Friday Favorites

This was a big week for me.

I’ve made dinner from scratch every night so far (a rare occasion,) visited our newly opened Homegoods thus making our tragic family room built-ins a little less tragic (trust me, you still don’t want to see them. Ben has requested a small stipend to help “fix things”,) plus I learned how to make animated GIFs. This. Changes. EVERYTHING!

If I tell you that my heart is nearly bursting from being able to put a few photos of Lincoln throwing leaves into action, would you think less of me? On a related note, life is so much simpler over here. Join me, won’t you?

Bahahaha, seriously though, is this animation of Lincoln working for you? Are you seeing what I’m seeing? Bueller? I feel like this could change step-by-step recipe photos as we know them. Stay tuned. (And here’s the tutorial I used!)

Anyway, that was my week in a nutshell. Cooking, amateur decorating, and animating, apparently. This weekend should be much quieter as there are no plans on the agenda and I’m hoping to lay low as November is going to be absolutely bonkers. Let the holiday madness begin, right?

Well wherever you are and whatever you do have a wonderful weekend, and in the meantime please enjoy my favorite finds from the web and beyond in this week’s Friday Favorites!

Click the light blue link to be taken to the original source. 

Favorite mouthful: Mexican Chorizo + Garlic Shrimp Burger. Yeeeeeah – just going to go ahead and throw this out there first thing. GAHHHHHHH! I made a quick paella last week with store-bought chorizo and the clove flavor in it was overwhelming. This burger recipe comes with it’s own EASY chorizo recipe which I’m dying to try!

Favorite Funny: It’s Like They Know Us. This tumblr account hilariously captions (usually) ridiculous stock photography and is, as I mentioned, HIGH-LARIOUS. I saw it featured on the Today show last week and laugh out loud every time I scroll through. For instance:

“You think I’M being unfair? You want to wear saturated primary colors? BE MY GUEST. But I will not stand by and let you disparage the muted principles your mother and I worked so hard to teach you.”

Favorite sip: Boozy Pumpkin White Hot Chocolate. Forget miniature snickers, I’m mixing up a batch of these festive, warming cocktails from Minimalist Baker to sip on while the kiddos trick-or-treat tonight. Fist pump for boozy hot chocolate!

Favorite DIY: DIY Floating Shelves with Clavos. How cool are these floating shelves? I love the clavos on the ends which give them an industrial, restoration hardware feel.

Favorite switch: Slow Cooker Chex Mix. Both Ben’s and my family go bonkers for Chex Mix around the holidays – there’s always a big batch at both our parent’s houses at any given time (I personally can’t make it because I will snack on it all. day. long!) BUT, during the holidays when the oven is constantly being used this is a great way to get your fix while clearing some space for other oven-needed recipes.

Favorite fashion Skinny Ankle Zip Cord. I was in a panic last week trying to find something professional yet casual to wear to ChoppedCon (the studio pants that become my second skin in the fall/winter weren’t going to cut it,) and finally found these adorable pants at Banana Republic which I could build an outfit around using stuff I already owned. Loooove them! They’re skinny, stretchy cords that have a super-cute ankle zipper, which of course you can’t see in this picture, and worked perfect with flats. I liked them so much I got them in dark charcoal too. (PS: if you are not signed up for BR emails get on that ASAP. They have 40% off coupons basically every other day.) Oh also they run small – I ended up buying 2 sizes up…eek?

Favorite slurp: Spicy Tomato Cream Pasta. Here’s the thing about people who say they don’t like pasta. HUH? How can you resist a huge forkful of this amazingness?

Favorite on task: The Daily Page Notebook. I am so buying a couple packs of these daily organizers which include spots to record everything from meals, to water consumption, to daily goals. Since I love lists (and more importantly checking things off lists,) this is right up my alley.

Favorite find: Edible Cookie Spoons. This idea is borderline genius. How in the world have I never thought to do this? So, so adorable for holiday parties!

Favorite inspiration: 217+ Ideas On What to Do with Old Windows. My city has a ton of great antique/restorations shops which are full of cool, old window frames that I always feel inspired to buy but back off because I’m not creative enough to figure out what to do with them when I get home. Problem = solved!

Favorite snack. Fall = pumpkin butter weather! Trader Joe’s has my favorite and this month I paired it with The Laughing Cow’s Creamy Original Swiss cheese and crackers for a sweet and savory snack as part of my partnership with the brand to create tasty, easy snack ideas.

Favorite decor: Stained Wood Chalkboard Kitchen Sign. I guess I’m all about the DIY decor today! But, I haven’t seen this technique for creating a chalkboard surface without having to use black chalkboard paint before. Definitely check it out.

Favorite indulge: Bloomin’ Baked Potato. Be still my potato, cheese, and bacon-loving heart!

Favorite bite: Cinnamon & Toffee Oatmeal Chewies. These cookies speak to my soul. Crispy around the edges, chewy and buttery in the center, toffee and oatmeal throughout. My cookie dream come true.

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