Craft Happy.

Somehow it's gotten to be late in the evening, especially for a Monday, so let's get this love-fest on the road!

The ghost of two-months-past.

1} There was no work today so I got in a bunch of errands and straightening up; simple pleasures!
2} One of those errands was hitting up a Jo-Ann fabric store and a Michaels craft store.
3} Then I made wreaths. 

Fall rag wreath!

I know I'm borderline kitschy sometimes but I totally LOVE making my own decorations; I feel like I'm beating the store-bought stuff. 

Halloween wreath!

Not that I don't indulge in that too.
4} Another fruit of today's labor; pumpkin bread!
5} With pumpkin butter!
How was your weekend Reader? Did you have today off from work? We've got a busy few days ahead of us here but I'll hopefully get up some New York pictures soon.
xoxo, natty ♥

Beauty.

We're watching the Patriots game right now and enjoying the cool breeze coming in from outside. As of yesterday it has cooled down significantly over here, in New York where we were, and in DC. I think that we'll actually be back up to the seventies later this week but it's definitely a reminder of what weather is NOT like in the Bay Area.
We drove up to our little neighborhood about two hours ago and had a wonderful time visiting my cousin; thanks for letting us come up there John!!!
I have a plethora of pictures of leaves and pretty road-side vegetables {interesting to only me and Rebecca, I'm pretty sure}, though I had forgotten my camera and they're all on my phone and I'm for some reason not able to transfer them to my computer tonight; oh well!
Happy weekend to you and may your week go nicely for you!
xoxo, natty ♥

Me & Samuel Clemens.

What a beautiful part of our country; Pennsylvania and New York!

We're in New York!

South central New York, that is. Near the Pennsylvania border. I'll explain later because it's late and we're tired.

Sticky.

I still love my warm weather but, y'all, it's nasty here. It's supposed to break this weekend but has been just sultry, so humid and muggy.
Our Internet is back on but we're out and about tonight so a real post will have to wait.
Happy Thursday!

Puppy!

RCN

No Internet tonight!!
Hasta mañana :)

Pumpkin Season.

Oh man oh man I am turning into a lover-of-fall real quick. Nothing particularly autumnally-exciting has happened quite yet but the POTENTIAL is just scintillating!
In other news...

Arlington National Cemetery.

1} My mom spoiled us ROTTEN. This is was fabulous and marvelous and all that good stuff. Sadly, she got on a plane this morning to return to California. We had so much fun with you Mama; thank you for your wonderful visit and help!

2} Y'all know I love me some Trader Joe's; their prices are very reasonable and their products are interesting! Alas, there is but ONE of these establishments in our fair district. Pair that with a Monday and getting-out-of-work-time and you have yourself a recipe for major frustration. 
But.
At 5:45 today I got in and out in 45 minutes. I stocked UP; yo. Which takes me to #3.

3} Is there anything better that a full larder? Yes, yes there are better things {dachshunds} but this is a dang good feeling.

4} We're going to visit my cousin John this weekend! He's a freshman in college in upstate New York and it's Parents' Weekend. Mike keeps mentioning that he hopes the college is providing an empty nest syndrome workshop or something along those lines so that we can attend. I'm just excited to visit my cousin and look at the leaves.

5} THERE'S SO MUCH AUTUMN STUFF TO DO HERE I DON'T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE THIS.

How was your weekend? Are you feeling the way I am about this time of year? Do you love having a well supplied kitchen/pantry like I do?
xoxo, natty ♥

Blessed.

This upcoming week brings St. Francis' Feast Day in the Catholic Church. St. Francis is one of my favorite historical figures and amongst other things he is well known for his love of animals so his feast day often includes a Blessing of the Animals/Pets at many Catholic churches.
I looked up what was going on in our fair city and found that there is a Franciscan monastery within a few miles of where we live AND that they were having a blessing ceremony TODAY for animals & pets.

So we went!

Guinness is now a bit holier.

This particular Franciscan was quite taken by our dog! He called Guinness "beautiful".

It was mostly dogs {& their owners} but I also took note of several cats and there was even a hermit crab.

I love this tradition in the Church and I love the stories of St. Francis.

We walked away with a certificate and a medallion for our pooch to wear on his collar.

Have you ever participated in this? Has your animal been blessed?
Good week ahead to you!
xoxo, natty ♥

Zoo day!

We went to the zoo today!
We saw a Komodo dragon today!
There were pretty skies today!
Good weekend to you {today}!

Onions.

We had our work retreat today; it was SO weird going on a work retreat that wasn't at my old job. Our retreats at the school I taught at always occurred the day before our back-to-school meetings. I loved this ritual of beginning the busy school year with a day of reacquainting and fellowship.
I missed my old coworkers and friends but thoroughly enjoyed today's experience.
It was at a living farm and involved an experiential component meant to be like a day of a slave on an 1800s plantation. It's a really impactful and fascinating lesson as well as a super cool organization that runs the place.
We learned and gardened and shucked chicken poop {literally!} and then did some team-building activities.
Potbelly's provided lunch {delish!} and the weather held out; a lovely day! The only drawback was the profound amount of STINKBUGS gracing us with their buzzing, crawling, and prolific presence. We don't see these guys too often in the Bay Area so I had a learning experience!
I titled this post as I did because the farm's garden has produced award winning onions!
There were other vegetables but the knobs were prominently displayed and looked as pretty as onions can.
Happy weekend to you!

If you read any articles today...

...ake some time to read about human trafficking. This sounds a bit unlike my usual blog posts {food! dogs!} but my new job is in an organization that is fighting this issue and it's something that needs to be known.

This is a good op-ed piece : http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/opinion/kristof-in-obamas-speech-their-voices.html?smid=pl-share

On Tuesday President Obama gave a speech on this issue and I'll try to get up a link for that transcript later today. 

Again, I don't usually get this active on my blog; it's a place for fluff that relaxes my mind but sometimes it's good to "go there".
xoxo, natty ♥

Monumental.

 xoxo, natty ♥

Some color!

Walking home today I looked up.
And I saw colors! Emphasis on the plural!

We're not that far north here so I don't know how much variation we'll see but I'm ready for it!
xoxo, natty ♥

Packers.

Monday is quietly drawing to a close and I'm thinking of a few other happy things...

This morning's run...that's the capitol in the yellow part.

1} Aaron Rodgers is on TV right now. Le swoon.
2} Dinner tonight! Tomato-zucchini casserole!
3} I scored myself a backpack and my little spine {& shoulders!} are already thanking me.
4} My mother has been downright SPOILING us. I could get used to this pampering!
5} My sweet hubby returned safely {albeit a bit bleary eyed} from a weekend away; thank goodness for safe travels!

What's going on in your corner of the world? Are you enjoying pumpkins yet? I have it on my hot list to get us to an apple orchard come heck or high water. Look forward to that, folks!
xoxo, natty ♥

Deer in the city!

September brings beauty to Washington DC. Yesterday it heated up again but today was back to breezy, warm, cool breezes, and bright sunshine. I ventured into Rock Creek Park during my run this morning. This is a beautiful creek {obvi} and trails that run through the middle of the city. I am a nervous sort and don't often explore trails like this when I'm on my own but it was a normal hour {9-ish} on a weekend and, as I deduced, there were beaucoup pedestrians so I felt comfortable.
I trundled along and enjoyed Radiolab and people watching while I got in my miles. And then I saw a deer.
In the middle of Washington DC? I'm new here so I don't know if this is normal; I'm guessing it is? Otherwise people around me would have been freaking out too but as it was, only I stood there mouth agog at this pastoral creature hanging out in an underpass on an urban creek trail.
I obviously didn't get in a picture, I didn't want to scare the guy!

This blurry visage, however, is representative of my excursion this morning. Pretty {when it's in focus}!

Did you have a lovely weekend? Becs, I ADORE that painting.
May your Monday bring you peace and joy!
xoxo, natty ♥

More skies!

There were some threatened storms today but they never came to fruition and I don't think they will.

They sure brought some pretty skies though!

Unfortunately there was a screen in between me and the beauty. And unfortunately I was too lazy to actually go outside and get the shot.
I hope that your weekend has been moving along nicely!
xoxo, natty ♥

The Cauldron.

I'm a walking commuter now and it's about 1.5 miles each way. I'm certainly enjoying this new lifestyle and I hope that I feel the same way come December and January.
I love seeing so many other people walking to work and scurrying to and from the various metro and bus stations; the district is so BUSY.
My other favorite part of the journey is, as I've come to call it, The Cauldron. The Cauldron resides in the yard of a corner home and I think that they're doing some renovation work. There is a decent amount of other stuff laying around in this yard but this guy really speaks to me; in the middle of it all, there's a cauldron!
I hope that it never leaves.

I worked up the courage to take a picture of it today though it came out a bit blurry. I kind of want to go in and decorate it in autumnal colors.

In other news my mama and I are enjoying a relaxing Friday night which is EXACTLY what I needed considering that Monday night did not provide very many hours of rest and it's been a nasty and losing game of catch-up since then. Happy weekend to you!
xoxo, natty ♥

So fast!

We are in the middle of one of those times that moves just super quickly. Being back in work {so grateful!} does that to a girl. It's Monday and then before I know it Friday has arrived. Almost. 
Last night my sweet brother-in-law arranged a West Wing tour of the White House for us; ¡MUCHAS GRACIAS HERMANO-IN-LAW! My mother was thrilled to see this beautiful place and we certainly enjoyed poking around {all within tour limits; don't worry!}.

I tried to get in a question.

My mom has been taking SUCH good care of us! Thank you sooooo much mama! Food, laundry, dog walking...she is SPOILING us. It's an early night before an early day tomorrow and a busy weekend.
xoxo, natty ♥

Rebecca's skies.

xoxo, natty ♥