The Things I Miss and the Things I Don't.

Sunset over the Hudson River from a few nights ago. Taken from High Line Park.

I'm sipping on my Stumptown coffee this morning and the apartment is quiet. Processing. This baby inside of me is wiggling. The toddler is sleeping soundly. The husband went to play basketball early before work. I love these moments, because they are so rare. The ones I get to keep for myself.

I wasn't planning to post anything today, because, well, I have an editorial calendar and it's been a challenge enough to keep up with it. I have so many photos to edit it isn't funny. While being up here, away from our normal routine and childcare and grandmothers pitching in to help, "normal" has fallen by the wayside. It's been just me and my boys. And it's been wonderful and challenging in a special kind of way. Although my normal routine and responsibilities have been backburnered while I tend to the new ones - making sure everyone feels homey, safe, cared for, stable. Holding lots of hands. Making lots of plans. I am missing home, but not terribly. I am missing routine, but not craving it. I know it will come again, just like the morning and the ocean tide and the rising sounds of the city. So I am just enjoying these few moments, this odd gift of time where I get to adventure along with these 2 (3?) boys of mine. But I must say.

I miss my wild, untamed, jungle-y garden.

I miss the quiet under the trees of the winding golf cart paths.

I miss sitting on my back porch, watching Everett tumble around in the grass.

Thought I don't miss the mosquitoes.

I miss the comfort of my home, but I have rediscovered how cozy and simple a home can be. We don't need a big house with tons of furniture - this apartment is furnished with just what it needs, and it's enough. I like that. I really really like that.

I miss my mom. And my other mom.

I don't miss the humidity. Or that chain restaurants are kind of the only option. I have eaten really really well up here. You should see my burgeoning belly.

Up here, the drivers are aggressive, the roads are narrow, and the sounds are constant. I don't appreciate those things.

We brought Everett 12 books and two small canvas totes of toys. He's managing just fine.

Attitude really, really, really is everything. I could be crying about all the things I'm missing. And missing out on. Or I could be happy and optimistic about the coming season. Or I could be living each day, fully present and true in the moment. I've done all three on this trip. A simple attitude adjustment is the very best medicine, I'm convinced of it.

I packed too many clothes, and I packed for myself and Everett in the same suitcase. I am really struck by how little we need for life to go 'round. Life just really isn't about the stuff.

But then, I really do love the activity of shopping. Discovering and creating and planning and arranging. There's something so artistic in finding new treasures. So there's that. I am my own oxymoron.

I just realized that today is September 1 and it all makes sense. This is my month, the time that I always reflect and feel the shift in the season. So yeah. It all makes more sense now. Good morning to you friends, and happy September to you. It's going to be a very good season, I can sense it.

It all makes much more sense now.

The 15 MUSTS on My Fall Bucket List.

Happy Monday to you, friends! I hope your weekend was sweet and cool with that fall breeze we've been having over here. I wanted to share my little fall bucket list today and see if you had any great ideas to add to this. Have you made a bucket list of autumn things you would like to do this season? I am extra excited about this season because I am so satisfied with the stage our family is in. I am really really loving the age Everett is because I feel like we can really do some fun things with him this fall and he is experiencing them fully. He might not remember these things, but the joy, excitement, adventure and love are surely making a life-long impact on him. I am so lucky to be a part of creating that for him.

The 15 MUSTS on My Fall Bucket List:
1. Pick a Pumpkin.
I seriously can't wait to see Everett toddling around a pumpkin patch. I MEAN. He needs a flannel vest. And maybe some boots. Ahhh PUMPKINS.

2. Enjoy some seriously colorful foliage.
Man, these are the times when I miss my New England days. The foliage up there is so painted and pretty it's just silly. SILLY.

3. Apple Pick.
I always want to bring home two bushels, and every time Stevie says no. Then buys me a cider donut to cheer me up. It's our routine.

4. Visit the Mountains.
Any mountains will do. It just feels like the right time to GO. And take to the mountains. Like Frodo did.

5. Enjoy Mulled Wine.
Oh gosh, this stuff is my Achilles heel. Made some this weekend! Checkedy check!

6. Make something with pumpkin and apples.
I usually make both of these pies around Thanksgiving time, but I'd like to get more out of the box with my recipes this fall and makes something different!

7. Read a good book.
As part of my Intentional October, I am reading a few right now. I feel so alive!

8. Sit by the fire.
We have a fire place in our new home! While it's not wood-burning (which is my favorite), I guess I will enjoy the cleanliness of this gas fireplace. Although I can feel that Stevie will be monitoring my use of it due to the expense... He's not always Scrooge. But sometimes. And sometimes I am an excessive fire starter. What's wrong with every day? Why NOT every day???

9. Decorate outdoors with some good mums.
Now this was just a lead into another one that I've already done and feel so right about. I love mums so much. Don't you just feel like you're talking about a British mother AND Fall's most famous flower?! Two for one, those mums.

10. Drink a Pumpkin Spice Latte.
Okay, so I also did this one this weekend, and I don't know WHAT I WAS THINKING by telling my mother as I drove the the Starbucks drive-through, because then she just gave me a talking-to about how bad those are for our health. I mean, mom! It's my first and last one of the season, I promise. Just let me have my chemically-induced pumpkin spice latte and let me TRY to enjoy it! Also - I think they've raised the price by like, a dollar since last fall. Am I right?

11. Unearth my Fall Clothes.
The closet space in my new pad isn't great, but in some ways, I think that's a really good thing! It's making me really careful about what I add to my closet and I'm finding new uses for old things. However, my fall boots are my favorite thing about my entire wardrobe. And they are out to play!

12. Make stew. Any will do.
I've got so many stew recipes. I will share a few of my favorites next week!

13. Make a wreath.
I've never done a craft like this before. I'm thinking that it's time :)

14. Go Camping.
Just planned a camping trip! I'm not the most rugged girl on Earth, but I can enjoy one night under the stars every once in a while and not moan about it. Just give me smores.

15. Run in the crispy morning air.
We've gotten a hint of fall here in Georgia, but in a few more weeks, I know that morning air is going to get crispy. And I am waking up early these days, so I will seize it! My favorite running is in the fall.

That's my list! What's yours? Anything you would add?

Also, I wanted to encourage everyone that has joined me for Intentional October - you are doing awesome! The feedback has been stellar, so just know that you are in this with a lot of others who are going after some intentional change in their lives this month! If you're new to Intentional October, check out my post on what it is, how you can make this month intentional for yourself, and hone in on your focus. I'll check in with everyone here on the blog on Thursday to give an update on how it's going! Remember to tag your Instagram photos with the hashtag #intentionaloctober so you can encourage others, have a conversation and experience the accountability of this pursuit. You can follow my Instagram feed here.

Happiest of Mondays to you, friends!

Turning 28.

I am sort of caught up in this poem today, as I contemplate my 28th year.

"Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean -
the one who has flung herself
  out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out
  of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and
  forth instead of up and down -
who is gazing around with her
  enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and
  thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open,
  and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention,
  how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down
  in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how
  to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"
- The Summer Day, Mary Oliver

I've been sort of electrified and maddened by the echoing question, "what do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

What is it? What am I doing? What do I want to do? What am I doing?

Well, I'm pretty certain that I want to celebrate. I want to drink champagne and I want to ride atop a jeweled elephant. I want to make my sisters feel my love. I want to cook up a storm and force feed the entire city of Atlanta. I want to sing with my son at the top of our lungs. I want to smell the peonies from my wedding and I want to bury my face in the lush grass of my backyard. I want to tap dance on the stage of the first broadway show I ever saw. (though I don't actually tap dance.) I want to give a certain high school bully a wedgie. I want to lounge on a hammock with my husband and watch the sun go down, reminiscing about all our past adventures. Because they are my favorite memories. I want to take hold of all the sinew, dreams, will and fiber of my being, and I want to give it all away. I want my life to matter. I want to touch the world with my intent. I want to be raw and vulnerable and strong and tall. Gosh, I so want to be tall. I want to make a difference and I want to do it while I'm holding the hands of my loves to the right and to the left. I want to walk into the future, ready, hopeful, good-humored and tireless. I want to harness this wild, precious gift and make it matter.

To many things to wish as I blow out my candle? Well then.

Today I turn 28. Watch me go.

September 24.

"With mirth and laughter Let the old wrinkles come." - William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

September likes Sapphires.

I gotta say. I love this day.

I stumbled upon this sweet blog post called The Cultureur about a gal who turned 28 and wrote her 18-year-old self a letter. She outlined a few "words of wisdom"; things she would tell herself if she had known then what she knows now. I thought it was an incredible concept, and I couldn't help but smile while I read a few of her pearls of wisdom that I felt were close to my heart, including:

- "Set your own goals, do not pay attention to the timeline of society"

- "TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL. Learn about the world, different cultures, other ways of living, and more importantly, yourself."

- "Know your worth and act like it."

- "Never apologize for who you are and what you've accomplished."

- "Take risks and push your limits. If you do what you've always done you will only have what you've always had."

- "As Mark Twain said, 'Twenty years from now you will regret the things you didn't do, rather than the ones you did.'"

Today, I am reflecting on my journey thus far. My years. My curious experiences. This life has taken me on some windy roads that I wouldn't have planned or imagined, but I can say with full assurance that there isn't anyone else's life I would rather have. I love my life. To be honest, in my current season, I am a little scared. I am a little unsure. And I don't know a lot. I certainly don't know exactly what I'm doing. But I believe in me. I really do. I welcome my incoming year with open arms and a (semi-freaked) vulnerable heart. Let this 26th year wash over me with adventure, peace and grace to be dangerously courageous. And if you've got pearls of wisdom for my 26th year, hit me. All ears.

Much love.

Hello September!

Don't you love New York in the fall?

It makes me wanna buy school supplies.

I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.

On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms. - Joe Fox, You've Got Mail

So We Meet Again.

September is absolutely, hands-down my favorite month of the year. And it only mostly has to do with the fact that it's my birthday month (wink wink.) I love the subtle transition from lazy, late summer to watercolor hints of autumn. The trees begin to turn up their crisp noses at the air's humidity, and in timely obedience to the magnificent weatherman in the sky, the temperature drops accordingly and the boots march out from their safely-tucked hiding places to do some walking. I am just captured by the colors: evergreen, scarlet, marigold, auburn and amethyst. These coy shades manage to catch me off-guard every year, and yet I relish the moment because it feels so good to be, yes, seduced by the luxe wonders of fall. Walking down the street and watching a gently falling leaf from an old oak tree; you can't make this stuff up. Well, you could, but I wouldn't because it sounds all-too cliche. Yet there it is, you can't help but spot it: that petite brittle leaf, aimlessly letting go, falling, and papering the bustling streets with its chilled quiet.

Labor Day.

We went on a bike ride this weekend along the West Side Highway from the Upper West Side down to Chelsea, had a taste of brunch and traipsed around the uber-hip Chelsea Market for a bit. We stopped midway to gaze at the Hudson, and stayed resting in the grass for a long time, enamored at the fact that someone was swimming laps in the river. Yikes. That's bravery.

City Garden.

I had to halt our bike ride once again when I came upon this fantastic little garden in the middle of Riverside Park.

The Garden Peoples' Garden is a mesmerizing little treasure trove, perfectly manicured and stocked with giddy, mismatched plants. It was such a lovely way to spend the first day of the month, biking around our new town and sensing that the joy would only increase with the coming months. I realized that September was back again, ushering in her charms of fall. I am so ready for you, September. Let's have a whirlwind month, shall we?