Sweater Weather

M
y birthday is in a month and a half, and I am beginning to take a look at my goals for the last year. I have accomplished most of them, some will just take a little more time and with my Masters out of the way (big goal accomplishment!) they will be a lot easier now. I am really good at goal setting, the hard part is actually meeting them. I will share my list of "26 goals before 27" when my birthday week hits but for now I am going to start incorporating my remaining goals into a new list. There is something about fall that makes me excited to start dreaming of the future, it's as if the changes happening all around us are proof that change can happen and your goals can be reached.

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sweater | Sammy Dress

boots | DSW

pants | Oldnavy

Marbled Maples

I
have been searching for the perfect "cut-out" cookie recipe and I think I found it! My criteria was that it must not contain too many ingredients (to keep the cost down) it must taste FANTASTIC, be extremely easy to make, and above all else the cookies needed to hold their shape. The recipe I found came from Allrecipes.com they were not especially difficult to make however, I would advise when mixing the frosting to use less water as mine turned out a bit runny. Apparently there is a huge difference between Royal Icing and just water and powdered sugar so next time I might attempt this ever so famous "Royal" frosting recipe. Personally, I love the way these cookies turned out they look like watercolors. Using a thicker frosting to line the outside and then filling in the middle with a looser mix may have been a better option.

Frosting:

• 2 - 4 food coloring options
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla (I used almond) extract
• 4 1/2 tbsp of milk or water (I used water) 

Recipe adapted from The Kitchen

Cookies:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 3/4 cup of white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes

Big Thoughts on Little Moments

O
ne of my greatest strength yet biggest downfalls is that I am a deep thinking. I think a lot and tend to over analyze things. Something I have been hung up on recently is fleeting moments, you know the moments of pure happiness. Ok let me give you some examples of mine and you can compare since I don't have an actual definition. Waking up on Saturday morning to the sound of rain, the smell of coffee, and your love snuggled next to you. Spending the whole day with your Mom, reminiscing about the past, planning the future, and soaking up every subtle moment of the present. Sitting around a bonfire with your brothers making s'mores and cracking jokes. Driving through a sun speckled forest, singing as loud as you can on a road trip with your spouse. These are just a few but there is something about these moments I love. It is a sense of acceptance, love, and comfort. Sometimes when I am in the moment I almost feel sad because I am so happy, and I worry that nothing will be able to compare to it, but then it happens again. One of the greatest joys of my life has been discovering this, learning to preserve the feeling in my memories, and finding it in my everyday. Worry is the killer of this feeling, by worrying I am not present in the moment my mind is too wrapped up and involved to even notice those around me. I am so grateful that I have found the ability to identify these fleeting moments of happiness in my life, and I wish that same thing for every one of you. I hope you enjoy these photos my adventure with my husband to the Puyallup Fair it was a "little moments" packed day.

Pumpkin Spice Biscotti

I
that I am done with my Keurig machine, since I have "descaled" it and done just about everything I can think of to get it up and running again. I am liking the idea of coffee the old fashion way in a pot. I want my whole apartment to smell like coffee in the morning, so I ordered a pretty blue coffee pot from Target. I am really excited about this as you can probly tell. Tomorrow will most likely be the first morning I can use it, so I made pumpkin spice biscotti to go with my Pike Place Medium Roast (which is not easy stuff to find actually)

The recipe I used was from On Sugar Mountain I found that I actually had everything except the pumpkin puree. I would recommend following the link to "On Sugar Mountain" and using her directions as they worked perfectly for me. Your shopping list should be as follows:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulate sugar
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Change is in the Air

I
know I have said it fifty bazillion times, but I love fall! It is my favorite time of the year. That being said the end of August beginning of September here in Seattle is a tough one to dress for. The mornings can be cold and frosty and the afternoons scorching hot. I like this outfit because it can easily be bundled up with a jacket, scarf, and hat for cool mornings but is cool enough for those indian summers. On another note, how are things going over here? Well, to be honest frustrating... this whole job search thing is really just annoying. I know that there is a place for me out there and I just need to be patient but it gets hard after a while. Luckily all of the blessings in my life have come to me when I wasn't searching for them, so I am taking heart from that. In the mean time I am going to enjoy my favorite season to the fullest.

shirt | Forever 21

scarf | American Eagle

glasses | Warby Parker

pants | Old Navy

shoes | Famous Footwear

Pink Tulle in Seattle

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I have entered into a fascination with tulle. I love this skirt I purchased it from Sammy Dress for $7.00! just to see if I would like this whole tulle skirt thing, and I DO! You can expect a lot more tulle going on over here. I wore it to the sculpture park in Seattle one morning when I took Paul to work, it was so beautiful there the sun was coming up and the water was glistening. I keep falling more and more in love with the Seattle area, although I do miss Tacoma. Enjoy this shoot, and don't rule out tulle.

Shoes | Found in San Francisco

Skirt | Sammy Dress

Sweater | Target

Necklace | Forever 21

Glasses | Borrowed from my husband 

Halloween Garland DIY

It's almost here! my absolute favorite holiday... Halloween. I have been preparing by watching Harry Potter and working on Fall crafts. I decided I wanted to make a garland for our front door out of ribbons, it was SO easy and fun to do. It's one of those crafts you can put your brain on auto pilot. (which is so awesome!) Because I have so much on the mind these days. All you need for this DIY is a few ribbons of your choice. I tried to stay consistent with Halloween using Purple, Black, Orange, and Green. Then you just evenly cut and clump the ribbons tying them onto a long piece of yarn. Make sure to leave loops on the ends to hang your lovely garland.