apple picking!

yay, it's september and fall is practically here! on wednesday, we were supposed to go to sesame place, but as it turns out, the park is only open on the weekends. so we decided to trek back up to northern new jersey to alstede farms and we ended up picking our own produce. i used to go apple picking every year with my own family but I haven't since I gave birth, so this is Sofia's first time. i forgot how much fun it is. i miss going with my family though, but with just us three it was the beginning of our own family tradition.

we got apples, peaches, eggplants & raspberries.



fuji apples




the animals there were so friendly.




picking raspberries



you could also cut your own flowers there

there was us and a few other people there, but the farm is so big that it felt like we were the only ones there. it was nice to be surrounded by all that greenery and it was so peaceful and beautiful, it was truly a perfect day.

Thanksgiving Day

Hello,

Lately I've been feeling like everything is piling up on top of the other. Papers, garbage, dishes, work, feelings, etc. etc. It sometimes makes it difficult to find beauty in anything. I feel like I am running out of things to photograph because I've been stuck on autopilot mode just to get through the days. Meanwhile everything is starting to look and feel the same. I have to admit though that looking through the lens has been a sort of escape. It feels really good also to find that you captured exactly what you wanted, and sometimes it gives you something even better than you hoped for. The last roll I developed turned out really bad. only 4 images was visible. It looked like someone had violently ripped the end off and some of the frames were cut halfway. It broke my heart at first, but I think the images that did come out, were surprisingly - magical.

a week of sunsets

there was a whole week when the sun was setting right after i was able to pick up sofi. the moment lasts for a good 15 minutes. it feels slow at first and ends rather quickly. the colors change so much in these few minutes, and suddenly it is only darkness. it's getting darker and feeling much later than it really is. now, i only get to watch the sunset from the bus on the way to pick her up and by the time i get there, the sky is only a tint of blue. it is also 20 degrees colder now.

so what are you going as for halloween?
sofi's going to be a dinosaur.
she's been practicing her "rawr".
speaking of which, do dinosaurs say "rawr"?
and how do we know this?
also, dinosaurs are dragons, no? or rather -
all dragons are dinosaurs, but not all dinosaurs are dragons.

butternut squash soup with gorgonzola croutons
adapted from smitten kitchen

warm butternut and chickpea salad with tahini
from orangette

i actually didn't like it very much with the chickpea and onions.
but i did love the squash by itself.
however, andrew turned it into hummus. lol

my sister's little budding seed appears to be a boy.

hello, autumn.

we would've named you Autumn, but you came in Summer instead.

it's been busy around here as usual, but we'll take any chance we can get
to enjoy the outdoors before all the pretty flowers and sunlight go away.