Even a fall can be beautiful

My life as of late has been a little insane.  Trust me.  I'm not going to go into details but it's been a little too much to handle.

So I've been ignoring writing about it.  But then I uploaded these photos to my computer from the month of October and realized that my life is still amazing.  I've had visitors. And I've visited. I've been to the orchard.  I've picked out pumpkins (mine was named Steve).  I've carved. I've had hard apple cider.  I've even baked an apple pie.  Yep. I love autumn.

Om nom noms.


What a pretty view back home

Boots and leaves

Sunday Dinner

As with most of my stories, this one has a familiar beginning:

When I was a kid....

We used to have pizza every single Saturday. Saturday was Pizza Night.  Clearly we were healthy kids.

Well, on Sundays, my mom used to go all out and cook a really well rounded meal.  Some sort of meat. Pork chops. Meatloaf. Or the most common, pot roast.  Then we'd have some starches.  Mashed potatoes. Scalloped potatoes. Basically lots of potatoes. There would be rolls. And sliced cucumbers (though she doesn't eat anything green - ever).  And corn. And a glass of milk.

It's possible I'm forgetting something but you get the gist of it - there was some serious home cooking going down.  And it was fantastic.  Pretty much the only time my family ate together at the table.

So, when I remembered this fond memory last week I set out to recreate it for John and I.  Let's see. There were super tasty, well seasoned steaks (courtesy of John).  Seasoned redskin potatoes baked in my snazzy vintage Pyrex (though next time we'll cook them longer). And a new favorite of mine - asparagus tips.

Enjoy our Sunday dinner.

I really missed out on some tasty green foods as a kid.


Smokin steaks anyone?


Really, potatoes? Do you have to be so tasty?

Doodle - Use Your Doodle

If you haven't heard of The Scribble Project, but you love to doodle, you should definitely check it out.  They provide you with a blank "scribble sheet" for you to interpret however you'd like.  Good for wasting time.

Now, I don't dare call myself talented in the art department.  I just love to doodle. I have decided to keep a folder of my doodles lately.  Which is funny since they're mostly post it notes with robots and bikes on them.

It's been getting cooler out as of late and that has me really contemplating the best way to enjoy Autumn.

Step 1.) Hard Cider - Check.  This delicious concoction is really a great part about fall.

Step 2.) Tights with dresses - Check.  Is it wrong that I look forward to my ensembles that involve this combination? Nope.

Step 3.) Pumpkins.  Tentative plan for pumpkin carving and seed eating is in the works. I'm super pumped.

Step 4.) Apple orchard/Cider Mill.  Well, I may just join the family tomorrow for a bike ride to a Cider Mill for my Dad's birthday.  Let's pause for a second to point out how awesome it is that my dad wants to go for a bike ride for his 50 somethingth birthday. Very cool, Dad. Very cool.

Step 5.) Costumes, Candy, Cadavers (i.e. Halloween). Okay, so cadavers sounds disgusting....I just wanted a good alliteration.

Step 6.)  Scawy Movies.  Yes, Scawy. Throw on a good gore fest or foreign horror movie and I'm thrilled.  Give me a little Kiki's Delivery Service on the side and I'm smitten.

Step 7.) You tell me.

Tally Ho!

The Grand Rapids Tweed Ride was this past weekend. And despite the weather, it was a rousing success.

At about 3:30, during a terrential downpour (or so it seemed), we set out from our apartment for The Winchester.  I must say that receiving compliments while in our nice duds riding in the rain made me feel a lot better.

Once there, we met the rest of our nine person band of merry men (and ladies).  Including two strapping lads from the Windy City.  But what am I babbling on about. The photos speak for them selves.











There are more photos, but these are the best of the lot.  I had a blast! I hope everyone else did too!

Grand Rapids was not prepared.  Many on lookers and photo takers.  Next time will be even better!

Btw...vote for my shirt design! The contest ends tomorrow!!