words

I was waiting for my train the other day, and realizing I had nothing to read, ending up buying the most recent edition of The Best American Nonrequired Reading. I actually haven't really read any of the Best American series since I was in college and we were assigned The Best American Magazine Writing edition for a class. But I read this in the introduction, and I love what the writer, Walter Mosley, wrote about reading: 

"In the modern world reading is an essential activity like eating or loving, or going to war or even surrendering to a truth that, because it's undeniable, is also inescapable. Reading, I believe, is one of the few activities that increases, deepens, and expands the capacity of the human mind; it is a process that is at once conscious and unconscious, personal and solitary but also interpersonal and even social." —Walter Mosley 

You can read the whole introduction here. 

photo credit: Bravo_Zulu_ via photopin cc

Fall, this year

This is a photo of the leaves on a tree in our backyard. Obviously. Simple enough.

 It’s cheesy, for sure, but sometimes it’s just really nice to find pretty things that you weren’t expecting to be there. 

Weekend in Austin

When I made my “30 before 30” list last year, visit Austin was pretty high up there. But just like number 13, go horseback riding, and number 15, win a radio contest, it never actually happened. (Though number 12, visit San Francisco, did, so I’m considering it a win.) So I moved it to this year’s list and, go figure, not even a month after my birthday, I crossed it off.

It was actually pretty spur-of-the-moment too—we bought our tickets just a week before leaving. But we had the perfect excuse: Italians. I don’t know about you, but I think having tourists in town is the ideal excuse to do fun things that you’ve always said you wanted to do but haven’t actually done. Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge? Did it this summer. Go apple picking for the first time? Did it four fall’s ago. See the Thanksgiving Day parade? Did it a few years before that (and won’t ever do it again.)

This time, we found out that two of John’s cousins from Italy were coming in to visit their brother, who’s studying in Texas, for a couple weeks. We decided to meet in Austin, and John, my sister-in-law Jen, and I flew down.

The weekend was the best time: We rented a house, we slept in, we walked up and down South Congress, we drove to San Antonio, and we ate. In fact: Make a list of stereotypically American foods (hello donuts, cupcakes, and bbq) and eat them all over 3 days? Did it on this trip.

A few photos:

Since there were 6 of us, we rented a big car (I mean, when in Texas..) so we could actually all fit. 

After brunch at Magnolia, we drove to San Antonio for the afternoon. 

The water was dirty, but the bikes were pretty. 

Back in Austin 

Words of wisdom, on South Congress 

Cheers to Texas beer and bbq 

Oh hello (again)

I could start by saying that it’s been awhile. Because it has. So now I’m faced with two options: Just start writing again, or do another intro post. Intro post it is!

I’ve been blogging on and off since 2001 (Was it called blogging when we used LiveJournal?) and when I think about what I want this space to be, I’ve always imagined it as a place to write about what inspires me, what I’m doing, what books I’m reading, and on and on. But, as someone who’s kept a journal fairly consistently since 1992 and has boxes filled with letters, notes, and random concert tickets from college, I want it most of all as a record, as a place to mix photos with thoughts with ideas.

So in that spirit, I’ve found my way back here. And I’m pretty excited about it. 

(For a few more details, go here.) 

Looking Back: November

I always hate to be the person to say, “Wow, can you believe it’s Insert Month Here?” But really, seriously, wow, can you believe it’s November? Because I most definitely can’t. I feel like it was February five seconds ago—February 2010 five minutes ago—and now, here we are, one month left of the year.

  

In November last year, John and I were hanging out on a beach in Punta Cana. Over those five days, I read two books (this and I can’t remember the other one), swam with stingrays, went snorkeling, ate coconuts on the beach and learned Prince William and Kate were getting married.

We did this excursion. 

While I haven’t had that need-to-be-in-the-warm-weather RIGHT NOW feeling yet,  I’ve already started turning the heat up when John’s not looking and yesterday I broke out the winter jacket.

But can you blame me? This is what the trees looked like in Punta Cana: 

And these were the trees outside our apartment on Saturday: 

(And that just made this post basically the same as this one. But that was March! It’s too soon for snow!)  

So what were you doing last November? And what are you looking forward to this year? 

Apple Picking Success

Although, truth be told, if you had asked any of us while sitting at a gas station at 3:30 p.m. last Saturday whether we definitively thought apple picking would have been a success, we likely would have had another answer for you.

Because, as you can imagine, we weren’t the only ones who thought going apple picking on an 80-degree long weekend in October was a good idea. But! The bright side: We found an orchard, complete with beer garden, cider donuts and live music. And once we got our bags and figured out where the best apples were, the day turned out pretty great.

All photos by the super-talented Dorna.

We had planned to make apple pies when we got home, but with some butternut squash, whole wheat pasta and spinach, Karen made dinner, instead. 

Facelift!

After some back and forth—and lots of Etsy research—I finally decided it was time for this blog to get a new look. And here it is! What do you think?

I bought the template from Yellow & Savvy Design and love the colors, the cuts and the fact that it reflects my own style a lot more than before. Next up, I'll (finally) be working on the About page and just overall editing some of the features. Baby steps, yes? Anyway, I hope you like it and that you're enjoying this lovely Tuesday!  

xo, m