Happy Halloween/Happy Samhain!

Apple Picking

I took a vacation day on Monday to be home for he plumber.  Well, the plumber came earlier than planned and was unable to find any problems, so I was left with good news and an entirely free afternoon.  My mom suggested that we take Nate to our local pumpkin patch, since we hadn't been there yet this season.  While we were there we decided to do some impromptu apple picking.  Nate wasn't thrill at first, but then he really got into it and ended up being a fine apple picker!

I always anticipate that these endeavors will be expensive, but it worked out to $1.25 per pound for the apples, so it was actually cheaper than buying them at the store!

Current Obsessions

TV Shows:

American Horror Story Coven

A Young Doctor's Notebook

Breaking Bad (Why yes I am late to the party)

Food:

Starbucks Pumpkin Scones

Decaf Vanilla Lattes

Stuff:

Sugar Skulls!!!!  as evidenced by my new cup and my new custom painted Toms.

Mercury Glass Planter

I bought an aloe plant for the living room and went on the search for a decorative pot.  HomeDepot had a pitiful selection so I bought one that I wasn't entirely thrilled with but thought I could spray paint and make work.  My next stop was home goods where I started to think outside of the box.  I found a gorgeous mercury glass candy dish, that was cheaper that the HomeDepot Pot.  So, I bought it, put the lid away and ended up with a very chic pot for my aloe.

Sunflowers In and Out

I am finding myself drawn to sunflowers recently.  I had planted some in the backyard and they flourished... about 7 feet tall with hearty stalks.  For the inside of the house I keep buying bunches of wild flowers with sunflowers in them.

No Sweat

A month ago a developed a swollen lymph node in my right underarm.  I had recently switched to a new deodorant/antiperspirant so in a move completely unlike me, I figured it was that and not something more serious.

Interestingly enough, the new deodorant/anti-persperiant I was trying was from Tom's of Maine.

It was from a natural company, I figured, so it had to be better then all the chemicals in Secret, Suave, etc.

So I ditched the Tom's since I was obviously reacting to it and went into the cabinet to find something else.  I had on hand two different options.  One was regular strength and the other "conical" strength.  "Hummm" I wondered "What made the one 'clinical' strength?"  It turns out that the difference between the regular and the clinical strength was the percentage on aluminum: regular had 16% and clinical strength had 22%.  "What did the Tom's of Maine have?" I wondered.  turns out the "natural" Tom's on Maine deodorant/anti-persperiant had a whopping 23% aluminum, more than the clinical strength.  I was completely shocked!

I have always been reluctant to ditch the anti-persperiant because I am a person who sweats a lot.  It may be gross, but it is the truth... I sweat a lot.  Or, at least I thought I did.

I decided that I was going to bite the bullet and try just a deodorant.  A friend recommended this:

So I found it at my local CVS and gave it a try.

I LOVE IT!  I am having no reaction (which is great).  I don't smell bad (which is good too) and I am not even sweating that much.  In fact, that even without an anti-persperiant, I am not sweating nearly as much as I used to.  This makes me wonder if the reason I was sweating so much before was that the anti-persperiant was making me sweat more?

A Day at the Zoo

Jon and I managed to get some time off from work and from Nate.  We stole away to the Philadelphia Zoo with our cameras and walked, talked, and took pictures.  It was incredibly refreshing!

First Day Pictures

I know I am 6 weeks late posting these pictures but better late than never right?  Nate had a little trouble in the beginning adjusting to Kindergarten rules, but After one meeting with his teacher we got him all straightened out.  He loves it.  He has made friends, and the only tears that were shed were mine and on the walk home that very first day.  We have found our groove, I think,

Fig Jam

My fathers fig plant produced some nice looking fruit this summer and, although I am not a huge fan of figs, I am a huge fan of jam and canning, so I decided to make and can some fig jam.  It is a very simple recipe:

8 oz. fresh figs (about 7 figs)
1/4 c. turbinado sugar
The juice of 1/2 a small lemon
1/2 of a vanilla bean

Slice the tops off the figs and quarter them. Combine the figs, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla bean scrapings and pod in a pot over medium heat and bring to a boil. Keep stirring and lightly mashing the fruit until thickened.