Coffee coffee all the time. It’s so necessary these days. Or maybe I should just sleep more?

I’m too distracted by the internet…

• PASTAAA: butternut mac and cheese, baked ziti, caramelized onion & roasted garlic pasta, broccoli pesto mac and cheese, rotini with butternut-sage sauce, white cheddar mac and cheese stuffed squash. Let’s eat.
• Two diys: an easy circle necklace and large scale picture frame.
• After reading this, I definitely need to visit the Pearl Street Pumpkin Patch.
• Do you know what you’re going to be for Halloween yet? I love all of these.
• Let’s just swoon over this song for a little bit?

Anyways, sleep when you’re dead, right? Plus, it’s almost the weekend.

Xoxojd.

This fall weather has reinvigorated my running a little bit, which I totally needed. I even did some intervals this week, something that I haven’t done in foreverrrr. Good stuff.

Like this:

• Pumpkin recipes have taken over the Internet by storm: pumpkin churro waffles, pumpkin oatmeal, curried pumpkin soup with coconut, pumpkin spice truffles, pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin spice no-bake cheesecake, pumpkin butter. Plus, these 12 healthy pumpkin recipes. Oh and these pumpkin oreo bars.
• 5 rules for the perfect picnic. Let’s have one!!
• I love gallery walls.
• How many of these 15 classic pieces do you have in your wardrobe?
• This song plays a lot at work and it gets stuck in my head.

Have a great one!

xooxoxoxoxoooojd

I had the whole day off on Monday and was totally craving fall things, so I just went for it –> baked these cookies and this pizza, but with this sauce. Then friends came over and we drank pumpkin beer and watched football. It’s a good life.

These things help:

• I’m excited to overdose on butternut squash this fall: butternut squash mac & cheese with kale, cider braised chicken with butternut, linguine with butternut sauce, creamy butternut squash, broccoli & chipotle almond sauce, chicken butternut squash pasta.
• Kind of liking this song right now.
• Thoughts on these outerwear and street style fall trends?
• How to make today a good day. It’s a skill.
• Some motivational quotes to keep you pumped up.

Oh, and HAPPY OCTOBER. Make the first day count.

JD.

Happy Fall! It still feels like summer here in Denver (80 degrees much?), but it definitely felt like fall in Aspen this weekend (read about it here). Look at those ridiculous colors.

Also, look at these things:

• Pumpkin granola: toasted pumpkin muesli, pumpkin spice granola, pumpkin spice chocolate granola, and chocolate peanut butter pumpkin granola.
• Food 52’s essential chocolate chip cookie guide. Time to go on a cookie-baking binge.
• Lady Gaga’s new music video is absolutely heartbreaking. Please watch Til It Happens To You.
• How cool is mapiful? I want one.
• Fall is here! Make a checklist. Ideas here and here.

In other news, I signed up for the Rock ‘N’ Roll Denver Half Marathon with a friend from work, got the a-ok from the doctor to ditch the wrist brace (<— that scar tho), and booked a flight to Seattle. Can’t wait to hang out with my best friend all weekend and celebrate her birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATALIE!!!!!

Last week I talked about some apple recipes and then read this blog post about scones, making me crave some sort of apple/biscuit concoction. I ended up making these apple pie biscuits and was not at all upset about it:

I wasn’t upset about these things either.

• A few of my favorites are coming out with cookbooks and are talking about it. Check them out: The Sugar Hit, Joy The Baker, 101 Cookbooks, and A Cozy Kitchen.
• A great read on when to stop apologizing.
• 18 signs you’re exactly where you should be in life (even if it doesn’t feel like it).
• Katie and I went with a bunch of neutral candles, but here are more awesome ideas for an unused fireplace.
• I just came across Drinking Cinema and think it’s hilarious and perfect for a fun Friday night in. Let’s start with Clueless.

Happy, happy Thursday!

It’s been a full month since I’ve moved to Denver and each week brings on something new -> challenges, interviews, job opportunities, friends, activities, etc. I love it. I’m still trying to figure out what I want my life to look like here, but I think I’m getting closer to nailing it down. It’s really exciting.

Just like these things:

• It’s time to get ready for baking with apples: caramel apple cinnamon scones, caramel apple oatmeal cookies, caramel apple brownies, apple cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, apple pie cheesecake bars, apple crostada, and apple oatmeal cookies. Pumpkin will be coming around the corner too!
• It’s also time to make some fruit butter in the crockpot.
• Love these dirty hair updos, because who even wants to wash their hair every day?
• There are a couple of fall book lists posted (here, here, and here) and I’d definitely like to tackle Purity and Why Not Me?, among others.
• Head to Seattle for the dreamiest long weekend. I won’t be going there for a long weekend, but will be going there soon!

And guess what?! I got a job as a server/host at Blackbird Public House and am glad to start having money come back into my bank account again. Blackbird is a cute little restaurant just down the road from where I live. I started on Saturday and so far it’s been fun! Come check us out if you live in the Denver neighborhood!

By the time you read this, it’ll probably be Friday. So, HAPPY FRIDAY. xojd