legs up the wall

Lately, legs-up-the-wall pose (Viparita Karani) has been saving my life. Taking a few moments to quiet my mind and restore my (very tired) feet is key here.

This pose is heaven.


(Photo via Gaiam)

four days of mayhem

I may be absent from this space for the next few days, on account of 13-hour workdays I somehow (reluctantly) agreed to. From tomorrow morning through Saturday afternoon, I just might use caffeine as my one and only source of life.

But hey, I guess being a barista makes that part easy, no?

I've been trying to prepare for these busy days as best as I can (since I'm a freak like that) by cooking meals ahead and stocking up on nuts and fruit and snacks and always having my water bottle at the ready. (I suppose all I'm really worried about is food....?) Anyways, I also tried some yoga this morning to calm down a bit, but someone got in my way:

the woods

Sometimes I let my mind wander into the realm of the woods, wondering how many others have gazed at the very same oaks I have, how many others have had the same musings about the tiny spiders spinning the webs amidst the tall trees and blue skies, wondering how many Septembers before this one the brooks have run and the leaves have fallen, and wondering for how many more they'll continue.

Photo walks like this we took on Sunday afternoon inspire me to spend more of my days outdoors.

a dapple of my weekend

So, apparently things don't always go as planned. I didn't get Indian takeout, or beer. I stayed too late at the fabric store and missed the entire podcast. I realized I finished my last Mary Oliver collection and didn't have a new one to read. And I got babysitting-ditched (a blessing in disguise?).

On the other hand, I still managed to have a pretty satisfying weekend:

I got outside while it was sunny and close to 90 degrees and snapped some pictures of the dying summer beauty.

I heaved myself out of bed early (or, well, let's say not late) Saturday morning and watched Mary's softball game. (And got a hair-part sunburn!)

I made the most genius soft serve ever. (Seriously, go try it. Right now.)

When some Saturday afternoon crabbiness started getting to us, we marched into the bathroom and put on some bright red lipstick to perk us up.

I (of course) took too many pictures of our silly cats.

Since it was just me and my mom and my sister all weekend, I cooked a tofu stir fry and we ate a "girls' dinner" outside, before it got too chilly.

We took a long walk in the woods to breathe in that newly-autumn air.

We watched sadly as too many leaves began to fall, incredulous that so many had already hit the ground.


Also, not pictured: crocheting a few more rows of the blanket I'm working on (slowly but surely), doing silly yoga poses on a blanket on an empty football field under the harvest moon, baking flax bread and cooking lentil dhal and roasting beets (my new favorite food), going to a detox yoga/whole foods cleanse workshop Sunday afternoon, and catching up on the few bad (but oh-so-addictive) TV shows I've been missing.

I hope your weekends were great, too!

my morning fix

Sometimes, mornings are just easier when you have a cup of coffee to warm your hands and fresh food to cook into meals for the week ahead. These two things always make me happy.

Unfortunately, most mornings can't go like this. Blargh.


(A Dapple Of My Weekend is coming.....sometimes it's just easier to upload one photo from Monday morning, rather than face a whole slew of images from my memory card.....)

my weekend...

...will happily go something like this:

:: stop at the craft store on the way home from work and stock up on sewing supplies

:: eat Indian takeout and drink beer in celebration of making it through a two-job work week

:: perhaps listen to this interesting podcast, thanks to Melanie

:: sleep in, something I've been lacking as of late

:: sit outside and read some more Mary Oliver

:: get reacquainted with my poor sewing machine who probably thinks I forgot about her

:: bake another batch of flax bread

:: babysit Saturday night and try not to care that I'll probably be severely underpaid

:: try my first detox yoga and whole foods exploration class Sunday afternoon



Since I think I'll be working most weekends after this one, I'm going to try and take this one slowly.....

i've been up since 3am...

...and I've got swirling through my head things like doppio and macchiatto and triple grande chai latte and whether you say the size first or the temperature first or the number of shots first and how long till a bottle of caramel sauce expires and whether dry means less foam or more and how long milk is aerated for cappucino versus latte and how many pumps of syrup for 26 ounces of latte and let me tell you


it's very very dark and very very cold at 3am.

every september...

It all started with the parade. It's always started with the parade. You have to get to Main Street before the police shut down the streets (they come from surrounding towns--we don't have our own). Hundreds of parade-goers line the curbs while the floats and tractors get ready. Then we settled in and watched school bands and fire trucks and local farms parade by, including the high school senior class float that we were very bitter about (the year we were seniors, it downpoured and the entire parade was canceled. CANCELED. We did get to collect some candy that rained down on us from float after float, though. (I promise, we let the kids get some, too.)

Then came the fair. Then entire town goes to the fair. There's dust flying and tractors sputtering and chickens squawking and kids screaming on rides.

The fair's always so nostalgic. I have memories of feeling exhilarated as a little kid at the thought of having ten whole dollars to spend on rides and games and cotton candy, of staying out till past dark wrapped up in sweaters as the air got chillier, of riding home in the car and barely being able to keep my eyes open as I clutched my balloon-game prize. Or when I was a little older and finally got to walk around the fairgrounds with my friends, giddy at being able to be completely on our own. Or when I was in high school and met up with boys at the fair, riding the ferris wheel and sharing cotton candy. Or when I was in college and decided not to come home the second weekend in September, and missing it terribly.

Pretty much, the fair is great.

Until next year, Four Town Fair.

the first day

Beginning a new job is like that terribly awkward dating stage in a relationship--you don't know anyone, you're not sure what's expected of you, you don't know where anything is, and it takes a long time to move out of it and onto the next stage. And it's damn annoying that it's so necessary.

That's what today was like. Today was my first day working two part-time jobs, that will presumably continue for a long period to come. Did I mention they're forty minutes away from each other? So when I have a small break in between shifts, my time will be spent driving to and fro. Argh!

However, I'm reminding myself that really, after 30 hours of training and weeks (or maybe months?) of practice, I will love being a barista for a company I love and support. And after all, it will get me to where I need to be, right? (Apartments do come with rents that need to be paid.)

The occasional mornings where I'll be leaving home at 3:45am might be leaving me in a less-than-optimistic state, though.

In the meantime, I'll continue drinking pumpkin lattes and holding on and enjoying the autumn foliage during my infinite time spent in the driver's seat.

I'm nosy: tell me, do you enjoy your current jobs/careers/professions? I'm always interested in how people decide to make a living!

a dapple of my weekend

Began with the annual fair parade on Saturday morning. We settled into our same spot every year, took goofy pictures and admired a lovely meadow across the street while we waited for it to begin, and then cheered on the floats as candy was hurled at our feet.

Later that day I tried my hand at creating a tempeh sandwich. I roasted my leftover baby heirlooms from last Sunday's farmers' market and ate them with avocado, vegan mayonnaise (a hit!), marinated tempeh, and romaine lettuce. I wasn't impressed with my first try at tempeh, though--I think I'll need to try a new recipe next time. This one would have been just as delicious with an emphasis on the avocado and skipping the tempeh altogether.

Newly visiting birds to our house created an uproar with the cats.....there always has to be an eye on the cage. Blanche is just too interested.

And then the fair! Oh, the fair. You can always count on the fair, every September. It's like a town-wide holiday. If you're not home, you're at the fair. Everyone's at the fair.

Fall is just going to keep getting better and better, I can feel it.