Quintessentially October: 3 Great October-y Things

As is well established this time of year, every year, fall is the sh*t.

Here are 3 great October-y things:

1.  Baseball!  (Go Giants)
My favorite part of watching sports is developing an emotional connection with the players and the team.  So when a friend drew my attention to this blog, I basically lost my mind.

Um, you guys, it's not just any old player blog.  It's "Brandon and Brandon: A Season with Belt and Crawford" -- Giants Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford's blog.  Love.

And they talk about the game, but also about team friendships and locker room dynamics (The real scoop on Pence's Friday Night Lights-esque pep talks!), hanging out with their wives, and going to Chipotle on the road so they don't need to take forever at a restaurant.  (Seriously, Chipotle is mentioned multiple times.  I love it so much!)

:: first baseman Brandon Belt and wife!! ::

:: shortstop Brandon Crawford and pregnant wife and puppies!!! ::

 2.  Kid Halloween Costumes
It's no secret: I'm obsessed with kids and babies in costumes.  Lucky for me, Jordan at Oh Happy Day has been doing a series on the cutest kid costumes, like, ever.  Check out the whole Homemade Halloween Series here, but here are some of the absolute cutest:

 

Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (Me, dying of the cuteness.)

3.  Seasonal Decorating

Pumpkins 'n gourds.  Gourds 'n pumpkins.  Ain't it all just grand?

Emily Henderson did a great roundup of 22 New and Creative Ways to DIY Your Pumpkins.  Check it out.  Here's just a tiny preview (there are 17 other really cool ideas too):

And, while we're talking about gourds, please laugh out loud while you read (or, for most of you, re-read) this hilarious McSweeneys piece.

What's your favorite October-y thing?

Happy-almost-Valentine's-Day

Why people always be hating on Valentine's Day so much?  It's not breaking news that it can be a totally crass commercialized holiday that has prix fixe menus, creepy long stem dark red roses, and leave people feeling generally disappointment (Couldn't he get a card?  I mean seriously, just a card?!).

But guys, it's also a fun fake holiday that's all about pink, red, white, hearts, cutesy stuff, love, hugs, kisses, yummy food, chocolates, and treats.  I mean!!!!!!!  So fun!!!  If I weren't mid-cleanse (more on that later (this week, I hope)), I would totally have made some really cute baked goods to bring into work.

Instead, though, I found the tiny bit of crafty that lives deep inside me and made some valentines to send to friends.

This is my favorite one:

:: front ::

:: inside ::

xoxo!

Amazing, Amazing Gift I Received

I always grew up in a bedroom with a quilt.  In fact, I don’t think I realized that bedrooms didn’t have to have quilts until I went to college and got a chambray blue Ralph Lauren comforter at TJ Maxx.  (I also had those cloud printed jersey sheets, which were all the rage in the fall of 2000, and I still think my college dorm room was pretty cool.)  I stayed quilt-less in adulthood, but had been hankering for a clean quilt in a crisp classic pattern with a lot of saturated colors.  I didn’t have much luck finding one at my price point, but the yearning remained.

Imagine my delight, then, when Ann, a dear family friend, offered to make me a quilt as a wedding gift.  (Very sweet also because when I was 10, Ann taught me how to quilt, and everyone got placemats and potholders from me that years as holiday gifts.  My mom still has the potholders, and I’m pretty sure they are awesome.  Especially if you like Williamsburg blue and small apple prints on a black background.  Which you do, I’m sure.)  Ann sent me to pick up a few inspiration fabrics, and she did the rest.

Guys, the quilt is in.  It’s insanely beautiful.  I love it.  Basically the sweetest gift ever.

Look at this – it has our names and wedding date!  So cute!

These colors are just too wonderful…

And let’s take a little side trip to my nightstand… 

Sneak Preview!: I’ll be reviewing all these books shortly.  (Also this is basically every hardback book I’ve ever bought.  Don’t get any ideas.  I don’t live in a house made of gold bricks, people!) 

Also, if you are feeling the quilt love, the adorable Emily Henderson has a great quilt roundup post here.

Bye!

Bananas for Banana Art!

Before I show you this incredible strange banana art, I have to say that I think bananas are basically the grossest thing in the entire world.  They are mushy and wet and stringy and smelly and leave behind disgusting rinds that are strange and floppy.  I want nothing to do with them.

BUT, I do want something to do with this wild banana art!  Have you seen it?!  It's so weird and creepy... I love it!  (But not enough to eat a banana.)

Pics from Daily Onigiri

The artist uses toothpicks and a spoon to make his art and completes each piece in under 30 minutes before the bananas turn brown (ew, another gross thing about bananas...).

Bye!

Pumpkins!!!

Usually I will try my darnedest to get out of theme parties, especially if it involves costumes or a mandatory craft.  (Like, can’t we just hang out normal-style?)  But when our buddies Pete and Ali invited us over to carve pumpkins on Sunday, I couldn’t say no.  

1. They are literally the most adorable people in the world.

2. It was last minute, so I had no time to get nervous about it.

3. It was their baby’s due date, so they wanted to keep busy while Ali wasn’t going into labor… how can you say no to that?!

Guys, spoiler alert: carving pumpkins is seriously, seriously fun.  

Travis and I were nervous because two of these friends are artists for a living.  I don’t want to be carving no pumpkin around people who make a living off of visual art!  So I made a rule that we all seriously had to try our hardest so I wouldn’t cop out and make a garbage pumpkin.

Travis and I both got very, very secretive about our pumpkin plans and didn’t want anyone to see what either of us was working on.

When it came time for the big reveal, mine was an epic dedication to our love (1 month married!):

And Travis’s was… well… Travis’s

I’m going to go ahead and classify this as an epic dedication to our love as well, because I really, really, really liked this movie.

All of our masterpieces:

Our darling hosts, with a full baked baby.  (Full of baby and Ali had a chili and cornbread feast with pumpkin spice cupcakes for dessert.  Too cute.)

I hope you all get to experience the unbridled joy that is pumpkin carving with your pals… it’s a spooktacular treat!!!

Bye!