Kale chips

I have been reading rave reviews all over the internet for kale chips. I have tried kale before, in salads, and I truly don't mind it. I like it only because it is so good for you, but it's definitely not something I crave. Now I can officially say that I crave kale chips! They're such a great flavor and a great replacement for potato chips (I like them even better!) and other salty, not-so-nutritious things. I may even try them crushed as a topping for popcorn, because I apparently love to do that (click here to share in my popcorn crazy).

Probably one of the most simple snacks to make, kale chips are just bits of kale torn into bite-sized pieces, sprinkled with olive oil and salt, and baked for 5-10 minutes at 300 degrees. You want them to be crispy but not brown. So easy!

Sweet potato cupcakes

I have a new favorite recipe for fall/winter sweets! Actually, this is pretty much tied with my recipe for apple pie cookies, but it definitely wins for cupcakes.

I roughly followed the recipe found here, but this is what actually went into these cupcakes:

1 cup brown sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup pureed sweet potato
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon

I combined all the ingredients (not in any particular order) then baked them for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. I topped them with my roommate's cream cheese frosting recipe:

8 oz plain cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

These ingredients were blended until evenly combined, and spread on the cupcakes. I sprinkled a little more cinnamon on top and then, finally, enjoyed my cupcakes!

Corn maze

Went out to a corn maze tonight, planning a fun evening of twists and turns.  Little did I know, the only options were haunted corn maze 1 and haunted corn maze 2. So while winding around twists and turns, we were occasionally chased by men with chainsaws. Unfortunate. It was not as scary as I was afraid it would be, but still served to reaffirm my fear of, well, fear.

Bill Nye the Science Guy

Guess who I saw speak last night?

That's right, BILL NYE!

As a science major and self admitted HUGE nerd, this was pretty much one of the highlights of my year. He was absolutely hilarious and his voice in person sounds just like it does on TV!

His speech was on space exploration and it completely renewed my love for planets and stars and all of that great stuff!

Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill Nye the Science Guy!

Playing with popcorn

Experimented with popcorn seasoning late last night/early this morning as my roommate and I tried to find a yummy study snack. It was so much fun!

We tried lime and chili powder; Cholula; honey; garlic salt and butter; paprika; Parmesan cheese and black pepper; balsamic vinegar; and cinnamon sugar. I didn't love them all, especially not paprika or cinnamon sugar (maybe cinnamon sugar and butter...?). My favorites were lime and chili powder; garlic salt and butter; Parmesan cheese and black pepper; and the surprising combination of balsamic vinegar and honey.

Now I have plenty of fancy popcorn options!

First snow

First winter wonderland of the season...

So much snow!

Before they fall...

...I wanted to snap a few last pictures of the beautiful leaves on the trees and on the ground. It's supposed to snow tonight (up to a foot by the end of tomorrow!), and that will be the last of many of these leaves.

On the bright side, I get to wear my cute snow boots tomorrow!

Simple rings

I'm obsessed with thin, simple rings. I've seen them everywhere from other blogs (like here) to Pinterest to Etsy. They are lovely on their own or stacked, and pretty cheap too!

Here are some pretties... (click on the photos to be directed to Etsy sites)

Music for a Sunday

Sigur Rόs has played throughout my entire Sunday. It's the perfect music for studying, lounging, drinking tea, talking with friends, everything that a Sunday is.

The one song I can never seem to get out of my head is Hoppipolla, but I haven't come across one yet I dislike.

Home

Went home today to get my snow tires put on, and was greeted by two great things:

The strikingly seasonal tree in the front yard

My puppy, Duffy! He's the greatest ever :)

Happy Saturday!

Perfect pizza picnic

Pizza on Friday after class has become a tradition with my boyfriend, especially since we discovered that we could get one for $6 (discount for being students). Today happened to be an even better deal since we got our pizza for free! Apparently they forgot to sticker it, so we lucked out. Chautauqua is a beautiful park (park is a bit of an understatement) near the CU Boulder campus. We picnic-ed there right beneath the Flatirons.

Colorado is so beautiful!

Newspaper nails

So, I did it. Newspaper nails.

...and I love them!

Super easy, much more so than I thought. I painted my nails with Essie Sand Tropez (pretty close to the color of newspaper paper), dipped them in astringent (we didn't have rubbing alcohol, which I have heard is the normal form of ethanol used for this), pressed a piece of newspaper on my nails, removed it, and voila!

So fun, I've been staring at them all day!

Oh happy day!

Had the BEST day today!

First, I survived the lab that I had to lead all by myself! I barely slept last night, woke up hours before my alarm and ran through my presentation over and over and over again. I had been dreading this day all semester, I really hate public speaking. But now it's over (and I think it went really well)!

Then, I was starting to lose hope in receiving a research grant I had applied for (they told me it would be two to three weeks until I would hear back, and it's been a full three). About an hour later, I got an e-mail that started with the word, "Congratulations"!

Could not be happier, I've been smiling all day long!

Wanderlust

I seem to have contracted wanderlust and am enjoying making a list of places I want to go. Be they places I have learned about in classes, places with caves (I have a minor obsession), places I have always wanted to go, or just visually appealing places, I want to visit them all!

Here are a few on my long list...

New Zealand

Lavender Fields in France

The Dark Hedges, Ireland

Alaska

Hang Son Doon Cave in Vietnam (a cave large enough to have it's own clouds!)

Any of the pyramids in Egypt

(all images via Pinterest)

Fun with fonts

For spare time...

(click on the links to visit the sites)

Hehe :)

Italian bracelets

When I was younger, I would wear my Mama's Italian leather bracelets (similar to these ones). I loved how glamorous and grown up I felt wearing them. She would get mad, as they were special and I was not supposed to steal them.

This past June we were visiting a few European countries and Italy was one of them. The thought never even crossed my mind that we would be able to find these bracelets, yet we did at the Scuola del Cuoio (Institute of Leather) in Florence. I was overjoyed at the thought that I would be able to have my very own fancy bracelets!

These are the ones I got.

My Mama got a few of these ones, more for me to covet!

(click on any of the images to visit the website)

Pumpkin patch

Such a perfect fall day, picking out pumpkins!

Found the perfect one! Almost completely round with a great stem.

Lapis lazuli

I've been reading a lot lately about the trade of lapis lazuli for my Ancient Civ class. It's so gorgeous, such a striking color!

Here are some beautiful finds...

(Click on the pictures to be linked to Etsy sites)

Hair flowers for fall

I am loving the idea of hair flowers worn in the colder months, especially in appropriate colors. I know that this is something typically associated with spring and summer, but when do you need flowers more than when they are rare in nature?

I'm wearing my own personal hair flower today. I love it so much that i own it in gunmetal too. It's from Eddie Bauer but I don't think they carry them anymore.

Here are some other pretty options...

From Anthropologie

From Zara

Color palettes

I am often more inspired by the colors in my closet than any particular article of clothing.

Today, I thought I'd share some (but by no means all, that would go on a while!) of my favorite color palettes.

Marigold, gunmetal, white

Lavender, camel, white

Turquoise, cream, brown

Marigold, olive green, cream

Plum, mint, blush

Lime, gunmetal, white

Silver, teal, plum

Nail polish fun

So I joined Pinterest...and have now signed away years of my life to such an addicting site. It's ridiculous. On the bright side, I found some fun new things to try on my nails.

On my fingernails, a fun winter/holiday combo that I was attempting to copy from here.

On my toenails, peacock feathers! I'm thrilled with this one :) Inspiration here.

If you want to follow me on Pinterest, click here.