Friday, Friday

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Well, hello, Friday! Mine started off bright and early (er, dark and early seeing as the sun was not yet up) for 5:45AM Pure Barre class - my twentieth in twenty days! I was following one of their incentive programs - their "Pure Consistency" challenge. The reward for completing is being able to sign one of the ballet barres, and also getting the next set of twenty classes for just a dollar a class. But I'm wild and crazy and also celebrated afterwards at 6:45AM with an Eggnog Latte (ordered via Starbucks mobile, of course!)

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My very favorite show, Top Chef, is coming back to television! Or, seeing as we officially bit the bullet and removed our T.V. from over the fireplace since it wasn't plugged in anyway, it's coming back to the computer via streaming :) 

Gail Simmons (my favorite) announced on Instagram, and I'm all sorts of nostalgic for California seeing as the new season will be set there. I will seriously scream out loud if they hit up any of my favorites from the Bay Area or Santa Barbara! In other news, we officially need something to hang above the fireplace now that it's television-less. Seeing as I have been banned politely encouraged to not bring any more chalkboards into the house, I'm going to instead try to sway husby on my second-most favorite obsession: faux animal heads. To be continued...

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Speaking of chalkboards, our kitchen chalkboard wall is all about Thanksgiving, but I'm sneaking in my very merriness with Christmas pajams. Husby is adamant about not decorating for Christmas pre-Thanksgiving, but I've been sneaking in Santas below the radar, shhhh....

...and maybe some reindeer antlers, too. Target for the win!

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Don't worry, we are still soaking up all things Thanksgiving and all things fall. Autumn toddler crafting is the best!

 Cork stamping... just another excuse to pop open a bottle of champagne!

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And these? The cutest little edible turkeys you've ever seen, right? I just used this recipe for a peanut butter & cream cheese ball, but instead of one big one I made lots of little ones. Then I added pretzels, candy eyes and gummies. Super easy (and delicious).  

Happy less-than-a-week until Turkey Day, y'all! 

(And yes, seriously, when did that happen and where did October go?)

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Giveaway Wednesday - Chatbooks Winner!

Happy one-week-until Thanksgiving, y'all! And also, how did that happen?? How are we one week away from Turkey Day? I'm hoping you are soaking up the season like we are here :) On to this week's winner! Thank you to everyone who entered the Chatbooks giveaway - they are really one of those gems that I am so very excited to be using!

Comment number one! The early bird got the worm this time :) Congratulations to Chesson! Please message me with your contact information and I will get you in contact with the awesome folks over at Chatbooks for your $40 gift credit. I can't wait to see what you do with it. 

 More Giveaway Wednesdays to come in 2016... enjoy the most wonderful time of the year, y'all! 

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Five on Friday!

Happy Weekend!

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You may have noticed the absence of Taco Tuesday this week - Taco Tuesday on the blog will officially be taking a break until the new year. With the holiday season in full swing, there are just too many fun festive things to be working on instead right now! We're still munching on tacos each Tuesday, of course, but we'll be doing repeat recipes here at the Klein Casa for the time being. Look out for Taco Tuesday coming back in full effect in 2016. (Click here for a round-up of Taco Tuesdays past.) Giveaway Wednesday will be on hiatus after next week as well. (Click here to enter the Chatbooks Giveaway if you haven't already!). 

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It's our first November in Alabama! This equals mums and pumpkins on the front porch, and leaves, leaves, leaves.



The this pile is so big my child can jump in it kind of leaves. Something my sunny California girl self knew nothing about. But I must say, Parker had a blast.


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My newest obsession: Starbucks mobile ordering. When I first heard of the service, I thought it was ridiculous. I didn't see the point in ordering a coffee that would probably be cold by the time you got to it. Then I did my first 6AM Pure Barre class. Leaving class afterwards had me craving a cappuccino... so this happened...

My first mobile order. All I had to do was walk in and grab my coffee that was waiting on the counter. The Starbucks between the studio and our house is always busy and usually has a line to order, plus people waiting for their orders to be ready. I got to bypass everyone (and feel super special). Best. Thing. Ever. And since the Starbucks was just a couple minutes away from the studio, my coffee was of course still hot. Seriously, genius. That is, until everyone else catches on, ha! For now, it's totally speeding my return home (which is especially nice at seven in the morning when husby is waiting on me to head out to work).

As for Pure Barre, it's quickly becoming my next obsession. I'm currently on Day 13 of a 20 Day challenge. That's right, starting November 1st I've been doing one class a day and absolutely loving it. 

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And as for husby, when he's heading off to work these days, he's driving there in Sandy! Congrats to him for basically taking apart his project car again this summer, and getting her to run better than ever. There seriously isn't a piece on this car that he hasn't touched - it's hard to even imagine that not long ago he picked it up salvaged at auction. He's still the smartest person I know, and now I really believe there isn't anything he can't do.

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Soaking up all things turkey and Thanksgiving now...

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Giveaway Wednesday - Chatbooks!

True story - when I first joined Instagram, I had no idea that I was posting photos for everyone to see. I downloaded the app for the neat photo editing features I had seen people using, and I knew you could share photos, but I thought it would be more obvious when you were doing it (like a "click here for the whole world to see this picture" button). I didn't know that every photo I was editing was being published. So I took a bunch of pictures, applied lots of filters, then logged in the next day and ohmyword, was I surprised by the "likes" and comments on those pictures. Not in the good way, in the Oops, I accidently "replied all" way. In the I'm so glad all these pictures weren't embarrassing or incriminating way. 

So anyway, I've come a long way since posting ten photos in a row of the same cutting board (thank goodness for the delete button). And now, Instagram is my favorite way to document what's going on in our life. I love looking back on years past and seeing where we traveled, what we ate, and the things we did. Unfortunately, digital media has replaced printed photos for me. Remember the days when everyone used film? Snapping photos and not even seeing them until they were printed? While I love digital photography, I miss the printed pictures (and I'm all sorts of awful about getting those digital images printed). Enter Chatbooks. 

Six-inch by six-inch soft bound books of Instagram photos. Be still my heart, I'm in love.

I can finally keep a printed collection of all our memories - and it couldn't be easier. Chatbooks links directly to your Instagram account - no downloading of photos necessary. Just choose the photos you want included in the book, and they will be printed in chronological order. A 60-page book will run you $8 plus shipping.

I actually plan on going back and printing all our Instagram memories, but for my first book, I just did February-October 2015 (I think I'll do them all by date like that). Then moving forward, they have a subscription program. Yep, making it literally effortless. Upload sixty photos to Instagram, and an $8 Chatbook will be on its way to you. Boom. 

What I especially love is that you can select whether or not to include the date, your caption, and the check-in location if you used one. 

I selected to include all. The date is printed in the top left, and the location on the right, with the caption below.

The awesome Chatbooks crew has gracious offered a $40 gift credit to one of you! I know you will love the service just as much as I do. To enter the giveaway, just comment below with the photo you would put on the cover of your first book. I chose this one of Parker seeing snow for the first time. Magic, y'all. Pure magic.

I'll be selecting a winner at random in one week. Happy Giveaway Wednesday!

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Giveaway Wednesday - The Little Yoga Mat Winner

Thank you to everyone who participated in The Little Yoga Mat giveaway! It makes my heart happy to think of all the mini yogis out there! 

Because, really, is there anything cuter than a baby yogi? 

And the lucky yogi is....

Comment number six, Laura Barkley! Congratulations!

Laura, please message me with your contact information and the amazing folks over at The Little Yoga Mat will have a mat on the way to you. 

Thank you again to the sweet people at The Little Yoga Mat. Come back next Wednesday for another fun giveaway!

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Taco Tuesday Roundup

Happy Taco Tuesday!

Today I'm posting a round-up of the last nineteen Taco Tuesdays. All tasty, all must-makes. Just click on each photo for the post containing the recipe. The only hard part will be deciding which one you'll make tonight :) Enjoy!

 

 

 

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