refreshed

 i love those rainy autumn days when time seems to grow heavy. those days when you continue to wear your pajamas a little later in the morning, put a little extra honey on your toast and buy the five dollar latte to prolong the feeling. 

beautiful jasmine

i've been enjoying springtime so far :)

my little sunflower!

"i love sunshine!"

"it brings out the highlights in my hair, which my mama is very jealous of"

"okay, enough of that. time for exploring!"

"i see grass!"

"ooh roughness..."

"grass!"

"... and holes"

"if all babies had grass..."

"...they'd all be as happy as me!"

"it's best when it's wet and clumpy"

"that makes it chewable"

"the end!"

delicious pumpkin autumny scarfed goodness

tomorrow michael's taking the day off work and we're driving up to big bear lake for audrey's first visit. i'm so excited because it's the first official day of autumn and i've been craving a pumpkin spice latte since the beginning of september! oh yum! it's been too hot lately for such an autumn brew. tomorrow it's only supposed to reach 65 degrees which means: jackets?! and scarves!? and an adorable bundled up baby!? and crunchy orange and yellow leaves!? and a wonderful hubbs to walk hand in hand with!? and delicious pumpkin autumny scarfed goodness.

it's beginning again and....

....i'm feeling like it's time to bake something. autumn. i love autumn. i love the cool evenings, the fog, the smells, the crunch of dying leaves and yes, even the familiar itch of needing to bake. i think i've posted an "i love all things autumn" post every year since this blog's infancy. it usually happens after i get a little taste of cooler weather. yesterday was cool and cloudy all day. audrey was having a bad day & refusing her naps but i was left swooning over the weather and my fussy clingy baby. i saw halloween candy in vons, oh man that made my day too.

this picture is of laurelhurst park in portland, my favorite city park. i even love the name, laurelhurst. michael proposed to me on that hill two days before thanksgiving in 2005. i think he made me love autumn and thanksgiving even more, if that were possible.

i'm thinking brownies, peanut butter brownies.

a happy saint patrick's day to you!

be jealous. be very jealous of my lothlorien pin my dear mother gave to me for christmas one year. it's perfect to wear on saint patrick's day!

i've been very absent lately on the blogging front. i can't seem to focus on anything more than three minutes these days. i have a snuggly baby blanket i need to finish crocheting before my little snuggly baby arrives. i love to crochet but having a deadline makes it feel surprisingly like a homework project. a deadline that could come any time!

i wanted to share a few pictures of my exploding jasmine on the back porch. oh, you just can't imagine the sweet smell that waifs into my bedroom at night! so sweet! i'm trying to train it to climb the post, but i need to get garden ties and tie it up first. one step at a time i suppose.

my sister gave me these adorable measuring cups! thanks valerie!

cold morning, cold nose

more of fall :)

martha stewart gave me a gift today. yay! i've been waiting for the october issue all summer!


i planted some mums for fall.


i don't remember what this is called :( but i really love it.


the color isn't so good on my camera phone, but this is more burgundy in real life.

the office premiers tonight! :)

i can feel it, see it & taste it.

even though the days are still averaging about 97 degrees, i can definitely notice the evenings getting cooler. school is starting. touches of halloween greet me in stores. high school football is around the corner. blossoms are fading. the nights are getting longer.

every mid-august i start to look for signs of autumn. i let myself think of hot apple cider, roasted pumpkin seeds and beautiful grey skies. autumn is my favorite season, i love everything about it. i love the smells, scarves and coats, the crunchy leaves, the promise of family gatherings and peppermint, hot chocolate with marsh mellows, and shades of reds, oranges and browns. i love love LOVE autumn! :)

i remember living on my own in my first apartment in seaside oregon, watching the rain drip off an evergreen out my living room window. the cool beachy fog clung to the hills as i watched joey's breath puff when we were outside. that first autumn on my own really made me appreciate how beautiful the season is. now i'm excited for my first fall season in my new house! i'm excited to light some pumpkin spice candles, decorate indoors and out, and carve some jack-o-lanterns.

as i type this, i'm sipping on some trader joe's spiced cider. :D easy fall prep tip: heat some spiced cider and some lemon and orange zest on the stove for some yummy hot apple cider. it makes your kitchen smell amazing too!

how you, bien?

i've been pleasantly busy since returning to the sweltering heat of southern california. i say sweltering, not blistering because it's been very humid and hot here the past week. i was listening to the radio today on my way to work and npr was reporting on the upcoming flu season. hmm yeah, i guess summer is about over for other parts of the country. we still have until mid-october before we see any turning leaves. (not soon enough!!!) still, one must remain optimistic; i heard el nino is going to push a lot of rain our way later this year. :)

i've started running in the mornings again. i run around the city park near our house, it has lots of shady trees and wild bunnies. very nice. i'm at two laps around the park now and i hope to push to three laps sometime next week. i got the inspiration to run again after examining my sweet chicago calves. there's just something about walking for five days around a beautiful city that brings out that muscle definition i've missed for so long.

michael starts school next week, so we've been putting his room together. he's in the journalism room now, (this is his first year teaching journalism) and hopefully this is his last room move for a long time. we've already hung his maps and salvador dali posters, he just needs to organize his office and create a student work wall. i'm back at working in the church two days a week and am unsure about subbing in the school district this year. i don't expect to get a lot of work because of the current budget, but we'll see...

i've also been planning my fall garden. most of my summer flowers are spent and my vegetable garden is slowing its production, but my peppers and tomatoes are still going strong and begging to be picked. i've decided to plant pumpkins this year, i have the perfect sunny corner for them. i've also decided on bachelor buttons, alyssums and pansies for the front flower beds. i'm going to try forget-me-nots also, but it may still be too hot. i've been neglecting my plants lately for the most part due to the green june beetle breeding season. they've infested my peach tree with their pheromones and erratic flying. i don't know about you, but i don't enjoy sharing the same yard as huge lusty beetles. so, while my flowers have paled in the heat, my weeds have been flourishing wonderfully!

what? no picture???

okay, so i survived michael's absence. my in-loves let me have my bil's bedroom for a few nights, or i should say my bil let me use his room. :) i had a good visit and it was nice to have breakfast again with mil and fil. their house faces the san gorgonio mountains and they're so beautiful on sunny mornings.

on saturday i stayed home and thomas and maria spent the night/few hours of sleep after the midnight pascha service. (i think thomas stumbled in sometime around 6am, the paschal animal.) chris and bradley came by later in the morning and we made a lot of coffee and omelets with bacon and sausage. it was great, i hope we can do that again next year.

i had planned on everyone eating breakfast outside on the patio, but was already too hot. we've had a crazy heat wave the past five days and i wasn't prepared for one so soon. i'm sorry, i'm sure everyone's tired of my complaints about the heat that comes every summer, but that's just it! it's not summer! and i actually have a reason to complain, my poor veggies! most of them have put up brave faces for me, but i can tell it's getting to them. i might have to bury the strawberries here pretty soon... the zucchini's are flourishing though and the cherry tomatoes have already shown me a few green baby tomatoes. i guess the heat is good for some things.

wind brings change.

it's supposed to be a breezy 82 degrees today. normally i would be pretty annoyed of such an unusually warm winter, but this year i've been looking forward to the spring. i can't wait for all the bright poppies to pop out in the most odd and unexpected places, i want to open my windows and smell the sweet alyssums in the air. i've already planted a few lavender plants and boxwood in the front yard and can't wait to get my hands on those creeping sun roses and make room for more.

michael and i have decided it's time to clear out the backyard and till the soil in preparation of new grass seed. i hope to start setting the boundaries on my vegetable garden and flower beds and oh man i can't wait to start pruning those citrus trees! we also hope we can recruit some of our friends and family and paint the exterior of the house next month. the warm santa ana winds seemed to have started early this year, but the spring just cannot come soon enough. :(

ooh? sour? or SWEET?

behold the perks of having a backyard...! (lemon and grapefruits respectively) somewhere between the indian summers and clogged freeways i seem to forget, but living in so cal is pretty awesome.

oak glen.

my sister had her 30th birthday this past weekend so my brother, his fiance brandi, michael and i took valerie to oak glen on sunday. the trees were turning color, the air smelled sweet and crisp and the company was good. apple pies, caramel apples and pumpkin butter were for sale. fallen leaves were to be crunched, fresh BBQ to be smelled, parking spaces to be fought for, and pigmy-goats to be laughed at. i hope you had a happy birthday vallie!

here's a few pictures i took as well as a few that i snagged from my sister and brother. ;)








24 more days until their big day! awwwwwwwww...

fall meme!

thanks to lauren for doing her fall meme, fall is my favorite season!

When does fall begin for you?
when the stores start to carry their fall decorations, (even though this actually starts mid-august it still makes me happy, because then i'm reminded of how soon it's coming!) i usually buy a few pumpkin spice and apple cinnamon candles about this time so that the house seems more cozy.

What is your favorite aspect of fall?
the changing color of the leaves, the cool evenings, sweaters, the anticipation of the holidays.

What is your favorite fall memory?
when i was living on my own on the oregon coast. every morning the fog would hug the mountains and the trees would slowly turn color. i got a lot of use out of my peacoat that year. :)

What do you like to drink in the fall?
hot apple cider with caramel! hot cocoa with peppermint! chai tea!

What’s your favorite fall food?
turkey on thanksgiving and mashed potatoes.

What is fall weather like where you live?
it's very mild and dry. early in the season it's usually warm until the nights slowly get cooler and darker.

What color is fall?
orange and/or brown.

What does fall smell like?
pumpkin pie, turkey cooking in the oven, caramel apples.

Holiday shopping in fall:
it's always been my idea to get my holiday shopping done early, but i usually find better sales in december.

If you could go anywhere in the fall, where would you go?
maine.

What is your favorite fall sport?
football plays regularly in our house. :) i was never a big football fan before, but it's become a tradition with michael and i since we've been married. it now gives me a nice nostalgic feeling.

Do you have a favorite fall chore?
with the possibility of finally having a house this year, i've been mentally planning thanksgiving dinner and centerpieces. it will be nice to have my grandma, mother-in-love and sister to help with everything! (i'm so excited!!!)

What is your least favorite thing about fall?
the persisting heat. >:( grrrrrrrr!


What is your favorite fall holiday?
THANKSGIVING!!!

What’s your favorite kind of pie?
pumpkin pie, but dutch apple pie is a very close second!

Which do you prefer, the Farm or the Fair?
not sure, neither were a big tradition with my family. i do like to drive to tom's farms in corona and to look at all the cute homemade things. i don't buy anything, too expensive, it's great for ideas though!

Do you have a favorite fall book?
hmm, don't think so. i did see a cute children's book in borders a few weeks ago about a pumpkin that didn't get picked from the patch. eventually it was made into a jack-o-lantern and was happy.

How about a favorite fall poem or quote?
i don't have either, but i can think of a song: "autumn in new york" by ella fitzgerald and louis armstrong. check it out!

(sigh)

i'm ready for autumn. now.

summer camp.

it's summertime, did you know? last week my inlaws took advantage of the hot summer days with a camping trip to big bear and had a great time. my friend lacey and her husband also went camping last weekend in oregon and had an amazing time hiking and swimming. hmm, i'm starting to see a pattern here... the last time we went camping was last year in yellowstone national park, our trip was amazing, 3,000+ miles and eight states in three weeks! i believe it's time again for michael and i to relax, cook hotdogs, get a fresh coat of dust on our hiking shoes and pull out the sleeping bags. time to go for a swim in the lake, star gaze late at night and read short stories to each other by campfire.

what are everyone's plans for the summer?

it's bloomin' beautiful!

you know it's almost summer when the jacaranda trees are a-blooming! i took this picture of the jacaranda tree outside our bedroom window. this was taken on probably the last cloudy day we'll have in a long time... unfortunately. hot hot days ahead. :(

springtime.

i got bit by the gardening-bug so i decided to plant these little butterfly seedlings a few days ago and i'm so glad they're already popping up. i love baby plants! aren't they adorable? i haven't grown anything from a seed for a few years so it's nice to see they're doing so well (so far.) like my painted pot? :)

also, last week i thought that the porch was looking a little bare so i bought two new plants to brighten it up a bit.

joey, proudly showing his favorite pink geranium. (this one's for you momma!)




i thought this was cute. joey is so easily upset by big loud crows.


my beautiful gardenia should (hopefully) start blooming next month.

a fool for april.

rain is in the forecast for this mid-week and (hopefully) bountiful flowers will soon follow. (i'm such a sucker for spring, i gotta tell you.) thankfully michael is on spring break from work this week, and i say thankfully only because the poor guy has three papers due this week for school. unfortunately for me it makes waking up for work in the morning even harder. all i want to do is cuddle my warm puppy and husband, quietly snuggled in their bed, especially when it's raining outside. but, i'm hoping to take friday off so we can take a trip down to san diego for a baseball game. we haven't gone for a trip in awhile so it sounds great to escape for a day (or two?)

i'm to the point where i'm itching to start my spring cleaning. i'm embarrassed by the amount of things in my closet i have no use for anymore, or ever. i'm also embarrassed by my current method of organizing my closet, or lack of. i cringe at the thought of disturbing the fragile balance of the clothing of my storage bins, mostly because there are more clothes outside of the bins than inside, (thus totally making the nature of the bins debatable.) i'm actually so embarrassed, i keep my closet closed to keep my dear husband from knowing what an absolute pig is dear wife really is, (he's too sweet to say anything though.) i plan to declutter the closets (linen closet included, ugh) the bathroom cabinets and clean the refrigerator by (some point mid-way into) this month. let's just hope that by posting my intentions publicly, it will boost my ambition.

perhaps next month i will tackle the pantry, which actually doesn't house any food (except for my grandma's homemade apricot jam!) but instead is a cardboard breeding ground for lonely boxes looking to hold random crap no one cares about.

by the way, does anyone know of any eco-friendly air fresheners? i found one at trader joe's but it was only like 4 ounces. i know lavender is good in sachets, but i'm looking for an air spray to use in the closets. i'm also very eager to switch completely over to green cleaners and i think this is a perfect opportunity to do so. i would also love to find some nice storage baskets to replace the cardboard boxes too. i'm thinking target or ross might have some for cheap.