Forcing Fall

I know it's incredibly unoriginal, but - brace yourselves - I love fall. Shocking, right? To me, it feels like even more of a fresh start than the first of the year. I am sure that goes back to school days - freshly covered books, unblemished notebooks, new classes, and all of that.

If not for the appearance of the Pumpkin Spice Latte and the racks of Halloween costumes, it would be easy to miss fall around here because it doesn't look much like those back-to-school autumns that send the leaf-peepers flocking to New England. Still, if you squint (and ignore the thermometer), it's beginning to feel downright autumnal around here.

I've been ready for fall for a while now. Despite the fact that we still needed round-the-clock air conditioning at the time, I bought these as soon as we flipped the calendar to September.

{Fear not, I removed those hideous stickers immediately after taking this picture.}

A couple of weekends ago, the temperature finally dipped below 80, and I convinced my incredibly accommodating husband that spending two hours each way in the car to go to an apple orchard was a great way to spend a Saturday. 

To be honest, the cider donuts are the real draw. These things are well worth the year-long wait...

 

Despite my how much I miss the first fire of the season, the crispness, and the actual legitimate need for boots and sweaters, there is so much that I love about Southern California in the fall. The tourists clear out, the Santa Anas swing through, and citrus returns to the farmers market, but the absolute best thing about fall in Southern California is the beach - the beautifully empty beach.

So, point is, whatever it looks like, fall is the best. Now we begin the wonderful slide into the holidays...hurrah!
  

Finally Fall and Thanksgiving

Fall snuck up on my this year, but once I realized that it was here, I dove in. Pumpkin scented candles were purchased, zucchini bread was baked, boots were purchased, and cozy sweaters are in full effect.

Among the palm trees, there is proof of fall to be found.

I got a head start on Thanksgiving and headed to Coronado on Tuesday, just in time to see my dad make his official entrance into the Rotary. Baller.

Thanksgiving itself involved lots of my favorite things: time at the beach, champagne, traditions, Christmas decoration peeping, family dinner, board games and lots of and lots of delicious food.

I'm so thankful for this guy. Seriously, he's the best.

And, man oh man, do I love this dog. She's practically levitating she's so happy.

Back when we first started dating, my parents and sisters were still on the East Coast so Tom and I were on own for Thanksgiving. This lovely self-timer shot captures our first Thanksgiving together:

{Hopefully I paid my roommates that $17 I owed...}

Since it doesn't take too long to cook up a few turkey breast roll-ups, we always had plenty of time to fill on Turkey Day so we started going to the Del in the afternoon to check out the Christmas decorations and sip overpriced holiday-themed cocktails on the beach. Pretty sure this was my idea, but Tom is a good sport and we've done it every Thanksgiving for the past six years. So after we wore Lucy out, we headed to the Del.

{This year's theme - A Time to Celebrate}

After the Del, it was back to my parents' for the main event where Mo and Buckley were keeping it old school with full costumes.

 We also started a new Thanksgiving tradition - pre-dinner beer tasting.

Because my mom is the best and she still keeps all of my holiday crafts despite the fact that I am almost 32, the Thanksgiving garland I made last year was in effect again. 

Week 14: Easter Fun

Tom had to stay in L.A. for the Easter weekend, so for last week's new thing, I used watercolors and washi tape to make him an Easter card that I hid (along with a Reese's peanut butter egg) for him to find on Easter morning.

While poor Tom soldiered on alone in L.A. for the holiday weekend, I attended an absolutely divine brunch hosted and prepared by Jaime. Giada better watch her back, between the home renovations and the fierce cooking, Jaime is prime for her own HGTV/Food Network show.

{Yumbo!}

 

 

We got a defective egg coloring kit (for shame, Paas!), so we improvised with food coloring. I think our eggs looked pretty awesome when all was said and done.

On Sunday morning, we went to Mass, posed for pictures in our Easter finest, hunted for eggs, tore into our Easter baskets, and stuffed our faces with hard boiled eggs, cinnamon bread, and jelly beans. Despite the fact that my youngest sister is 22, our Easter traditions haven't changed since we were all under ten, and that is exactly how I like it. I only wish that my brother, his wife, and Tom could have been there.

The aforementioned Easter photos were priceless this year because my dad inadvertently photobombed the picture of me and my sisters. When my sister checked her phone to see how the picture had turned out, she broke into hysterical laughter and started to pass the phone around until we all collapsed in uncontrollable giggles. It was the best.

 Here's a close-up for you. There are no words for how much I love this picture.

Happy Easter and a joyous spring to all!

Wrapping Up

I've been quiet the last few weeks, and not just here. I've been enjoying the holidays, for sure, but I've also been putting 2011 to bed. I've never been much for New Year's resolutions and all of that because it seems so arbitrary and so... I don't know...forced. This year, however, I'm glad for the fresh start, arbitrary as it may be.

Tomorrow morning, Tom and I are heading to Joshua Tree to bid adieu (or good riddance) to 2011 and to raise a glass to the promise of 2012, Mayan doomsday prophesies be damned. I am really looking forward to welcoming the new year in the great outdoors, under a sky with actual visible stars. A fresh start in the fresh air is bound to be propitious.

Before moving on to 2012, however, we have to wrap up 2011. December provided its usual bounty of celebrations and family togetherness. The past two weeks included a lot of both, and so the year ends on a high note. The pictures are plentiful, so bear with me as I run through a quick review.

Birthdays were celebrated.

{The Grove to see J. Edgar on Tom's birthday. The movie was a disappointment, fyi.}

{Pistol Annies at House of Blues on my birthday.}

And celebrated again.

Halls were decked.

Cookies were baked.

Naps were taken.

Pink showed up at the Hotel Cafe and sang Silent Night. Not strictly relevant to my enjoyment of the season, but probably one of the cooler celebrity sightings I've had since moving to L.A.

Christmas lights were viewed. [Candy Cane Lane in Woodland Hills, a place that is fun to visit, but I imagine, nightmarish to live.]

{I thought these kids had the right idea, so I went sunroof style too.}

{Tom was quite accommodating.}

 

{This home was the pièce de résistance of the neighborhood. What you cannot grasp from this photo is that there were speakers hidden amidst the lights that played It's a Small World at full volume over and over and over.}

 

Baby Jesus was decapitated in a tragic accident.

And Baby Jesus was...recapitated through the Christmas miracle of Super Glue.

Gifts were shopped for, wrapped, and placed beneath the tree.

{The Grove}

Family was gathered together.

{Mike gazing...adoringly (?) at his bride.}

{Midge and I enjoying some quality couch time.}

{Mo gazing...adoringly (?) at her fiancé. While wearing Christmas vests, naturally.}

{The whole clan after Christmas Eve Mass}

Meals were cooked.

{Thanks, Mom!}

And meals were enjoyed.

{Cioppino? Yumbo!}

Christmas movies were watched.

{The Family Man, back when Nic Cage appeared in enjoyable films.}

{It's a Wonderful Life, obviously}

{A Christmas Carol, George C. Scott, obviously.}

{Love Actually, viewed but not documented. Also, Tom and I saw Emma Thompson at a restaurant by our house.}

Games were played.

You're just going to have to take my word for that since my teammates (Meghan, Erin, word.) and I were too busy kicking ass at Trivial Pursuit to document the occasion.

Lucy was awesome and loved on, as per usual.

Saturday Night Live videos were watched. Specifically:

And finally, Christmas day arrived and PJs were worn, presents were unwrapped, mimosas were drank drunk consumed, and the beach was visited.

{Mo regifted a White Elephant win of the Shake Weight to my dad.}

{He was into it.}

{White Christmases are wonderful, but so are Christmases at the beach.}

{All creatures great and small - Lucy makes friends with a teeny tiny Pug and gigundo Great Dane.}

There is actually much post-Christmas fun to review, but it will have to wait until after the new year because I have an outdoor adventure to prepare for...

I will close with the best of Christmas wishes as spoken by Ebenezer Scrooge, courtesy of Mr. Charles Dickens, "'I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all three shall strive within me...I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to every-body! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!'