Anything in a BOX is all the rage this year and my pick of the week is no exception! I am a sucker for beauty products and this box is right up my alley.  It's not your typical beauty box with samples (although I love those too), this has actual full size products! Really! They claim for $49.99 you will receive $200.00 or more of product and they did not disappoint.  I signed up to get one box for every season and I am already looking forward to the winter box.

I was given a "Yeti" mug as a gift from my dear friend Kristi.  As much as I appreciated the gift, I truly thought it was like every other mug I have in my office, home and car. Boy was I wrong! This beauty keeps my drinks ice cold for hours even in this hot Fresno weather!  Recently when the weather starting getting cooler, I put  hot coffee in it that morning and it stayed warm all day!

The Yeti mug would make a perfect gift for teachers, coaches, co-workers, family and friends.  It comes in several colors but I love the pink best!.  These cool mugs  are all over the web and at a price tag of approximately $25.00, it's a great buy! 

There is something about breaking bread with family and friends that  makes entertaining special.  We hosted a simple fall dinner with my sister Sandi and her family. Over the years, I have come to realize making as much food as possible ahead of time, is the key. I made the Chicken Piccata, Twice Baked Potatoes and Crème Brule the night before. This not only allows me to enjoy the evening but makes for an all around relaxing night.

Menu

Chicken Piccata: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/214488/lemon-chicken-piccata/
Twice Baked Potato: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/best-twice-baked-potatoes-recipe/
Salad with artichokes: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/16418/salad-with-artichokes/
Roasted Asparagus: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/214931/oven-roasted-asparagus/
Crème Brulee: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/19165/creme-brulee/

MANGIARE, BERE ED ESSERE FELICI!

I LOVE coffee and I'm always up to trying anything new.   I was sent the "Sampler Box" from the Bean Box which had four different hand picked coffee beans.  The sampler box  included both bold and lighter beans.  My favorite were the bold blends and the lighter blends were Gary's pick.  The company has gift options, monthly subscriptions, coffee of the month and even corporate gifts.  There are always people on your Christmas or birthday lists that are hard to buy for....this is a great choice!
Check out their website:  https://beanbox.co/

Every fall we look forward to taking  a road trip to visit Paso Robles and the famous "Three Speckled Hen Show".  This year we paid for early bird tickets and it was totally worth it, in fact, in our opinion, it's the only way to go.  The early birds enter between 8am and 10am.  The others can enter at 10am.  We got there about 8:20 and  it was pretty crowed.  By the time 10am rolled around, it was almost impossible to look through each vendor's products because of the crowds. I love coming home with new treasures! 

Old Chicken Feeders - Gary has big plans for these.

Old Olive Buckets - Don't you just love the patina?

Deer Antlers - Gary has an idea.  Let's see how it turns out.

Of course I couldn't leave without  these fun gourds.  I'll share with my daughter in law who hosts Thanksgiving with her family each year.