october is awesome. thirty-one.

in october, i love: fall decorations. punny nerdy pumpkins are my fave. :) I especially appreciate the perfect shape of the Pi. and this was taken in semora, nc near a bunch of farms. nerds are everywhere, I tell ya. :)

october is awesome. thirty.

in october, i love: cooking. I love making all the warm foods in october--the soups, the baked pastas, the casseroles. and this october olivia, jennifer and I had a cheesemaking adventure-slash-failure-slash-butter-making-success! I love using all of the squashes and leafy greens. I'm getting hungry just typing this!

ps: you MUST try this. I think it is the bees knees--and my new favorite dinner recipe! It's something Matt can make, and I have started asking for it probably once a week--though he usually only relents every other week. (though it is my new favorite, he just thinks it's "good" and therefore isn't thinking about it all the time like I am, ha!)

october is awesome. twenty-nine.

in october, i love: the leaves. oh my goodness, the leaves. I am probably not a very safe driver during daylight hours while "the colors" are changing. because I just stare. and take it all in. and lock it away so during all of the other seasons I can remember the gorgeous fiery colors of the leaves.

october is awesome. twenty-eight.

in october, i love: decorating the house. something about the slightly colder weather (perhaps the inclination to stay indoors!) makes me want to paint and redecorate. I think Matt is very afraid because I want to paint the yellow in the kitchen a different shade of yellow, re-do a piece of furniture I just bought (an awesome dresser/buffet for $55!), paint a wall in the guest room and clean out the garage. anyway. I also made us a new menu board that coordinates perfectly with our kitchen!

october is awesome. twenty-seven.

in october, i love: sushi. okay, in all fairness, sushi is not unique to october. but this was BIRTHDAY sushi, paired with free edamame, free miso soup, free green tea icecream, four tall beers and three of my most favoritest people in the whole wide world. and sushi that was followed up with a surprise party at fullsteam. and the sushi was delish. :)

october is awesome. twenty-six.

in october, i love: the fair. every year we've been together matt and I have gone to the fair. we always ride the gondola-type ferris wheel and we always eat ourselves silly. this year was no exception. more on this soon. :)

october is awesome. twenty-five.

in october, i love: kappa delta. did you know that KD and I share a birthday? well, we sure as heck do! she's 83 years older than I am, but we celebrate together :) these are the lovely KD ladies that helped me celebrate at fullsteam!

october is awesome. twenty-four.

in october, i love: birthday cards. did you know that this is the first birthday card I have EVER received from a niece? And little katlyn even colored it for me! I'm not gonna lie, I teared up when I opened it!

october is awesome. twenty-three.

in october, i love: birthday pumpkin pie. made by ME! using my great grandmother's recipe, glass rolling pin and pyrex dish. LOVE. I am very proud to come from a long line of pie-bakers!

october is awesome. twenty-two.

(playing a little catch-up)



in october, i love: apples. I have always liked apples. this year I LOVE them. apple butter, apples as a snack, apples in salads. mmmm apples! as I type this I'm eating an AMAZING fuji apple jessica brought me from ohio!

october is awesome. twenty-one.

in october, i love: greens. specifically growing my own. some of which will end up in my (week)daily green smoothies! and in salads! mmmhmm!

this isn't the first (or the last) time I'll write about baby names

I have a cousin with whom I don't really get along. Oh, I mean, we hug each other when we see one another, and when I'm in their neck of the woods we meet up for lunch or whatever. I like him as a human being. But he and I have very, very little in common.

I'm liberal. He's conservative.
I'm broad-minded, religiously speaking. He puts God in a very well-defined box.

And a long time ago there was a....let's go with incident...where he lectured me on what was "Godly" and how I might go to hell for leaving my ex-husband. How I should stick it out for 5 years, have some kids and then make it work for the sake of the children. When I said, um, "hell no" he proceeded to let me know that, well, it's not really like we were actually married anyway, according to the Catholic church, so what was I so upset about anyway?

riiiiiiiiiiiight.

I actually think he had good intentions, for the record. But when I told him how hurtful he was being, it didn't seem to matter. Additionally, that is the only time he and I have ever spoken on the phone as adults. Ever.

And on the off chance he, or his wife, or one of our relatives is reading this, well--I'm telling it like it is. It was a long time ago. There's a lot more dirty laundry I could air, but I think this encounter sums it up--he and I can co-exist just fine (and heck, sometimes even enjoy one another's company) but at the core of our respective persons, we just don't mesh.

so.

about the baby name part...as I mentioned here and here we like the name Nathaniel Jahue and Lilah something-or-other. Matt has been planning on a George IV since his brother decided not to have kiddos. And I have loved the name Cleona for probably 15 years now. Here's a post where I mentioned it in 2005.

Previously, when this cousin had a little boy, I was TERRIFIED that he would be choosing Jahue as a middle name for his son. Partially because I plan on having it as a middle name for a boy, but also because my brother Adam plans to have John Jahue J*nk the 2nd. We are just fine with one another's use of the name, by the way.

But now I am afraid that I've gotten myself in a sticky situation. My cousin's wife is pregnant with a little girl and was asking for names. I suggested Vera, which is a family name. I love that name, but it wouldn't work with Matt's last name very well. I also felt torn--do I mention Cleona and say we've staked claim because, um, hello, I'm her namesake? Or do I pretend like it doesn't exist and hope she doesn't find it in our family annals? I went with the mention and stake claim to be safe--I guess we'll see how it goes. It's just...it's just that since my cousin and I don't go together like peas and carrots, if they like the name Cleona, I'm afraid they might disregard my feelings on the matter. Or request it anyway, a'la Friends.

Another cousin of mine threw out the name Lila--and although I'd be sad to let that possibility go (because really, two second cousins named Lila is tricky.) I would be really miffed if they picked Cleona.

does anyone else worry about things like this with family names? I know my friend Renee does (her amazing 100+ year old Great Grandmother's name is Mora, and she's not the only one who wants to carry on that name!). But does anyone else?

I mean, I am SURE it will all work out. Who knows if those names will actually fit our children? Who knows if we'll even have children? Etc. But these things are running around my brain today, so I had to share....

october is awesome. twenty.

in october, i love: fall flowers. particularly fall-colored flowers from my husband. cute, yes? and the colors make me oh so happy!

sometimes I wonder if I'm making things up

or exaggerating. I mean, yeah, between my two jobs I work a lot. I work weekends, I work evenings and I work days. But I like what I do, and generally enjoy both the engineering and the photography.

and I knew October was going to be a smidge nutso, so I've tried to schedule in down time and all that good stuff. I mean, I even took Monday off to rest since I had a wedding on Saturday and another wedding on Sunday.

but, um, my body is telling me that my efforts aren't working. I'm being plagued by something that last happened to me SIX years ago, right around this time of year. there was a lot of sh*t going on then--and I'd link to it, but it happened before I even had a blog!! as it turns out, I have something called per1eche. or angular che1itis. (those 1s are ls, people--I just don't want the go0gle monster to find me!) before forewarned there are pictures--but here's a description, check it. right now it isn't too bad, and they've called in a prescription, and I should be right as rain in no time. definitely before my birthday!

but since I know it's not a vitamin deficiency, and since I don't wear dentures, I don't lick my lips (and they aren't chapped) and since this is what happened last time--this means it's a compromised immune system. i.e., allergies + stress + not enough sleep = problem. which means that no, I'm not just being wimpy--this is the real deal, and I need to do better with the whole taking-care-of-myself thing.

this makes me want to leave work early and take a nap :)

october is awesome. nineteen.

in october, I love: fall veggies, soup fixin's (how do you spell that? it's fixin'--so how do you make it plural? anyone, anyone? bueller?) and my new dr pepper crate. I have wanted a vintage dr pepper crate for.ev.er. like, since high school. and when I found one on etsy I snatched it up post haste. convenient that it goes with my kitchen, huh?

october is awesome. eighteen.

in october, i love: gourds. and pumpkins. and their awesomeness. need I say more?

october is awesome. seventeen.

in october, i love: weddings. this month I'll be shooting four of them. two were this past weekend. one was for my friends lisa and richard. and I LOVED shooting it. and? it was a wonderful way to celebrate six months of marriage for matt and me. :)

october is awesome. sixteen.

in october, i love: tomatoes. specifically the heirloom black cherry tomatoes that are still thriving in my little patio garden. and by thriving I mean they're a huge monstrosity covering practically the entire fence--but I am still gonna have DOZENS o' fresh tomatoes. and any that are left over I will put in a box with a banana and eat later. no, really. unfortunately my roma tomatoes weren't as abundant as they were at my old place--but I'll still take these little guys any day of the week!

october is awesome. fifteen.

in october, i love: my front door decoration. it's my favorite of the year. and let me tell you, it stays up alllllllll the way through thanksgiving. except maybe this year I'll change it out after october is over, if I get a chance to make one of these...

october is awesome. fourteen.

in october, i love: concerts. this is the avett brothers--they played in raleigh on the 8th. last year we got to see sk6ers play in october (and played this year too!). the year before the shins played here. if we weren't otherwise occupied, we'd also be seeing vampire weekend play this october. there are ALWAYS good shows in october.

let's play a game...

the game is: can you guess what olivia, jennifer and I are going to MAKE tonight? all by our little selves.

here are your clues (in order). write them out. hint: two words.

1. eminem - &m.
2. the land where dorothy goes. +z.
3. the first two letters of my middle name, in reverse.
4. when anne hath@way is enchanted, her first name is...
5. the kind of jokes I like to tell -y + e.

:)

first one to guess it correctly gets a prize!

ten more days in my twenties.

and I am PUMPED.

birthday party planned by matt? check. (I hear I will like it--it is a surprise!)
plans for the weekend arranged? check.
plans to clean our house covered? check.
enjoying my birthday month? check-carat-infinity!!

additionally, I have devised a clever plan. as I will be turning 30, I am quite sure that a handful of people I know will feel inclined to call me "old." one girl has already said it TWICE and I'm not even there yet. but anyway, I have a plan...

if someone calls me old, I will be buying them a shot. specifically, a shot called "ch0ke a b!tch. " you might remember that my friend amy and I had one at my bachelorette. let me share a picture--before. then during. check out that grimace.



right. so. you call me old, I buy you a drink. likely the worst drink you've ever had. seriously, I thought cement mixers and brain hemorrhages were bad. they've got nothing on this disgustingly named shot. ew. ew. ew. (and in case you are wondering, we ended up with this delectable delight because the bartender thought we asked for the worst shot she could thing of--when no, we asked for the one with the worst NAME. okay in all fairness it might be one and the same)

anyhoodle. it's october. matt keeps asking me if I'm enjoying celebrating my birthday month. and I totally, totally am. and it's not even halfway over yet! yippee!

october is awesome. thirteen

in october, i love: the beer festival. it happens every year the first or second weekend of october. this year we went with karen & rich and olivia & adam. it was SO fun. funny quotes include

"I'm not gonna let any of the other boys touch my pretzels." ~olivia.
"I'm drunk enough to tell you that your hair is really pretty." ~random drunk guy, to me.
"We need to find a member of the opposite sex." ~random drunk guy, who wanted some of my pretzels on my necklace. I told him he could have some as long as he wasn't dirty about it. he was actually really nice about it.
"Don't you get tired of hearing 'raging b*tch?'"~ me, to the lady serving the beer of the same name

etc. :)

october is awesome. twelve.

in october, I love: the weather. this month some days are nice enough to sit outside for lunch, and other days let you rock your cute jacket and gloves. love it! this is from lisa and my lovely lunch at nantucket grill yesterday. can't believe the next time I see her she'll be at her wedding rehearsal!

october is awesome. eleven.

in october, i love: herbs. this is the basil right off my patio. for perspective, this stuff is growing up taller than my waist! october in NC is especially awesome since things are still growing here. :)

october is awesome. ten.

in october, i love: pumpkins. especially CSA mini pumpkins. cute cute cute! and on my favorite dish towel? even cuter!

october is awesome. nine.

in october, i love: did I mention dish towels? :)

october is awesome. eight.

in october, i love: dishcloths! this is my very favorite one I own--at least for the fall :) when I saw it in target I picked it up and bought it IMMEDIATELY. I am a total sucker for cute dishcloths!

october is awesome. seven.

in october, i love: socks. and toms. and fall colors. these shoes are really, really comfy!

october is awesome. six.

in october, I love: the weather. seriously? 74 with no heat on AND the air conditioner off too? LOVE it. we regulate our temperature just a smidge by opening one of the guest room windows--fresh air and coolness without making the house super-chilly. awesome!

just. plain. weird.

I promise this is the limit of TMI for this post; today I go for my annual lady doctor visit.

I am seeing a new doctor whose office is in Durham. I chose this office because a) it was recommended and b) it is close to my house. because great googley moogley, today I am going to talk to her about having a baby in the not-crazy-distant future. I still plan on riding the no-baby train for a little while longer, but I am also planning on getting a map and schedule so I know when I've reached my stop.

It is really freaking weird to have gotten to that point in my life. Maybe you folks with babies know exactly what I'm talking about. Maybe things happened differently for you and this wasn't part of your process. But yesterday while filling out my paperwork I realized that I'd been taking the pill for THIRTEEN years. For cramps and acne initially, but eventually the birth control aspect was important too.

Anyway. I realized yesterday that today I am going to be discussing things like prenatal vitamins and what the process is when you decide to go off the pill. About things I need to do, ways to prepare, things I should take or stop taking and the like.

But then it occurred to me too that I need to at least ask about things like their view on natural childbirth. and how they feel about c-sections. and midwives. Because this doctor, or the ones at this practice, might be the ones who DELIVER A BABY for me some day. this is just plain bizarre that my head is even contemplating this!

and then my mind started spiraling a little 'cause it's flu shot time, and I have exactly zero desire to get one--EVER--what will my doctor say? and then it made me think of the stories I've read about pediatricians refusing to see children whose parents opted to not complete all of their immunizations. aaah!

for now, I shall go and talk about vitamins. and at least say "so, what's this practice's take on the more granola/natural aspects of pregnancy/labor/delivery?"

it was really surreal earlier this year when I was talking about allergy therapy and had to ask my ENT what would happen if I got pregnant because I might be doing this whole allergy drop thingie for 3-5 years. but now to be like "hi, we just met. next time I see you I hope I'm either pregnant or trying, thanks." WHOA.

october is awesome. five.

in october, i love: shoes. these shoes. these shoes that are wool and make me think of old 70s chairs. I only wear these when it's cold outside. I bought them four years ago when mary alise made me go to richmond to get the hell out of dodge, and we went shopping, and visited crate and barrel where I fell in love with this couch, and stayed in the omni opting for the room with strawberries and champagne instead of the one with the kiddie museum passes. the people definitely wondered if we were "together." and during the night on the town we posed with a lion statue AND a policeman. goodness gracious. so fun and so headache inducing. all in all, it was amazing. and every time I wear these shoes I a) get lots of compliments and b) more importantly, think of my dear friend mary alise. :)

october is awesome. four.

in october, i love: mums. especially ones from the farmer's market. this little guy needed some water and looks much perkier already, but here he is anyways. the colors SCREAM fall to me :)

october is awesome. three.

in october, i love: mellowcreme pumpkins. 5 pumpkins = one serving = like, 140 calories. empty, delicious, makes-carrie-happy calories. :)

october is awesome. two.

in october, I love: fall beer. yum! be it shipyard or abita or blue moon or others--yum, yum, yum.

october is awesome. one.

since I love october. and since I keep thinking of reasons....let's play catch-up, shall we?

in october, I love: that it's tea-drinking time. I bought this shelf on "antique alley" in vermont on our "engage-cation" last october. and I loooove tea. I am almost out of the one from aveda--I might have to pick some up soon! yum!

"ion displacement won't work in the basement especially when I'm not with you"

~vampire weekend

oh, october. thank the heavens, it is october. it is crazy and it is chilly and it is SPLENDID. I feel like this is the time of year when my creative juices recharge and my heart sings and I feel the most like "myself."

I love this month. for a million and eleven reasons. for cider and chilly floors and leaving the window open, for the many october birthdays (including mine, of course!), for pumpkins and colorful leaves and fall veggies, for pies and using the oven and oh my gosh I could go on for days. approximately 31 of them. ending on halloween :)

and although it's a bit nuts--and quite a bit more nuts than I intended--I am so, so SO excited that October is here. We get to see two of our favorite bands, we get to see Lisa & Richard get married (and photograph it!), we get to go to (hopefully) two different beer-oriented events AND it's the state fair. AND I have some pretty kickin' weddings this month, too.

my favorite moment of the month so far? I thought it was learning bamboozle at saturday's wedding and being told I was a front-runner for being the "American Bamboozle Association of America's" official photographer (seriously, these groomsmen were HILARIOUS). But yesterday evening, while we sat on the couch eating chicken tortilla soup and watching The Book of Eli, and while I edited photos with messy hair and yoga pants on, Matt turned towards me, surveyed the scene and said "you are really, really beautiful. I love you."

it is definitely the sweetest moment of october :)