Hello blog friends. I hope you've all enjoyed the week so far. I am, but I've had such a busy week, so please forgive me if I haven't been able to visit your blogs.
I did a blog post on a crocheted fall leaf that I made HERE, about two weeks ago. Below is what my crocheted leaf looks like.

Well, I was so happy when my blog friend Diane from Lavender Dreams made one too. It makes me so happy when I can inspire someone to crochet or knit a project that I make.
Look at Diane's pretty leaf and she made hers using brown colored yarn.


Thanks Diane for sharing with me the lovely crocheted fall leaf you made. It will be just perfect for fall decorating. You have inspired me to make one in brown yarn too.
Please visit Diane's blog where she writes and shares about her fun life in Florida.
If you would like to make this crochet leaf the pattern can be found HERE.
I also want to thank Jenna from The Painted Apron who recently had a Giveaway. I was picked as the winner of a hand painted Pumpkin Runner she made.
I was so shocked and surprised when she announced that I was the WINNER!
Thanks so much Jenna for being so thoughtful and generous. I can't wait to use the pretty hand painted pumpkin runner you made, and it will look perfect for my fall decorating.
Please visit The Painted Apron where Jenna shares about entertaining and her wonderful recipes. Jenna is also a very talented artist where she shares all of her beautiful paintings and crafts. Thanks Jenna you have inspired me to paint a pumpkin!
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Thanks everyone and enjoy!
Julie
I did a blog post on a crocheted fall leaf that I made HERE, about two weeks ago. Below is what my crocheted leaf looks like.

Well, I was so happy when my blog friend Diane from Lavender Dreams made one too. It makes me so happy when I can inspire someone to crochet or knit a project that I make.
Look at Diane's pretty leaf and she made hers using brown colored yarn.


Thanks Diane for sharing with me the lovely crocheted fall leaf you made. It will be just perfect for fall decorating. You have inspired me to make one in brown yarn too.
Please visit Diane's blog where she writes and shares about her fun life in Florida.
If you would like to make this crochet leaf the pattern can be found HERE.
I also want to thank Jenna from The Painted Apron who recently had a Giveaway. I was picked as the winner of a hand painted Pumpkin Runner she made.
I was so shocked and surprised when she announced that I was the WINNER!
Thanks so much Jenna for being so thoughtful and generous. I can't wait to use the pretty hand painted pumpkin runner you made, and it will look perfect for my fall decorating.
Please visit The Painted Apron where Jenna shares about entertaining and her wonderful recipes. Jenna is also a very talented artist where she shares all of her beautiful paintings and crafts. Thanks Jenna you have inspired me to paint a pumpkin!
Thank you blog friends, it makes me so happy to know that I can inspire someone to crochet a project of mine, or to make one of my easy to make recipes.
Let's keep on inspiring each other, because blog friends are the best!
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, and please stop by here on Sunday to find out where I will be guest blogging.
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Thanks everyone and enjoy!
Julie
Hey everyone, I hope your having a good week. Over the summer I had the chance to go to Smorgasburg, and it did not disappoint!
What is Smorgasburg you ask? Well it's a foodie lovers delight, featuring all kinds of foods, and over 100 vendors, held in two locations in Brooklyn, New York.
We went to the Prospect Park location, on a hot summer day, and it was perfect for eating a variety of different foods. My husband, teen and friends, and I went to enjoy a day of some food fun.
The many different food stands with people walking around to sample the food. To see all of the food vendors, you can click HERE.
My husband had a pink fruit drink to cool off with.
Below is a ramen burger, which is all the rage right now. I had a bite of it and it tasted so good. The ramen burger is fried into a patty, and in between is the hamburger. The ramen is used as a bun for the burger.
A salmon hand roll.
Ice cream, and egg creams.
A large oven that I thought looked really interesting.
A fun tropical coconut drink, to cool off with made out of a coconut.
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Thanks everyone and enjoy!
Julie
What is Smorgasburg you ask? Well it's a foodie lovers delight, featuring all kinds of foods, and over 100 vendors, held in two locations in Brooklyn, New York.
We went to the Prospect Park location, on a hot summer day, and it was perfect for eating a variety of different foods. My husband, teen and friends, and I went to enjoy a day of some food fun.
The many different food stands with people walking around to sample the food. To see all of the food vendors, you can click HERE.
My husband had a pink fruit drink to cool off with.
Below is a ramen burger, which is all the rage right now. I had a bite of it and it tasted so good. The ramen burger is fried into a patty, and in between is the hamburger. The ramen is used as a bun for the burger.
A salmon hand roll.
Ice cream, and egg creams.
A large oven that I thought looked really interesting.
A fun tropical coconut drink, to cool off with made out of a coconut.
We all had a great time trying out the different food stands, the drinks, and at the end, we could not leave without having ice cream!
By the way, we went to the Prospect Park location, and my husband and I did not realize how huge the park is. We had a hard time finding the location of Smorgasburg, and then we got lost when we were leaving, on our way outside of the park, looking for our car and we had to take a cab to find it.
The next time we go to this food event we will go to the other location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The reason being is that it is not in a large park and in a location where you can't get lost. LOL!
If you live in the New York area this is a fun food event you don't want to miss. I hope I've convinced you to try it out sometime.
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Thanks everyone and enjoy!
Julie
Hello everyone and HAPPY FALL!
When fall arrives I love cooking soups for our family.
I have this easy, healthy, one pot soup to share with you. This is a great weeknight meal, and I like serving it with Italian bread and a salad.

I enjoy making this soup when the weather gets cooler and it tastes great with the combination of chicken sausage, kale, and canellini beans.
Here it's cooking away on the stove in my dutch oven.


print recipe
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Chicken Sausage Kale and White Bean Soup
by Julie at Julie's Creative Lifestyle September-22-2016
This is an easy and healthy one pot soup to make for lunch or dinner.
Ingredients
- 4 cups kale
- 6 links chicken sausage, cut into small pieces
- 1 can cannellini beans
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- grated cheese to taste
Instructions
Add olive oil to a stock pot. Add garlic and hot pepper flakes and saute for 5 minutes until garlic is golden color.Add kale and mix everything together for about 5 minutes. Add chicken sausage, tomato sauce, water, beans and seasonings. Reduce heat to low and cover pot. Cook for about 20 minutes or until kale looks like it's cooked down.Pour soup into bowls and add grated cheese if desired.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 8 servings Hello blog friends. I have taken a break from crocheting and knitting this summer, but now that fall is here, I have been so inspired to crochet and create some fall leaves.
I enjoyed sitting on the couch, watching TV, while crocheting the leaves.
I will be making a few more of these to display on my mantel, to go along with my fall decorations.
Below you can see the Lion Brand Yarn that I chose to crochet the leaves, but you can use any kind of yarn and colors of your choice.
I enjoyed sitting on the couch, watching TV, while crocheting the leaves.
I will be making a few more of these to display on my mantel, to go along with my fall decorations.
DETAILS TO MAKE YOUR OWN CROCHETED LEAF
YARN:
Lion Brand Yarn - Wool-Ease - Color# 188 - Paprika
Lion Brand Yarn - Anna's Choice - Color#132 - Radiant Orange
CROCHET HOOK:
US Size - H
PATTERN:
The pattern to make the leaves can be found HERE.
I hope I've inspired you to crochet these fall leaves for your decorations too!
To see more crochet projects, you can click HERE.
Wishing you all a wonderful end of the week and weekend. Jess and I will see you all back here Monday for our Cooking and Crafting with J & J Link Up!
(And Not So Wordless)
We visited Central Park at the beginning of the summer. This is the shot I took of the lake, people boating, and the tall buildings of New York City in the background!
Hello friends. Ok, this is the last part, and Part 3 of my vacation to Hawaii.
Incase you missed Part 1, you can click HERE, and incase you missed Part 2, you can click HERE.
We took a short plane ride, about 1 hour from the Honolulu airport to the island Maui. We spent the last 4 days of our Hawaiian vacation at the Grand Wailea hotel.
When we arrived, we rented a small car and drove to Costco, which is right near the airport, to shop and have lunch there. We bought bathing suits, flip flops, t-shirts, dried fruit, and my favorite Hawaiian potato chips.
This is a photo of the outdoor lobby of the Grand Wailea hotel where we were staying.
I loved looking at all of the beautiful palm trees swaying in the cool breeze. Along this path you could see the pool area to the left, and the beautiful beach to the right.
The white cabanas that you see below can be rented out for only $600 dollars a day. Each cabana comes with a refrigerator, water and fruit drinks, and 6 lounge chairs. If you wanted one with a large TV, then you only had to pay $1000 a day. LOL!
P.S. - We did not rent a cabana for the day.
The pretty acqua beverage below, is called a Blue Lagoon which is made with lemonade ice and it tasted sooo good!
One day we arranged for a small van to take us and about 6 other people to the top of Haleakala to see the sunrise. We left our hotel very early in the morning about 2:00am. It gets really cold there as we were 10,000 feet above sea level. We had to dress warm, in layers, and we were each given pants and windbreakers to wear over our sweatshirts and leggings. It was so beautiful to see the sunrise, but VERY COLD.
Below is Haleakala at sunrise and the photo is of the clouds. After the tour we were then taken down the mountain to a spot to ride bikes down the winding roads of the mountain. My husband and teen did that with the tour guide and with about 6 other people in the group. I did not do the biking, as I was happy to stay in the van and take photos and see the sights down the mountain.
Another day we took a long drive to see the Road to Hana. It is a long and winding road that takes a few hours to get to, with gorgeous views of the water.
Along the way are many small stands that sell all kinds of fruits and snacks. From one of the stands we bought delicious homemade banana bread. It made the car ride fun!
We stopped to stretch our legs and look at the pretty views. I really enjoyed taking photos along the way.
I love the way all of those pretty trees looked shading the road.
Going home from our car ride we stopped at this quaint area called Paia, where we walked around to sightsee, and shop. We then had dinner at a local restaurant called Milagros Food Co. I had a really delicious tasting fish taco with rice and beans, and the food tasted great after a long car ride.
On the road to Hana has so many pretty waterfalls and this is just one of them.
When we weren't sightseeing we would go to the pool and beach each day. We would then go for a drive and have dinner at local restaurants and then maybe go shopping at the local mall. It was so helpful to have our rental car as we were able to eat off of the hotel grounds and to drive around sightseeing.
After a wonderful vacation in Hawaii, it's now time to say goodbye and head back home. This is a photo looking outside the airplane window at the Honolulu airport.
I really loved my Hawaiian vacation, and I am so happy I was able to visit. I hope to someday return to this beautiful travel destination and see the other islands.
Thanks so much for coming along with me, as I enjoyed sharing with you photos I took of our Hawaii trip.
Hello friends. Incase you missed Part 1 of my Hawaii vacation you can click HERE to see it.
I am sharing with you Part 2 of our trip to Hawaii.
The hotel we were staying in, the Hilton Hawaiian Village had a Waikiki Starlight Luau show that we saw and it was spectacular. When we arrived for the show, we had our photo taken and then we were each given a fruit drink or a Mai Tai. We all sat outside in a large area with many tables and we sat and chatted with the people sitting at our table. We watched a show of many Hawaiian performers that sang and danced and we also had a buffet dinner that consisted of many different Hawaiian foods and we even had a Luau lesson.
Below are the Hawaiian Performers and their colorful costumes.
We saw a fabulous show and fireworks another night, where we were all seated around the pool area. Again, we were each greeted with a fruit drink or a Mai Tai and we then waited for it to get dark outside for the show to begin. The large building below is the hotel (Rainbow Tower) where we stayed in and it was the perfect location to the pool and beach.
There are many towers to stay in on the property and they even filmed the Elvis Presley movie Blue Hawaii at this resort in 1961. You can read more about the history of the Hilton Hawaiian Village HERE.
The show consisted of many performers that danced and sang and one of them actually climbed up a palm tree.
The man singing below, reminded me of the performer Don Ho, where he sang while the performers danced.
At sunset the pretty palm trees all lit up with blue lights overlooking the pool area.
Near the end of the show we saw a spectacular fire works display that lit up the sky.
There were also many wonderful restaurants and plenty of shopping on the grounds. They had a store that we loved called ABC Stores, where they sold all kinds of toiletries, souvenirs, makeup, and even food, such as sushi, salads, sandwiches, breakfasts foods, snacks, and even beer and wine. We loved this store and we picked up our breakfast and lunch for the rest of the time we stayed in Honolulu.
Well, that is it for Part 2 of our Hawaii trip, and I enjoyed sharing with you some more photos of our vacation.
Stay tuned there is more to come of my Hawaii trip!
Hope you enjoy the end of the week and have a great weekend. See you all back here on Monday for Cooking and Crafting with J & J Link Up.
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