pillows of pumpkiny love.

or, how to undo your workout/diet in 10 easy steps.

really, y'all, if you like pumpkin, chocolate & easy-peasy baking all rolled into one, then this recipe is for you. i can't take credit for it. i owe my undying love for these pumpkin puff balls to the shabby princess. it's all her fault.

seriously, though. this is the perfect bite of comfort, especially once the weather gets a bit cooler, you need a quick snack or you're just feeling sorry for yourself & are craving something loaded with carbs & chocolate {totally my reason for baking them today}.

that's all you need. three ingredients: a box of spice cake mix, a can {15 ounces} of pumpkin - NOT the pie filling - and some chocolate chips. before you start, just preheat your oven to 350 degrees {i have a gas oven & this temperature seems to work best for me}.

combine your ingredients into a bowl. i don't measure the chocolate chips...i just dump. and, if you can't tell from the picture, i used a combination of milk chocolate morsels & semi-sweet morsels. some of the milk chocolate morsels melted so they clumped together...bonus! {for what it's worth, i prefer semi-sweet over milk chocolate any day.}

mix, mix, mix. stir, stir, stir. the pumpkin filling will work its magic with the cake mix. you don't need oil, butter, eggs, applesauce, sour cream, mayonnaise or anything thing else that you might put into a cake. really, you don't.

drop them onto ungreased baking sheets. you can use a tablespoon, but i use a cookie scoop. also, i don't flatten them. i leave them mounded. and, i apologize now for my dirty oven.

bake them at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. your oven might require you to bake these little gems a bit longer. once baked, transfer them to a cooling rack. but, don't wait for them to cool. they are so damn good enjoyed warm & fresh from the oven.

seriously, they are gooey, moist & soft. oh, and don't be surprised if they disappear quickly. you really can't just east one.

valentine's day...

...should be every day, right?  i mean, it's nice to be caring, loving & wonderful all year long, but the real reason is because everybody needs a few of these in their lives:

good thing {our local} strawberry season is just a couple of months away!

cocoa.

according to aidan, my 7 year old son.

there was an article in the l.a. times recently that caught my eye: 

study links chocolate and depression

i'm sorry, what?

no, no...really.  the first paragraph of the article reads:

One need only look at the recent introduction of chocolate Cheerios to fully grasp Americans' fondness for the pulp from cacao beans. Savoring chocolate is normal.

But, researchers said Monday, overindulging in it could be a marker for depression.

that makes me sad {pun intended?}.  it truly does.

i don't know whether to be depressed about the large bowl of chocolate ice cream laced with crushed up pieces of chocolate-covered pretzels i ate while typing this OR the fact that we have not one, but THREE boxes of Chocolate Cheerios in our pantry.

{source}

yep.  three boxes.

no wonder i can't get out of bed in the morning.

Let Freedom Ring!

{the picture is a scan of the front of a postcard Miss Sweet Tea sent me...isn't it cute?!}

Can you believe we're already into July and this weekend is the 4th? I'm sure most of you are going to enjoy the long weekend - I know I am! Once again, my family is beach-bound and, just like last weekend, we're headed down to the beaches of North Carolina...only this time we'll be staying in Buxton on Hatteras Island. My parents are coming with us and we are all very excited about spending the holiday weekend with them. My mom is NOT into camping, so this weekend will be a first for her, but I'm sure she'll have a wonderful time nonetheless! I will have pictures for you when I get back!

Please be safe this weekend and take time out to thank our service men & women - retired & active duty - who fight so hard to keep our freedom.

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While I'm gone there MAY be some changes made on my blog, so please bear with me. Back in June I won a blog makeover from Danielle at The Design Girl and she would like to get started on it soon. I'm very excited about what my new layout will look like. Danielle is SUPER talented and she's got some fabulous ideas and designs. I urge you all to check her out!

When I return, I'll blog about that MYSTERY item that showed up on my porch. I'm actually working on part of that blog today. Becky commented and asked if it was a cake or a chocolaty something. Well, she's right...it IS a cake and it IS filled with chocolate goodness! Go to Bake Me A Wish to get a sneak peek of my next product review AND giveaway {which will be posted on Monday, July 6th}.

I've got some other exciting giveaways up my sleeve {mostly for the kidlet set} and another product review/giveaway in the works for anyone who enjoys DRINKING their servings of fruit.

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Happy 4th of July!

The Sweet Life...

When I got home from work this afternoon I found a package on my front porch.

Inside was a special surprise...one that I was expecting...but still very much special nonetheless. A very sweet & special surprise!

What it is?

Well, I can't tell you....not just yet, at least. One of you knows what it is...the rest of you are just going to have to wait. I know, I know...it's not nice for me to say that, but {TRUST ME} you'll understand why when you find out.

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BUT...

If you really ARE that curious and are dying to know then I'll give you a hint.

{Can you tell that I'm HORRIBLE about keeping surprises??}

It's sweet & it's currently sitting in my refrigerator.