We started eating these in June, and I have just a few left. We obviously don't eat them every night, but it's been such a great filler for the days that I've been too tired or too sick to cook! It would be handy to stock your freezer with these if you're pregnant, will be having a newborn soon, have a busy work schedule, or even just for a stress-free dinner!

• Chicken Spaghetti - I made two pans of this and each pan lasted for several meals for the three of us!
• Quiche - I made three, which I served with a tossed salad for dinner or had for easy breakfasts or lunches. 
• Calzones (I used this technique with this filling) - I ended up making 8 calzones, and we found that 1 calzone for each of us was plenty. I wrapped them individually in aluminum foil. When it was time to eat them, I thawed a couple in the fridge for a few hours before baking them in the oven still wrapped in foil. 
• Chipotle Lime Chicken - I made one recipe of this, which fills two freezer bags, and each bag is enough for a meal plus plenty of leftovers. This crockpot meal is a tried and true favorite of mine!
• Chicken Squares - I made a double recipe, which is 8 chicken squares. I baked them completely and let them cool before wrapping them individually in foil. To serve, I baked them on a baking sheet still wrapped in foil until they were hot through. 
• Meatballs in tomato sauce - The recipe I ended up using wasn't my favorite so I'm not linking it here, but it made a ton and has served a good number of meals. Make your favorite recipe and then divide it up into containers. Thaw in fridge overnight and heat on stove before serving.
• Sloppy Joes - I made one batch of this recipe and then divided it up in several containers. I let it thaw in the fridge overnight then reheated it on the stove before serving.
• Lasagna - I made my mother-in-law's recipe and divided it into two 8x8 pans rather than one large pan. I assembled both lasagnas but didn't bake them. When I was ready to serve them, I let it thaw in the fridge/counter, then baked it covered with foil until it was hot through and bubbling. 

Hope you find this helpful if you're looking to stock up your freezer and want to avoid a ton of crockpot meals! These meals have been a huge help to me! Now that we're getting into fall and soup weather, I plan on stocking up on a bunch of soups and chilis! Do you have any tried and true recipes that freeze well?

What I Read in August

Somehow we're already to the middle of September, so here's what I read in August! I'm so happy to report I am back into a good reading rhythm for the first time in this pregnancy! 

This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! // Harriet is a new widow who decides to take the cruise her late husband had booked even though she'll be going alone. Along the way she discovers secrets about her husband, and the book jumps between her finding out about these secrets and stories of the years she shared with her husband. The book was predictable, and I didn't enjoy the writing. A much better version of the spouse-finds-out-secrets-about-dead-spouse plot is The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, which I absolutely loved. I give Harriet 2 stars.

When I'm Gone // This was my book club book for August, and a review we had read said something about a story of a scavenger hunt that a dead wife sends her husband on. The book was not as much of a scavenger hunt as I had hoped, but there are secrets that the husband discovers after his wife's passing that kept me interested. The writing got better as the book went on, and though it wasn't my favorite book ever, I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened. 3 stars

How to Start a Fire // This story is about three unexpected friends from college and the different directions their lives take over the next decade or so. It jumps back and forth between past and present, so for the first half of the book I was pretty interested to find out what situations the book kept alluding to. I have to admit that I didn't particularly like any of the characters, and the book was just overall a little depressing. 3 stars

The Royal We // I unashamedly love all things to do with the Royal family, so you'd better believe I was going to read this fictional story of the Prince of Wales falling in love with an American girl! This was such a fun book to read, and I loved it. If you (like me) watched the Royal Wedding and can't get enough of the inside scoop of the Royal family, you'll really enjoy this book. 4 stars

The House at Tyneford // The cover of this book says that fans of Downton Abbey and Kate Morton's books will love this book - um those are some of my favorites! This book was very reminiscent of life at Downton Abbey with the staff and the family and their interactions, and it's the story of a young Jewish girl who comes to England to escape World War II in Austria. This was a well-written book, and I really enjoyed it. 4 stars

Bel Canto // I've recently heard several good things about Ann Patchett, so I decided to give her a try. This was her first book that I've read, and I get the hype! The writing was impeccable, and the story was so unique. In some ways it reminded me of Station Eleven, just because the plot itself was not something that I thought I would enjoy. But once I got a few pages into it, it completely drew me in and I didn't want to put it down. 4 stars

The Nesting Place: It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful // I've had this book for a little while and finally got around to sitting down and reading through it! This is probably one of the better home decor books that I've read, and I enjoyed it so much! Myquillyn gives practical tips, shares beautiful photos, and mostly shares her philosophy of "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful". I love that! She's all about decorating your home in a way that you like, without worrying about the decorating "rules" or whether or not other people will like how you've decorated. For someone like me who likes (and needs) a ton of rules and structure before I feel comfortable doing something, this was so freeing to read! It inspired me to decorate my mantle in a different way than I normally do, and I didn't even text my sisters to see if they thought it looked good :) 4 stars

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls // I've heard about this book for years and had high hopes. Unfortunately I didn't really enjoy it. Similar to Anton DiSlafani's other book The After Party: A Novel, it seemed like this whole book kept alluding and referring to this huge secret that actually ends up being kind of predictable. I thought the story was depressing, and I never really connected with any of the characters. 2 stars

What have you been reading? Have you read any of these books that I've mentioned?

Links for your weekend

What are your plans for the weekend? Labor Day weekend always feels like the end of summer, even though technically we still have a few weeks. We're heading to the beach for one last summer hurrah, and I can't wait to watch Madeleine play in the sand and dip her toes in the ocean. Here are a few links for your weekend, hope it's a good one!

"I Wish My Teacher Knew" - an article worth reading.

For busy weeknights, try these Trader Joe's meal hacks.

This might be the first Kickstarter project I'm interested in supporting!

It's a girl!

Give me all the pumpkin baked goods this fall, starting with this one. 

The happiest house tour. 

It's official: the Princeton Review ranked Virginia Tech #1 for "best quality of life". Go Hokies!

If you're in a shopping mood, here are all the big Labor Day sales.

(image from here)