AUSTIN, TEXAS

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AUSTIN, TX

I seriously cannot believe that two weeks ago we were in Austin! And one week ago we were in St. Thomas and now it's 4 degrees over here in lovely Victoria, BC. (insert crying face emoji) 

Today I'm finally showing photos from our trip....Jet lag has been doing a serious number on me....last night was a miracle because I went to bed at 9:30pm...the past two nights were 8pm and then BOOM 5:30am wide awake! 

We had such a lovely time in Austin visiting Joy (James' sis) and her hubby, Ryan. They are the loveliest and are expecting baby boy Sebastian in January! The weather was super warm the day we arrived and then the next day BOOM flash flooding...which kinda did a number on our trip because of rain we ended up missing our cruise but I'll get to that at a later point lol....I would still do the Austin portion all over again because our time with them filled our hearts oh so much!

We had so much fun exploring Austin. And the food was something else. Serious food babies all around. Thai-Kun had amazing vibes and we finally got to try Shake Shack! And oh-my-goodness on our last night we experienced true Texan BBQ at Salt Lick....soooooo good.

And oh my goodness how cute is Joy's baby bump?

Oh Austin, you were fun and we will definitely be back!

xo,
laura

LEAVING ON A JET PLANE

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beach!

Away we go! Tomorrow James and I are off on our fall holidays....yipeeee! It's been a mad fall with work and just finishing conference last weekend (which was AMAZING by the way!!). I know I've been real bad about updating this space but life has been so FULL! We're off to Austin to visit James' sister and husband for a few days (yaaaa!) and then we fly to Florida to cruise it up for a week on the Caribbean! I CANNOT WAIT! 

I feel like I've barely thought about this holiday because things were so cray cray right up until we left. I'm currently still packing and still have to do a bunch of stuff and it's almost midnight and we fly out at 9am...but hey...we'll be able to get lotsa rest on the cruise!

We won't have wifi on the cruise but I'll probably send a few updates in Austin...hello TEXAS BBQ! So be sure to follow along!

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XO, laura

BLANKET SCARVES

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The weather is cool, the leaves are crisp and the pumpkin spice lattes are flowing...why hello favourite fashion season! There are a few fall staples which I'm a huge fan of...ankle boots, leather jacket and the blanket scarf. I was a gifted a beautiful blanket scarf from my besties for my bday and I wear it all the time. I love how versatile they are....scarf, cape, legit blanket! 
Here are a few of my favourites...

Blanket Scarves for Fall!

MELT IN YOUR MOUTH PUMPKIN COOKIES

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Melt in your mouth pumpkin cookies

As you know, I am a big fan of pumpkin EVERYTHING. We took our students to a pumpkin patch this past weekend and it was wonderful except for the fact that it was POURING RAIN...and I don't mean like sprinkle, sprinkle rain but straight up, get you soaked down pour!! We still had a wonderful time but oh my gosh that rain....please don't come back.

But if that horrendous rain comes back I know that I'll stay safely inside curled up with a hot chocolate and some of these melt in your mouth pumpkin cookies.

These cookies though.

They actually MELT IN YOUR MOUTH. They have the perfect amount of pumpkin and spices with a sugar frosting...just perfect for fall. I recommend making them RIGHT away before the pumpkin cravings are long gone because there are only 71 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS PEOPLE!

melt in your mouth pumpkin cookies!

MELT IN YOUR MOUTH PUMPKIN COOKIES

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp (each) cinnamon, nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp pumpkin puree
  • 2 cups flour

    frosting:
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/8 cup milk
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • cinnamon for sprinkling

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves and then mix until well combined. Next add the egg, vanilla and then pumpkin. Once mixed, slowly add flour until just combined.
  2. Place dough two inches apart on cookie tray. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Once baked, transfer to wire rack.
  3. For the frosting, melt the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Transfer to the bowl of the electric mixer and mix in milk and vanilla. Beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Be sure to wait until the cookies are cool to frost them!
  4. Enjoy!!

 

Happy Baking!

 

XO,
laura


HAPPY THANKSGIVING

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THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving to all you Canadians out there! I love thanksgiving because it gives us all an excuse to hang out with ones we love, eat lots of turkey and take a moment to be thankful for all the blessings around us! I have so much to be thankful for....my loving husband, family, the best of friends a girl could ask for, an amazing church and of course JESUS <3

Hope you have a wonderful day and eat lots and lots of turkey!!! My amazing mother in law is hosting dinner this year and I am so thankful for that :)

XO,
laura