Baking Season

Last night after work I decided to take the night off from Insanity (I ran 3 miles during lunch anyway) and decided to do the complete opposite: I baked muffins!

And not just 1 kind of muffin... but 3! All in all I made 24 total (that's a lot of muffins) so I figured, why not share the love, and I gave half of them away to my in-laws.

This idea came to me when I realized I had a lot of mashed pumpkin still in my refrigerator from the Maple Pumpkin Chili that I made in the slow cooker over the weekend. So I hopped to it.

The first batch I made have oats, pumpkin, and maple syrup. 

Batch number two was the same as #1, but I substituted honey for maple syrup, and added dried cranberries. 

Both of these would be great for breakfast with your morning coffee. They're very dense and therefore very filling. 

Batch #3 is more your traditional muffin and included oats, pumpkin, dried cranberries, brown sugar, whole wheat flour, etc. These are more of a treat, with them being a bit sweeter, fluffier and higher in calories (137 to be exact)

They turned out so good! I'm glad I had plenty of pumpkin puree left. I hope to try more baking in the near future. I love to cook entrees, but for some reason baking/desserts and breakfast don't really inspire me. 

Also, last year I don't think I did anything with a pumpkin except carve out a smile, so I'm happy to be experimenting a bit more this season. 

I have a pumpkin and apple soup of my sleeve also *squeal*

Enjoy the pumpkin spice season while it lasts and have a good week. :)

XO-ANGELLE

Fall Favorites

Autumn is definitely in the air. Not to the point where one must wear a coat, but to the point where you're not going to get crazy looks if you walk out of the house in a pair of leather mid-calf boots.

Fall fashion musts:

1. Pancho -- I used to tell myself that I would never buy one of these things, and I think my 3 years in retail where we sold them and they were constantly falling off the hanger made me hate them even more. Recently though, I've been a bit intrigued by this armhole lacking garment, and I'm currently wrapped in this aztec printed poncho from Express.
                        *Need I mention it substitutes as a blanket? Winning*

2. Boots, boots, and more boots -- I don't care if they're booties, knee high, mid calf or half calf (someone had too much coffee this morning) they will be in my closet and the main attraction of my outfit. This past weekend I purchased these Tahari booties and am currently lusting over these Sam Edelman over-the-knee boots. I always love a good suede, and basic black boots can be paired with almost anything.

3. The right accessory -- Fall also lets us appreciate all things that provide extra coziness such as scarves, beanies, and leg warmers. These are a few of my favorite things! Oh the endless possibilities of mixing and matching makes my heart warm and cozy.

4. Nail game -- Fall nail polish reminds us that there really are 50 shades of grey... and black. My favorite brands include OPI and Butter London. (I'll do a separate post on my favorite colors for fall soon). Both brands are always on point with the latest trends which accompany cute color names.

So go, be merry! Drink lots of cider, coffee, tea, and eat endless amounts of donuts from your local cider mill. Carve pumpkins, light candles, and enjoy every sounding crunch of leaves under your feet. Spend time in your kitchen baking pies and stirring soups and stews. Go to your grocery store and appreciate not having to spend your life savings on a few honey crisp apples.

And as always...have a great day! :D

--XO ANGELLE

Warrior Ride 2015 & Welcoming Autumn

Now that the 2015 Warrior Ride is over and Autumn has officially arrived I'm hoping to get back on schedule with everything.

Like anyone in the mid-west, I love the summer to fall transition and last weekend I dedicated Saturday and Sunday sprucing up our house for the season.

Labor Day Weekend

I am feeling on top of the world for a couple of reasons this morning.

1. It's the start of a (much needed) 3 day weekend. 

2. I have plans to do a little shopping today and Monday.

3. Yesterday I finished my first month of Insanity!

Now, I've done Insanity in the past, and what I love about it most is that it's hard, it remains interesting/motivating, and it WORKS.  I've done workout videos in the past (I'm not a gym person) and they've been just okay, but Insanity is a winner in my opinion. 

For the next week I'm on schedule to do a recovery video to get myself ready for the (even harder) second month which consists of 1 hour long intense interval circuit training videos. But since I own the deluxe version, I can swap my Core Cardio and Balance video with the Max Interval Sports Training video if I choose to do so (and I think I will, at least on and off to keep things interesting and more challenging).

All you need is (and what I use)

Back to Basics

Last weekend I made a pit stop into one of my favorite stores: Express. I really didn't have anything in mind when I went in, but they were having a sale so I decided to take a look around.

Something you need to know about me is that I'm the type of person who will buy the same item in multiple colors if I like it well enough.. and that's what I did.

I love Express' Portofino button down shirts. Their quality is fantastic, they never go out of style, and depending on the pattern/color one buys, they basically can be worn year round. They can very easily be worn with blue jeans, skirts, or dress pants at the office.

They also happened to be having  a sale that day (buy 1, get 1 50% off) and they had several back on their sale rack. I picked out four:






The top two were on sale and the bottom two were full price.

I've worn two already (top two). I paired the snake skin shirt with a pair of black dress pants and heels and the navy, red, and white striped top with a pair of flared blue jeans and classic Sperry boat shoes.

I'm thinking white skinnies with the blue stripey one and perhaps a deep denim with the red.

Have a great weekend!
XO-ANGELLE

Ulta's Free Gift with Purchase : What to Expect

Thursday morning, I opened my vanity drawer to discover that I only had one more application of my NYX retractable black eyeliner remaining, so a trip to Ulta was on the agenda as soon as I got out of work. 

I haven't been in Ulta for a while. I've been trying to be good and not buy so much makeup, except necessities, so I figured I'd take a look around. 

After wandering around for 45 minutes swatching all the lovely products I strolled over to the drugstore section to discover that if you spent, I believe it was $20 or more, on any Ulta brand product(s), then you would receive a free gift. 

I picked out two of their brushes, a buffing brush and a large eye shadow brush, and was told at the register that I could pick one of the three different colored bags on this large table near the entrance. They offered, gold, silver, and a pretty plum. I'm also not sure if all of the contents are the same in all the bags, or if they give you different colors depending on the bag you picked but here's what was in mine, and what you can generally expect if you decide to take advantage/stumble across this offer. 

3 eyeshadow quads. (Ulta brand eyeshadows are actually pretty good quality. I actually wore the blue, green, and cream already and they weren't terrible) 

2 duo eyeshadows. (1 is matte, the other has a glitter top coat that isn't quite my cup of tea) 

1 lip stick 

1 lip gloss

1 mini nail polish (The color is "Bittersweet" which is a deep oxblood)

1 double ended eye liner (black and brown) 

1 full sized mascarra (which I also tried

. Wand is nice, formula is milky)

1 liquid eyebrow filler (not my shade, will be thrown out, unfortunately) 

3 brushes (1 for shadow, one for blush (so it says, but I use it for highlight since it's slightly flat), 1 flat shadow brush, (which I like for paint pots and cream shadows)) 

1 top zip cosmetic bag with tassel

Following is a closer look at some of the products:

August Update

Greetings from this very rainy Saturday morning!

I just finished working out, I lit a candle, and have settled in with a nice hot cup of salted caramel flavored coffee.

Last week my husband and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary!  Every year we take a small trip to get away and celebrate. This year, we visited some family I have in Cincinnati and then from there went and visited some family I have in Pennsylvania.