Fall is my favorite season, and it’s also a season full of cozy and magical books. Here’s this Fall’s book recommendations. I’ll also keeping adding to this list as the season goes on.
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
Kiela, a librarian, escapes with her plant best friend and ends up on the island she was born. With spell books, jars of jam, some new friends, and a little faith, she and her sidekick Caz bring magic to the island around them.
This book was all over TikTok’s Booktok, and book recommendation forums. I wanted to give it a try because I’m always on the hunt for a good magical novel. This book met all the hype, and quickly became one of my favorite books of the year. You won’t want to put down this story.
Seashells, Spells & Caramels by Erin Johnson
A last minute bake for a colleague’s wedding leads to a magical opportunity, but Imogen doesn’t quite know it yet. A house fire, a baking competition, and an island full of mythical beings, this book will keep you wondering what happens next.
While the title doesn’t quite fit the first book in this series, I absolutely loved this book! I got it for free on a Stuff Your Kindle day, and didn’t know what to expect from a free book, but what I do know is I’ll be buying the next books in the series for my Kindle. A fun baking competition story with magical bakers and a royal family looking for their next baker. You’ll want to watch the Great British Bake Off after this story!
The Only Purple House in Town by Ann Aguirre
The latest release in the Fix-It Witches series introduces us to a whole set of new characters, and a few old. A woman who feels like a misfit in her family inherits a house from her late Aunt, but there’s a problem, she’s broke. With a Victorian mansion to her name, Iris opens her home to those who are in need of a home or like her, a bit of an outsider. She finds a new family, love, and an unexpected discovery of where she came from.
I loved the Fix-It Witches series, and was waiting for this book to become available at my library. While it doesn’t focus much on the former characters, it takes place in the same small town, where magic is now a much hotter topic. You’ll get cozy vibes from this story, with a little bit of romance.
Be Careful What You Witch For by Tee Harlowe
A widow is left in debt and with a choice. Go back and face her old demons in her old hometown of Whispering Willows and sell her mom’s old shop, or tell her daughter the truth of their situation. Whispering Willows it is. But there’s more to the town than meets the eye, because there’s a spell hiding the truth of magic to anyone who isn’t magical or aware of magic. Witches, demon slayers, mermaids, vampires, half giants, oh my!
A fun story with all sorts of magical beings. You’ll wish you could step into town to visit The Wish List and become friends with an imp and his half giant business partner.
Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay
You can’t get cozier than a bookstore in an old village in Europe. Emily, a librarian from the US, heads over to Ireland to help her most beloved author find inspiration to complete her popular book series that’s been on hiatus for years. What Emily doesn’t expect is that she’ll find a new passion, help someone make their last wishes come true, and learn to put her happiness first.
While not a Fall themed book, with the story set in a quaint Irish village, you’ll get cozy vibes and want to curl up in front of a fireplace for this read. Expect there to be tears too. This story will leave you emotional and wanting more.
When I got engaged in the Spring, I knew my partner and I were going to want to look outside our current state of New Jersey for a wedding venue. New England seemed like the perfect choice since that’s where he and I both grew up, but the question was where?
As people who grew up in a fairly small town with not a lot of unique or fancy venues available in the nearby area, and having spent more high school dances than I can count at those said venues, it was time to broaden our horizons. We eventually decided a coastal feel for a wedding might be worth exploring, and I immediately suggested Cape Cod.
I grew up going to the Cape every summer as a little girl, and when I got older I was eventually invited to the ladies Fall trip to the Cape with my mom, aunt, and late grandmother. Brian and I even took a brief vacation or two to the Cape over the years. We knew we wanted to avoid a New Jersey wedding because they’re all over the top here, very expensive, and have that distinctive “Jersey” feel to them that we wanted to avoid. It just didn’t feel like us. So, the Cape it is!
After much research, we narrowed down our search and visited 4 venues. Follow along below for our thoughts on each, and maybe it’ll help you, a possible future Cape Bride or Groom find your perfect spot too!
West Dennis Yacht Club
West Dennis Yacht Club
The West Dennis Yacht Club is just that, a Yacht Club. They aren’t a venue by nature, but rent out the space for weddings and events to bring in extra income. The space inside was airy and I liked the colorful sound blockers they chose to hang from the ceiling, and the views of the water were nice.
Pros: – Close to Beach if you wanted a beach ceremony – Right off the water – Great menu including fun late night snacks
Cons: – Not a great backup rain plan. Your guests would sit at their assigned tables and you’d get married in between the tables. – Aren’t very welcoming of smaller parties, especially during the Fall. They apparently had two dates open, one in April and one in the Fall, but they wouldn’t offer me the Fall date in hopes they could make more money from a larger party than mine – Bar area was very dated and dark feeling
Pricing Info: – Menus start at $130 per person – Space rental can range from $2000 to $5300 depending on time of year – Peak season requires a minimum of 130 guests for a Saturday wedding – If you use an open bar, there will be a 20% gratuity added – Prices do not include 7% meal tax or 20% service charge
West Dennis Yacht Club reception space
Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club
Ocean Edge Resort Carriage House
The Ocean Edge is a beautiful old historic home turned hotel. Due to our smaller party size, we were looking at their Carriage House venue. The hotel has a few different areas where they can host weddings, and are really into providing you with a whole weekend getaway resort like event. Parts of the property are absolutely beautiful, and they have a lot of interesting things going for them, but ultimately, I wasn’t overly impressed with what I saw in terms of the Carriage House or ceremony spaces.
Pros: – Plenty of onsite accommodations – Can host rehearsal dinners and welcome parties – Onsite spa for getting ready services – Everything can be self contained here, from meals, to evening activities, to the actual wedding – You can repurpose some of the space for a getting ready/bridal suite like space – You get the whole building to yourselves for the whole day – Very friendly and welcoming staff
Cons: – The main room of Carriage House felt very old, dimly lit, and dated – The ceremony options weren’t super impressive. You can get married upstairs in a room or on the very small titled lawn outside in front of the big carriage doors. You could also get married on the main lawn in front of the hotel too, but you have to contend with traffic, and it’s very out in the open.
Pricing Info: – Carriage House food and beverage minimum for a Saturday is $18,000 or $12,000 for Fri/Sun – Off season pricing is a $12,000 for Saturday or $7,500 for Fri/Sun – Lawn ceremonies range from $1000 to $2000 depending where and what day – Beach Ceremony: $3,500 – Above doesn’t include Admin fees, taxes, etc
Carriage House of Ocean Edge Resort
Wychmere Beach Club
Wychmere Beach Club
Wychmere Beach Club is a private club, that is home to 3 different venue spaces that can accommodate weddings of various sizes. It’s located right in the port, off the water, and offers great views and picture spots. Venue spaces are designed to feel airy, are full of natural light, and have a modern updated coastal feel. I also really liked the lighting options in the rooms. We toured the Ocean Room at Wychmere, their smallest space (which is still huge), and it’s located on the second floor.
Pros: – Rooms can be sectioned off if an indoor ceremony is needed due to weather – Each venue space seems to provide either a private deck or patio space, giving you indoor and outdoor flexibility – Staff was the most welcoming, and really made visiting feel like an event – Fireplace – Bridal Suite and attendant – Lots of big windows with water views – Private deck for Ocean Room (for ceremony/cocktail hour/hanging out) – They have recommended vendors that can be used towards your event minimum spend
Cons – Multiple weddings can be held there in a single day, although they do space them out by different start and end times – Parking might be challenging for those weddings being held later in the evening, since the first wedding of the day (Ocean Room) get’s parking lot priority – Minimum spend needed to be met, regardless of party size – Limited hotel rooms onsite
Pricing Info: – Event Minimums are based on time of year. Peak season is July, August and October. – Least expensive to most expensive days: Sunday, Friday, Saturday – Peak season Saturdays can start around $50k – Off Season can start around $28,000 for a Saturday depending on the month chosen – Above doesn’t include Admin fees, taxes, etc
Wychmere Beach Club Ocean Room
Chatham Bars Inn
Chatham Bars Inn Boathouse
Chatham Bars Inn is a luxury high end hotel that can host a wide array of events from your wedding day ceremony and reception to rehearsal dinners, after parties, and morning after brunches. They have 3 main venue spaces for weddings, all right off the sand with the ocean in the distance. They can accommodate small weddings to large tented events for hundreds of people. We checked out their Boathouse event space.
Pros: – Resort gives a very high end and impressive feel – You can walk right out onto the sand and beach – Beautiful photo opportunities – Private patio or deck area – Use of beach – Nice outdoor ceremony space (but many stairs to walk down for the bride)
Cons: – Boathouse didn’t feel impressive compared to the resort itself. The room wasn’t anything special and felt like it would be cramped. – No bridal suite or getting ready space – Beach House was ok, but didn’t feel as wow as the main resort either – Venue sales person wasn’t super friendly and felt disinterested the whole time. An event was happening in the main space we had an appointment to see (Boathouse) and she wasn’t sure we’d be able to get in to look around. We felt rushed, and it was the quickest least informative tour – Very expensive accommodations, so if you’re guests aren’t wealthy, they’ll need to look elsewhere to stay
Pricing Info: – Pricing for basic food and beverage packages starts at $600 per person – Reception fee starts at $5000 – If you want the lawn of the Boat House, that’s another $3500 – I heard from some people that Saturday min spend is $90k, but can’t confirm
Boathouse at Chatham Bars Inn
Final Decision
While the West Dennis Yacht Club was reasonably priced, had great food options, and had a nice outdoor space, it didn’t check off all the boxes for me. The bar was very old feeling, they were against allowing us to get married in Oct due to our small wedding size, and it just didn’t give me the wow factor I was hoping for.
The Ocean Edge Resort has a lot of wonderful people working there. Everyone made us feel so welcome and comfortable. If you’re looking to create a weekend retreat for your wedding, then this has a lot going for you, with activities, games, and great food spots, and plenty of rooms for everyone to stay in one spot. The venue space just didn’t level up to some of the other options we saw.
It was a tough call, initially, between Wychmere and Chatham Bars Inn. When we first walked through Wychmere, it was love at first sight. From the entryway, to the coastal inspired bar, to the water steps away. You could feel it was special and outshined the other spaces we had seen so far. The hotel and grounds at Chatham Bars Inn can’t be beat, they are beautiful, classy and elegant. However, the venue space left us disappointed and surprised, based on how beautiful the hotel and restaurant spaces are.
Ultimately, we decided that Wychmere would be our special spot, and the host for our wedding. The staff were amazing, they welcomed us with champagne and a bottle of sparkling wine as a gift, and they took the time to answer our questions and show us every little detail. The venue space was beautiful, bright, and had the coastal feel we were going for. I can’t wait to show you what we do with the space and how it all turns out!
Last week, the day I have been waiting for, for a very long time, finally arrived. My partner and I got engaged!
Our story starts almost 2 decades ago, in high school, where we officially met, became fast friends, and soon started dating. High school sweethearts are far and few between, and it’s something I’ve always held closely in my heart. I’m lucky to have some friends who went on the same journey as us too.
How did it go down?
I always knew he wanted to surprise me with a mystery trip, to keep me on my toes and guessing. On a Thursday night, I was presented with instructions to pack a bag, given some rough ideas on temperatures at our final destination, and nothing else. Friday we headed to the airport, and almost didn’t make our flight due to weird system errors with our check-in, but thankfully we made our flight. Our first flight was just a transfer, but it was a long layover in Denver, so it gave me plenty of time to wonder what kind of adventure I was about to embark on.
Our final flight took us to Ontario, California. Who knew there was an Ontario in California, not me! It’s also quite confusing with California and Canada each abbreviated to CA. But I digress. Our final destination was not Ontario, but about an hour and a half drive away in Rancho Mirage, just outside of Palm Springs. We’ve never been to either location, so it was a new adventure and place to explore.
On day one of my surprise trip, we visited a beautiful place called Indian Canyons. If you’re ever in the area, I 100% recommend you go. There’s a number of hikes you can take, but my favorite is at the end of the road, where you hike down the canyon into a Palm tree oasis. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It was a magical spot, but very windy when we were there. When we got back to the hotel for the day, our faces and necks were coated in dust. Our face cloth was no longer white when we were done with it.
The next day was the big day. As fans of the National Park Service, we like to visit parks with our official Parks Passport, a little blue book you can stamp at each location, commemorating the date and location of your visit. Our plan was to drive out to Joshua Tree National Park during the day for hiking and checking out the visitor center for our stamp.
After hiking for miles through various sections of the park, which is beautiful and seemingly out of this world with some of the landscapes, we decided to end our adventure for the day in the Jumbo Rocks section. This section of the park has massive light brown boulders that I can picture being scattered on Mars. It’s gorgeous and fun to see the different shapes and sizes created over time by the wind in the valley. We decided to do some off trail exploring and climbing of the Jumbo Rocks, which is when I spotted a cool rock that had a little cave like cutout, so we decided to get a closer look. It was at this special spot that Brian got down on one knee and asked me a question I’ve been anxiously awaiting. It was a special moment, just the two of us, and it was one we’ll never forget.
I can’t wait to get started with planning! Life is a bit busy right now so I probably won’t get into the weeds until mid April due to work travel and a personal vacation, but I’m sure it’s going to be quite the ride. I feel guilty not using the next few weeks left of this month to get a good grasp of things, but planning an international work trip and vacation across the world is probably more than enough stress for me at the moment.
I’m not sure where to start, so if you have any tips, good templates, planners, etc, let me know! I can’t wait to bing you on this next journey with me!
Every year, I have to attend a Pollyanna (like White Elephant) gift exchange at my significant other’s family’s house for Christmas Eve. It’s always a stressful time, and it’s almost impossible to put together a gift bag that will please everyone in attendance.
Since I was running out of ideas, and only had one item in mind so far, I decided to see if an AI Chat Bot from Google, Bard, could help me with the task.
My initial idea was to purchase a box of foreign potato chips, and then try and build my gift around that.
Here’s some example prompts I used with Bard
“What would be a good Secret Santa gift basket that includes different potato chips”
“I need to make a gift basket that features potato chips. What should I include?”
“I need to make a Secret Santa gift basket. What would go well with different potato chips?”
I took bits and pieces from each suggestion, and created my unique Potato Lovers themed gift for our gift exchange.
Summarized Suggestions from Bard
Other goodies: Candy bars or chocolate to balance the salty flavors
A fun potato chip-shaped mug
A potato chip-themed cookbook
Gourmet dips and spreads: Pair chips with different dips and spreads (roasted garlic hummus, fig and olive tapenade)
Personalize the basket: Add a handwritten note, a small gift relevant to the recipient’s interests, or a potato chip-themed item (mug, keychain).
Remember: Choose chips with diverse flavors and textures, and personalize the basket for a truly impressive gift.
Extras: Mini globe, map with pins marking chip origins, travel guide
Bonus: Include a small potato masher or potato chip clip to enhance the potato chip theme
Some of those items really sparked my creativity, especially the “potato chip clip.” So, I did some Google-ing and found some fun “accessories” that were potato themed.
I even decided to create a little mascot of my gift, who I affectionately named Po.
I figured I needed to add something a little less silly for my gift, so I picked up a $25 gift card to Panera and had Po the Tato hold on to it for maximum cuteness and fun!
And with that, and some creative wrapping, my Pollyanna/White Elephant gift came to life, thanks to a little help from AI!
It was a lot of fun using Bard to get some ideas, and I’ll definitely be using it again next year, and maybe later down the line in the year for other holidays like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Let’s see what it can come up with next!
Happy gifting and happy GPT-ing!
Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The year has somehow zoomed on by, and here we are, looking towards 2024 right on the horizon.
With the days of December coming to an end, it’s time to look back on this year’s Goodreads challenge.
At the start of the year I set a goal of reading 33 books, to celebrate my 33rd birthday in January. I’m happy to announce that not only did I hit that goal, but surpassed it more than I expected. So, let’s dig into it.
This year I found myself getting more into the fun colored cover romance novels. They say to not judge a book by its cover, but I was a sucker for a lot of these bright, fun, and cute cover designs. I also kept up with my love of magic and witch related content, and also looked for a few more books that dealt with topics of royalty (Dukes, Ladies, etc).
Here’s some of my most memorable reads from the year:
