Vegan Chocolate Chip Jack O' Lanterns

Halloween weekend is here!! The weather is beautiful and the leaves are crunchy. This is one of my favorite holidays and I always like to do something festive to celebrate. I had mentioned that Tom and I were baking vegan chocolate chip cookie cakes the other day, so I wanted to share them with you!

First of all, we used a recipe for "Chocolate Chip Bars" from the book How It All Vegan! by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer. I always get nervous using recipes from books when I'm making vegan food. I'm afraid, especially when baking, that the cookies, cakes, brownies, etc. will come out dry or flavorless. But this recipe worked out pretty well. The only modification we made was to split up the batter, so instead of using a 9"x13" pan, we used two 8" round pans. Also....we opted for the use of Soy Milk over water. And I threw in about another half cup of chocolate chips!! Once our cakes were out of the oven and cooled, we got together some icing, dyed it orange, green, and black (or as close as we could get), and painted our big vegan cookies like carved halloween pumpkins!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Can you guess who decorated which? Haha!

They taste yummy and I can't seem to stop myself from digging in each and every time I find myself in the kitchen! On top of that, my mom sent Tom and I a cute little care package, festive with orange pumpkin and black cat confetti, and mini stuffed scarecrows, for Halloween. I've been digging in, indulging my sugar addiction, with gelatin free candy-corn and all sorts of snacks from a place called Apple Hills back in upstate NY. It's so nice to have a little taste of home this time of year!!

It's been hard getting into the spirit of the season, having just moved and living in a much warmer climate. But these little touches and warm thoughts have definitely helped to put my time and place into perspective. And I am so incredibly thankful for that!! I don't think Tom and I are putting together halloween costumes together this time around, but we've been brainstorming for next year!! It's gonna be gooooood! :)

Time to go enjoy the rest of this beautiful fall day!

Happy "Mischief Night" everyone!!

loving fall on this 28th day.

Today marks the last day of a 28 day program I've been doing with my fellow soul coach family. I've really enjoyed reading our daily positive affirmations, realizing that IT REALLY IS HAPPENING, and working through these days with my soul group. It saddens me a bit to think that we won't all be on the same page anymore, in a literal sense, once we're finished! BUT....I know really, that this is just the beginning for all of us!! YES!! Tomorrow begins our soul's vision quest. I am super excited for this sacred process! And, I can't wait to share all that I have learned with all of my future soul coaching clients!! :)

Today my affirmation was, "I give love deeply and fully. I receive love deeply and fully. My essence is love." Such a beautiful way to sum things up! I am love. You are love. That's all that really is. Thank you universe for this awareness!!! I love each and every one of you.

And on this beautiful day of LOVE, the air in Austin decided to cool down a little bit, meaning it was absolutely GORGEOUS outside. :) Blue skies and warm winds causing leaves to scurry about makes me so happy!! It almost felt like a "cool" summer's day in September in upstate NY. And it was enough to put me in the mood to collect some festive fall pumpkins with Tom this afternoon!! :)

Now, Tom and I are just listening to some Jack White, while we wait for our chocolate chip cakes to cool off. We made them in round pans so we could decorate them like PUMPKINS!!! It's about time I go check on them. HAPPY FALL with LOVE everyone!!!! xoxoxoxo.

sharing from Austin, TX

so...the time has come for me to start sharing more of my life with the world. i plan on doing this in little snippets, sharing whatever bits of insightful wisdom i can think of with the rest of you each and every day. (i'll do my best!) i am honoring that little voice inside my head that tells me that what i have to give, through this blog, is important. so here i go...

first of all...let's play catch up! i just moved to Austin, TX. yes...THIS girl from upstate NY is now living in the transient, musical, nature loving city of "weird". it's a change, to say the least. my boyfriend, Tom, and i arrived here at the beginning of october. now, i expected it to be warmer here than in New York, but it is now nearing the END of october, and it's still HOT!! i mean, it feels like the middle of july. yesterday, Tom and i sat in the park under the shade of a tree, sun blazing through the branches, blue skies above, green grass underfoot. it AMAZES me! it really does. i almost feel like i'm in a time warp. my head can't seem to wrap itself around the reality of my physical situation. and that, in and of itself, is probably the weirdest concept for me to grasp, so far, being a northeastern, upstate girl now living in Texas!!

squinting in the hot afternoon sun, on a walking bridge near downtown Austin!!

needless to say, Tom and i are still getting settled. there's still unpacking to do, organizing, painting, more unpacking! every day we get a little closer to "normalcy". we're also still figuring out how to create income for ourselves. Tom's been working hard looking for jobs, and has a few leads. he's even got a Director of Photography position in the works for a local company!! i'm proud of him. i've been working on getting my Soul Coaching practice started. YIPPIE!!! i can't wait to get "my business" off the ground! it fills me with so much joy to be able to focus on something i love every day. i know i am blessed!! still, until i start rolling in the dough via "my business", i need to get some money generating, so i've started looking for some server positions around town. i remind myself that my life is full of abundance...so i know something "just right" will come along. :)

whatever happens, i know that both Tom and i will be where we are supposed to be, in alignment with our highest good, while we live here in Austin. i'm trusting the universe to lead me (and he) on my (on our) best path(s). today i felt inspired to write, so that's what i did. listening to my heart and paying attention to the signals sent my way through synchronicities. that's the best way to live! life is so beautiful, and i'm happy to be able to share it with you!!

progress.

quick update! i had an amazing time at summerhill ranch. i met beautiful people and learned other-worldly things. i am blessed!! AND i am now a Certified Soul Coach and Certified Past Life Coach. i am currently getting that all under way, so my little blog here has had to take a back seat.

if you'd like a brief inquiry as to what i've been up to, you can follow me on facebook at Stacey Jean Soul Journeys. i would love to see you there!! :)

many blessings to you. xoxo.