weekending

How come some weekends seem to last and last, and others (like this one) are over before you know it?  It's ridiculous.  This weekend flew by and now it's Monday all over again.  The injustice.

This past Friday night Dave and I were very excited to try one of our new found Santa Clarita eateries - The Newhall Refinery.  Dave and I haven't gotten excited about a local restaurant in a while so this was a treat.  We give it two thumbs up on food, pricing, and service.  Plus they serve a beet salad with goat cheese - brownie points for sure.  We liked our dinners so much we were persuaded to stay for dessert and our waiter told us we had to order their blueberry bread pudding.  Neither of us have ever had a bread pudding before (and I mostly associate it with being the only dessert anyone ever seems to make on Chopped), but holy moly, this was a winner.  We shared one serving, but honestly, I think I need my own next time...

On Saturday, after washing cars and working a few hours, we headed down to Pasadena and wondered around possible neighborhood options.  The LA commute is not something Dave is keen on doing too much longer if we can help it so...hopefully we'll be moving further south this coming springtime!  We shall see, but as of last night wandering the streets and grabbing a hot chocolate to stroll up and down Colorado Blvd, I was charmed.  Plus we found a tasty hotdog joint, what else do you want from a place to live?

Please stick around fall weather!  My boots will be so very sad to be put away again...
And yes I am aware that most of this post involves us eating - you can see where our priorities lie.

finding fall

I gotta tell you, I have a huge soft spot in my heart for some fall foliage.  Growing up in Southern California I didn't get a lot of fall until I went to college a few states eastward, and now that we're back in the sunshine state...I miss it.  (I actually miss the snow too, and Dave thinks I'm nuts because of it.  But I digress.)  This week, while driving to and from work, I happened to catch a few sparse spots of fall and I couldn't help but snap a few shots. 

Ah fall, I hope you'll stick around long enough in Utah for me to get at least a glimpse of you the month.

all hallows' eve

We spent our Halloween quietly and with a whole lot of sugar.  The perfect combination, don't you think?  Dave won a 'guess-how-many-candies-are-in-this-bowl' game at work and lovingly brought home 282 pieces of Twix, Kit-Kats, and M&M's to add to our growing collection of cookies, pumpkin bars, and everything else sweet.  Unfortunately he didn't get home in time to give that candy to the only group of trick-or-treaters that came by our third floor apartment.  The irony.  Nobody came by our place last year!  I wasn't prepared!

We spent the rest of the night eating more of my homemade apple cake and some delicious pumpkin cinnamon rolls with friends of ours, watching Boris Karloff play one creepy mummy, and having a whole two more trick-or-treaters come by at their place.  We tried to pawn off as much candy as we could on those two, but after you give them three or four handfuls out of the bowl, their parents start to look a little suspicious...

Anywho, it was a successful Halloween night.  I sent David back to the office with his candy winnings this morning.  Hopefully they'll at least make a dent in it...and now on to the next holiday!  I'm taking down my bats and pulling out more gourds.  Let the season of feasting and thanks begin!

frank & stein

Tuesday night was time for our annual frank and stein party!  It's the only time of the year I bust out root beer in glass bottles, we eat completos, and watch cheesy Halloween movies.  This year it was Ghost Busters. 

It's a delicious tradition. 

And as an added bonus, I made apple pie for the first time yesterday!  Perhaps a new tradition in the making...?  I'm new to this pie making business, but I'm all ears to any tried and true recipes that anyone has to offer.  I've just started using our handy dandy little personal pie maker and I'm itching to use it again - maybe some homemade chicken pot pies.  Oh the possibilities...

Happy day before Halloween!

an october weekend

This past Saturday it felt so good to have nothing set to do and no scheduled engagements till the sun went down.  Thus leaving us to meander, run errands, eat out, and generally do our own thing all. day. long.  That's my kind of Saturday. 

In the spirit of the leaves changing colors (elsewhere, not really here), I hooked my man into coming with me to this cute ranch on the other side of our little valley.  Despite the fact that is was in the 70's I still tried to wear a sweater.  Not the best of ideas, but my warm cuddly clothes have been calling my name since September 1.  I'll take any excuse to pull them out.  Anywho, It felt good to see so many pumpkins, and if the quarter mile long line (literally) didn't bring us back to our senses (A. we don't have a porch, and B. I don't much care for pumpkin carving), we might have walked out with a few.

Ah, October, you are great.

And obviously I get a little shutter happy around gourds.  The truth comes out.

happy fall y'all

Yesterday it was so delightfully fall-ish in Santa Clarita (I got to wear boots!  Simple pleasures my friends), and this morning it was fall-ish and again.  However it's forecast to be in the 70's by 1:00 so...I'm seriously considering going out to run errands this morning wrapped up in my sweater and busting out these babies again before the sun gets too warm:

Confession: I love the seasons and I love wearing warm, cozy clothes. 

In celebration of the fall-ish mood I got our decorations up, out, and dusted off.  I'm really digging these fun bats on our back wall (tutorial here) - and those damask pumpkins?  I die.  Truth be told, I'm not really that in to Halloween, and my fall decor usually consists of things that can get us through October and November too, but this year I couldn't resist a few bats and skeletons.  So sue me.

Now I think I'll bake some pumpkin bread - does this recipe not look so delicious?  I thought so too.

a grey(er) day

Today is a blissfully chilly-ish day and it's making me want to dance around the house.  I've got a vegetable beef and barley soup stewing away in the crock pot, the sky outside is sort of cloudy, and I've put on a long sleeved sweater for good measure.  Of course I have to keep all the windows open to merit the sweater because the crock pot is heating up our small space credibly well, but it's the fall spirit that counts!  I might even light a candle to make it feel cozy in here.  What??  The very thought of lighting candles in this apartment has made me start sweating until right now.  Fingers crossed for a spot of rain to make it up our way this afternoon!

Happy Fall!

fall food

I'm not much of a pumpkin carver, and Halloween isn't my favorite holiday by far, but since living in Utah, fall most definitely became one of my favorite times of the year.  I loved that crisp autumn air, pulling on more layers, and, of course, our annual Halloween cruise.  But, arguably, one of the best parts of fall was getting the excuse to make ridiculous amounts of pumpkin cookies.

Now that we live in sunny (and HOT) southern California, that crisp autumn air is hard to come by, but I can still enjoy the smell of pumpkin baking festively in my oven (even if it makes our little apartment stiflingly hot).

Behold, the sweetest food of fall :

Last year I was under the impression that everybody knew how to make these delicious things, but I was sadly mistaken.  In case you missed the recipe, here it is again, in all it's ridiculous easiness :
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PUMPKIN COOKIES:

1 box spice cake mix  (any variety)
1 can of pumpkin
& as many chocolate chips as you desire

Mix together and bake at 350 degrees for 7-12ish minutes until cookies are golden and firm to the touch . . . and you're DONE!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It's too easy.  Go make a batch right now.
And eat them with a glass or cold, cold milk, because if you're anything like me, you'll be eating more than one.

september 22nd

In honor of the first day of fall, the weather here was kind enough to stay in the 80's - that's chilly for around here folks - I actually wore pants.  Now if only the leaves would start turning colors I'd really be a happy camper, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.  One wish at a time.

Happy autumn.

Picture via Pinterest 

fall favorites

I was under the impression that everyone knew about these pumpkin cookies...until recently.

Allow me to introduce you to the easiest (and most delicious) cookies of the holiday seasons:

I confess I've never been much a fan of gingerbread cookies...sorry.

And that's it.

Seriously, that's all.

It's not fall without a few of these babies and a tall glass of milk.

p.s. I would have added pictures to this post, but, um...there aren't exactly any left to show.  Sorry again.

weekend treasures

This weekend was much spent among consignment stores, craft stores, TJ Max, Craigslist, KSL and Home Depot in an attempt to decorate our apartment before the winter frost sticks.

It's true.

Fall nesting mode has set in at last.

Bless David's heart, he was such a good sport and went with we me to more stores than he would have liked (don't worry we made necessary stops at Golden Spoon and Jamba Juice for sugar boosts), but we did find more than a few treasures I must show you:

This darling picture was hiding in the back of DI.

Where will we hang it?  No idea.

But we love it.

$2.99

I grabbed, um, a few paint chips from Home Depot to start a little project.

(we'll see if it turns out at all...)

$0.00

I adore this little new mirror.

Our tiny little kitchen feels a tad bit bigger now.

Not much more than a tad though.

Target gift cards!

I have to brag a little about this pillow.

$3.00

What??

I know.

Treasure.

 And these are my favorite.

I'll post an update when they're done and hung.

Till then you must wonder what will happen to my mismatched oddly shaped mirrors...

$9.99 a piece

A successful weekend I think.

Now we just need to find a dresser for the bedroom...

help?

after the boat ride...

last Halloween we discovered one of Provo's holiday gems:

the Provo River Halloween Cruise

2010

 notice me & Dave all cozy there in the middle?  
we had just been dating for about a month at this point

It was definitely a tradition worth keeping

Who wouldn't want to hear ghost stories about The Cremation of Sam Mcgee and Sleepy Hollow in a boat with lit jack-o-lanterns all around?

Did I mention the pirate attack in the middle of the boat ride?

Best. Tradition. Ever.   


P.S. Here are our belated Halloween costumes:
Colonel Mustard & Mrs. White

We had the whole gang (Prof. Plum, Miss Scarlet etc.), but group pictures were on someone else's camera...if I get a hold of them in the remotely near future I'll throw them up here as well!

Cheers!

UPDATE: Group pictures have been found

 

Happy {belated} Halloween!