Carving Pumpkins

It's the time of year y'all! Time to carve pumpkins, dress up, and go bobbing for apples. (I have actually never been bobbing for apples, it kind of sounds terrible.)  Anyhow, last weekend my roomies and I made turkey burgers, muffins, and carved our pumpkins.  It's actually a rare occasion that all three of us are home together so it was pretty nice.  Plus, here's a confession, I have never really carved a pumpkin on my own.  My memories of carving pumpkins as a child are telling my dad what I wanted on my pumpkin and watching him do it. Is that sad?

Hope you all are having a happy fall and doing lots of fall activities!

Easy Pumpkin and Chocolate Chip Muffins

The other day before the UCLA Cal game I made these easy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for our tailgating party.  They are super easy if you want to make something festive for an upcoming party or get together.

All you'll need are:

• 2 boxes spiced cake mix
• 1 Large can pumpkin puree
• 1 Large bag chocolate chips

All you have to do is simply mix your three ingredients together, scoop into cupcake tins, and cook for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. It's that easy!

I had seen this recipe all over the internet and I was skeptical as to how they would turn out with no eggs or oil or anything but the puree keeps them moist and they are perfect.

UCLA vs Cal

This weekend I kept busy by going to my parent's house to visit and going to the UCLA Cal football game at the Rose Bowl on Saturday with my family.  In case I haven't mentioned before, my whole family are huge UCLA football fans and most of them half season tickets to the game.  Since I don't have season tickets, I'll usually go to one game a season when someone doesn't show up and has an extra ticket.  This week a ton of family members were absent due to a wedding so my sister, my mom and I were able to go.  I am happy to report that we won 37 to 10 which still leaves UCLA undefeated for the season.  Anyone who keeps up with pac 12 football knows that's long overdue since we had a pretty big losing streak for a few years up until recently.

Anyhow, that's what I have been up to lately.  Also, I've been ecstatic that it actually feels like fall.

Revamping a TV Tray

Before the move I revamped an old TV tray my parent's had in their closet so I could use it as a side table on the other side of my bed.  Really easy and cheap project so stay tuned!

Started like this

Sanded the whole thing down, unfortunately mine was pretty old and pretty cheap. It had quite a few water marks on the top which made painting a little more difficult. 

I gave the whole tray several coats of while spray paint.

I then taped off the top where I wanted the stripes and painted them.

Then all you've got to do is let dry and remove the tape.  You may have to touch it up a little after the tape is removed.  When I took the painter's tape off it removed a bit of paint.

Wah-La! Cute side table.

To see how I made the magnet board in the back you can go here.

Greek Yogurt Peanut Butter Dip

Happy October!  Where did September go though, seriously?  I guess since October is finally here that means fall is finally in full swing! If you're anything like me you love to spend you fall mornings in bed with a cup of coffee and maybe some fruit while watching Netflix.  Today I have the whole day off, no work, no school so that's exactly what I am doing.  However, I decided to try and make a little something new with my morning apples and crackers.  I had seen a few different recipes for different fruit dips made with Greek yogurt and decided to make one of my own.  Here is what you'll need...

• Greek yogurt of your choosing
• Peanut butter of your choosing
• Cinnamon 
• Honey

There is really no set plan for this dip.  Add you desired amount of peanut butter to taste.  This is about the amount I used...

Mix in peanut butter well before adding a bit of honey and a dash of cinnamon to taste.  Enjoy with your favorite fruit and some crackers!

Hope everyone has a happy Saturday!

Some September Activities

Let's catch up on what's been going on lately.  We first of all let's just state the obvious, IT'S FALL!  Which means the heat wave in San Diego has officially ended and I can actually wear sweaters and boots without feeling like I'm gonna die.  I have been taking advantage of that this week by pulling all my cardigans out of my closet and putting them to good use.  My favorite fall outfit so far has been the one pictured in the middle.

Cardigan: Old Navy

Dress: Forever21

Earings: Forever21

Glasses: Warby Parker

Phone case: Ebay

Last week was my friend Miranda's birthday and we celebrated by going out to In Cahoots, a country bar in San Diego, for drinks and dancing. Happy Birthday girl!  Also, that was probably the most exciting thing to happen to me in a while because I NEVER go out.

Back to this week, although I'm excited about the weather, this week has been extremely hectic.  I had two midterms on Tuesday; French and 19th century European art history.  I worked Wednesday night so I stated up late studying after I got home then rushed to school early the next morning to study some more.  After a bit of a stressful day my work called later that evening to see if I wanted to pick up a five hour closing shift, which I couldn't say no to, need the money!  So I worked till about 1030, and let me tell you, after that day, I don't think I've ever been more happy to see my bed.  But then this morning I went back to work for a little shopping since it's employee appreciation weekend!  As you can see I got a lot of maroon colored clothing, 1. because its the perfect fall color and 2. because my manager says it's my color and she helped me pick out half of it.  Cannot wait to wear it though, with my new boots!

And in between all of the midterms and work this week I got a cute little snapchat from my sister, it made me smile.

Tonight, to relax me and the roomies ordered pizza, made some margaritas and started watching American Horror Story (which is crazy, have any of you watched it? Creepy and addicting right?)  

What have you all been up to in these first few weeks of fall?

The Autumn Tag

I saw the autumn tag on The Marvelous Flight of Cara's blog and I obviously had to do it.  It's a well known fact that autumn is the best season in the world.  Well, maybe that's more of an opinion...nope actually I'm gonna stand by what I said, it's a fact.  Changing seasons, new Starbucks drinks, and lots of scarves and boots! Yes please!  So here are some of my favorite things about fall in The Autumn Tag...

1.  Favorite thing about autumn.
The clothes.  Not sure who doesn't love wearing boots, scarves, and tights again.  Boots and scarves are definitely my weakness, I have a closet full of boots and I literally have two drawers in one of my dressers dedicated to scarves.  I also love the change in weather and being able to curl up with a cup of coffee and read my kindle, write on my blog, or watch some Netflix while its rainy and cold outside.

2.  Favorite drink
Obviously Starbucks's PSL, Pumpkin Spice Latte!

3.  Favorite scent/candle.
Of course all candles from Bath and Body Works are to die for, I love "Autumn Day" and "Pumpkin Pecan Waffle."  But nothing can beat those smells that have some nostalgia attached to it; the scent of thanksgiving dinner cooking at my parent's house or my mom's pumpkin surprise in the oven.

4.  Best lipstick.
I am a lipstick fanatic so this is a tough one, but MAC's rebel is perfect for fall.

5. Go to moisturizer.
I have really dry skin naturally so cold weather only makes it worse.  I use Cetaphil and Palmer's cocoa butter all year round, in fall I just use more of it.

6. Go to color for eyes.
I don't really have a go to color for my eyes in autumn, pretty much depends on what mood I'm in or what I'm doing.  However, ELF's baked eyeshadows really do remind me of fall.

7.  Favorite music to listen to.
A little Iron and Wine and coffee is perfect for fall.  Also for some reason Nada Surf's cover of "If You Leave" really reminds me of fall.

8.  Favorite outfit.
Dear lord I have to pick one? Impossible.  Just a couple of examples though are, a cute dress with some boots, tights, and a chunky sweater,;or black riding pants, boots, leather jacket, and a big scarf.

9. Favorite autumn treat.
Pumpkin pie and my dad's party potatoes on Thanksgiving.

10. Favorite place to be.
In bed, at my parent's house, or at a UCLA football game!

I tag all of you to answer these questions!

Let me know what you favorite things are about autumn.

Churro Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

So, I haven't posted a recipe in a while which is a shame because I have a ton! Especially cupcake recipes, I actually went through a phase where I made a different cupcake every week just to try new recipes.  My family and friends hated/loved how many cupcakes I was feeding them.  Anyhow, I've made this recipe a few times for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cinnamon and spice flavors make it perfect for the holidays and come on, who doesn't love churros?

*this recipe makes about 18-20 Cupcakes

Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 (1 stick) cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin pan with cupcake liners.

2.  In a medium mixing bowl stir together your flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.  Set this mixture aside.

3.  In a large mixing bowl stir together butter and sugar until it is fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time then stir in vanilla and oil.  No alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk starting and finishing with the flour mixture and stirring in between.

4.  Fill your cupcake liners with the mixture until they are about half way full.  Bake your cupcakes for 14 to 16 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cupcakes cool before frosting.

Frosting

Ingredients:

4 ounces cream cheese softened
4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
2 cups confection's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
carmel sauce-as much as desired
cinnamon sugar mixture-as much as desired

Directions:

1.  Mix together the butter and cream cheese in large mixing bowl.  Add confections' sugar one cup at a time mixing in between addition.  Add in cinnamon and mix together before adding the vanilla.  Beat mixture until fluffy.

2.  Pipe frosting onto cupcakes.  Sprinkle on cinnamon sugar mixture and squeeze on desired amount of carmel sauce.

3. Enjoy!

Becoming a Woman: The Story of a Headboard

Well guys, it happened, I am officially a woman; I have a headboard!  A few months back I shared a post about my longing for a headboard, you can find it here.  I knew I wanted a rustic style, DIY headboard but I had a couple different ideas.  I finally settled on this being my inspiration...

I didn't have a pallet big enough for my bed so I simply sent this picture to my craftsman (my father) and he built it for me. I would have loved to do the staining myself but I wasn't able to make time in my schedule to drive up to Riverside and do it.  But, the important thing is that I have a head board, see...

Reed the deer loves it.

Chevron Fail

This summer when I was spending time at my parent's house before the move I decided to to a couple of DIY projects for the new house.  One of them was revamping a cork board.  I had seen a few things I liked on Pinterest and thought it might be fun to do a chevron pattern on the cork part and paint the frame.  Okay, let me just tell you, I know that chevron is all the rage but I had never actually attempted to draw it out and for some reason I found it a lot harder then it probably should have been.  First off, let me just say I failed geometry in high school, angles are not my thing.  Secondly, Rose Art cork boards are cheap for a reason, the cork on the top layer comes off very easily when pulling off painters tape.  Anyhow, everyone has their DIY fails so I thought I would share mine.

Starting out

Tapping out the chevron

Clearly helping

Painting the cork

Crooked chevron pattern with some missing paint and cork.

It's really not all that bad.  The righthand side is obviously where it is most noticeable but I figured it's a cork board, things will be pinned to it and it'll be covered up half the time.  Plus isn't perfection overrated anyway?

But honestly, if anyone has any chevron pattern tips that may make my life easier in the future that would be awesome.

Catching up After the Move

So, long absences are a trend for me on my blog and I am through apologizing for them.  I wish had I had the same disciple that so many other bloggers who write everyday or a couple of time a week do, but I do not.  Instead I'll just have to catch you all up on what I did in-between writing.  First of all, as I had been saying, I did in fact move.  My new place feels so much more like home than my old one; although there will always be a certain bit of nostalgia that I hold with that old house, it was my first place away from home besides a dorm room.  While we all know renting in your 20's is far from perfect I am happy to say that I am moving up.

I'll try and post a mini room tour later on.  Also look foward to a post about how I revamped an old TV tray and made it into a cute side table (right) as well as a post about my new friend Reed the Deer.

Besides moving, I have also been working and I started school once again.  I am happy to report I am taking two classes for my major instead of just a ton of transfer catch up classes, hopefully that means I won't want to kill myself this semester.  In the span of two months I have also gotten new glasses, finally visited the San Diego art museum in Balboa Park, watched the entirety of Friday Night Lights, (I recommend it) started looking for a second job, and bought a candle the smells like cinnamon donuts.  Pretty sure those are all of the important things that have happened.