Went | Fresh Pond

It's been a jam-packed couple of months. Usually it's summer that is busy, and then fall—Festa, the Big E, my birthday, and suddenly we are in the great lull that takes us into winter and the Holidays. But this year has been different. Between engagement parties, bachelorette parties, and weddings, we are only now finding our slower rhythm that accompanies colder weather. We are making home cooked meals again, finding time for the gym, and going to bed before 11. I am well into my third and fourth knitting projects, and I am sighing the great sigh of Autumn. 

This is all to say that we had a brief lull at the beginning of November. It was the weekend between the bachelorette party and the wedding, and though I had a second bachelorette party that night and Mike had a conference the next day, we spent a quiet Saturday morning wandering around Fresh Pond. I work down the street from this place, and only recently realized how expansive and beautiful it was. We caught it right at its peak, and I'm so grateful we got a glimpse of it before all the leaves are gone. 

Smell my feet

Happy Halloween, y'all! Everyone's in great spirits here because of the big win last night, but I'm giddy at 7 in the morning because it's a day I get to dress up in a ridiculous outfit, plop a huge bowl of candy on my desk, and not disappear into my headphones and email for a day. I hope yours is full of all that Fall has to offer, and that at the very least, someone gives you some candy for free.

All of the burnt oranges.

Maybe it's just the awareness that comes as you get older, but this has been the most spectacular Fall I've experienced. Every day, just walking to work in the morning or walking home in the afternoons, I am struck by a certain patch of light or pile of leaves. This past weekend, which we spent in Brooklyn, I woke up each morning in awe of the view of Brooklyn and the ever shifting sunlight.

All photos taken with iPhone 5s.

The season of tea

We are officially in the season of tea. The funny thing is that I used to hate hot tea. I had grown up on the syrupy sweet iced versions of the south, and it wasn't until I moved to New England that I realized there were other versions besides Lipton. It took me a couple years to start drinking it because like my love affair with beer, I had to find a gateway tea—a starter tea, if you will. At first it was Irish Breakfast with milk and sugar, which Jenna introduced me to the winter we started living together. Then it was Earl Grey and English Breakfast. Soon I was asking for recommendations at 1369, and I tried hearty rooibos and delicate white teas. (It helped that they celebrate a tea month, where they highlight a new tea each day and sell it for $1.) In the warm months, I started drinking iced green and herbal teas, unsweetened, maybe with a splash of lemonade.

But there is nothing like the beginning of hot tea season—not to be confused with pumpkin spiced latte season, which happens at the mall or in the morning right before I get on the bus to work. The beginning of hot tea season means sweat pants and socks, the revival of my yarn stash, evenings spent watching movies or reading long past our bedtime.

In the south we have to simulate the winters of New England. We wish for white Christmases, for chilly mornings and reasons to wear the scarves we got for Christmas. So actually living here, actually having to shelter ourselves from the harsh of winter, the beginnings of which is heralded in by tea season, feels like a gift each year.

On new beginnings.

On our drive back from New York tonight, I was telling Mike about how fall always makes me excited. I don't know whether it's because it's my birthday month and something wakes up inside me, or if it's residual giddiness from my love for school, but something about the ending of August fills me with anticipation that explodes in September. My house fills with empty notebooks and new pens, and as I get older I start to accumulate other things, like freshly picked apples, jars of preserves from roadside stands, jugs of cider.

I've been quiet here because this summer has been a time of reflection for me. My friend Crysty and I call it staying in our rooms, where we take time to ourselves to work things out and articulate our own feelings on a situation before seeking and welcoming advice. That's where I've been these past few months, working out what I want from this blogging thing, where I want to go with writing and all of my side interests.

I'm taking my cue from the throngs of students in Harvard Square each morning on my way to work and recommitting to the Skillshare classes I've signed up for in graphic design and Illustrator. I downloaded Illustrator on my new computer on Friday, and I have 30 days to prove to myself I'm serious. After that, we'll see. For now, today marks the beginning of my favorite season and my own, homemade sort of graduate school. I hope your new beginnings are as exciting as mine feel right now.

More to come.

Yesterday I used handwarmers on my walk to the bus stop and at the office. I wore a hat and my new-to-me J. Crew coat (that I got for $6!) and my fleece-lined tights. Mike and I went to vote around 4 PM, and the sun was setting behind us as we drove to the polls. We turned our heat on for the first time! And yet, all of these things are just reminders of how far we've come since the last time the sun set in the late afternoon, since the last time Obama ran for president. I am so thankful, for all the places I have been and all the places I've yet to go. And though these leaves are long gone, I am thankful for having seen them, for having taken the moment to appreciate them.

Halloween 2012!

When we got back from Portsmouth on Saturday, we put away our bottled water and cans of tuna and wondered what else we needed to brace ourselves against the storm. Pumpkins! Of course! Last year we carved pumpkins too early in the month and they rotted through before Halloween. This year we waited a little too long, and when we went to Shaw's, there were only two unnaturally large pumpkins and these two mini pumpkins. So we went with the mini ones so we could each carve it and so Mike wouldn't have to deal with the disgusting mess of a large pumpkin. 

Our little pumpkins weathered the storm and they're all ready to light up our stoop for trick or treaters tonight! I've lived in a building for the past few years, so I'm pretty excited to finally live in a house with a doorbell in a neighborhood. What are you doing to celebrate? 

Update: I tied for first place in the costume contest at work! 

Made | Apple sauce + then some.

It's always pumpkin this and pumpkin that, but what about the other Fall flavor? Apples! The pork to pumpkin's chicken. Everyone's all gung-ho about apple picking until it's three weeks later and the bottom half of their fridge is still entirely made up of apples. Or is that just me? If you have a ridiculous amount of slowly wrinkling apples in your fridge as well, I have an idea. Peel, chop, and throw all those babies (3-4 pounds) into a pot with brown sugar (1/4 c), regular sugar (1/4 c), cinnamon (a stick or 1/2 tsp), nutmeg (1/2 tsp), water (1 c), and hell, even some pumpkin spice if you feel like it! This is a rescue mission; there are no rules. Only survivors. The point is, apple sauce is real easy to make, makes your house smell like Martha Stewart's soul, and provides you with breakfast and dessert for the next two weeks in one fell swoop. That's my kind of recipe. 

Apple Pop Tarts

1 package puff pastry 

1 egg + 1 tbsp water

1/2 tsp cinnamon + sugar

Apple sauce! (or really any filling)

Thaw your puff pastry and cut into an even number of squares. You could get fancy here and cut them into hearts or ghosts or the letter x. Whatever you want! Then plop some apple sauce in the middle of half of your squares (or blackberry jam, as seen above), and place the other half of squares on top of your filling. Use a fork to seal the edges, brush with the water and egg mixture (optional), and dust with cinnamon sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden. Let cool and store for breakfast on the go or eat immediately with ice cream! 

My other favorite way to eat apple sauce is in the morning, heated up with some granola (currently eating Trader Joe's pumpkin spice granola). I was pouring a bit of cream or milk on top of this until I accidentally poured sour milk on top at work and had to throw the whole thing away. Since then, I've nixed it on the milk business. 

What do you do with a surplus of your fall pickings? 

Well, it's October.

Tonight I made this soup. It was simple and delicious and made our whole house smell like Fall. We went grocery shopping for the party this weekend, and came home to the toasty smell of tomatoes still in the air. Our counter is overflowing with veggies from Montreal and our fridge is stocked for multiple big family meals. It's only Monday, and I can't wait.

I love birthdays that go on and on, piggybacking on other birthdays and occasions. This season just has that feeling, like we should all be together at a big sprawling table with barely any room for our elbows, food in the oven and candles burning. Don't you think?

Happy Fall!

Today begins my favorite season of the year. M and I kicked it off right with apple picking, cider donut eating, and pumpkin/pumpkin butter buying at Honey Pot Hill Farms in Stow, MA. I went to this place a couple years ago with friends, and I remembered loving the whole experience. After a subpar apple picking last year, I decided we should go back for the hot cider donuts. We were not disappointed! We picked a small bag full of McIntosh, Gala, Red Delicious, Spartan, and Cortland apples. I'm making pie tomorrow for some friends coming over and maybe some muffins for work on Monday. It's officially fall, which means it's officially baking season in our house. We also picked up a small pumpkin, so tonight I'm going to roast the seeds and boil the meat for pumpkin muffins and bread.

Our next three weekends are busy with a trip (Montreal!), birthday/housewarming party, and a Georgia wedding, so we're soaking up our leisure time at home in jammies. I hope your Fall began just as relaxed as ours.