How was your Thanksgiving?
delicious pie brought all the way from Wisconsin... a houseful of adorable pups... a table set for a feast...(photo by my cousin Josie Meeks) time for painting while the turkey baked...(photo by Paul) this guy and his Movember facial hair... rolls...mmm... seeing Mom and Dad hosting Thanksgiving in their new kitchen... spending Thanksgiving in St. Louis with Paul and my family - and getting to see moments like this... my cousin's mad photography skillz... enjoying a meal that left everybody full, tired, and happy.
How was your Thanksgiving?
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Hope your day was filled with lots of wonderful people, food, pie and just a moderate amount of football! Off to help my sister prepare for her housewarming party and enjoy some more time with friends and family. Hope you have a fabulous holiday weekend.
With the fall season quickly coming to an end (poor fall always getting shortened by Christmas season explosion!), I wanted to make sure I shared the delicious juice I've been drinking for the past few months while the ingredients were still in grocery stores. I received a beautiful juicer as a gift last year but have been slow to really get into the juicing scene. But after trying the Pear Chai juice at the Green Kitchen in the Milwaukee Public Market - and realizing I had all I needed to make my own - I decided it was time to give juicing a go. This juice captures some of my favorite fall flavors and is sweet with a little bit of a kick. It's also healthy and can be made with local, seasonal ingredients. And it's perfect for when I need a little something to get me from lunch to dinner or need something sweet after dinner but don't have any dessert on hand (a true travesty).
Ingredients: 2 pears 1 apple 1 square inch ginger 1 tablespoon honey pinch cinnamon Chop your fruit and add to the juicer with the ginger. Sprinkle your glass with cinnamon. Pour apple/pear/ginger juice into cup and stir in your honey. Garnish to your heart's content and enjoy! -- Sometimes I like to water this down a bit because it's so sweet, but I've also enjoyed it plenty just as is. Cheers to fall! First, I want to say how thankful I am for so many things in my life. That's basically what this post was going to be about. Except I was going to say it without using those exact words by talking about how happy I was at the community night Paul and I hosted Wednesday, and how proud Paul was to share his homemade Pancit, and how much I love the Great Pumpkin, and how delicious and beautiful cupcakes are. So I think that says it all. Community nights (with flowers, good food, good people, and good wine) + the Great Pumpkin + homemade cupcakes I was really proud of = lots and lots of gratitude. Happy Friday :) Vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Cupcake recipe here. I used the cream cheese icing from the cupcakes below and just left out the cinnamon. Added food coloring and sprinkles for extra flare. Pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon icing. Please stop whatever you're doing and make these immediately. Recipe found on Pinterest.
Our neighborhood is home to an old, beautiful, ginormous park. The park has a lagoon (above), a concert space, tennis courts, an empty pool, German statues, playgrounds, and an Urban Ecology Center location. It's the most amazing park to have in our backyard. I've been enjoying taking Pedro and Diego on walks here when I have a little extra time to spare. I feel so calm in this park, and the boys love all the smells. It's easy to forget we're in the city looking at the weeping willows and flocks of geese. I'm looking forward to getting to know the park in the different seasons. Fall is my favorite so far, but we'll see what winter and spring bring. Do you have a favorite park?
beautiful walks in our neighborhood
the details of fall pumpkin picking and the elegant farmer the biggest pumpkin sugar cookie ever a wonderful relaing weekend with Paul dinner with good friends lots of cuddle time with the pups this movie a new photo editing app having the financial resources to treat myself to a pretty skirt homemade pear juice paul picking up Thai food for at-home date night another date to TJMaxx (we live large around here) adding pictures of friends and family around our apartment a yoga class that helped me feel like Superwoman I made this fall wreath a few weeks ago using a tutorial from A Beautiful Mess - can you tell I'm completely obsessed with their blog? It was really simply and enjoyable to make. I hadn't done a craft project for a long time before this, and hot gluing and arranging the flowers reminded me how much I like creating things. I had taken a break on crafting because I had spent too much money on projects I never finished, and I honestly felt a little burnt out. But this project was the perfect thing to get those crafty juices flowing again. I recommend reading the tutorial on A Beautiful Mess for the wreath making instructions. I bought my supplies at Michaels when most of the fall flowers were half price. I couldn't find any usable orange and red flowers, so I made due with the colors you see here. As with any project, I always consider the instructions a beginning guideline and just see where my creative juices take me. Let me know if you decide to make one too!
A friend of mine has a theory that every autumn she gets an urge to either migrate or hibernate. She'll get the urge to move or travel or she'll want to just settle down and relax for a while. It didn't take much reflection to realize that this autumn I am craving some hibernation...like really craving it. All I've been wanting to do lately is to lay low, preferably in comfy clothes while eating comfort food. Instead, I've been putting way too much activity in my schedule, scurrying around like a squirrel trying to store all my acorns for winter. I have something going on most nights of the week, and my weekends usually include visitors, travelling, or a too-long to-do list. Paul and I discussed our different approached to grief over sushi last night. Whereas Paul has been dealing with the loss of his friend by taking a semester off school and taking time for himself, I increased my activity to the max. It was fine to get through the first few painful weeks, but the constant movement is really starting to wear on me.
The beautiful thing about hibernation - and freezing cold weather - is that it gives you an excuse to slow down. During the slow down, you can take time for yourself. Time to sit and time to be. Time that is necessary to process through things that you ignored in the flurry of warm weather activity. I've used activity as a necessary distraction, almost a salve for pain, but I'm ready for the space and growth that comes from just being. I think my cravings for hibernation are a good sign that What about you? Do you hibernate or migrate? Gorgeous fall weather ... the wonderful smell of baking applesauce ... fro-yo dates ... finding old blank canvases I didn't remember I had ... seeing our new apartment come together ... finding new authors ... recouperation time ... dental insurance ... being told my teeth looked great ... a brand new toothbrush ... work potlucks ... dinner with friends on our porch ... coloring books ... lemon rooibos tea ... our crockpot ... checking the first goal off my four simple goals list ... a Sunday morning breakfast made by Paul ... spending time with Paul's inspiring coworkers ... Parks and Recreation (and all the laughing Paul and I did together Thursday night) ... the creators of Broadchurch (because WOW) ... riding my bike ... my St. Francis community ... remembering I'm not alone and that sadness doesn't last forever
And the fall adventures continue! My friend and I made our annual trip to Barthel's Fruit Farm for apple picking - and for caramel apples, porch pumpkins, pears, photo ops and general fall lovin. The McIntosh apples were in season, and we both carried home dozens of them. Apple picking has become one of my favorite fall traditions after falling in love with it my Jesuit Volunteer Corps year in upstate New York. The apples are sometimes secondary to the drive to the country, the fall colors, and being outside in the beautiful weather. I may have sampled a few apples straight off the tree. Is there anything better? Not in September. I picked out some pears too. I plan on canning whatever we don't eat at our community garden canning workshop next weekend (photos to come!). Teaser! The pumpkins all looked ready to pick, but they won't be ready for another few weeks. Guess that means we'll just have to take another drive out to Barthel's. Guess that means I'll have to have another caramel apple, and might just have to buy some apple cider. Life is so hard. Could this farm be anymore picturesque? Red barn, roaming dog, beautiful flowers, fields of pumpkins, corn, and apples as far as the eye can see. Nothing better for the soul than a trip to a farm in fall. Except maybe caramel apples.
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