I’ve spent the past week wearing sweaters, jackets, riding boots and leggings while touring apple orchards. Fall is so fantastic! Keeping with last week’s fall food theme, this week’s recipe is a healthy(ish) version of pumpkin spice French toast!
I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest, and it was very easy to recreate.
You guys. You guys. Good morning! It’s fall. Today is the first 60-degree day in mid-Michigan, so I’m kicking off a new blog feature, Food Fridays, with a seasonal favorite.
I’m sure that if you’re on Twitter, or even the Internet, you’ve seen the sassy bit, “If you say the phrase ‘pumpkin spice latte’ three times, a white girl in yoga pants will appear and tell you all her favorite things about fall.” It’s terrible, but so true. I’m not wearing yoga pants right now, but you get the gist. Fall means pumpkin spice latte season.
I had my first pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks two years ago and I hated it. It was chalky and sludgy and just not flavorful at all to me. Not to mention it’s expensive at $4.50 a pop. But then again, I’m not a huge pumpkin fan. Determined and desperate to embrace all things fall, including pumpkin, I started my mission to create my own version of the popular seasonal drink.
In addition to upcycling and crafting, I’m also really passionate about cooking. Blame my mom- she’s a pastry chef, so I inherited my kitchen genes from her. When I started planting my plot in our community garden in the spring, I came across a neat idea online for my herbs. Since herbs are more of a last-minute need for cooking, I didn’t want to have to walk or bike four blocks away to snip some parsley for my spaghetti, so I decided to make a simple contraption for growing my herbs right in my apartment. This project includes mason jars, pallet wood and organic herbs, so what’s not to love?
I made it back to California!
And, of course, what else would draw me back to this state but Invisible Children.
Kind of like the first time I made it to the West Coast, this non-profit has a way of getting me to go anywhere and everywhere.
And, of course, much like my first trip to California for an Invisible Children conference, this one was extended by a few days as well.
If you read my burlap curtain DIY post, you might have noticed that I had been doing some pretty heavy hinting toward a new project that I had started.
It took four months of measuring, ironing, painting, procrastinating and measuring, but I finally finished my new duvet cover.
Hello all! I don’t think I’ve posted much about it on my blog, but I’ve been on a major upcycling spree lately. Yes- we’re talking about vintage carboys, old fruit crates, discarded cable spools (all of which I have projects planned for) and, of course, PALLETS. Because pallets are the first lesson in Upcycling 101.
I had a few pallet projects planned, including a set of shelves and a wine rack, but they all took a backseat when I moved into my new apartment and my bed was uneven with the wall due to both an unfortunate heating vent and windowsill. My pillows kept slipping behind my bed in my sleep. Solution? Pallet headboard.
Hey guys, welcome me back to WordPress! After a two+ year hiatus, I’m migrating my blog back to this host from Tumblr. I absolutely love Tumblr’s simplicity and my current layout, but due to the simplicity, I just can’t exactly do everything I need to do with it.
I relied on WordPress to build my college newspaper when I was its editor, so I’m moving back over here because I know this host will do everything I need it to.
I’m also hoping to expand my blog into what it needs to be: my personal brand. As a young professional slash graduate student with quite a few hobbies and a love of traveling, my life has been scattered across the web since the 90’s. I’m hoping to collect everything personal and professional right to this hybrid blog-site.
So bear with me while I make this transition. I’m glad to be back!
One of the things I absolutely love about my new apartment is the gorgeous corner windows. My bedroom is always incredibly bright, I have a great view of University Avenue and the beautiful pink Emma’s building and I never have to turn my obnoxious tube lights on.
But- my windows came with blinds. Horrible, terrible, yellowing, hard to maneuver, tacky and gaudy blinds. Have I mentioned how much I hate blinds?
Luckily, the previous tenant had left a ton of curtain rods stashed in my closet, and the mounts already stuck into the cement walls around my windows.
I’m trying to keep a theme of vintage industrialized rustic (aka: Pinterest) going in my apartment, and I knew I wanted to throw in a touch of burlap. Ceiling-to-floor burlap curtains sounded wonderful, not to mention easy.
I made a pretty big commitment the other day, guys. Ready to meet him? OK. This is Henrik.
I finally moved to downtown Mount Pleasant. Granted, it isn’t Boston or New York or Chicago, but for right now with work and school keeping me in the middle of the mitten state, it’s the best I can do. So far, it’s already been a huge experience. Let’s recap:
I come from a small town with two stoplights. I graduated with a class of 80-something, and my backyard was a cornfield. Mount Pleasant is vastly larger than the Village of Clinton. I moved into the dorms at Central Michigan University for two years, then a student apartment complex on the outskirts of town, a party house right off of campus, a family housing apartment complex in Grand Blanc and back to a student apartment complex on the outskirts of Mount Pleasant. As of a week ago, I’ve been living in a downtown loft apartment, and it’s been an adjustment. I’ve learned a few things.
