Welcome to Friday Favorites, a weekly series where I share interesting articles, books, fashion finds, recipes and more.
Good Friday Favorites morning to you friends! It is a 3 day weekend, can you believe Labor Day is Monday? It will be the holidays before we know it. What are your plans for the weekend? We are going to a barbecue festival, a cocktail party with friends and spending time with my nephew.
Ok, let’s get to the good stuff. Grab your coffee, tea, cocoa or wine and settle in for Friday Favorites!
Friday Favorites No. 496 from The Suburban Soapbox, Blue Bowl, Inspired by Charm and More
Food
My favorite thing to eat in the morning, Homemade Breakfast Sandwiches.
Does it get an easier than a one pot meal? One pot pasta puttanesca
Cheese straws are always a great appetizer, and these pimento cheese straws are perfect for Fall and Winter.
Having a bbq this weekend? Add this amazing avocado salad to your menu, it is easy and delicious.
Oh my goodness, these salted caramel chocolate chip cookies look amazing!
It’s pumpkin spice latte season but if you are not a fan here are 10 Fall Drinks to make instead.
Interesting Articles
Opinion Piece: School is for Wasting Time & Money
5 Questions the Most Interesting People Will Always Ask in Conversations
From cupcakes to private jets, how the quest for status drives culture
Is It Fair to Forgive Student Loans?
How Your Family Shapes Your Body Image
How pets give your kids a brain boost
Why Doesn’t Plastic Dry in the Dishwasher?
Serena Williams is a tennis great, and so much greater than that
10 Small Towns in Italy You Can’t Miss
A master of the grandfather clock reveals time’s hidden history
11 Films to Watch this September
Are you a fan of the Instagram account @HaysCottage? If so and you wondered what it would be like to stay in this beautiful cottage Michael from Inspired By Charm stayed there recently and is sharing all of the details.
If you are a fan of Jamie Beck and have always wanted to know where she creates her beautiful art, you can see a tour of her studio apartment above.
Books
Don’t forget you can pre-order her book An American in Provence, I think it will make a beautiful Christmas gift for me and my friends.
A House In the Country
“[I]f only we could make the manor subscribe a little bit towards her own upkeep,” we fretted.
But she was an aristocratic lady on our hands. All ideas for making her work for a living were wrecked on the fact that she was born to be served and not to serve.
Six friends have spent the dark, deprived years of World War II fantasising-in air raid shelters and food queues-about an idyllic life in a massive country house. With the coming of peace, they seize on a seductive newspaper ad and take possession of a neglected 33-room manor in Kent, with acres of lavish gardens and an elderly gardener yearning to revive the estate’s glory days. But the realities of managing this behemoth soon dawn, including a knife-wielding maid, unruly pigs, and a paying guest who tells harrowing stories of her time in the French Resistance, not to mention the friends’ conscientious efforts to offer staff a fair 40-hour work week and paid overtime. And then there’s the ghost of an overworked scullery maid . . .
Based on the actual experiences of Ruth Adam, her husband, and their friends, A House in the Countryis a witty and touching novel about the perils of dreams come true. But it’s also a constantly entertaining tale packed with fascinating details of post-war life-and about the realities of life in the kind of house most of us only experience via Downton Abbey.
Imagine you woke up with the perfect life . . . But it wasn’t yours.
Today is Josie’s 36th birthday. Josie is a single British woman living in a tiny walk-up in Brooklyn. She misses her family, but her radio show is starting to go places. And sure, she could be a dress size smaller, but no one cares what you look like on the radio. The guy she’s had a crush on for months is finally going to break up with his girlfriend. She hopes.
She’s zipping through traffic on her way to meet her friends for dinner at a SoHo restaurant. There’s a screech of brakes, Josie crashes her bike and her world goes black.
Then something extraordinary happens.
She wakes up in hospital. The handsome stranger by her side, holding her hand and telling her he loves her, is Rob. Her husband of two years. They live in a chic Manhattan penthouse. She works in real estate. And she’s thirty pounds slimmer than when she got on her bike that morning.
Josie has no idea how she got here. This new life is everything she ever wanted. But there’s one very important thing missing . . .
And now she has to decide: should she go back to her old single life in Brooklyn or stay with the love of her nearly perfect new life?
What would you do?
Celebrating Home
Celebrating Home, James Farmers’ newest book arrived on Monday and I cannot put it down, it is so beautiful. This is another book to add to your holiday gift giving list!
Home―honoring the times we share there, treasuring the traditions and generations it represents, and rediscovering the joy our homes and gardens bring to our lives.
A rich tapestry of lush tabletops, glorious garden bouquets, sweet family heritage, and refreshed Southern décor are the essence of James Farmer’s enduring appeal! This book fuses all his creative passions in a celebration of the seasons. In stories and pictures, James takes the reader on a tour of his two homes and gardens, with tablesettings for celebratory occasions throughout the year. Décor for his Winter Dinner, Camellia Celebration, Feast Among the Foxgloves, Birthday Dinner, Al Fresco Fall Dinner, Dahlia Dinner, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Gatherings will inspire readers to mark each passing season with their love ones in observance of the small joys that truly make our lives big.
DON’T FORGET YOU CAN FIND ALL OF MY BOOK SUGGESTIONS IN MY AMAZON SHOP!
Finds
Is it just me or does anyone else change mugs with the season or their moods? I ordered this “Just a girl who loves fall ” mug because it is so me!
Plaid to me is the “uniform” of Fall. Neutral plaid pillows can be used on your porch, bed or really anywhere to add a little change to your decor.
Do you need a new winter coat? This gray belted coat from & Other Stories is classic and beautiful!
Labor Day Sales! 
Warehouse Sale! I’ve had for over 4 years and use it almost everyday, it is perfect for vegetables, meats, etc is another favorite to use inside and out.
30%off Everything! LABORDAY
Isn’t thisgorgeous? I ordered
UNTIL TOMORROW
I hope that you enjoyed Friday Favorites no. 496 and that you found something enjoyable to read or to make. I cannot wait to make the apple salad for lunch and the limoncello spritz for cocktail hour.
Have a wonderful weekend friends and don’t forget to stop by tomorrow for “weekend meanderings” with Kim and Juliet! We will have lots to share from coast to coast.
Love your Friday Favorites and appreciate the time you put into these interesting topics , books and recipes. Thanks.
I used to make English muffin sandwiches for lunch. Melt the cheese and whatever else. I’d forgotten about it. I’ll have to do that again. Those cookies look REALLY decadent! Have a great weekend, Elizabeth! Hope you get to cook in that kitchen.
Brenda