Eat. Drink. Be Merry.

Last night, I hosted a little Christmas party for several of the Americanas here in Madrid. With sugar cookies and Gingerbread men to decorate, Christmas songs playing in the background and spiced wine simmering on the stove, I think we all felt a bit more in the Christmas spirit before going on our merry ways.

As always, it was so nice to talk to other American girls living in Spain. It’s interesting to hear different perspectives on the pros/cons between Spain and the US, to discuss travel plans and to learn tips for navigating this foreign place through other people’s experiences. And honestly, it’s just plain good for the soul to sympathize over the lack of readily available baking goods, to vent over some of the cultural differences that we just don’t quite (and may not ever) understand and to engage in some good old fashion girl talk.

And, whether it’s a helpful tip, funny tidbit or just plain weird, I always learn something new. Last night, I learned that:

1) I have to check out Mercadona,  which is apparently one of the best grocery stores in the center and not too terribly far from our apartment.

2) the recipes on Martha Stewart are always tweaked just a bit to ensure that your cookies or breads never turn out quite as perfectly as Martha’s. Que sneaky!

3) Elf on the Shelf is not new! Apparently, Super Moms in Ohio have been doing this for ages under a different alias!

4) Some Spaniards (and possibly their American girlfriends) believe that if you cut up an onion and sleep with it near you when you’re sick and coughing, you’ll wake up better (albeit smelly) the next day!

5) I love playing hostess! It’s so fun planning what to make, gathering all the things we’ll need and coming up with creative ideas. I have to admit I was quite proud of myself for repurposing mini gift bows as wine glass markers when I couldn’t find my wine charms. (Without the help of Pinterest, I might add.) I also enjoy making our home ready and, hopefully, welcoming. It’s not magazine worthy nor furnished by Pottery Barn, but I’ve put quite a bit of time and thought into making our home cozy and comfortable for us. It’s nice being able to share that with others.

6) Gingerbread men are almost too cute to eat!

I said, Almost.

Rain Boots: A City Life Necessity

Is it weird that I've actually gotten to the point where I like seeing rain in the forecast so that I have a reason to pull out my rain boots? For my birthday last year, I asked for emailed Luke a link to the original green Hunter rain boots that I wanted, and he got them for me. Surprise! 

I wore them in the snow when we went skiing last year and tried to wear them a time or two at home when it rained but felt a little bit silly.  They don't make much sense, even when it rains, if you're not spending some time outside; they're a little big and bulky if they're only of use on the short walk between the car and your destination, which was normally my situation at home. Here, though, they're awesome. I walk a lot every single day, rain or shine. These babies keep my feet dry, and I can go on my merry way, stomping through puddles, without worry of soaking the bottom of my pants (or wondering if that was really only rain water I stepped in.) Not to mention, the green brightens a cloudy day, and because they're quite popular here, make me feel super stylish and trendy. 

I've been on the lookout lately for new tops that I can pair with leggings or skinny jeans and my green boots. After purchasing a couple of shirts/sweaters, a denim shirt and a green, cozy scarf and pulling out a red rain jacket that I had completely forgotten about, I've finally pulled together a pretty cool collection of rainy day attire. I've already happily worn these green boots multiple times, making them totally worth the pretty penny we spent on them. Bring on the rain, Spain!

 

And just because I saw this while walking around today in my cozy green rain boots...

that little white label comes at a premium. Whoops!

Pimp Your Pumpkin

On Monday, I went to a pumpkin carving party for the Americanas in Madrid group hosted by Erin Ridley, whose blog is how I first learned of the group. I don't know if I've ever even carved my own pumpkin before, but being out of the U.S.A. without any other Halloween plans, it seemed like the appropriate way to pay homage to the American holiday. 

After purchasing two tiny, decorative pumpkins, I finally stumbled upon a large, carve-able pumpkin just in the nick of time. (There are no pumpkin patches in Madrid, and large pumpkins are a rarity!) There were about 10-12 girls at the party; some carving, some roasting pumpkin seeds and others providing moral support. Though I completely cut out my pattern the opposite way that you are supposed to (instead of having a stencil, I had a separate mouth, eyes, nose, etc...I've always been a bit backwards), my pumpkin still turned out okay and most of all, I had a great time chatting with native English speakers, sipping red wine and snacking on  homemade goodies.

Thanks to Erin for opening her beautiful apartment to all of us and hosting such a fun night!

Carving in progress.

Blurry pumpkins aglow.

Americanas y calabazas.

My finished product, which actually exceeded my rather low expectations.

29 Feels just Fine.

I turned 29 in September. Weird. I don't feel that old. But I think that's how everyone feels. When will I start to feel my age? Hopefully, never. I had a great day and got lots of love from Luke in Spain and from our families back in the USA. 

Wine and a decanter...Pretty green earrings...An antique French baguette cabinet...A cool potted plant for our apartment...Two types of manzanilla sleepy time teas....Luke showered me with gifts, and then took me to a nice dinner at a restaurant near us called Divina La Cocina.

Vanna White pose with my presents from my thoughtful hubby.

Although it was strange not getting to celebrate with family, I got lots of cards, gifts and even some moolah that made me feel so special and remembered. I especially loved the handmade cards that I received from the Peck family. They're such a creative clan....all 4 (soon to be 5!) of them!

Modeling my OKC Thunder shirt from the Matthews family. I'll wear it proudly as long as they aren't playing the Mavs. :)

Spanish flag and torro card by Jeff. Superman by Coleman. Sweetest letter ever by Shelby.

Thank you all so much for remembering me and making me feel so loved. It always means so much to me but even more so during this time when we're so far away from our loved ones. Love you all so much!

Divina Pastora 10K - October 28, 2012

This past weekend, Luke and I ran our first European 10K. Since Luke had to work this weekend, we didn't think that he'd be able to run or even go to the race with me. However, the day before he decided that he could wait until after the race and go in a little later. (That's the cool thing about working on Sundays. You don't have to be there by 9. ;)) Anyway, by the time he tried to officially sign up for the race, it was already full, but he was a champ and still got up early, went out in the cold and ran it with me.  And I'm so glad he did. Going out there alone wouldn't have been as fun. 

Ready to run.

Crowds of people at the starting line. We crossed when the official clock was around 2 minutes.

It was cold, only around 38 degrees, but sunny, clear and perfect running weather. The course started in Retiro, the big park near our apartment. It took us up one of the main streets, Paseo de la Castellana, before turning around and doing a large loop around Retiro, up a pretty good size hill near the 8K mark and back into the park to cross the finish line. I finished as number 1,564 out of 3,026 runners, with an average pace of 7:57 per mile according to my Garmin. I feel like I maybe could have run the first half a little harder but overall  was really pleased with my results, and it was good to have some saved energy for the hill at the end and a strong push across the finish line. 

Post race party pic.

The races here are a lot cheaper than in the states (Only 12 euros for this one!), and it was really cool to see our city quiet and empty on a beautiful Sunday morning. I'm definitely looking forward to more races in Madrid and maybe even some other European cities!

Work Out Wrap-Up #4

Hmmm. So probably no one cares, but I kind of like to do these work out wrap-up posts to keep me accountable to myself (and to have something to point to if I realize that my jeans aren't fitting and can't figure out why!) Since training for and running the Cowtown half marathon last February, I've kept a pretty consistent log of my workouts, minus our first 2 weeks in Spain and the month of August, though I don't always blog it.  

So far here in Spain, I've been really happy with my gym. It's more expensive than what we had to pay for L.A. Fitness in Dallas, but it's worth it. It's really nice to work out in a female only environment (except for the trainers), and there's a great schedule of classes that includes Body Pump, which I've been trying to fit in twice a week. Since finally purchasing a swim cap, I've also taken advantage of the indoor pool a couple of times. Before the cooler Fall days arrived, I was going to the gym more. The last couple of weeks, though, have been so nice that I've favored a run through Retiro, a big nice park only about 1 km from our apartment, over treadmill monotony.

 

Keeping up with a regular exercise schedule over here has been really important to me. It gives me something to do every day, even when I have nothing else on the agenda, and keeps me from sitting in the apartment by myself all day. (Not to mention, it allows me to enjoy our vacations and weekends while still being able to fit in my bridesmaids dress for Anna's wedding come March!) Whether running through the park full of people or taking part in a group class at the gym, it helps make me feel a part of the city and life beyond my apartment. Also, the classes are totally helping me with Spanish! I understand so much more than I did during my first class and have had the occasional opportunity to interact one on one with the instructors.  

The entrance to my gym, O2 Wellness Center on Calle de Ramon de la Cruz.

My favorite straight stretch to run up in Retiro. You can kind of see some of the fall color here.

And with that, I'm off to the gym for 1:30 yoga class, only my 2nd one in Spain so far! I was actually sore the day after my first time, but the stretching felt so good. I'm hoping it will help rest and stretch my legs before the race on Sunday! Work hard. Play hard. Peace out.

Life Lately in Madrid

After returning from our non-stop travels in August, we've finally had a pretty good period of time in Madrid and have started to settle in nicely. Luke is back at the daily grind, usually leaving the house around 8:30 and returning around the same time in the evening, sometimes earlier, sometimes later on both ends. I started Spanish classes at Escuela Oficial de Idiomas on October 8th and am just finishing up my 3rd week of classes. I go every day from 5-7. So far, I really like my teacher, Concha, and hope that I start seeing more and more improvement soon!  Between the gym or running, class and homework everyday, keeping the apartment clean, laundry and running errands, which takes much longer here given the lack of our car and the necessity to go multiple places in order to get each type of item (There is no Target or Wal-Mart in the city center!), my days go by pretty quickly.

Everyone continues to be so friendly and welcoming, and we have been lucky to find a couple of groups of friends to share some of our time with.  Several weeks ago, we had a group of people over to our house for tapas and wine. I met Colleen through the Americanas in Madrid Facebook group and then met Erin through Colleen. They both came with their significant others. Jose is Colleen's Spanish fiance, and Dani is Erin's Mexican boyfriend. We've also met up for drinks, a cheese festival and shopping (girls only!) with this group. 

Jose is a very talented guitarist and knows a plethora of songs, so when we get together, the night usually ends with a sing-a-long! (Me, Erin, Colleen, Jose, Luke, Dani.)

Mexican food in Madrid after the Cheese festival. (Erin, Dani, Jose & Colleen. You should know the front row!)

Luke's co-worker, Jose Carlos, has been beyond friendly since the week we arrived. He was the first person to invite us out for dinner when we were brand new to Madrid, and since then we have hung out with him and his best friend, Nico, several times.  They both speak pretty good English and love the opportunity to speak so that they can keep improving. They also encourage me to speak Spanish with them and are so nice and helpful to help me with new words or to provide constructive criticism. 

Luke, Jose Carlos, Nicolas, Me, Elena, Almu & Francisco

Luke and Jose Carlos

Luke has to work this weekend. Although the last two weekends that we thought he would have to work, it got called off at the last minute, so I'm still holding out hope for that to happen again. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll get lucky a third time. While Luke works on Sunday, I'm running in my first European 10-K. The weather looks like it will be a nice, cool Fall weekend with highs in the upper 50's and low 60's. So other than work and running, it looks like we'll have a pretty chill weekend in Madrid. 

We miss our families like crazy and can't wait for the next opportunity to see everybody or anybody! Have a good weekend in Texas, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Arkansas, Tennessee (wherever you are!) and know that you're always on our minds! 


 

En Casa con Luke y Millie (At Home with Luke and Millie)

Last week, my mom requested some photos of our apartment, and though I'd had this on my to do list for a while now, it took her request to make me take a few pictures. I thought I'd share them here with the rest of our family and friends so that you all can picture where we are (and where you will come visit! You better!) We still have a few things that we'd like to find, like a couple of pictures or mirrors for the bare walls in our living room and dining room, throw pillows for the couch and a dresser or some type of additional clothing storage for our bedroom.

All in all, though, we are starting to feel settled and comfortable. It really is such a blessing that EY shipped all of our things for us.  Most of the Americans that we have met here came only with what they could fit in the allowable luggage limit for their flight and are living in furnished apartments without any of their special things.  After experiencing a furnished apartment for 6 months in Dallas, we were so excited to get our personal items back, and it really has made us feel much more comfortable and at home, which makes this whole experience much easier. Here are a few pictures and descriptions of the rooms in our apartment starting with the living room and walking back to the master bedroom.

We purchased most of the big items for this room (El Salon) in Madrid: Couch, coffee tale, bench and rug. The bench was the perfect solution because we didn't have a great spot for a chair, and all the ones we liked were incredibly expensive. It offers more seating and is the perfect height with the coffee table. Plus, the stripes make me happy.

Here we have our "entertainment center." The small turquoise chest we shipped from home and ended up working fine as a TV stand since our TV here is much smaller than at home. We usually have my laptop set up and connected to the TV so that we can indulge in our new addiction to the Breaking Bad series, and I can keep up with Parenthood. We hung the picture from Luke's birthday that I bought at El Rastro above the TV, and the wooden piece to the left of the TV is an old French baguette cabinet that Luke got me for my birthday. Our glass bottles in the center of the coffee table are from our trip to Nashville, but we're on the lookout to add a few Spanish bottles to our collection!

After looking at coffee tables that we loved but were far beyond our budget, I was so excited when we found this. It's not a true antique but looks old and rustic just like we like it. When we bought the table, it had 4 short legs on it that made it just a little too tall to be a coffee table, but we decided to buy it anyway with the hopes that we could take the legs off. Sure enough, as soon as it was delivered, I turned it on its side and went to work with a hammer. The legs popped right off and now it's the right height for our couch and bench. We bought the rug from a small shop run by an Afghanistani man and his Spanish wife. He is the nicest man and was so easy to work with. He let us take home two rugs since we couldn't make up our minds and gave us no hassle when I went to return the extra. In fact, he even made me a cup of green tea and talked to me for 30 minutes about his village in Afghanistan!

We brought our beloved trunk and Matthews frame from home. When we came across these American flag pillows in El Corte Ingles, you know we couldn't go home without them! God Bless America!

I think the kitchen (La Cocina) is my favorite room in our apartment. I love the tile, green wall and the fact that it is open to the living room and dining room, which is not common in Spain. In fact, they call this type of layout "Cocina Americana." They prefer to have a kitchen that completely closes off from the other rooms. My Spanish teacher, Jose, told me that it's because they like to keep the food smells in the kitchen. I guess American food smells better than Spanish food. :)

We have plenty of storage and modern appliances! However, the dishwasher is quite small and won't easily fit our dinner plates. I guess what they say about American plates (and portion sizes) significantly increasing in size over the past couple of decades is true!

The landlords left this little cart when they moved out. It's so simple, but I love it. I have all my spices and cutting board on the top shelf. Then I found these great glass containers that I bought to store flour, sugar, coffee, oats, brown rice, cous cous, lentils, etc. The bottom shelf is where we keep our stock of fruit and veggies.  The cart is situated right behind the cook-top, so it's really convenient to have all the spices within arm's reach.

We brought this green piece from home, and it was the perfect fit and match in our green kitchen.The additional storage is great, and it's nice to have some "junk" drawers where we can store mail, pens, pencils, etc. We bought the framed Parcheesi board in San Sebastian, Spain and found the old scale at El Rastro.

Here's our dining room (El Comedor), where we're still in need of some pictures to hang on the bare walls.  We brought everything in this room with us from Dallas.

We have a small bathroom (El Bano) right off of the living room and kitchen, which has been really nice for when we have guests over.  However, because of where the plumbing is in the building, the toilet has a motor to push the water in the direction that it needs to go. It makes some funny sounds to say the least. Don't be scared if it starts growling at you!

In our entry way (La Entrada), we found a nice spot for the long, yellow table that we brought from home. Then we found this shelf with hooks at an old antique shop near El Rastro for only about 30 euros (if I remember correctly), which is a good price considering how big it is. I always have a purse or bags with me when I come in the door, so I love having these hooks to hang them on instead of dropping them in the floor. We bought the yellow rug to go in front of the door, but we had to be creative with the positioning because the door won't open with it there. Notice all the locks on the door? We're definitely safe!

Here's the extra bedroom (El Dormitorio), which we currently use as a laundry room. The landlords also left this little table, which we put next to the laundry line so that I can use it as a folding table as soon as I take the clean clothing off the line. It also is a perfect match for the sweet canvas that Meg and Shelby made us.

Our three laundry lines hang between the window in our guestroom and the window in our bedroom. It's nice to have so much private space for drying, but don't drop anything! There's not an easy way to access the shaft so if something is dropped, it's most likely gone for good! I've already lost a hand towel that was wrapped up in a larger towel and fell out when I hung the towel on the line. That taught me the importance of giving everything a big shake before hanging it out the window!

Because we use the ironing board more than usual due to a lack of dryer, it's nice to have a spot where we can just keep it out all the time. I've also been working on a couple of crafty items so it's been nice to be able to spread those things out in this room.  With the cute green shutters in place of a normal door, we can just swing the doors shut and keep the clutter hidden.

This is our bedroom (El Dormitorio Principal) looking in from the master bath. We found two bedside tables at a tiny little shop right down the street from our house. After using boxes as side tables for a couple of months, I was super excited when we finally found these tables. We also bought the "headboard" at a spot near our apartment. Although it's not a true headboard, it's nice to have something on the wall over the bead. Here you can also see the window to the shaft. Our clothesline runs between here and the window in the guest room.

Our bedroom looking into the closet and hallway.  We still need to find a chest or dresser to provide some additional clothing storage, but we got lucky with a spacious closet and have been able to make do so far.

This is our master bathroom. We have a nice, big shower and of course, we love the tile here too! Like many of the Spanish apartments, there isn't much in the way of storage. I bought the three baskets under the sink to store our toiletries, and the basket to the left of the shower is where we store our clean towels. (Looks like I need to do laundry.)

The toilet nook complete with window to keep you entertained while taking care of business. :) We bought the wire basket to the left of the toilet at El Rastro. I believe they said it was an old milk jar basket, but it also works great as toilet paper storage. The large window opens all the way, but it will also vent open just at the top, which helps keep the bathroom from steaming up when the shower is in use. 

There you have it...a little glimpse into our piso nuevo.  We can't wait to share our home and this great new city with all of our loved ones!

My Homework for Jose: English Translation

Here is my English translation of what I wrote in Spanish last week for my Spanish teacher, Jose. To non-Spanish speakers, it sounds and looks much more impressive in Spanish. In English, it sounds about like an elementary school student, but you have to use what you know. Poco a poco (little by little).

Last week I began Spanish lessons with a guy named Jose. Jose is also Luke's teacher. This week I've had 2 lessons with Jose and on Wednesday he gave me homework for the next lesson on Friday. He told me to write an entry for my blog in Spanish. My first thought was "How difficult!" But I want to lean so this afternoon I came to a cafe near my apartment and I am going to try. Jose told me only to write 5 to 10 sentences but I want to tell you a story.

Yesterday I went to eat lunch with 2 American girls. After lunch, we went shopping. I bought a sweater, a scarf, 2 necklaces and a bracelet. After shopping the other girls went home and I met Luke in a restaurant near our apartment. We walked around our neighborhood and had a glass of wine. When we got home I realized that I didn't have my shopping bag. I was very upset because I really liked the things that I had bought and they had cost me 60 euros.

So the next morning I returned to the last restaurant we were at. I told the waiter, " I was here late last night and I wanted to see if I left my shopping bag her. Have you found it?" The waiter had my bag and I was very excited. Also, I was proud of myself because I talked with the waiter in Spanish. After I found my bag, the rest of my day has been very good.

This is the end of my story. Tomorrow morning Jose will come to my house for another lesson and I will show him this entry. I hope that he likes my blog and that I did a good job. 

Also, here is what you get if you copy and past what I originally wrote into Google translate. It did a pretty good job with the exception of a few verb conjugations.

Last week I started Spanish lessons with a man named Jose. Jose is also Luke's teacher. This week I had two lessons with Jose and on Wednesday gave me homework for the next lesson on Friday. I said, "You write an entry for your blog in Spanish. Pesamiento My first was," How hard! "But I want to learn. Then this afternoon I came to a cafe that is very close to my apartment and I will try. Jose told me write only five to ten sentences but I want to tell you a story.
 
Yesterday I went to lunch with two girls who are in the United States and after lunch we went shopping. I bought a sweater, a scarf, two necklaces and a bracelet. After shopping the other girls went home. I met Luke at a restaurant near our apartment. We walk around our neighborhood and had a glass of wine. When we got home I realized I did not have my shopping bag. I was very upset because I liked the things I had bought and had cost sixty euros.

Then this morning I returned to the restaurant last were. Said the waiter, "I was here last night very late and wanted to see if I left a shopping bag here.'s You found? The waiter took my bag and I was ecstatic.'m Proud because I talk to the waiter in Spanish. After that I found my bag the rest of my day has been fine. 

That is the end of my story. Jose tomorrow morning will come to my house for another lesson and I will show this post. I hope you like my blog and I hope you do a good job.

 

Mi Deberes para Jose

La Semana pasada yo comence lecciones de Espanol con un hombre que se llama Jose. Jose es el maestro de Luke tambien. Esta semana he tenido dos lecciones con Jose y el Miercoles el me dio deberes por la proxima leccion el Viernes. Me dijo, "Escribes una entrada para tu blog en Espanol. Mi primer pesamiento fue, "Que dificil"! Pero quiero aprender. Entonces esta tarde he venido a un cafe que esta muy cerca de mi piso y voy a intentarlo. Jose me dijo escribir solo cinco hasta diez frases pero quiero decirte una historia. 

Ayer fui para comer con dos chicas que son de los Estados Unidos y despues de comer fuimos de compras. Yo compre un jersey, una bufanda, dos collares y una pulsera. Despues de compras los otras chicas fueron a casa. Me encontre con Luke en una restaurante cerca de nuestro piso. Nosotros andamos alrededor de nuestro barrio y tomamos una copa de vino. Cuando llegamos en casa me di cuenta de que no tuve mi bolsa de compras. Estuve muy disgustada porque me gustaron las cosas que habia comprado y me habian costado sesenta euros. 

Entonces esta manana he regresado al ultimo restaurante estabamos. Dije el camarero, "Estuve aqui anoche muy tarde y queria ver si deje una bolsa de compras aqui. La has encontrado? El camarero tuvo mi bolsa y yo estaba muy emocionada. Estoy orgullosa porque yo hable con el camarero en espanol. Despues de que encontre mi bolsa el resto de mi dia ha estado muy bien.

Ese es el fin de mi historia. Manana por la manana Jose vendra a mi casa por otro leccion y le mostrare esta entrada. Espero que le guste mi blog y tambien espero que haria un buen trabajo.

Baking in My Spanish Kitchen

With more time on my hands, I've found myself baking quite a bit, and though I haven't yet tried my hand at any traditional Spanish treats, American cookies, cupcakes and baked goods are quite the delicacy in Spain.  This works out well for me because I can bake them and fill our apartment with the enticing smells, and then send them off with Luke to work or share them with guests so that we don't have trays of cookies filling our kitchen.

There's a large department type store here in Madrid called El Corte Ingles.  They have everything from furniture to electronics to groceries.  They're huge and all over the city. A couple of weeks ago, Luke and I were walking through a section of one of the stores called "The Gourmet Experience," which also happens to have a small section of American items. When I saw Libby's canned pumpkin gleaming brightly on the shelf, I knew I had to have some for the upcoming Fall season. Nothing makes you want to bake more than cooler temperatures, changing leaves and the promise of spicy sweetness lofting from the oven. 

However, I didn't even make it until October before breaking into one of my cans of pumpkin.  This morning I got the urge to bake pumpkin bread, and I pretty quickly gave into it. I started with this recipe but adapted it along the way to work with what I had in the kitchen.

As baking around here always begins, I first Googled "350 Fahrenheit to Celsius" so that I would know where to set my Celsius speaking oven. (For future reference: The answer is 176.667 degrees. One of these days I will memorize that.) Then I gathered my ingredients:

Flour, Sunflower Oil (in place of veg. oil), Pepitas, Baking soda, Sugar, Pumpkin, 2 egg whites, Salt, Vanilla extract, Cinnamon, Pumpkin pie spice, Ground cloves (substituted for nutmeg.)

Upon gathering everything that I would need, I realized that, dang-it, my pumpkin seeds were still in the shell.  Now if I'm being honest, I realized they didn't look like I had expected when I grabbed them at the store earlier this morning, but also if I'm being honest, it didn't dawn on me until I was ready to start baking why they looked different. Ummm, duh.  Instead of heading out on a search for shelled pumpkin seeds, I decided to try and de-shell them myself. 

That didn't work. I couldn't properly crack the shell without also cracking the seed, and I wanted full pretty seeds, not slivers. I'd already mixed the batter together, so I couldn't just save it for another day, and I really didn't want to leave the batter on the counter while I ran around in search of the perfect pumpkin seeds.  (Literally, I would have had to run around. We don't have a car.) I opted for the alternative, said, "oh well", and figured the bread would still be good without the pepitas.

However, as I was mixing together my wet ingredients, I decided why not make a few other adjustments since I already had to forgo the seeds. So into my mixture of wet ingredients, I added 2 tablespoons of Chia seeds. My mom makes banana bread with Chia seeds, and I always love that little addition. I threw them into the mix hoping that they'd help keep the bread from being too dry since there isn't much oil in the recipe. 

With my mind now on banana nut bread, I remembered the walnuts and hazelnuts left over from a recipe I made last week. I chopped them up and added a 1/2 cup of nuts to the mix as well, about 1/4 cup of each. I folded the dry ingredients into the rest, and then poured into my greased loaf pan. Unfortunately, I haven't seen, though I haven't really looked, cooking spray here yet, so my pan was greased with good ole butter.

With my pan all ready to pop into my oven heated exactly to 176.667 Celsius, I made the impulse decision to top my bread with old-fashioned oats. I used a little less than 1/4 cup (approximately 3 Tablespoons) and pushed them into the batter just a bit. 

After the addition of the oats, I set the timer for 50 minutes and started cleaning up the kitchen while enjoying the amazing smells of cinnamon and pumpkin seeping from the oven. Of course, your finger is always the best way to really get those bowls clean.

I just pulled the hot pan from the oven, and while I can tell you with certainty that it smells delicious, I'll have to update you later on the taste.  I figure it will be the perfect finish to dinner tonight because along with pumpkin season comes the season of soup, and I'm making this.

Now I'm off to relish the nice cool weather as I walk to the gym for Body Pump. Gotta work off that tasty finger lickin'!