Happy Halloween!

Last Halloween I had all these big plans for how I was gonna make this Halloween the best one ever. I followed through on 1.5 of them: never leaving the candy unguarded and continuing to sit on the porch with a glass of wine (but this time without a magazine).

And despite my lack of follow through, I would say it's been a pretty stellar Halloween. First, Ross and I carved this fantastic Grim Reaper jack-o-lantern.We did it in record time too. Less than 45 minutes from first cut to candle.

Second, this Halloween was spent chatting with the neighbor couple. The hubby came over early in the evening, with a Coors Light, and we discussed how celebrating Halloween with an adult beverage is the best way (just one though, there are kids involved after all). Then a little later his wife came over and we chatted it up for about 30 minutes while greeting trick-or-treaters.

Third, candy was guarded thoroughly. No mean big kids stealing my candy this year.

Fourth it was really nice weather. Perfect for pants and my Happy Halloween 2008 t-shirt.

Fifth, we got a picture of Lexi with the pumpkin. She's definitely skeptical about this carved pumpkin thing but hey, it's still a picture.

And sixth and most important - we're 1 holiday closer to Christmas! And like Neiman Marcus, Team Black strongly believes in celebrating holidays one at a time and thus refuses to put up Christmas decorations until definitely Halloween and usually Thanksgiving are behind us. But let's be honest, we love Christmas more than both of those combined so...yeah, we're excited to be one holiday closer to Christmas.

Happy Halloween y'all! 

Flashback: New Zealand

Sky diving overlooking Mt. Doom, Oct. 2006
(and I totally wore that shirt yesterday, still a fav)

I've been wasting an impressive amount of time on social media tonight. I could probably have done 100 productive things like fold laundry or wrap the remaining loaf of pumpkin bread. But no, I've been Facebooking and blog reading.

Blog reading took me to my old Australia blog. I am so glad I wrote this while I was abroad. Like so many memories, the more time between you and the memory, the more it fades. However reading about my adventures there takes me back to 2006 and the land down under.

I'm especially loving the New Zealand spring break posts as that was quite possibly the best vacation of my life. I always remember the highlights - black water rafting, skydiving, geyser park - but reading the blog helps me remember little things too like hikes we went on or naturally heated hot springs.

Maybe this is part of why I've always loved history. I mean really, our blogs, diaries, photo albums are our personal histories, full of the amazing moments that make up our lives.

What amazing moments in your life do you love to relive?

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Inspired by pumpkin bread recently served at a Junior League brunch, I decided to give the classic Grandma Betsy Pumpkin Bread a chocolate twist. About 40 minutes into baking, I sprinkled one loaf with semi-sweet Nestle chocolate chips. Back in the oven for another 20 minutes and ta-da!

I've had one piece and the jury is still out. The chips are still pretty melty so most of the eating was preoccupied by the mess being made of my fingers. I'm going to take it to the office tomorrow and we'll see if it's a hit.

If I do it again, I think I'll add the chocolate chips a little earlier, maybe after 25 minutes of baking when hopefully the top of the bread will still be batter like.

In other news, I'm finally able to breathe and thus was able to enjoy the delicious smell of the baking bread. I really must find out how to embed that smell here for you. I bet I'd have a lot more blog readers if the experience included the smell of baking pumpkin bread...

Make it stop

This week has been the worst allergy week of my life. At the risk of sounding like an old person who has a new ache to tell you about every time you call, I'll give you the brief summary.

Cedar.

At least I think that's what it is. It's been awful. I've taken Claritin every day. I had to go home from work early one day because I wanted to claw my eyes and contact lenses out. There was the night in the guest room with Lexi due to excessive stuffiness. I had a massage one day and had to ask the masseuse to stop twice so I could blow my nose. (Thinking about your snotty nose during a massage and hoping it doesn't drip really puts a damper in the relaxation.)

This morning I had my first sinus headache. We were out at a friend's country cabin and we scoured the place for meds to keep me from murdering someone. When we couldn't find Advil, Ross doped me up on Benadryl figuring sleeping me was more pleasant than murderous me. And tonight I had to miss Kassie's fourth birthday party because I was wheezing in bed, slathered in Vicks vapor rub and drinking hot tea in an effort to breathe. I tried to sniff the Vicks container like some kind of crack addict but my nose was too stuffed to smell it. My nose is rubbed raw and I'm keeping Kleenex in business like a champ. Through it all the hubs has been making me tea, getting me drugs and telling me I'm beautiful, Rudolph nose and all.

Dear God, please let this end. Give us rain, something to wash it out of the air. Or just make me not allergic. Either way, make it stop. This is miserable. Love, Cheryl

My Cuddle Bug

Anniversary couch cuddling
earlier this week

Allergies in Austin are ridiculous right now. Last night instead of making Ross suffer through my sneezing and sniffling, at 1a I grabbed my pillow and a blanket and hiked over to the guest bedroom to sleep.

Just as I laid down I felt a wet nose from the edge of the bed. There she was, the puppy princess. She took one look at my and jumped straight into the little twin bed. She laid down with her head at my shoulders and her whole body stretched out next to mine, the little spoon.

And there we slept  until 6a, me and my little cuddle bug.

Hotel Weisses Kreuz

First hotel of EuroTrip 2012 - BOOKED!

Late last month we booked our plane tickets to Europe. And then I was on the road on and off for a couple weeks and I did nothing in relation to EuroTrip. This past weekend I sat down and looked at hotels in Rome again but let me tell you, overwhelming.

I think it's just the overall unfamilarity. What part of the city is convenient to the things we want to do? What part is safe? What's a 3 star hotel like in Italy? What's the exchange rate today? What does this imperfectly translated sentence on the website actually mean? Like I said, overwhelming.

In true Type A fashion, I made a plan. Each month I'll book our lodging in one city. And in a few months when that's all done, I'll tackle the train tickets. And then it will be time to go and all the big things will be done, stress-free like.

I kinda cheated this month. As in I took the easy way out and booked a hotel that I had already done all the research for. But hey - it counts.

In Innsbruck, Austria we are staying at Hotel Weisses Kreuz. Interesting things worth knowing about our hotel...

• It began operation in 1465
• Mozart stayed here with his old man in 1769
• In 1945, after the fall of the Nazis, American Major Eliot set up shop here
• Breakfast is included :)