Autumn Bucket List: Update!

It's that time of year when I'm completely obsessed with apples. But to be honest, I'm always obsessed. That's why I have 30 pounds of apples in my freezer right now. Yep. In case you've been following, the apples won the freezer battle and will reside there for the next however long. The venison will be taking up space elsewhere. It may involve buying another new freezer. 

I've crossed four things off my list and they all involve apples. I'm betting the next one to get checked off involves apples too. Although the pumpkin cookies might get made first. And that's just because I have an open can of pumpkin in my fridge right now. Here's how it's looking so far:

I just realized that it's technically autumn now (eeee!). While yesterday was unseasonably warm, the weather has been cooling off and fall has settled nicely in the Capital District. I'm bursting with excitement to see what the next few weeks has in store. For once in a really long time, I'm excited about my birthday and can't wait for it to come. For now, I'll leave you with the heavenly donuts from Kaneb's.

What's going on with you? What are you excited about?

Top Five Tuesday - Funny Stuff

Sometimes, you just need a minute to laugh. When it's one of those days, or weeks, you want to smile and laugh a little out loud. Here's a list of the top five things that've made me laugh recently.

1. This picture. I literally laughed out loud for like a minute.

2. I write Ryan lunch box love notes most day and last week I gave him a few math jokes. Like this one: "You know what seems odd to me? Numbers that aren't divisible by two."

3. Pretty much anytime Disney can be brought up in a conversation. I especially love browsing the interwebs and finding gems like this:

4. Getting lyrics wrong and having absolutely NO IDEA until years later. Then when you're purusing the top 100 songs from the 90s you realize it's "How Bizarre" not "How Was I" by OMC. Not kidding, I found that out last week.

5. This Kevin Hart skit gets me every time. I wonder if Ryan can relate, since he's only an inch taller. 

What's made you laugh lately?

Sometimes I "SMH" at Myself

This week is incredibly busy and I have a ton of stuff I want to do before my mother-in-law, sister-in-laws, and nephews come.

One of the things I need to do is process (and freeze) the 35 pounds of apples we bought the other weekend. Unfortunately, over the weekend I was peeling and slicing apples and just happened to bent the crap out of my apple corer. Sad face. But that means that I get to upgrade to one of those peel/slice/core jobbies that might make my life 1,000 times easier if it works. 

When we were heading out to the store to buy it, I helped Ryan pack the car with bags of clothes we're donating. I figured we'd multitask and drop them off on the way. Now, for some background, we live in a city and don't have off-street parking. As I walked around the car to get on the passenger side, I asked, "Will you pull out for me?" His response? A big 'ol smile and a "sure can!" 

That smile of his gets him out of A LOT of trouble. It's just too cute. That, and the fact that I walked into it got him out of this one. I can't fault him for thinking it. I went there too. 

Wouldn't anyone?

Autumn Bucket List: Apple Picking

One of my favorite fall activities is apple picking. There's like a 0.01% chance that it's NOT my favorite. And each year, I go a little overboard. I mean, last year we spent about $120 on the trip...but that's not overkill. Right? I mean, I have applesauce and apple pie filling ready to go for months afterwards. That cannot be a bad thing.

This year, Ryan put his foot down. We would go in, pick just enough, and we get out. He didn't say it out loud, but there was a "before you get crazy and spend $100 on apples again" in there. 

The orchard by us grows about thirty different types of apples. Our plan? Macintosh. Jonamac. Greening. They were all in season and our top three favorites. They also happen to be the perfect combo together. The macintosh provide that iconic apple flavor. The jonamacs are the same apple-in-your-face flavor but harder than your traditionally soft macs. Then there's the greening, which are tart and add the kick to any apple filling. 

Look at how picture perfect this was. It's basically impossible not to go overboard picking and eating them right off the tree. 

After we found our favorites (and picked conservatively) we thought we should get a couple 20oz apples. What are 20oz apples you may ask? They're gigantic two pound apples that have little to no apple flavor. It makes my heart sad. But they make good filler. Unfortunately, I couldn't justify getting some after trying one and it being less than stellar. I couldn't. I just couldn't. 

Thankfully though, there was another crop of apples ripe for picking. Blondees. These apples are winners. They're like a ginger apple-pear flavor cross. And they're going to be decadent in my apple filling. 

Overall, we picked 29 jonamacs, 17 blondees, 16 macs, and 13 greening for a total of 35.10 lbs of apples. Roughly $48.79 at $1.39 a pound. A definite decline from last year's haul. However, in no way does this dampen my excitement for this autumn apple season and all the recipes I can't wait to try! 

Happy apple picking!

What recipes are you cooking with this year? Are you sticking to tried and true or trying something new?

Top Five Tuesday: Tunes

I'm going to try out something new. Here's the top five songs I'm hitting repeat on this week. I'm featuring alternative music that's played on my local station, WEQX. 

"Doses and Mimosas" by Cherub (Explicit) because "to all the bitch ass hoes that hates me the most, oh yea, I hate you too." (Please don't judge me on those lyrics - it's been a long day at work.)

"Silhouettes" by Colony House because his voice at 1:23, 2:32, and 2:41. He can sing me to sleep any night of the week.

"Take Me to Church" by Hozier because I know all the words and can sing it in key. ALL. DAY. LONG. (And it annoys Ryan, win-win.)

"Marigold" by J. Roddy Walston & The Business because it's one of those fun songs and you have no idea what the lyrics mean but you bop your head and hum along.

"One Minute More" by Capital Cities because I'm a big fan of the group and sometimes you just need a lovey song. It always reminds me of Rye and how everyday is better with him. 

What's on your playlist this week? Any of these make your top five?

Autumn Bucket List

Right now, I'm torturing myself. It's painful. 

Have you ever sat through one of those driver safety courses? Because that's what I'm doing right now. Clicking through an online presentation, watching depressing videos, and waiting for the time clock to run out. For six hours. 

Thankfully, you can multitask and I'm writing down what I actually want to do this autumn. 

I am thrumming with excitement about checking every single item off on the list. I just want to go out and do them all this weekend. Considering we don't have any fallen leaves yet and that it was 90° outside today, it might take a month or two to check these bad boys off. 

Here's my list:

As I check these items off, I'll post updates and pictures of the adventures. I can't wait!

What are you going to do this fall?

New Tunes - Alex & Sierra "Scarecrow"

Recently, I stumbled across the couple who won the X Factor last year. Adorable may be an understatement to describe them. And I'm completely obsessed with their new song "Scarecrow."

I just listened to it five times. In a row. I'm about 99.9% sure that if I hit repeat one more time and sing along that Ryan will holler, "Al!" With that tone. You know the one? The one you use when someone is just annoying the peaches out of you? Yea, with that tone. 

Or maybe not, since he just walked in as I pressed repeat and he was playing Pokemon. A twenty-seven year old playing Pokemon? Yep. That current little obsession was inspired by our seven and five year old nephews. 

I'm sure it'll pass soon. 

Please let it pass soon?

In the meantime, enjoy the melodies. 

What are you listening to?

Happy September, Happy Labor Day!

Ah September. Welcome, welcome. Thank you for starting me off with a three day weekend. 

This month, there's two printables. Mainly because I fell in love with these colors. They remind me of summer and the sea. I just don't want to let go of those vibes just yet as fall slowly creeps in. 

Say Hey (I Love You)

End of Summer Chevron

I printed them out and placed them together in Ikea frames on my living room mantel. I think the two together (along with those awesome bottles I found!) look great on my September mantel.

The first printable is formatted to fit an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper and I used these fonts: Cupid de Locke, Handy George, KG Call Me Maybe (Skinny), Sacramento, Pinto NO_04, and KG Heart Doodles.

The second printable is formatted to fit a 5" x 7" piece of paper. I know the PDF looks segmented but it doesn't print that way. No worries!