Pumpk-aholics Anonymous

...except not so anonymous.

I think it's pretty clear by now that I'm REALLY excited for the holidays. I woke up this foggy morning, lit my "creamy pumpkin" candle from Bath and Body Works, and brewed a nice, hot pot of pumpkin joe (coffee). 

As I said in my last post, I bake my friend an amazing loaf of pumpkin goodness for his 21st birthday! It was inspired by the pumpkin coffee cake on How Sweet It Is.

Now tell me that doesn't look good!

I took the easy way out though because A) I didn't have the time to bake the entire thing from scratch and B) my way was cheaper. 

Instead of making the cake batter, I used the pumpkin spice bread mix from Trader Joe's. Thank you, dear Joe, for making my life that much easier once again. 

The next steps were easy peasy: making/sprinkling the crumbles on top, baking it, and topping it with a glaze. NOM.

Not to toot my own horn, but the boys all said this was the best dessert their house received and the entire thing was devoured within an hour of cutting into it. (toot toot!)

My baking-skepade and the sweet aroma of goodies in the air lead to Madison wanting to bake cupcakes. Hers were a little more artsy and decoration-oriented than I have patiences for. I helped a little but I mostly just did this...

Which lead to this...

Yep, that's frosting on a candy corn...

Can you say, "up until 2am on a sugar high?"

Gaucho Gear

Sorry for the posts lately! (or lack there of...)

I have been on the weirdest schedule! From about Thursday to Saturday, I was falling asleep between 3-4am and getting up at about 8.  No bueno... especially for a girl who ordinarily falls asleep at 10 and wakes up at 7. These past couple days, I've been sleeping 10-11 hours and still feeling poopy. I've had little to no energy to get outside and run, study, or pretty much anything that involved any sort of effort. I think this may be an accumulation of being sleep deprived, then getting too much sleep, not eating as well, and not exercising. Today's a new day though! I'm turning this around!

After class I rode over to the bookstore because I felt I was in need of UCSB gear. I figure this is the place I'm graduating from so I'll be reppin' this stuff for a while. I ended up with a tank top, sweat pants, and sweatshirt (getting ready for the winter if you couldn't tell).

I then met with my friend Bryna (who I worked at Jack's with in high school) at the Coffee Collaborative.  

This was a little hole-in-the wall coffee shop. So adorable inside and out! It reminded me of Central Perk because inside, there were couches, eclectic art, and a bunch of board games! I'm definitely going to be coming here more often. I didn't get any coffee unfortunately because as you know, I'm trying to get back into my routine sleep habit, but they had awesome latte flavors like coconut, almond, caramel apple cider, heath, and Love (raspberry and white chocolate). I also love it when coffee shops offer almond milk, and of course, this one did! 

Bryna and I sat outside and came ready to study, but we did a little less of that and a little more chatting and listening to the music from the restaurant next door. I swear these people had our Rio fashion show playlist because within an hour, they played "Fire Burning", "Achy Breaky Heart", and "Disturbia". Random selection...?

I'm off now to bake my friend a special fall-festive dessert for his 21st birthday! I'll post about this delicious goodness tomorrow :P

Anthropolgie

Currently Listening to: Summer Hits of the 90s Pandora Radio station

Yesterday I set out on a mission to find a delicious smelling autumn/winter candle.

Success!

Potent, pumpkin-y, cozy, but not too sweet (so I don't get a headache after hours of smelling it).

I also popped by Anthropologie where they were having a big sale! LOVE ITTT! 25% off all sale items! You should go check it out if you get the chance.

Instinct buys, instinct buys, instinct buys! I'm telling you, this is when you get your best stuff. The UGGS that I've had since the summer after 8th grade, instinct buy in Oregon. Guess what. I'm wearing them right now. These babies have lasted me over 6 years! They're probably the most worn item in my closet.

I bought a super cute military inspired jacket. I've been wanting an army green one, but an off-white one caught my eye instead. I figured it would go with more. That's a $118 jacket for about $55. SCORE!

I also bought this spaghetti strap.

I just saw this jacket online and now I really want it too! Zut.

Dinner was salmon and kale chips! I made a batch of kale chips that ended up turning brown/burnt. I threw them away and made a second batch that turned out not crispy enough. Any secrets to making them well?

(Pre-cooked) It was deeeeeelicious!

Happy weekend to all, and to all a good day.

Newport Bound

Currently listening to: No One's Gonna Love You by Band of Horses

Work was awesome last night. Apparently, a couple of customers told my managers about how perky and personable I was, so guess who gets free lunch on Trader Joe's next time I work?? This girl! I'm also really starting to warm up to all of my new comadres at this store. Double awesome! 

In light of all this positivity, I wanted to share this: "30 Truths I've Learned In 30 Years". Definite words to live by. Read them all!

After class today, Madison, her friend Kelsey, and I are headed to Madison's condo in Newport! Shopping, beach, and Bear Flag Fish Co. here I come!!!

Life is good :)

The Old Man's Snoring

Currently listening to: All Those Pretty Lights by Andrew Belle

It finally came. I woke up to the pitter pattering of the rain on my window. I couldn't be happier!

... oh wait, I could be. I'd be ecstatic if I could cuddle up on my couch with a hot cup of pumpkin coffee and pinterest while watching endless episodes of "The Playboy Club" (which I just heard got canceled because dumb, prude moms say that it gives women a bad name. Have they seen the "Real Housewives" or "Jersey Shore"?! C'mon!) 

Instead, my day is filled with biking around campus getting to my various classes, biking home, and then going to work for 8 hours. Goodie goodie gumdrops!

Have a great day, and try to stay dry!

Note to self: Must make this BBQ Beer Chicken in the very near future. Thanks for the crock pot, mom!

Lazy Acres

Currently listening to: No Such Thing by John Mayer

It rained last night!!! Eeeeeep! I love it! When i went for my run this morning, everything smelled like autumn. So fresh, so clean... yadadamean? Because of this sudden weather change, I feel the need to put John Mayer on repeat. Just one of those things you gotta do.

After my (really, really ridiculously boring) 11am class, I met up with my friend Lauren for lunch at Lazy Acres. She was Madison's roomie last year and I haven't seen her since I've been back in Santa Barbara. Whenever I go to Lazy Acres, I always have to look at what they have on special. These items are always really good and super cheap! Today's was turkey meatloaf. Yum. Perfect cold weather food, eh eh?

After eating and catching up, we ventured back inside to take a gander at all of the awesome, unique items. I didn't intend on buying anything but "instinct buys" are kind of my middle name. I ended coming out with dried turkish figs, carob chips (thanks to another one of Emily's wonderful suggestions), and Crunchies. 

What are Crunchies?  They're freeze dried fruit. Worth the $5.75 I spent on them? I'm not sure, I haven't tried them yet, but they came in a tropical fruit mix that I couldn't resist. I'm going to think of it as an investment because now I can try mango, banana, strawberry, pineapple, and orange all on one bag versus Trader Joe's were I'd have to buy each individually. 

The carob chips I added to my trail mix of raw cashews, slivered almonds, and coconut shavings. Brilliant! 

We also strolled by the nut butter isle. Lauren suggested one from Peanut Butter and Co: dark chocolate peanut butter! Unfortunately, they were sold out, but have no fear, they had a cinnamon raisin peanut butter in stock! It was too expensive to buy (especially since I was already getting those 6 buck Crunchies) but Lauren did let me try some of her dark chocolate peanut butter at home. Oh lord. I'm just glad I don't have it at my house because it'd be gone in a day, tops. I took a nice spoonful for "dessert". Heated up, it would be AMAZING on top of ice cream! Let me stop at that because I'm salivating a little more than I'd like to be right now. 

I also came across a pumpkin seed butter! Heaven? I'm sure! But look at that price! 

Ouch! My wallet isn't ready for that blow yet.

Off to my night class. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain on my while I'm biking!

Putting the "kin" in Pumpkin

Currently watching: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

This weekend has been chock-full of fun, new endeavors!

Friday night, the movie Bridesmaids was playing at the IV Theater for $4! Gotta love student prices in college towns.  I wasn't the biggest fan of this movie when I first saw it in theaters; that very well may have been from all the hype and overexposure of the whole ordeal.  This time around, I loved it! My friend Erin and I were laughing the majority of the time.  Judd Apatow, the producer of this movie, is one of my favorite filmmakers and wrote, produced, or directed other hilarious movies such as Get Him to the Greek, Step Brothers, Pineapple Express, Forgetting Sarah Marshal, Knocked Up, Superbad, Anchorman, 40 Year Old Virgin. Can you say "rolling in the dough"??

This week was also my first weeks working at my new Trader Joe's! This transfer went smoothly, but I still definitely miss my old homies at the store in Sac. I'm sure the people at my new store will be just as awesome though.

One big perk about working at Trader Joe's is that I get to virtually shop/brows for 8 hours during each of my shifts. This morning, I was putting up some coffee and tea when I came across this heaven-sent.  

Pumpin Spice coffee?!?!?!?!?!?

I think I mentioned in the previous post how grateful I am for pumpkin items. Well, not only am I an avid pumpkin consumer, but I am also a coffee addict! A girl wakes up for work at 4am and finds this orange tin 3 hours into her shift; what's a girl to do?! Of course I ran right over to my manager and told him about this new item with bright eyes and a giddy grin. Of course he was excited too and decided to brew a fresh pot (the only reasonable thing to do)!

One word describes it... MMMM (that's more a sound than a word, but you get the picture).

(this was just too perfect!)

I also added to my list of groceries: cocoa powder. I seem to buy whatever I stock that day. This was also inspired by Emily's shakes.

Well, time to get back to tanning and studying while the sun's still out! I hear next week it's supposed to rain so my goal is to get as dark as possible until then.

Over and out!

Shifting Back Into School Gear

Currently Listening To: Perfectly Lonely by John Mayer

(I feel like this image I stumbled upon the other day was perfect for this song)

Alright guys, I'm backalack in action!  Time to catch up?  Get ready for this jam-packed post.

Let's start with the weather: since my arrival to Santa Barbara, it's been pretty foggy and grey every morning, and some days, all day! Very UN-Santa Barbara-like. Definitely more of a Santa Cruz feel. I'm not complaining though, I love the fall!!! We all know my favorite time of year, hands down, is fall. You know what, we're going to call it "autumn"from now on because it sounds classier.  Everything about autumn makes me happy.  Leaves changing, the crisp, cold air, the faint light of Christmas cheer in the distance, the smell of pumpkin candles, wearing scarves, pumpkin pie, pumpkin butter (let's be honest, pretty much pumpkin everything).

Snack-wise: I've been taking some of Emily's Paleo Diet ideas and incorporating them into my own diet. Example une >

This is my take on the trail mix that she raved about for days. I switched a couple things up because I'm not a huge fan of raisins and, years ago, I dried apricotted myself out! Instead of those two dried fruits, I used dehydrated strawberries.  Very delish and colorful.  

• Almond Slivers
• Raw Cashews
• Dehydrated Strawberries
• Coconut Shavings

Emily, I know what you're thinking... "That's completely different than the trail mix I told you about!" I know, I know haha you'll just have to make some of yours for me at some point.

Breakfast coverage:  I've kind of been in a big ol' breakfast rut. Don't worry though, it's a rut that I love! I've been making eggs every morning! 

• 2 Eggs (usually 1 egg and 1 egg white)
• Sauteed Crimini Mushrooms
• Spinach
• Avocado
• Salsa

I'm a little scared I'm eating too many eggs lately.  Madison and I hardboiled a dozen the other day so I've been putting 1 in my salads as well.  That's about 2-3 eggs a day. Nutrition/Dietetics majors: Is my cholesterol about to sky rocket?? With this concern, I bought egg whites (which I used to use on the reg but they gross Madison out for some reason).

(I was proud of this^. I hope, one day, my husband appreciates these little hidden gems i leave around the house)

The salad I've been making lately is completely inspired by my mama. It's exactly what she puts in her big hodge podge salads.  

• Spinach
• Shredded Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Hard Boiled Egg
• Cottage Cheese
• Craisins
• Sunflower Seeds
• Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar

Enough about food, it's television time! So back in the day, I used to get in trouble for watching so much tv.  If I was bad, I wasn't allowed to watch it. If I was "grounded", usually the only thing taken away from me were my tv privileges. 

(Allow me to digress a bit...)

I've been reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (fun fact: "The Happiness Project" started out just as a simple blog). In the book, she writes that one should pursue a career doing something that they love; something they would do even if they didn't get paid for it; something they do in the spare time anyways. Originally, Gretchen was in law, content, but not in love with her job. She loved reading and in her spare time, she would write, which inspired her sudden career change to becoming an author.  

The other day, in my Hollywood class and my professor was interviewing her guest, a senior editor for "Backstage" magazine, who said that if you want to work in the movie industry, watch a lot of movies, if you want to work for television, watch a lot of television.  This solidified the vision of my career path. So, moral of this story, I'm probably going to be reviewing television on this blog as well! 

TV Update Numero Uno: I found this awesome show on Hulu called "A Day in the Life Of". It's a super interesting show that follows various inspirational people around for a day (from Will.I.Am to Richard Branson to GirlTalk). You not only get to see what they do, but you get to hear their commentary, thoughts, ideas, and history.  A+ Hulu!