Pumpkins!

Have I mentioned that I love the fall?

On our cuhRAZY Friday night last night, my roommates and I carved pumpkins!

Brainstorming ideas and prepping pumpkins for carving.

Ta daaa!

Isn't my pumpkin adorable?!

Happy (early) Halloween!

The Cider Mill

Another one of my fall favorites: The Cider Mill.

I swear, I have dreams about this place.


Literally the best apple cider and donuts in the entire world.

YUM!

Zombie Run 2011

Sometimes my friends and I do crazy things. That's probably why we're friends. Last year we started doing this zombie pub crawl through Davis Square in Somerville. Here's a photo from last year.

Yup.
Here's a few from this year's Zombie Run:





I may or may not have scared a baby. And then got yelled at by the baby mama. It's all good.

Oaks Inn

Did I ever tell you that my family owns a restaurant?

My great grandparents, my father's grandparents, Paolo and Teresa, came over from Italy in the early 1920's. My great-grandfather worked for a time at the Endicott Johnson Shoe Factory. My dad told me once that he was a healer. That he had a gift for helping people, for fixing them. People used to go to see him instead of going to the doctor's. Maybe that's where my brother gets it from. My great-grandmother was a housewife, I suppose. But with 8 kids, they needed to make a living somehow. And so in 1932 they opened Oaks Inn.

Yes, I realize the Italian on the menu doesn't really make any sense. To be honest, I don't think I've opened the menu since I was about 10 years old. The quote should read, "Un giorno senza vino e` come un giorno senza il sole." Don't worry, it's being updated.

Over the years, everyone on my dad's side of the family has worked there. My parents have old photos of them all. I'll have to get copies and upload them sometime. My dad even lived in the apartment above the restaurant when he was a little boy, before my grandparents bought their house. Today my father's cousins own the restaurant.

Someday, when I am rich, I am going to buy the restaurant from my cousins. It needs to be redecorated, reorganized, updated a little bit and brought back in time to its glory days. My brother said he'd help me. I won't touch the menu. Add to it a little bit perhaps, but the menu hasn't changed in years. But why should it? It's fantastic. I've literally gotten the exact same meal every time I've gone there since I was 10 years old.

Chicken Saltimbocca.
I mean, seriously?

My dad's favorite, Lemon Veal.


Homemade spaghetti and gnocchi.

I die.

Iron Kettle Pumpkin Farm

I love the fall. It's my favorite season. Favorite season by far. So as you can imagine, New England is really the perfect place for me. I love going home any time of the year, but it's never quite the same as when I go home in the fall. I went home last weekend and fall was in full bloom. Can it be in full bloom? Fall was ablaze. It really was. Take a look at Melanie's pictures of the foliage at home. Can you stand it?

One of my favorite fall activities to do in upstate New York is making a trip to Iron Kettle Pumpkin Farm, the weirdest and most wonderful farm I've ever been to. It's barely changed since I was a little girl and I look forward to going every autumn.

After: My Bedroom!

Remember when my bedroom looked like this?

Well, after about 48 straight hours of painting, every muscle in my body aching, bruises on my legs where I leaned against the ladder, and my hair and face splattered with paint, my bedroom now looks like this:


I love it!

Quite an improvement, no?

Mental Health Break

Good morning! I apologize for my absence. I seem to have done that quite a bit over the last 6 months. Disappeared for weeks at a time with no explanation or warning. I'm really sorry about that. It all started when my camera battery died. And since I don't have a charger (long story), I had to wait until I was around someone who does have one that I could borrow. And yes, I guess I could have written and pulled images off the internet... I just haven't felt like it. That's another long story for another day, maybe. But I'm back, and I have lots to share and write about, so sit tight and I'll have update after update to keep you occupied.