Let’s start out with a few pictures, okay?  Jesse and I carved pumpkins (really freaking awesome pumpkins) for Halloween this year.  I think it’s going to become one of our holiday traditions.  First, here are the two that I carved:

Yeah, I know that the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter aren’t particularly Halloween-ish but I think they turned out so neat-looking! I wasn’t really feeling any of the scary or seasonal designs. Just for the record, we used stencils. I can’t even draw a stick figure so I definitely wasn’t going to manage any complicated pumpkin designs!

Here are Jesse’s:

Kang from The Simpsons and Ash from Evil Dead! I think his turned out really well!

I’ll admit to being rather partial to the Cheshire Cat… all of the little circles and the details were really hard to do! There were a couple of times where I was sure the structure of the mouth was going to collapse and the whole things would be ruined.

We didn’t have a ton of trick or treater’s, unfortunately. We’ve got a LOT of candy left. :( Maybe next year I’ll have to figure out how to get more kids… I missed out on seeing lots of cute costumes! We did get the cutest little ladybug… she definitely brightened up my night!

We also drank some Granny Smith apple cider from TJ’s (soooo yummy, btw!) and watched scary movies (Deep Red and The Hitcher). And of course, we had to watch the Charlie Brown Halloween movie since I am, basically, an overgrown five-year old. Other than that, we celebrated with my first batch of oven-baked latkes. I know that they’re still not healthy (especially since I added a handful of extra sharp cheddar cheese to the grated potato) but I like to think that removing the oil helps enough to justify them. Mmmm… latkes with applesauce and Greek yogurt! I think I’ll have to make these more often. No pictures, unfortunately. They’re all gone. That’s how good they were!

Ooof.  It’s been a while since I’ve been this tired.  Busy-season at work has officially begun and I’d forgotten how physically taxing it is.  By the time lunch rolls around I’m light-headed, hungry, exhausted and barely able to comprehend simple sentences.  Thankfully food does tend to do the trick but between being tired and the crazy wind we’ve had recently, I’ve switched back to walks for Sebastian who doesn’t seem to mind.  Tonight we’ll start running again but it’s been nice to have quieter, easier nights.  In an attempt to combat my sedentary last couple of days I’ve been doing push-ups (umm, hello, wedding dress fitting in a month!).  Looking good but feeling SO sore. 

Tonight we’ll pick up pumpkins to carve.  I’ll be doing a cheshire cat and mad hatter pumpkin, maybe one more and Jesse will do three or so as well.  I’m not sure what character’s he’ll do but I’m sure they’ll be scary in contrast to mine!  I’m hoping to make butternut squash soup but that may have to wait until tomorrow night.  Halloween we’ll drink, hand out candy and maybe watch a movie or two.

I know, not particularly fascinating.  Mostly I’m just excited for Oregon!  Once we make it through today and tomorrow, we’ll just have 10 work days until we leave!

Oh yes we did!  We saw Where the Wild Things Are!  I hadn’t been this excited for a movie in a long time.  In fact, I’ve been so underwhelmed by Hollywood’s most recent offerings that we haven’t seen a movie in a theatre since, oh, Hamlet 2 (not so great, incidentally).  But this… this was fantastic.  So beautiful, so very bittersweet, so perfect.  Everything worked from the soundtrack to the crashing of the waves to the monsters and the boy who played Max and the beautiful setting.  It is exactly what I wanted out of this movie and luckily, it is so unlike anything coming out of the entertainment industry right now.  Lovelovelove.  I was a little worried that an entire soundtrack of Karen O would be a bit overwhelming but honestly, it worked nicely with the feel of the movie.

Speaking of wild things, ours are fantastic.  Isobel continues to rule the house with an iron paw and a healthy dose of cute.  Sebastian and I are still doing our 2.4 mile nightly run although I intend to do a longer run by Friday — I have a 3.3 mile route that I’ve been saving for a night where I can actually relax afterwards.  I’m starting to get a bit worried about how he’s going to handle being boarded when we’re in Oregon in early November.  We’re going to tour the boarding facilities at our vet’s office… I’m sure they won’t be luxurious but I’ll at least feel better knowing that he’s in easy reach of medical attention if necessary.  I’m just worried that he’ll feel like he’s been abandoned by us, like he’s back at a shelter.  Ugh.  Then again, I really am looking forward to our trip and do not intend to let my neurotic, free-floating anxiety ruin it.  Speaking of which, therapist soon. 

The rest of our weekend was lovely.  We carved Jack O’Lanterns!  Jesse found this website with really elaborate patterns, we ordered a carving set and this weekend sat down to test it out.  He carved Stripe from Gremlins 2 and I carved Tigger!  They both look really good!  I’m saving my Cheshire Cat and Mad Hatter patterns for Halloween… Now if only I had the time to pull an Alice in Wonderland costume together (and a place to wear a costume).  I think we’ll probably just hang out, hand out some candy and drink some wine. 

I did quite a bit of cooking over the weekend.  Discovered that the secret to quite a few recipes is Greek yogurt.  It went in the turkey meatballs (all of which have been consumed already) and the whole wheat apple muffins.  Also made a tomato sauce with grated zucchini (thanks, Mom!) which I have been happily eating over cous cous, noodles, pilaf and just by itself.  Next up will be a butternut squash soup and some curried eggplant in an attempt to ensure that I don’t waste any food this week.

Mostly I’m waiting for winter.  Keeping my fingers crossed that soon we’ll see snow peaks on Mt. Charleston.  Hoping for sweater-tights weather.  Craving a good autumn thunderstorm.  Soon. 

So, that’s my life right now.  How’s yours?

We’re right in the middle of the calm before the storm at work.  In 8 days our busiest renewal season begins.  From then it just gets more and more hectic until we finally end the insanity at year-end.  For right now I’m determined to get through the mind-numbingly slow days.  I’ve been working on my project, reorganizing my recipe index and finding new recipes to try, rediscovering my love of various musicians (umm, hello Sufjan… I knew I still loved you but had forgotten how much) and reading ebooks on my iPod touch.

I’ve done 2.4 mile runs with Sebastian for the last two nights.  I think he seems to enjoy them… if dogs show enjoyment by flopping down on their beds and not moving for about an hour.  I’m hoping to get up to 3 miles starting next week.  Now, to find a 3-mile route on MapMyRun — speaking of which, I’ve become rather obsessed with that website.  Every night when I get back I hop onto my laptop and add my run to my training log.  I like knowing that I’ve run 20.53 miles since October 1st.  I know it’s not hugely impressive but I only started up again about three weeks ago and I did skip four days in a row for my dress-shopping trip.  I’m looking forward but am nervous for my run tonight.  I got my flu shot today — I think the woman who did it stuck me in the wrong place.  It’s right up by my shoulder and it is SO painful.  Not entirely sure how well I’ll do but even getting out there and having a bad run is better than no run at all.

Right now I’m just trying to do more things.  I’ve been practicing piano lately, nothing complicated, just basic exercises, remembering the feel of the keys under my fingers.  Of  course, we don’t have an actual piano, just a short keyboard, but it’s okay for now.  One day.  Looking for a voice coach and a yoga studio.  I’ve been doing the New York City Ballet workout at night.  I’d forgotten how much I like that program.  I think, in another life, I would have liked to take dance seriously.  As it is, perhaps I’ll go back and take adult beginner classes one day.  I think I’d do well as I can stand en pointe with no training. 

Cooking more.  Now that my recipes are reorganized (and, of course, I’ve added quite a few new things) I want to spend more time cooking, baking and… eating!  Last night I made a Kashi pilaf (I moved this box of pilaf from Omaha… apparently it keeps in the pantry for YEARS) and caramelized onions (with balsamic vinegar, of course!).  I spread the pilaf in a bowl, topped with some roquefort crumbles and finished with a layer of the onions.  Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, let the heat from the top and bottom layers melt the roquefort and voila!  A simple, quick, comfort meal that’s perfect for an autumn weeknight.  Tonight I get to go to Trader Joe’s, stock up on all sorts of things and come home and make crispy black bean cakes and baked falafel.  Once I actually have ingredients I can start making and posting bento again!  Then I can work on my camera skills and and and and and… there are just so many things to do!

Now… if Las Vegas would only decide autumn was really here to stay.  I’d just been getting in the mood for sweaters, thick soups, baked pastas and textured tights.  Now it’s almost 90 degrees again.  Le sigh.  Cross your fingers for a nice, prolonged dose of cool weather for me?

Last but not least, I am missing my mom dreadfully (and very much looking forward to seeing her and my dad in Oregon in November).  I got a lovely thank-you note from the owner of the dress shop today and it just made me remember how much fun I had this weekend.  I was so nervous going there.  Nervous about not finding anything that would look good on me, nervous about not being pretty on my wedding day, nervous about everything and anything under the sun.  They were so patient with me, so lovely and so full of beautiful ideas and recommendations.  I don’t think we could have had a better experience anywhere.  I’m so excited to meet the designer in November!  Incidentally, I will spill the designer.  My dress will be an Adele Wechsler.  Seriously, visit her website and fall in love!

I just finished up a fantastic four-day weekend and figured that it’s time to pop in and write a little bit about it.

My mom arrived in Las Vegas last Thursday and left yesterday morning. I miss her already! I’m ready to see her again and it’s only been about 27 hours since we dropped her off at the airport. We had some fabulous meals but more importantly, we had a fantastic mini road trip, girls only! We (me, my mom and the lovely Miss Crystal) drove down to Indio, California to find me a wedding dress at Desert Bride Bridal Salon. It’s a lovely little shop filled with the most beautiful dresses I’ve ever seen. I must have tried on at least 15, maybe 20, and some of them more than once. I don’t think I tried on anything that I didn’t really like but I finally did settle on The. Dress. No more details here as Jesse has decided that he does not want to see it until the big day but let’s just say that it’s nearly everything I thought I wouldn’t like in a wedding dress. Yet, I love it. It’s fabulous, it makes me look fabulous and, even better, the designer will be doing a trunk show at the salon over Thanksgiving where I’ll be able to get it customized so it truly is my dream dress.

I have, however, been forbidden from losing more weight now that I’ve picked out the dress. I guess if I want to keep running (upped my run to 2.4 miles last night — the dog seemed very tired when we got home… he was sacked out on his pillow giving me a look that clearly said “Mama… don’t you love me anymore?”) I’m going to have to do more cooking and eating. More risotto… what a tragedy! So, I think the blog may become sort of food-focused again, at least for a little while. Having my mom here has left me focused, rejuvenated and full of ideas and really… where better to blab about all of those things than here?

Meet Sebastian.

He’s no longer that skinny, thankfully. He is, however, nearly always that smiley… particularly when we are out hiking or exploring.

After originally being against the idea, he does sleep in our room at the foot of our bed. He’s not happy being away from us at night and given that he does stay in his kennel during the day (with his peanut butter-filled Kong and squeaky hedgehog toy), it didn’t seem nice to keep him in another room at night.

He’s a rather regal-looking dog, really.

And now… for some Isobel-cute! She’s getting so big already! Is this what it’s like when you have kids? You look down one day and the tiny little thing you brought home is suddenly a lithe, agile little girl who’s nearly all grown up?

Stealing my spot in the bed. She’s even managed to steal my body pillow!

With her squeaky mouse. She carries it around the house in her mouth… it’s adorable. I keep trying to get a picture of it. I almost caught her this time but she dropped it and flopped on the kitchen floor at the last minute. Crafty kitten.

Isobel and Sebastian are pretty good together. She rubs up on him until he’s sick of it… he sniffs her butt until she’s sick of it. It’s all good.

This seems to be one of her new favourite nap spots. I still don’t know what it is about cats and sinks… I just know that I love it.

Aaaaand… she’s done with the camera.

More later. I’m busily attempting to get my task queue at work down to 0 so I can leave with a clear conscience tomorrow afternoon. For then… my mother comes! And we get to have a fantastic, fun-filled weekend that will include… *cue ominous music* dress shopping! We’ll see how that works.

PS. Sebastian is my furry little personal trainer. Since September 29th, I have run 16.05 miles and the last two nights, I have run my newfound 2-mile route without stopping. In the next week, I hope to have that up to 3 miles a night. I know it’s not a long distance but I’m still pretty proud of it.

As some of you may know, Jesse and my 2nd anniversary is coming up. Coming up in the sense of “we don’t actually know our REAL anniversary date so we just declared it to be Halloween so it would be easy to remember but we know it was before that”. To that end, we’ve been buying anniversary presents.

I’m getting an iPod touch! Not jewelry. Not perfume. Not clothing. Not chocolates. A high-tech toy. I can’t wait! I’ve been without an iPod since the Great Soda Explosion of 2009. Being without music (okay, I’m not really without music but the ability to choose what I want to listen to — my shuffle is great but hearing Ratatat when I want Bon Iver? Not helpful) does NOT help my stress levels so I’m really looking forward to having one of my favourite things back.

Now… what did Jesse get… Did he also get a high-tech toy? Powertools, perhaps? A well-crafted, metal watch? A leather jacket? An awesome electric razor? Maybe an expensive boxed collection of his favourite music artist?

A vacuum cleaner. I asked. That’s what he wanted. I tried offering other, more fun alternatives. No dice. So he is the proud recipient of a new vacuum cleaner.

Note to self: Jesse is weird. But it’s going to be really nice to have a working vacuum again. And I’ll share my Wi-Fi on the iPod touch when we’re out and about.

Hello, strangers!

I really am dreadful about updating my blog. Things are busy, blah blah blah. You know the drill. Here’s a short run-through of what’s going on:

- We are permanently minus one person at work. Workload has increased dramatically.
- I have a special project at work which, while very fulfilling, is taking up huge amounts of time.
- We are still having great luck with Sebastian (who I really need to upload pictures of one of these days). He’s mostly settled into our routine, he takes up for runs every night and he’s walking right into his kennel without being tricked with bits of turkey. He’s actually a pretty sweet dog. A bit crazy, especially when we first come home, but he is still young.
- Going dress-shopping soon. Terrified.
- Anxiety levels through the roof. I realized that this situation was unlivable the other day when the doorbell rang and I spent the next 15 minutes with my heart racing, trying to catch my breath. Looking for a new doctor/therapist. This can not continue.

Now, for nicer things.

Jesse’s mom flew in last weekend to spend a few days in beautiful Las Vegas. We had a great time with her! We all went out for dinner at Lucille’s on Friday night. A popular choice at dinner that night included the molasses-and-Coca-Cola-marinated ham sandwich. I’ve been assured that it’s excellent but since ham has not made a return to my diet, I admit to being a bit skeptical.

We spent Saturday morning up at Mt. Charleston. We hiked up the Cathedral Rock trial which we’ve never actually done before. We tried but tried in the winter and were thwarted by icy trails and snowdrifts. It was beautiful! Up at the top there was a waterfall that I couldn’t help exploring. I just wish it hadn’t been quite so covered in grafitti. Jesus — if you’re out there, you can stop writing your name on every rock on the mountain. On our way back down we had an almost-unfortunate run-in with other hikers who had four large, unfriendly dogs. Thankfully Sebastian was very happy to keep moving along with some whimpering and barking. But really… if your dogs seriously can not deal with another dog walking on the trail without being held down… maybe they shouldn’t be on that trail.

Once we got home I settled in to make my spinach-and-goat-cheese risotto, roast chicken and gougere (made with Emmenthal and chevre this time) while everyone else watched Home Movies. We drank wine, talked, ate. Isobel kept trying to jump on the table. I really wish I was having better luck training her out of that habit!

Unfortunately that was when our weekend had to come to an end but we’re looking forward to many more and in new and fun locations.

So… we got a dog. We got a dog almost two weeks ago, actually. He’s a black lab, his name is Sebastian (so yes, we have Isobel, a.k.a. Belle, and Sebastian — we’re insufferable hipsters!) and he’s 2-years old. He came from the SPCA. Honestly, we weren’t planning on coming home with a dog that day but we did and here he is.

I’ve been rather conflicted about the whole thing until recently. I didn’t want to get a dog until we’d come back from our trip to Oregon this autumn. I’d wanted to wait until things were settled, until it was cooler, until we actually had a lot of the things a dog would need. I wanted more time, really, more time to think and plan and dream.

He’s a pretty neat dog. We go out for runs every night. We do crate him during the day because we don’t entirely trust him around Isobel for long periods of time unsupervised. He gets chicken in his crate and a kong toy full of peanut butter. He’s growing to like it, I think. He has no idea how to play which leads me to believe that he’s been in shelters most of his life. He loves going hiking with us on Mt. Charleston, belly rubs and getting baths (which is a good thing because he has a tendency to get rather stinky). He weighs at least 60 lbs and has discovered that, if he wanted to, he could drag me along on our walks quite easily. He doesn’t bark often (thankfully) and I think we’re breaking him of his slight whining-habit.

I think I’m growing to like him just a little bit.

Another day and I find myself mulling over that constant question… What on earth should I do with my hair? Okay, I’ll admit it. I loved being on Hair Thursday but it didn’t bring me that sudden lightning-flash of inspiration, that moment of “Wow, that was so obvious! I need to do ___________!” Great ego boost but not the decisive recommendation I always hope for regarding my hair.

Once again I find myself contemplating going short. Not short in a high-school choppy, spiked and pink striped sort of way. Short in a grown-up, organized yet messy, sensual sort of way. Something like:

or

or

Forgive me if I’m wrong (and I’m sure anyone with hair experience will prove me wrong) but these appear to me to be, basically, a very similar cut. Obviously the first one is shorter, particularly in the back. But the second two appear to be almost the same, just styled very differently.

I don’t know. I probably won’t do it. I always wimp out. I don’t know why the idea is so incredibly scary to me. I know, rationally, that I could pull this cut off (in a different colour — probably a dark, clear brown, close to black) and that it would look absolutely adorable with a birdcage veil for the wedding. I also know that, if I don’t make up my mind soon, Jesse might start plotting to chop my hair off for me while I’m sleeping. SOMEONE HELP ME SEE THE LIGHT PLS THX.

This week is a short week for us as Jesse and I are taking Friday off. I think we’re going to go to the SPCA and check out the dogs. I don’t think we’re quite ready to adopt but we do want to talk to them about introducing kittens and dogs and how they verify if the dogs they list as cat-friendly really are. I suppose it’s possible that we’d come home with a dog, just not likely. After that, it’s off to back more key lime cupcakes for the barbecue we’re going to on Saturday.

Until then, it’s work, working out and trying to cook more. I’ve got a little bit of work to do before I’ll feel comfortable dress-shopping. Two months should give me plenty of time.

p.s. Hair-wise? This is me now, plus a couple of inches.