Favorite Summer Moment(s)!

I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika and sharing my favorite summer moment. But… that is a hard question, so I’m going to talk about two things that we did this summer that were some of my favorite moments!

 

As I’ve talked about before, Chase’s parents have a place at Cedar Bluff Reservoir where we have spent many weekends enjoying the sun and company of everyone.  You can’t beat relaxing at a lake.  (Well, unless it is an all inclusive beach resort…) But for western Kansas, this takes the cake.  Sun, family, water and good eats = perfect weekends (and favorite moments) for me!

Chase and I also took a trip to New York to visit my oldest brother, Adam.  We spent five days enjoying the city, eating good food and sightseeing.  Adam lived in Washington DC for eight years before relocating to Manhattan last fall, so it was fun to explore a new city!  Aside from a layover in NY during our honeymoon, which ended up being a 24-hour layover (thanks JetBlue…), this was our first trip to really see the city.  We loved our time away from northwest Kansas, but it was also really nice to get home.

 

 My favorite part of the city?  Central Park and One World Observatory!

It was a great summer, and I truly can’t believe how quickly it went by!  

Friday Favs

How is it already Friday?  This week flew by for me!  Here is my weekly recap of some of my favorite things and moments!

1. As I wrote about earlier this week, Chase and I got away last weekend for a spur of the moment trip to Denver.  We were able to get some shopping done, have some good eats and just enjoy the perks of city life.

 

2. I have had the new fall home décor I picked up last weekend sitting on our dining table all week because I’ve been contemplating putting it out.  I haven’t unpacked my other fall stuff from storage yet, but if I do some, I feel like I should go ahead and do it all.  I still have American flag décor out from the summer months, but it’s time to put those away.  Is it too early to put out fall stuff?

3. I am still enjoying the homemade granola I made earlier this week.  It is such a simple recipe!  I plan to make another batch within the next few weeks but this time with peanut butter.  Who doesn’t enjoy some good peanut butter granola?

 

4. Some of the jewelry I picked up from Charming Charlie last weekend has been on constant repeat this week.  I purged some of my old jewelry, and I'm looking for ways to better organize my things, particularly my jewelry drawers.  It always feels good to reorganize things.  I plan to do our hallway closet this weekend and start pulling out fall clothes from the back of our closet.  I also like to rewash some of my pieces, especially scarves after they have been stored/hung for so many months.

5. We have a wedding to attend this weekend of some old high school friends.  It will be a fun evening filled with wedding love and chatting with old friends!  It also brings to the forefront that we are only one month away from our two-year wedding anniversary!  Where does the time go?

 

Along with looking forward to the wedding Saturday, my oldest brother who lives in NYC is heading home for the week.  We’re celebrating my mom’s birthday, which is on Monday, and having an early celebration for my dad’s birthday in October.  Adam's trip home also falls on his birthday!  So, lots of celebrating going on over here!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Xo.

Recipe Club: Homemade Granola

I love a good granola, but something I probably love just as much is how amazing it makes the house smell while it’s cooking!  Homemade granola allows you the opportunity to make different variations depending on what ingredients you have on hand or what you are specifically wanting for that batch.  

 

Here is the recipe I use for homemade granola, but keep in mind, you can add to or alter this recipe however your heart desires! 

Here’s what you need:

4 cups old fashioned Quaker oats

1 pinch of salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon (or your favorite spice!)

1 cup sliced almonds and walnuts (or your favorite nut and/or seed!)

½ cup of dried cranberries and raisins (or your favorite dried fruit!)

¼ cup melted butter (or oil)

A heaping ¼ cup of brown sugar and honey combination

2 teaspoons vanilla 

Begin by preheating oven to 300º F and line a baking sheet with foil.  In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients (old fashioned oats, nuts and dried fruit), along with spices (salt and cinnamon)   In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter and vanilla with the brown sugar and honey combination. 

 
Pour the liquid mixture over the top of the dry ingredients and stir to incorporate. 

Spread the granola evenly on the foil-lined baking sheet.  Bake for around 30 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Note: If you want granola chunks, don’t stir while baking.  If you prefer smaller pieces, stir about every 10 minutes.

I like to top yogurt with homemade granola, but it's great with milk too.  You can also top muffins with granola midway through baking or toss some onto ice cream or froyo.  No matter which way you eat it, you’ll enjoy this recipe.  And, don’t be afraid to use different ingredients to create variations of this simple recipe!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on one of our favorite recipes! 

Weekend Wrap-up!

Hey Everyone!

This weekend went by in a flash.  I took Maci to my parent’s house Friday morning before work, so our Friday evening could be spent packing for a quick weekend away.  Saturday morning, Chase and I headed to Denver where we spent the rest of the weekend eating too much good food, shopping and enjoying our time away!

We originally planned this last minute trip to get his iPhone 6 screen fixed.  Long story short, Chase dropped his phone two weeks ago, and we took it to a local repair guy to fix the shattered screen.  After a not too favorable outcome and a lot of excuses, we picked up the phone to take it to a real repair shop in Denver where we were told the internal computer board (bear with me… I have no idea about technology or the lingo associated with it) was damaged by the last person.  I was pretty, let’s be honest, very upset to hear that news, considering the phone was working when we originally dropped it off to the local guy, minus a shattered screen.  Anyway, I think we are now on the same page with the original repair guy-- either fix the phone or replace it.  So we’ll see how that goes.  The downside?  Chase is on call 24-7, so being without a phone has not been the best scenario.

On other note, have you ever been in a Charming Charlie?  My sister-in-law (Thanks, Kristin! But, I'm not sure Chase would thank you... ;) ) told me about this shop a while ago, but I had not visited one until this weekend, and I am so glad I did!  They are having a huge sale on their costume jewelry-- Buy One, Get One Free, and it ends on Wednesday.  If you are near one of their shops, check it out!

I also stocked up on fall home décor from HomeGoods, we did some clothes shopping and we rounded out the trip at Cabelas for Chase.  He purchased some camo gear and a new hunting gun he has had his eyes on for a while now.

 

We were able to grab some sushi with my old college friend and maid of honor, we had a nice seafood dinner and left Denver miserably full from Tex-Mex food!  All in all, it was a great weekend, mainly because we had some time away just the two of us.

I hope you all had a great weekend too!  And again, if you haven’t been to Charming Charlie before… go!