purple people

we had a lovely time adventuring together yesterday!

the weather was so beautiful and warm, despite a few showers here and there. we started walking the purple people bridge (a pedestrian bridge over the ohio river connecting to kentucky) in the rain and ended on the kentucky side with the warmest sunshine and frizziest hair.

max oohed and ahhed over the river water and traveling boats...the cincinnati skyline and the grilled cheese at lunch.

i couldn't think of a finer way to spend the extra day we got this year then gallivanting around with my guys! (even if they did have to leave me behind a time or two because of my slow pregnant waddle)

xoxo

and the fog comes up

we had the most beautiful blankets of fog hanging around yesterday. 

definitely not what christmas usually looks like around here...but beautiful nonetheless. 

buddy is officially off school for his winter break...we have lots of plans for baking and puddle jumping in loo of snowball fights. 

and tomorrow is the solstice. 

there is something about it that makes me want to light candles and stay up all night...

these are happy days, for sure.

winter walk

my sunshine was shortlived. but goodness am i thankful for that tiny bit. 

today we're embracing the gray and cold and blending right in. when in rome!

 

it's been dusting snow this afternoon. perfect timing for a quick winter walk.

i hope you all have a beautiful weekend!

xoxo

apple tree farm

i'm sure by now you all are a bit tired of me gushing on and on about fall...but will you indulge me one last post? and i promise to not jump into christmas too soon! but i have to be honest...christmas music is already being played on the radio here! 

(which is a dangerous thing for a gal like me with very little holiday self control)

and if i'm being completely honest, i'd have to tell you that i listen to christmas music all year round, especially if i'm feeling down. it's my happy place. 

but this is supposed to be about fall....

my favorite place to visit this time of year is the apple tree farm!

we've been taking the little ones there for years and years...when they were actually little ones! 

matt and i took max and my nephew and niece this past sunday for a bit of last minute fall romping in hay, getting lost in corn mazes, squealing at baby goats, bumpy hayrides, and warm donuts.

it's been such a lovely fall!

and i'm so happy we got to squeeze in one last bit of fall goodness at the farm.

p.s. besides being a mama, is there anything better than getting to be an aunt? especially when they share your reddest red hair!

5 favorites of fall

 i can hardly believe october is nearly over. i'm trying to soak up every last bit.

 this week we're counting down our favorite things about this time of year!

colorful fall leaves are tops!

and ohio has some of the most beautiful.

we don't have any trees of our own (or anyways, the one in the backyard's leaves doesn't change colors or fall. hmph!). there are times when the least reasonable side of myself wants to sneak trash bags full of leaves from the neighbors yard to sprinkle on our own. 

there are a few days left this month, and plenty of november...it might still happen.

happy monday, loves!

i would love to hear your favorite parts of the season!

sleepy hollow

 when i found out we were going on our sunny l.a trip in october, a small part of me was hesitant. october in ohio is the most beautiful and i didn't want to miss even a week of the leaves changing or jacket and scarf weather or picking more pumpkins (i do not need to pick anymore pumpkins. i might have a problem.)

 the irony is that the weather in l.a ended up being on the chilly side and on our last day in town, kate and her husband isaac took us to the most amazing apple orchard outside of the city. it was tucked between mountains and was bursting with pumpkins and apples and hayriding and animals. 

(we learned, quite graphically, a bit of the birds and the bees from a large gal horse and a small boy donkey. it was shocking. there was some screaming going on. and i think it's safe to say everyone witnessing it was altered in some small, gross way)

that aside, the farm made me feel right at home. 

we stayed for dinner in the barn, where they had a family bluegrass band playing and put on a production of "sleepy hollow". there was warm apple cider and pumpkin seed spitting and square dancing. and i instantly became the most homesick i had been all trip.

it was the perfect way to end our getaway...with a little taste of home. 

seasons and fast food tears

happy first day of fall!

this is, like for most, my most favorite time of year...when ohio is her most beautiful and i feel the most settled. we've been celebrating around here with lots of warm drinks and caramel apples and hitting snooze on the alarm clock way more than we should. these are sleepy days.

i've spent the past couple of days away from the computer and spending some extra time with the boys. we sent matt away last night for a weekend business trip. and my max goes off this afternoon to be with his dad for a few days. i'm a woman left to her own devices...which is dangerous. i ended up, inexplicably, in tears after ordering lunch today when the boy at the window was so nice to me.  haha. it's going to be that kind of weekend.

have a happy one, friends! 

i'll be back tomorrow with a few projects i've been working on around the house.

light breezes seems to whisper

it's taken me years of listening to myself to realize that i need a little solitude every now and again.
time with myself...my thoughts..the silence around me.
most times i find it in small ways...like in the morning when the boys are still asleep or while alone in the car on my way to and from places.
and sometimes i find it in deliberatly special ways.
sometimes i like to wine and dine myself.
get out the fancy glasses, pile up some strawberries on a cake plate, splurge on a new $1 crossword puzzle book and frosted animal crackers, find a place to stake my claim for an hour, and sit and just be.

i found myself in what seemed like my own little secret garden last night..fresh after an evening thunderstorm. i took pictures and watched the sun set and toasted to the brilliance that life can be...to my max who seems like worlds away...to the simple goodness of sipping through a paper straw or wringing out a rain-soaked hem.
and then i sat. and i listened.

eddie veder- dream a little dream

i hope you all can go stake a claim on an hour for yourself this week.

pull out all the stops for yourself...and don't forget the animal crackers.

<3