Burned: Bath and Body Works' Havest Gathering No. 4 candle. The scent is described as a blend of fresh pumpkin, warm harvest spices and apples. It's not overwhelmingly cinnamon-y, as many fall candles tend to be, and I like that the scent doesn't get too strong while burning. I loved the spiced apple scent of the popular Leaves candle last year, but the scent is so strong it made my nose run every time I burned it-- no es bueno. As we transition from fall into winter, I'm also LOVING Cranberry Woods (a mix of cranberry, blackcurrant, cedar wood, and amber) and Winter Night (fir, cyprus, clove, and incense). I purchased Winter Night last year and is unfortunately not available as a part of this year's collection. FYI - BBW runs 2/$22 sales all the time; I *NEVER* buy BBW candles at full price, because that's just ludicrous. They are the best non-high-end candles I've ever bought, and they burn super evenly. Cheaper brands tend to burn only in the center and you end up wasting a lot of wax.
Discovered: Photo Pin, a free photo searching site for bloggers and creatives. It searches for Creative Commons licensed photos that are free to use on your blog or website. I like the interface of this site opposed to Flickr's search function.
Ate: Chicken, Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili by Tina Jeffers for Blissblog. This might be my favorite chili recipe I've ever tried! Now, this will sound crazy, but I made a few changes-- I used grass-fed beef instead of ground chicken, and I used only a few tablespoons of a dark beer (since that's all we had) and added a snack cup of applesauce to replace the rest of the beer (about 1/2 cup?). I also threw in a splash of Trader Joe's iced coffee concentrate (since there's already cocoa powder in the recipe, and little coffee can deepen the flavors). Even if you make it per the recipe, it'd taste super good. It's on my menu for this weekend.
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Watched: JustMargaret and EcoholicBeauty on YouTube. I'm always adding new people to my list of favorite YouTubers. I found Margaret earlier this year through a discussion about female creators on YouTube, and I love her quirky, thoughtful vlogs. She also has a makeup channel called ItsJustAesthetics, and she introduced me to EcoholicBeauty, a beauty vlogger who focuses on natural, environmentally friendly, and cruelty free makeup and body products. As a true hippie at heart, I'm super pumped to learn more about natural beauty care, and it's inspired me to do some overhauling (more on this soon).
Listened to: Anthropologie on Rotation, which is Anthro's Spotify station. If you love the music that plays in the store, you'll adore their Spotify playlists. The French playlist, "Passport to Paris," has been a perfect backdrop to my writing sessions, and their Christmas playlists are SO SO good (yep, totally listened to them already; my favorite is "A Merry-Making Playlist").
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Baked: The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie. I'm not exaggerating; that's really the name of the recipe. It comes from Cook's Illustrated magazine, who is known for taking classic recipes and making a few strategic changes to make the best possible version of said recipes. These cookies are an old favorite of ours-- big, chewy, and caramel-y from the brown butter. I love to add a little flaked sea salt to the top for that salted dark chocolate taste. Amazing.
Purchased: Julep Maven beauty box subscription.* Let me preface this by saying I am NOT a nail polish girl (or much of a makeup girl at all, for that matter). I've seriously painted my nails twice since I got married 5+ years ago, and both of those times were in the past 2 months. So this recommendation does not come lightly-- I have to really enjoy it for me to be talking about it here :) I was given a coupon code to try a Julep box a few months ago. I'd heard about the box subscriptions through a few online friends, who all had good things to say. I ended up loving the three polishes that came in my introductory box, and ordered a November monthly box as well. Julep gives you the option of accepting or skipping each box after previewing the monthly selections, which is an awesome feature because sometimes the polishes just aren't appealing. Of the polishes and makeup products I have received, I've been quite impressed with the packaging, quality, and colors, and I admit that it's pretty fun to get a little present in the mail each month.
Learned: I signed up for illustrator/letterer Mary Kate McDevitt's Skillshare class "The First Steps of Hand Lettering." I'm obsessed with hand-drawn type (see my Pinterest board here) and I've always wanted to learn a little more about the process. I'm about halfway through the lessons, and I think it's a great class. Most valuable to me is seeing the way Mary Kate goes about her work. While she is undoubtedly talented, it also takes a lot of sketching, erasing, and refining of lines. You don't have to be inherently talented if you're willing to put some hard work in to your art. If you haven't taken a Skillshare class before, they are great! The online classes are design focused (think: Illustrator, InDesign, CSS, fashion illustration, etc.) and offered by well-known designers/artists, and feature video lessons, assignments, and classroom forums. All of the classes are super affordable (most are $20-25 per class). If you'd like $10 off your first class, feel free to use this coupon code link.*
(Please note: The two links marked with * are affiliate/referral links, and I receive a few credits if you purchase through these links. The original purchases were made with my own money, and I have only included them here because I really do enjoy them!)
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What are you loving this season?
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