autumn bbq...

Between some rainy autumn days have been some absolutely gorgeous and warm fall nights.  Matt surprised me with some ballin' steaks the other night, and we headed outside to grill them up and enjoy a beautiful (and warm- I didn't even need a coat!) autumn night...

 this shot was actually taken at night!  it was totally dark outside!  i couldn't believe how this one came out...

 every great bbq has to have some booze!

 beautiful veggies just waiting to get grilled up!

 look at those beauties... t-bones-my fave!

 almost ready!

beautiful view of the capitol all lit up....

for more shots of this beautiful night, check out my flickr set!

an autumn train ride...

I recently took a trip down to New York City, and was fortunate enough to get a seat to myself.  Besides getting to sprawl out with all of my knitting supplies to make this pair of gloves, I was able to get some shots of the beautiful scenery outside...

To see more of my photos from that day, see my flick set here. 

the epitome of autumn

yeah yeah yeah... i know i've been posting a lot this week about fall, but i can't help it!  it's all around me; from the pumpkin air freshener in my car, to the piles of leaves on our back deck, to the delicious pumpkin muffins i made the other day, fall is around us and it's inspiring me!

while those pumpkin muffins were in the oven, i grabbed the mini pumpkins i purchased that day, and set out on a photo shoot.  i love the light in our windowsill in the late afternoon...

pumpkin oat muffins

well, it's officially fall, and nothing says fall to me like pumpkin!  i've been looking around for a pumpkin recipe that isn't 1,000 calories like the muffins at dunkin donuts.  This recipe on SparkRecipe is delicious, moist, and actually good for you! 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 

1 cup oats 

1/2 cup Splenda brown sugar 

1/2 cup walnuts
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 pumpkin pie spice 

1 cup pumpkin (I added a few more tablespoons, because I was REALLY into pumpkin that day)
3/4 cup fat free milk 

1 egg slightly beaten
1/3 cup canola oil

 

here they are... the two stars of the show

 this is basically all you need for some awesome muffins!

 get those dry ingredients together... i dumped in the nuts too, but the recipe says to add them later...

 make sure you get real pumpkin, and not the fake stuff... it's SO bad for you, and this tasted SO yummy!

 add wet to dry...

 fill up some muffin tins, and if you have a friend like Ashley Thiry, use her princess cupcake liners and be happy!

 they come out of the oven and it's hard to wait for them to cool- they smell so good!  here's mine chilling on a windowsill...

stack them all up, and enjoy!

Photo inspiration: upstate NY

Although it saddens me that summer has been officially over for a few weeks now, I get super excited when I start to see the leaves change. It's one of the best things about living in a region where the seasons change, and every year it amazes me how pretty things get (before all the leaves get washed away by the chilly autumn rain).

This picture was taken in beautiful Warwick, NY- look at those leaves!





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holy cow!

it's august people! now is the time to wear all of your cutest sundresses and get into any body of water as much as possible, because you know that cooler weather is right around the corner! for me though,  it's time to get back in gear for knit items. there are TOO many back-to-school advertisements, and they still make me nervous even though i'm not in school.  i guess it's because it's going to be -20 degrees before we know it (sorry upstate new yorkers, you KNOW it's going to happen!) and i know i have LOTS of work to do before the busy holiday season!

yeah, gotta get knitting- pronto.  for now though, it's just TOO hot to have any extra fiber around my sweaty self, but i swear, there will be new knits coming soon!  in the meantime, let's enjoy beautiful summer weather (btw- thank you, Albany for not raining every single day this summer, it meant a lot to me!).

here's beautiful washington park on a wonderful summer afternoon... wish it could stay like this forever!