#146 He Loves Fall

I peeked through scrunched morning eyes from underneath the fortress of my heavy feather comforter as Hubby got ready for work this morning.  "It's 47 degrees out," he said

"Right now?" I asked as if he might be talking about next week or the weather in Canada for some odd reason.

New Jersey's weather has been so unpredictable it has put me in quite the moody state.  Of course, I loved our summer days that felt like fall and wished that they would remain.  But the current days where the mornings start cool and then turn into a muggy 75 by the afternoon make me want to cry.

Today's temperature seemed like the perfect true start to fall.

I've been ready for fall since the end of winter.  Winter is bearable for me, except last winter--I'm not sure what happened there.  I despise spring and while I enjoy some elements of summer, it gets old after a week or so.

I'll spare you the generic lists you've seen on social media for why girls like fall (hoodies, pumpkin spice lattes, boots, cooler weather, etc).  Naturally, if you like fall you must be a fan of cooler weather.  I don't necessarily have a fall favorites list, but here are a few things I'm looking forward to now that it is fall:

1. Hot Chocolate

The best hot chocolate I have ever experienced was from Eleven Madison Park in NYC.  It was several years ago, so who knows if they even serve it anymore, but it was like drinking melted milk chocolate.  The next best thing I've found is at The Bent Spoon in Princeton, NJ.  Warning!  It is extremely thick, but full of chocolate deliciousness.*

Then of course, there is always homemade which sometimes is just as good.  

*It is so thick that leftovers in my fridge turned into a chocolate pudding-like state. 

2. The Colors of Fall

I recently realized that I keep some items that really should be labeled as "fall decorations" up all year.  The only reason I can assume that I do not take them down is that these items fall into the color scheme that I love.  Bright summer colors are nice, but warm fall colors set my mind at ease.  

3. Fires

We've used our fire pit once or twice this summer.  While it's nice to have a fire in the summer, it's better in the fall.  In the summer you have to battle mosquitoes while balancing not being too close to the fire.  Because the fire is hot, and chances are the day is still hot--because it's summer.

In fall the mosquitoes are gone, the weather is cooler, and bundling up near a fire with a stick packed with sugar just seems like the right thing to do.     

4. Pumpkin Carving

I was in my twenties before I carved my first pumpkin.

Shocking, I know.

I've done it a few times since then and discovered it to be too much of a hassle for me. (You'll note that I do not have a pumpkin in the above picture).  However, I love to see what other people can do with them.  In case you can't tell, and I'm sure you can't for some of them, the first pumpkin pictured above is Gizmo from Gremlins, the second is one that Jonathan taped pictures to (much safer than giving him a knife to hack at it with), the third pumpkin is Hubby's carving of the world (it looked much better from a different angle, I promise), the fourth pumpkin is Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas, and the last pumpkin is Edgar Allen Poe.  

Carving pumpkins is so much more fun when done with family or friends.

If all else fails, I like to purchase plastic pumpkins that have had inspirational sayings "carved" into them for decoration.  It saves the whole rotting step from happening.

5. Thanksgiving Breakfast

I have been thinking about Thanksgiving breakfast since summer.  Now that it is fall I'm actually allowed to begin thinking about it.

In case this is your first time here, my Thanksgiving breakfast is a little---different.  For well over ten years now, my family begins Thanksgiving morning by having dessert for breakfast.  It's pretty much my favorite thing about Thanksgiving, aside from the turkey...and the parade.  I usually get a little out of hand and make about ten desserts too many.  I promise, this tradition didn't begin this way.  It started with my mother and my aunt eating one piece of their pumpkin pie in the morning and it has turned into something that perhaps one day I will seek therapy for.

This year I'm thinking of making pie the theme.  The only problem is I have never experimented with the perfect pie crust.  

Looks like I'm going to be busy this October.

6. Hot Coffee and Holiday Coffee Cups

In the summer I usually give up my hot coffee for the cooling delight of iced coffee.  When fall comes and I can begin ordering my hot coffee again, it warms my heart--literally and figuratively.  Poor Hubby then has to endure the shrieks and childish giggles that I somehow produce at the sight of holiday coffee cups.  It means, just as the start of fall means ultimately for me, that Christmas is almost here.  

#107 He Cuts Off His Mustache

It's been one of those months.  Of course it is the times when I have no time to write that there are a million things for me to write about.  So much has been going on, so many things I am storing in my mind for later, but I thought I'd give you a little glimpse into my world for the last two weeks based on the pictures in my phone....and a few from my DSLR.

We harvested our corn.  Even though it wasn't the sweetest or largest corn, we enjoyed it because it was our own.  Hopefully next year we can make Jersey proud with some more authentic tasting Jersey corn.

But it's a start.

Hubby took me to my first Yankees game.  While I'm not a real sports fan per say, I have an odd attraction to the Yankees and their team colors.

And I don't mind the game of baseball all that much either.

Now football, that's another story.

Sorry.  I've tried, a pathetic number of times.  I just can't make it happen.

  
We enjoyed dinner over our friends Jen and Tyler's house.  Tyler made us coffee in this strange science lab like piece of equipment.  It was an experience of epic proportions, at least, for a coffee lover like me.  More on this, eventually, over at The Orange Strainer.

I celebrated my birthday a little early with my family.  We ate pizza.  The best pizza in the world.  It was heaven.

Everyone entertained my stance that I am celebrating my 25th birthday for the fourth time.  It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Or perhaps that is just what senile feels like.

After my early birthday dinner, hubby took me out to Cape May to enjoy the sea air, go shopping, and eat at our favorite restaurant: Oyster Bay.  We found this decoration at an olive oil store and I contemplated yanking it off the wall and making a run for it.

Sort of like the scene with the blue horn in the first season of "How I Met Your Mother".  Except I didn't have the nerve to do it, so I suppose in the end it is nothing like that.

This was also one of the last days I spent with Hubby's curled mustache.  Yes friends the time had finally come.  He snipped off his curls and made me one of the happiest women on earth.  And believe it or not, his reason for cutting it had nothing to do with my birthday.

Or me at all.

I promise.

I celebrated most of my birthday with 18 five-year-olds.  It was a fabulous day.  (And that comment has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that my students had an early morning special, which was back to back with lunch and followed by recess).  It seems that when it's your birthday the goodies and snacks you receive from family, friends, and co-workers is endless.

After I rolled out of school, literally, I had a quiet dinner with hubby.

Friday night we went to see my sister-in-law, Kristina, in a local theater production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum".  During intermission Jonathan and I took a thousand pictures on my phone.  I've spared you and posted only one.

Apparently, the blurriest one.

Hubby took me shopping for my birthday present: a new kitchen table.

I'm in love with this table.

We have very limited counter space in our kitchen.  Considering the amount of time I spend in the kitchen, the table we currently have just wasn't cutting it.  The height was too low.  When I would use the kitchen table for food prep, I'd end up with my back strained, my brain spinning, and steam gushing out of my ears.

It's true.  My poor husband has endured so much.

Our new table is the perfect height and has a tabletop perfect for tasks like rolling out cinnamon rolls and chopping up onions.

Sunday I went to the first ever family reunion of my father's side of the family.  

I think the best part (other than, you know, reconnecting with family I've never met) was that they all share the deep reverence that I have for desserts.  The dessert table was overflowing with an abundance of sugary delights.  I couldn't have been happier to be from this family.

I brought four desserts because I don't know how to minimize.  These mini doughnuts were a hit.  While I've made several mini donuts before, I've never made DOUGHNUTS.  I've made donuts.  Not douuuggghhhnuts.  I've learned.  I've cracked the mystery that has baffled man for centuries: What is the difference between donuts and doughnuts?

Donuts can be made with an oven (or in my case, a mini donut maker), with flour, without yeast.

Doughnuts are made with yeast and frying and oil.

And Dunkin' Donuts just has it all backwards.

The end, amen.

We let the non-Lunetta blood hop in for a picture.  Not a bad lookin' bunch, if you ask me.

Here's my question...

Why is the sun shining on my face only?  It makes me look photo shopped into the picture.

But I swear.

I was there.

This ends my short rendition of the past two weeks.  But don't worry, there's more a'comin.