Monday Musings

Welcome to another edition of Monday Musings, and not just another Monday but Labor Day here in the states. Labor day holiday weekend is the symbolic final salute to summer before heading into fall.

Unless you’re in south Texas then its just more summer till like…January.

I’m ready to send summer on outta here as it’s been crazy hot, with nothing more exciting than work and more work.

A change of season might offer up something a little more interesting.

Ah, Fall. It’s hard not to anticipate those cooler mornings, milder days, and favorite fall weather meals.

Speaking of fall… Starbucks needs to seriously cool their heels on the pumpkin spice thing.

They released it in August this year.

August.

I hate to say this but while I’m sweating just breathing I’m not wanting to cozy up to a warm beverage more suited to over sized cozy sweaters and boots.

They need to stop being so greedy and wait for their season to actually arrive.

Anyone with me on that?

And no, I don’t actually drink mentioned beverage as I find it to sweet.

I could be lured into temptation with a pumpkin spice scone though 😉

What beverage am I currently loving ?

The new nitro cold brew. I was informed I couldn’t get one larger than a grande due to the caffeine in it 😱

What is nitro cold brew you may wonder? It’s a cold brew coffee charged with nitrogen to give it a rich creamy head, similar to nitro draft beer like Guinness.

Whatever.

It’s chilled, rich and even black like I prefer, its smooth and almost creamy.

I pace myself though cause tasty or not, they are a little pricey.

Meh. So they butchered my name. I’ll still come when they call.

Speaking of work….

I’ve mentioned before I have a little vintage business with a large part of that flipping old, usually beat up, or discarded antique and vintage furniture. Not only am I doing pieces for my shop, I’ve been doing custom orders too. I did a rocking chair this week for a customer. It was her great grandparents and 100 years old!

I was privileged to work on this family heirloom.

This is what it looked like when I got it…

And then after…. Customer requested paint and finish and I was thrilled with how it came out…

I felt a connection with this piece and had to remind myself I had to give it back 🤣

I also got this cute antique half table this week.

It looked like this….

But then I did a little magic on it and now…

It looks sweet right?

Ok one more.

I scored this antique armoire today. It was a definite fixer upper. It had so many new things added to it…and things broken and needing to be put back together. At least she had all the parts.

This is what it looked like coming home…sad and needy…

I desperately wanted to jump into it but was committed to finishing a piece I was working on….so hubby jumped into it and…..

A couple hours later……

Doors glued together and put back on, mirror door rebuilt and mirror installed, and all of the added shelving removed inside.

The only thing long gone was the original back. We pulled off the cheap flimsy board on back ( which had lots of holes cut into it) and will replace with something a bit nicer.

I estimate this piece roughly turn of the century. I was happy it still had all of its castors (wheels)

Now it’s ready for me to do some magic on it. It just makes me happy seeing it more like it should be, closer to its original look.

In the world of health and wellness

Once again I noticed on a “health” product that it proclaimed to suppress your appetite.

Which kinda had me scratching my head. I never get that.

Can I make a wild statement here?

Your body gets hungry for a reason. Those hunger pangs are natural given signals to feed your body.

Food is fuel.

To ignore those signals or to attempt to suppress them is disordered thinking at best.

A healthy approach is to honor your body, it needs fuel. Eat an appropriate amount to satisfy your hunger with healthy foods and move on.

To ignore or attempt to suppress it will keep keep your mind on food and may lead to binge eating later.

Speaking of food

As I mentioned earlier, fall is coming and it’s hard not to think of tasty fall treats. I love baking so recently I went to my dessert file on Pinterest to see what treats might be a good experimental fall recipe.

So many choices! With pumpkin everything aways getting noticed I thought I’d dive into something apple oriented.

https://pin.it/6owwg6gciv3fv5

It had rave reviews….give it a try 😁 do you have any fall desserts that are a favorite?

Tell me …are you ready to wrap up summer? Do you enjoy changing seasons? What is your current ( new) favorite beverage?

Pumpkin Spice And Everything Nice

pumpkin spice all things

October. I’m in denial. I know it’s technically fall, but living in south Texas and continuing to rock shorts and tanks on any given day… it’s hard to get into that warm, cozy “fall” feeling…. leggings, sweaters and boots seem far away…..

Add to that the commercial Christmas bus will be barreling down on us shortly…. but…… let’s address another big hyped thing that occurs with the beginning of Fall and all things cozy….

Yes… pumpkin spice everything.

Of course among all of the orange and spicy offerings it’s not officially Fall till Starbucks launches their Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

Now I’m not a huge fan as I find those drinks to be entirely to sweet and all I think about is the zillions of calories and crazy amounts of sugar they contain…. and really I almost always just prefer my bold, black coffee… and… I don’t wear yoga pants and Uggs  😉

Now I’m not bashing the entire pumpkin thing. Not at all.  I happen to like a lot of tasty offerings… my mom made an amazing pumpkin bread and I make pumpkin spice cookies that will make you drool.

pumpkin everything

There is something about the combo of pumpkin and those spices that feels… homey and comforting and all things relaxed.

Right ? Can I get a raised Pumpkin Spice Latte in salute??

Maybe that’s what it is. After a long summer we’re ready to shift gears into a new change of seasons. We want to embrace crisp cool mornings,bulky sweaters and yes, cute boots. 😉 And what better way than a drink or special food that feels like those things ?

I found a couple items this week in my contribution to all things Fall and wonderful….

Chobani has launched another limited edition flavor in, yes you guessed it, pumpkin spice. I had my first yesterday ( I always buy one of a new flavor incase I hate it and it makes me gag 😉 I love Chobani’s Greek yogurt as I find it lower in sugar and the texture can’t be beat. My favorite “go-to” is the coconut one. But I can easily be swayed away when there’s a new kid on the block.

Ok… I loved it from first taste. It was like… creamy pumpkin pie in a cup. The spices were perfect. As mentioned, I bought one. Today, this is what’s in my ‘fridge 😉

20151002_201414The other item I found was this….

20151002_201519I’m thinking warmed with a little cream cheese….  they could be rather delicious 😉

You don’t have to look to far and wide to find there are lots of products being offered up right now if Pumpkin Spice is your big thing….

pumpkinOhhhh…. maybe the spiced cream cheese for the bagels ?? I’m not sure about the chips though.

What about you ? Do you look forward to Pumpkin Spice season ? Do you have favor things you anticipate ?