sunday notes

dear this week, i am so excited that i have you off.

dear girls trip, you begin today!

dear husband, i'll miss you while i'm gone the next few days :(

dear date night, you provided the best burrito we've had.

dear pumpkin, i decided you deserve a pinterest board of your own.

dear college football, you make saturday the best.

dear october, i can't wait for you.

oatmeal banana breakfast muffins

here is a recipe to celebrate the weekend. 
i am a banana girl and let me tell you, 
this is one of my favorite banana recipes i've made. 
the best part? no flour/oil/butter but you can't even tell! 
make them for breakfast. you won't regret it!
{make sure to eat them warm or heat them up because they are best that way!}

Ingredients
2.5 cups old fashioned oats {or gluten-free}
1 cup plain low fat greek yogurt
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar {or sweetener of choice}
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 ripe bananas 

chocolate chips {optional}

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray tin with non-stick cooking spray or line 12 muffin tins with silicone or foil liners.
2. Place all of the ingredients, including bananas in a blender or food processor, and blend until oats are smooth. {I added the oats a cup at a time and blended in between}
3. Divide batter among cupcake liners, and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.  
**Be sure to watch them closely in the oven, because depending on altitude, baking time may be a little less**
4. Most importantly: Enjoy & try not to eat them all at once!

husband ate 4 in the first ten minutes after they came out of the oven..

on the last one he even added his own topping: nutella! smart guy.

have a great saturday! we are off to the flea market {one of our fall dates}

and then our visitors arrive! XO

*UPDATE: read through the comments below if you're going to make these! 
there are some great tips for substitutions and variations to make these gluten-free, etc!
as you can see in the pictures, i've made them a few different ways & they've all been great!

why i'm happy it's friday

hello friday! i, for one, am extra happy it's the weekend. this is because:
i get all of next week off work// my mom is coming to visit starting tomorrow//

date night is tonight// october begins in just a few days//and most of all:

husband and i just booked some big travel plans and we're giddy about it..

nothing makes me happier than booking a big trip and then anticipating it!

more details to come soon, but for now enjoy the weekend!

 xo

why are you happy it's friday?

any big travel plans coming up? 

thursday thoughts

 happy thursday! welcome to our random 

thoughts of the day...

first and most importantly, i have to share our favorite quick dessert:  

soufflés in a mug!

this is something that everyone should know. 

if you want a yummy chocolate cake but

don't have much time, mix these 3 ingredients 

in a mug and microwave for 50 seconds! 

1 egg • 1/4 c. powdered sugar • 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder

mix up, put in microwave for 50 seconds. eat it while warm and add ice cream!

 

next, i need to show something i'm obsessed with at our apartment building: 

these pink lanterns are the first things i saw when we pulled up during the apartment search, and i immediately fell in love and wanted to live here. i always feel 

like i'm in italy or spain when i come home to our building. 

these kinds of texts make my day

 

i don't know why i'm finding so many cute swimsuits right

when summer is ending...but i guess we live in california

so it's always swim suit season right? RIGHT??

currently reading this for book club.

{thanks mom for having every book i ever need}

it is different but i'm loving it and it makes me want to "live a better story"

i am craving these ice cream sandwiches AND this friend so 

i'm excited to see her tonight! {and watch modern family}

 

speaking of modern family, i just found this picture of when

we met PHIL DUNPHY! best night of our lives. can't wait

to watch the season premiere tonight!

has anyone used this site for running routes before? love it..you can find route

 based on distance wherever you are...and it's an iphone app too!

perfect thing for living in a new place.

important note to self: veggie pot pies from whole foods are amazing

i laughed when i saw this because it really is true right now...too busy!

good thing husband is able to do the dishes, take out the trash, and still look good.

 

if you're a fan of In-N-Out burger, check out their secret menu i discovered!

i might like it more now that i know i can get some of these variations.

speaking of groceries, this is the best dressing ever from trader joe's.

loving this waterbottle

 

and lastly, speaking of running:

 these tiffany blue nikes are sort of a necessity if you ask me!

happy thursday! what are some of your random thursday thoughts?

xo

do you watch modern family?

what book are you reading at the moment?

tuesday ten

 
..ten fall dates we want to go on.. 

1. go to the famous bay area pumpkin festival
2. apple picking..{followed by making apple crisp together}
3. drive down the california coast to bid farewell to summer
4. go to a haunted house {maybe the winchester mystery house?}
5. look around at a flea market together
6. find a fair to go to!
7. have a picnic in golden gate park or maybe dolores park...or both
8. cuddle up to our favorite shows that are on this fall...like this one and this one.
9. carve pumpkins, of course!
10. go to a giants game together

now that it's officially fall, we are so excited to enjoy the best season together!

these are on our checklist for fall..what are on yours?

xo

home tips & tricks

happy monday! i am ready to be productive this week
and here are some ways to help with that..
now that we have our own place, i pay much more 

attention to these kinds of helpful tips & tricks

for around the house. i collected some of my favorite and
i'm posting them here. read on and see if these help!

 

Need to refresh the scent of your house? Put two caps full of vanilla extract in a mug, 

then place it in the oven at 300 degrees for one hour. Within twenty minutes 

the whole house smells like heaven. It's actually a common realtor trick.

 

The BEST way to make hard-boiled eggs is in the OVEN! Place the eggs in a muffin tray 

so they do not move around, turn the oven to 325 degrees, pop in for about 25-30 minutes 

and remove! Not only are they tastier, but they also are much easier to peel!

If you place a wooden spoon over a pot of boiling water, it won't boil over. 

Did you know you can freeze cool whip then use cookie cutters to make fun shapes for hot chocolate???

No helium needed to fill balloons for parties.....just vinegar and baking soda!

Turn your toaster sideways to make grilled cheese!

Remove gunk from the soleplate of an iron: With the setting on low, rub the iron over the dryer sheet until the residue disappears, and you're left with a pristine press.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster. 

Bread clip cord labels..no more mixing up which plug goes where!

Package cookies in paper CD sleeves - such a cute idea!

those are just a few of the tips i'm excited to try out..
hope you can use some too!! i'll have to post some more soon. xo

what are any other tips you use around the house?
have you ever tried one of these?

saturday in the city

we had quite an eventful weekend! after a fun date night friday,
we spent all saturday in san francisco. love our weekends!

saturday morning we went on such a nice run in san francisco along the embarcadero and out to the golden gate bridge. it was a gorgeous day in the city and this is my favorite run.

{excuse the sweaty pictures!}

on our way back we stopped at the palace of fine arts..so 
pretty, especially on a nice day!

by then we were pretty hungry, so we stopped by blue barn gourmet
and then decided on a delicious burger at super duper burgers.

you know when you are walking around and run into a huge chinese festival?
we didn't either until yesterday when i just wanted a treat at a chinatown bakery, but we stumbled upon this crazy festival! the iphone pictures 
do not do the huge crowd justice.


THIS is the bakery i have been wanting to try. they make famous egg custard tarts, and i was so excited to get one before finding out that the chinese festival had created an hour and a half long line...dang it! next time.
to make me feel better, we stopped by the secret 
fortune cookie factory- pretty cool!

fortune cookies before they are folded

this place is in a tiny alley and we will be back! you can take 
your own fortunes and have them baked in right there! 
fun fact: fortune cookies were invented in SF.

lastly, we discovered the gem of san francisco.
WOW! twin peaks is in the exact center of the city,
and it has the most amazing view in the world.

the rule for this overlook is to be kissed up there, so i was glad
husband could take care of that for me. {even with his eyes closed}



we came home in time to watch the utah game with tobin & randi at
our apartment. there were a few games going on so somehow we ended up
with 2 TV's going at once..we love football! thanks dustin & kendall for making this possible haha...


we made some bbq chicken pizza and cake batter cookies...


recipe for these cookies HERE


here is chase eating his feelings after the utes' sad loss,
but at least we watched it with friends so we could all commiserate!

XO

see the earlier part of our weekend here.

what did you do this weekend?
which football team do you cheer for?