My Weekend Instagrams

Happy Halloween!

Seattle at night is my favorite.

Date with Hubby at Thai Tom, hands down the

best Thai food in Seattle.

Just chillin with a tree before our date.

My small attempt to bring some fall 

into our apartment.

Spent some quality time with my parent's

crazy Goldendoodle, Jack.

 This makes me happy. Crunchy fall leaves 

under my feet.

 I took my own advice and thrifted an 

oversized sweater. It's a men's medium.

Do I care? No.

No Halloween parties for us this year. Tonight we plan on staying in and drinking warm apple cider while watching scary movies on Netflix. Sounds perfect to me! What are your Halloween plans? Anything exciting? 

My Secret Love Affair

This morning while Hubby was at school I had a hot date. Meet Trader Joe's Pancake and Waffle Mix. We go way back. It really is true love (shhhh....don't tell Lance!).

While my date and I got acquainted, I watched some Sister Wives (don't judge). I actually really enjoy learning about people who deviate from the norm. Hmmmm, maybe that's why I have a sociology degree with an emphasis on crime and deviance. Seriously these people fascinate me. They actually really do accomplish their goal of displaying how "normal" they are. No prairie dresses or child brides. Their relative normalness is almost the most interesting thing about it....


Have you watched Sister Wives? What are your thoughts?

Must Have Fall Fashion: Cozy Sweaters

I'm kind of obsessed with sweaters right now. I went shopping with my sister this weekend and tried on about 100. But did I bite the bullet and purchase any? No. Why? I have no idea. I'm regretting it as I type this. 

Fall is definitely the start of sweater season. Cozy, warm sweaters that make you want to snuggle up in front of a fire with a pumpkin latte.

The great thing about sweaters is you don't have to buy a brand new $80 one to look cute! Sweaters are all over thrift stores. I'd say they're one of the easiest thrift store purchases because it really doesn't matter if it's the perfect size. Even over-sized sweaters can be an adorable, casual look. Shrunken sweater? No problem! Cropped shirts are all the rage so you'll fit right in with the current fashion trend. I'd rather layer it than have my stomach hanging out though. But whatever floats your boat.

 
You know who else needs sweaters? Animals. In case you need convincing, check out this handsome devil. Rawr. 

Sources:
1. via Pinterest   2. Lookbook.nu   3. ASOS  4. The Daybook sweater: Chicwish   

5. UO  6. via Pinterest  7. UO 8. inetgiant

{psssst........new printable on the printables page!}

Free Printable: Recipe Cards

You'll cut yours straighter than I did, right?

Today I am adding the first item to my Printables Page! Here is a fall-colored recipe card for you to keep all of your favorite fall treat recipes organized. Since this is the first time I have tried this, please let me know if something doesn't work correctly. You should be able to click here and be redirected to Google Docs, then click the file menu and "download original". Then print as many as you need. I printed mine on a light gray cardstock, but white or any other light color works as well! I think it would look great on a light brown cardstock. Enjoy!

Click here to download Recipe Cards

Pin It

Visit the Printables Page for a full list of free printables!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Recipe

It is officially FALL! I couldn't be more excited about this. Fall is definitely my favorite season. The food, the clothes, the leaves, the cool crisp air...seriously what my dreams are made of.

So I am going to declare this Fall Week!  Every post this week shall be dedicated to the gloriousness of this season. If you don't love fall, then GET OUT. I'm serious. Fall haters not allowed.

If you love fall and holidays then click here and follow my mom's 31 days: Inspired Holidays series. You won't be disappointed.

In order to bring fall into every moment of my life I have been super into pumpkin lately. Pumpkin smoothies, scones, coffee, puddings, pies, beer and even oatmeal. So today I shall share my pumpkin oatmeal recipe with you. Enjoy.

Pumpkin Oatmeal
Serves 2

Ingredients
Thick Rolled Oats (1 cup)
Almond Milk [or any milk] (1 cup)
Water (1 cup)
Ground Flaxseed [optional] (2 tablespoons)
Organic Canned Pumpkin Puree (4 tablespoons)
Pumpkin Pie Spice (or nutmeg and ginger) (1 teaspoon)

Maple syrup and Cinnamon for serving

What to do with those ingredients
-Put oats, water and milk into medium sized pan and set burner to high until boiling, then immediately turn down to simmer for about 10 minutes

-After 10 minutes (or until oatmeal is fairly thick), add flaxseed, pumpkin and spice and stir well

-Simmer for 5 more minutes or until desired consistency

-drizzle with syrup, sprinkle with cinnamon and serve!

Variations
Add more or less pumpkin based on your taste preferences
Add some pecans and dried cranberries for some extra spectacularness

Lazy Mornings

pumpkin oatmeal, coffee and slippers.

I love lazy mornings spent with husband in bathrobes and slippers, sipping away at coffee and chatting until the afternoon. They're the best.

Here's to a wonderful weekend ahead! I will be spending time with good friends, decorating for fall and hanging out with sweet kiddos at church. 

What are your weekend plans?

Chia Granola Recipe

The other day I threw together some homemade granola and it was so amazing that I must share the recipe. The problem is I am not really a recipe person. I just kinda throw together ingredients until it seems right to me. You really can't go wrong with granola. This one is perfect for fall!

Later this week I will make it again (because husband has begged for more) and this time I will actually measure ingredients and update this post with a step-by-step recipe.

But for now, you will have to settle for the basics and my total guesses for how much of each ingredient I used.  Hmmm....I wonder how close I will be when I actually measure.
Update 11/3: I was pretty much right on except for a couple of small changes, which I note below. I'm going to keep the measurements as "about" and "handful" because I like it that way. Don't be afraid to not be exact. Nothing bad will happen (I hope!).

Chia Granola Recipe
**Updated: Reduced time to 20-25 minutes, less cinnamon, less honey.**

Ingredients: 
Rolled Oats (about 3 cups)
Raw Sliced Almonds (handful or so)
Raw Pumpkin Seeds (handful or so)
Roasted and Salted Sunflower Seeds (handful or so)
Chia Seeds (about 2-3 tablespoons)
Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal (about 1 tablespoon)
Dried Cranberries (about 2 handfuls)
Olive Oil (about 1/4 cup)
Raw Honey (about 1/2 tablespoon)
Raw Agave Nectar (about 1/4 cup)
Cinnamon (about 1/2 teaspoon)


What to do with those ingredients:
1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Combine all dry ingredients (except for cranberries*) in a medium sized mixing bowl
3. Stir together oil, agave, honey and cinnamon in a separate small bowl and pour over dry ingredients
4. If all dry ingredients are not thoroughly coated, squeeze some more agave into the mixture until it seems coated enough to me
5. Spread the granola mixture onto a nonstick or buttered cookie sheet and bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown, stirring a couple of times
6. Remove from oven and stir in dried cranberries and let cool completely before storing in an airtight container

*Make sure you don't add the cranberries until after you have baked the granola! I accidentally put mine in while mixing and had to pick them all out. If you bake them they will get dry and burned.


Variations
You can use regular honey instead of raw honey.
You can substitute honey for agave.
Really, you can substitute anything. Granola is very versatile. 
Husband likes to add chocolate chips.

Serving
I like to eat it sprinkled over plain goat yogurt and honey.
You can also just eat it plain, or with milk, or sprinkled over oatmeal, froyo, whatever!

Why Chia Seeds?
Chia seeds are so versatile and so good for you! According to FoodMatters.tv, they have more iron than spinach, more calcium than milk and even more antioxidants than blueberries. This seed also has the highest content of omega-3 oils. For information about the health benefits of Chia seeds, read here or here!

This week brought to you by Instagram.

Striped Sweaters

Coffee Shops

Beach Trip

Split Pea Soup

Purple Cabbage

Homemade Granola

Pumpkin Ale

Silly Dogs

Giant Spiders

Such a wonderful fall week. Except for the giant spiders invading my bedroom.

Love.

I met my husband on his 15th birthday. Fast forward seven and a half years and we have been married for three. Who woulda thunk it? I married Lance on August 16, 2008. We have lived in four different places and two states, transferred schools, helped plant a church, worked crazy amounts of hours at several different jobs, both changed our majors, and I graduated. It's been a crazy few years but I couldn't have picked anyone better to share it with. I love this man so very much and look forward to many crazy years ahead. Love you Hubster! 

 

For the love of breakfast.

I adore breakfast. SO MUCH. This is why I made my anti-morning person husband wake up to go out to breakfast with my sister and our friend at 8am. Not being as much of a breakfast fanatic as I am, he was not pleased. Luckily he adores me. It was a fabulous morning of eggs benedict and coffee. Perfect start to a lovely fall day.

Attention all breakfast enthusiasts! Please look at what I just found. An entire tumblr devoted to mouth-watering pictures of breakfast glory. My life is complete. Feast your eyes upon: BREAKFAST

I don't usually wear lipstick.

Oh, hello! I'm Kylee and I don't normally wear lipstick. Especially not red lipstick. Until today. This morning as I puttered around home decorating blogland doing some work for my lovely mama at The Inspired Room, I stumbled upon the wonderful land of fashion blogs. On one such blog I was inspired by red lipstick. Meet the adorable, red-lipsticked Sydney from The Daybook Blog.

Cute, no? And pregnant! Who looks that cute pregnant? I was suddenly struck with the urge to give my lips some vibrancy (and also maybe to have babies in hopes that I too could be a cute prego, but hubby quickly talked me out of that one). Anyway, cue digging through my cupboards until I found the only lipstick I own and that also hasn't touched my lips since high school when I went to Halloween homecoming with future hubby as a Bond girl. Yes, I did go to homecoming with my now husband. More on that another time.

The lipstick's appearance at Homecoming. Such youngins.

Back to the lipstick---like I said, I don't normally wear it. I also don't like to pose for pictures, but what's a blog without pictures? Oh and blogging- that's something else that's totally not me. Sure, I'm no stranger to blogs given I work for my blogging mother, but I'm more of a behind-the-scenes kind of a girl.

This is my "I hate posing for pictures" pose

So, why am I wearing red lipstick, posing for pictures AND starting a blog all on the same day? Because I was inspired to. And that is the kind of girl I am. Impulsive. When I get inspired by something I want to do it now. That might mean deciding to chop my hair off and immediately calling every salon in town until I can get an appointment within the next hour. It also might mean rearranging furniture 3 times in one week. Or maybe I'm inspired to cook an amazing dinner and spend all day making a fabulous meal only for husband and I to devour it in 5 minutes.

My recent dinner project inspired by Kayotic Kitchen

I am constantly evolving who I am and what I love. I'm not afraid of change or trying something new. Before I got married cooking was definitely NOT my forte, nor was it something I had any desire to do at all whatsoever. But lately my love affair with cooking has been blooming. In middle school I was positive that I would go to beauty school and become a hairdresser. In high school I decided to go to college for business. Then, in college I changed my major from business to sociology (don't judge).  And now I have graduated with a sociology degree and have no clue what I am doing.


That is why I am not committing myself to anything in particular for this blog. I will record my life and my passions as they come and go and as I am inspired to try and be new things.