Happy Friday!

Happy Friday! We have an exciting week coming up - Eric & I get to go to Big Bend National Park! We've been wanting to go for years since we've been living in Austin and finally get to go.

The biggest news though is that my brother & sister-in-law are having their baby next week!!! We are so excited for them and can't wait to meet our nephew. Send lots of positive vibes their way for a short and smooth delivery and a healthy baby C! <3 <3 <3

Louise Belcher Hat

A couple weekends ago I decided I wanted to dress up as something simple for Halloween. I'm very against store bought costumes, so I was left to think of a costume I'd want to make. We've recently become big Bob's Burgers fans and seeing my friend Ashley's daughter dressed up Louise became a joke that I should dress up as her, too.

I loosely followed this tutorial to make the hat, but did a few parts differently. It was a really fun hat to sew. I spent a good amount of time making it, but it was totally worth it. The end result is super cute and really comfortable. 

Here's a couple shots of me making the hat. I used 2 clothes hangers to form the ears.

:D

Happy Halloween!

I made some halloween treats earlier this week. Toasting marshmallows under the broiler is fun. :) I used my standard brownie recipe found here (it's one bowl, which is awesome. I add instant espresso to the recipe). After the brownies cool a bit, you use the broiler to quickly set the faces (about a minute).

My father-in-law will be in town this weekend and I think tonight we're going to take him downtown to see the craziness of 6th street on halloween. I'm wearing a pretty simple costume, but I did spend hours last weekend sewing part of it. I'll put it up on the blog in the next few days.

Sorry for a long time without posting. I swear one day I'll have more time to post regularly. This month has been really busy at work and we went to NYC for a long weekend and are just now starting to catch up.

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday! Not a whole lot happening right now, other than grading a bunch of calculus exams. We've had a really fun past couple weeks with birthday parties and sending off Stephie as she moved to Portland (miss you!).

I've oddly been wanting to learn how to fold origami. I've always thought it was neat, but never had an interest until about a month ago. Now our coffee table is covered in random origami papers and failed attempts of intricate flowers.

Chocolate Chip "Pumpkin" Muffins

A cold front came through Austin this weekend and I happily turned on my oven to bake on Saturday. I still have several jars of canned butternut squash from grandma's garden and decided to bake something with pumpkin to take to Stephie's going away party (Steph Goes West Fest). I used a regular ole' recipe something like this. They turned out delicious and reminiscent of my mom's famous pumpkin ring cake.

 I also made a carmelized onion tart that's always a hit.

Stephie's party was really fun, but sadly I forgot to take a single picture! Doh. I brought ingredients to make a Whiskey Smash (bourbon + lemonade + berry juice) and it was a hit. (The berry juice is from grandma's berries! Thanks mom for canning everything.)

Wonderful weekend. We're going to miss you, Steph!

Flowers

Flowers in grandma's garden. Forgot the name (mom, help?).

I'm missing all the flowers up in Pennsylvania (and the much, much cooler weather). It's really hot in Austin right now, and despite some green plants in our back yard, our grass is very fried and not very pretty to look at.

Queen Anne's Lace growing in the wild. Did you notice the ant? I didn't until I went to add this caption!

I'm so obsessed with Queen Anne's Lace. And it grows wild EVERYWHERE up in PA. I had to resist the urge to pick some every time I saw it. My dad made a pit stop at a Home Depot one day and instead of going in with him, I convinced my mom to go to the side of the parking lot and help me pick a bunch of it (thanks mom!).

They also remind me of my wedding flowers (below) which makes me very, very happy :)

^My wedding flowers with Queen Anne's Lace (among other gorgeous picks by my Aunt Robin)

Flower outside of grandma's house. Forgot this one's name too (mom, help?).

I haven't made much since I've been back in Austin. I'm feeling a whole lot better, but the last stages of early lyme is fatigue. On Friday night I was so extremely exhausted/tired I went to bed at 6pm. Yep. You can see why I'm not sewing or baking anything right now. I'm happy to be doing a lot better though.

Echinacea in grandma's garden.