Day 34

Carved a pumpkin today!! I know it's nothing compared to my Edward Cullen pumpkin last year... but the Twilight movies are really going downhill (haha).  This year - bats!

Day 33

Went for a walk today but none of the pictures turned out since the sun was right in the wrong place.  So here's a photo of breakfast in the backyard over the weekend... I was daydreaming of the weekend most of today anyway, so it's appropriate :)

Day 32

Spent the morning roaming the beach at El Capitan :)

Day 31

Got to sleep in a tent today for the first time since JMT, hallelujah!!!!!!! Downside of car camping - $35 for one night.  That's more than the entire Muir Trail... but the upside - s'mores!! Nom nom

Day 30

The bike is done!!  It's amazing.  So Bryan and I went for a ride to the pumpkin patch, which was smart since it was packed and there was absolutely no parking!  I braved the corn maze after a frightening experience last year (haha), but it was much more enjoyable since the moon was out :) 

Day 29

After weeks and weeks of telling people I hiked the JMT and them asking me, "Oh have you read that new book Wild?!"  I am finally reading it.  So far it's sad, but good.  I just want to say yes for once!!

Day 28

An ode to chocolate milk.  It may seem childish, but this is my latest obsession and I just can't get enough!!  Delicious.

Day 27

I finally bought a chair for my room today!  It was only $15 at the thrift store down the road from my work, thanks to the back being scratched up by a cat :)  For the moment it's covered in this sheet, but one of these days I'm going to make a real DIY slip cover for it and I'll post a photo when I do!

Day 26

So much love :)

Day 25

Had a delicious breakfast feast before our college reunion had to end!  Shortly after this picture was taken, Adam broke his chair because of eating "too much fritty."

Day 24

Easiest holiday treat ever... mix a box of brownie mix with a can of pumpkin and bake at 350 until delicious!  Then don't eat all of them... it's painful.

Day 23

No college reunion is complete without a nap in a bush... I think

Day 22

Joyous dinner party!  Thanks for the really great couples pic, Jen :)

Day 21

Something very exciting happened today... I gave blood and they actually LET me!  For the last several months I have tried and tried and tried and tried to give blood, because I actually love doing it, but every damn time they tell me my iron is too low!  Which is totally silly because 1. I'm not anorexic (ha)  2. I eat several iron rich foods 3. I've never had a problem before and I'm a creature of habit who buys the exact same stuff at the grocery store every time I go and have for the last four years.  Anyway, today I was finally able to give blood, and I loved every minute of it.

Day 20

I pinned this recipe a few days ago
Hearty Chicken Stew With Butternut Squash & Quinoa

so Emily and I gave it a go for dinner tonight!  It wasn't exactly a soup... is a stew supposed to be soup with almost no liquid?  Whatever.  It was delicious.  Fall is here.  Now if the weather would stop being in the mid 80s that would help make it feel a little more October-y!

Day 19

Last weekend we went garage "saling," and I got this awesome old box! I've been weirdly excited about it... but whatever, it's cool okay?  Just another part of my nesting ritual!

Day 18

Discovered my new favorite hike in Santa Barbara... this is just a sneak peek of the views this hike has to offer.  Literally there was a point that we could see the entire coast from Isla Vista to Summerland.  Perfect length, and mostly shady even.  Yowza!

Day 17

I'm beginning to realize that the days I do the most things are the days I take the least pictures... oh well.  Today was a hilarious adventure with Miss Jenny Marshall.  It all began with an innocent trip to the farmers market.  After all that walking and sampling, we decided that we could really go for some pampering, so we began scheming.  We toured three hotels on our quest for "the PERFECT location to have our friend Keni's bachelorette weekend getaway" - the Four Seasons Biltmore, the Bacara, and El Capitan Canyon.  Our back story was elaborate.  The complimentary beverages were refreshing and delicious.  And the sunscreen in the poolside lounge was free!

Day 16

I could NOT be happier that it's the weekend... work was super fun but also super tiring this week, so it was pretty thrilling when the clock struck 5 today!  I went over to Jenny's and she cooked a fantastic curry feast that we shared with some wonderful company.  The picture isn't that good... this is when smell-o-vision would come in handy.

Day 15

The weather gods have been reading my blog... I'm rain dancing...

Day 14

As the grand finale for our big meeting at work this week, everyone took the train into Carpenteria and went to Island Brew Co.  I absolutely love this place, and we got to drink delicious, locally made, "free" beer all night!!

Day 13

I love lavender!!

Day 12

I work for the coolest people ever!!  We had Oktoberfest at work today... I wanted to dress pumpkins up in Lederhosen, but pictures that would work for that were surprisingly hard to find on Google images.  So I opted for the German flag toothpicks in the brats and sauerkraut :) 

Day 11

Went hiking today and soaked up the beautiful, scorching hot sunshine.  I have a sweet sunburn to prove it! Part of me is really looking forward to misty winter hikes in the Montecito mountains... but I really can't complain.  P. S. Please ignore the weird blurry spot at the top of the photo... that's my bad editing job of trying to obscure an annoying black dot that showed up on my lens at some point and will NOT come off.  Hopefully I can solve this problem by tomorrow's photo!

Day 10

Augie was house sitting at Ina Garten's again this weekend, so we hung around the "property" and cooked up a delicious dinner.  I'll post photos of that on facebook, but the best picture of the evening was, once again, of Jameson.  Too cute not to post twice :)

Day 9

The view from my desk at work is pretty awesome... it's perfectly in line with the landing strip at Santa Barbara Airport, so I get to watch rich people's little toy planes fly over and land right in front of me all day!  I decided to take a picture of it happening today during my lunch, but of course no planes flew directly over during the hour.  But, this one got pretty close!

Day 8

Today I discovered my new favorite exercise... walking!  I set off for a run after work today, and after about 5 steps my feet hurt super bad and I thought "Hey, my aunt Lynette walks... why can't I?!"  In addition to this wonderful revelation, I realized that my new home is the first place I've lived that has substantial hills within walking distance.  And so begins the era of "road hikes."  Of course, I didn't bring my camera on what was supposed to be a run, so today's photo is of my humble abode :)

Day 7

In the spirit of the presidential debate... 20 minutes in, "small business" count at 24.

Day 6

I fulfilled half of my dream today.  My dream is to bike to the farmers market and buy fresh delicious food to make for dinner.  We did just that, minus the bike - it's a work in progress!  But Arik's mini weiner dog puppy is the cutest thing on the planet, so my dream can wait.

Day 5

Today was a momentus day.  It was October first, so I officially moved into my new place AND got paid for the first time.  I'd say that warrants drinking the housewarming gift from my mom and Chuck!