Happy Halloween from Beacon Hill

Enjoy the night! 

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Macbeth has the best quotes for Halloween. Right now I'm eating an early lunch, listening to an Alice Munro Podcast, and waiting until it's time to go to my TA class. Last night I ventured outside of our apartment for the first time since getting out of the hospital to go to my fiction workshop. I'm feeling much better and I'm hoping I don't get tired today, then I'll know I'm on the mend.

I'm also thinking about tomorrow—HALLOWEEN! I love festivities and holidays but I feel like Halloween isn't that easy to celebrate when you're too old to trick-or-treat and you don't have kids to take trick-or-treating yet. Also, I doubt kids trick-or-treat in this building. So I came up with a fun idea that's kind of festive and halloweeny for AJ and me to do tomorrow.

AJ has to work Saturday so he got tomorrow off! First thing in the morning, we're going to bundle up (it'll be low 50s tomorrow) and head out to walk through and explore all of the old cemeteries near us in Boston. We'll start in the Boston Common at Central Burying Ground and then go to Tremont Street to Granary Burying Ground and Kings Chapel Burying Ground. Then we'll walk to the North End to do Copp's Hill Burying Ground. On the way home, we'll grab sandwiches at Bricco.

At night, I'll make kettle corn with Halloween M&Ms and we'll watch Dateline. Originally I wanted to get some Stephen King movies but AJ doesn't love sitting for movies and those movies are long so instead we'll watch Dateline, which is even better, and maybe some Halloween episodes of our favorite TV shows. And maybe I'll wear my pumpkin costume while we watch. Who knows?

I'm excited for Halloween this year and I hope everyone has a fun, festive night! What are your plans?

A Crazy Weekend

This is one for the books. It all started on the Thursday when my mom and grandmother came to visit and to help AJ and me move into a new apartment. Yes, we moved into a smaller, one bedroom unit in the same building and we love it! It's so cozy.

The day before my mom and grandmother came I hadn't been feeling great. I had symptoms of an infection all day Wednesday but by the time they got here Thursday, I felt great and my symptoms were gone! So we spent Thursday afternoon cleaning the apartment like crazy. We scrubbed and swiffered and vacuumed and everything. We took Thursday night off to have pizza and wine—Uppercrust again, of course.

Friday, I brought all my clothes down to the new apartment and my grandmother folded them and we put them away in drawers and the closet. My mom helped too but she had some appointments in the city throughout the day and she ran errands to grab some more cleaning things. We cleaned and organized all morning. Around 2, we decided to take a lunch break and I sat down to watch Halloweentown but I quickly fell asleep and missed the whole thing. My mom waited for the movers to bring in our dining room table and chairs.

We did a bit more cleaning and unpacking throughout the afternoon until it was time for an early dinner at 75 Chestnut. After dinner we did more unpacking and AJ and I spent our first night in our new place! All the while, I'm feeling great.

Saturday morning, AJ and I went up to my mom's apartment for breakfast and my back started hurting really bad. We chalked it up to muscular pain from moving and lifting stuff all day before. I took Advil, felt great, and we drove to Danvers to visit my grandmother's cousin who stuffed us with biscotti and sent us home with homemade dough to bake later that night. We also stopped at another cousin's pizzeria and Richardson's Dairy Farm to pick up a pint for later. We had dinner, ice cream, and watched Dateline and I felt great still.

Sunday morning at 5:40, I woke up shaking like crazy, I felt like I was spasming and I couldn't catch my breath. I woke up AJ and I thought maybe I was just shivering from being cold because my teeth were chattering so I tried to put another blanket on me but I could hardly move, I couldn't swallow water, and I could not take a deep enough breath to calm down. AJ called 911 and my mom and an ambulance took me to Mass General Emergency room. Once I got to the ER, I threw up and had a fever. It was crazy and scary.

My mom got there shortly after they got me in the ER and introduced me to my team of nurses, who were wonderful and put me at ease. They gave me an IV and did blood cultures and all that fun stuff. I was in my ER room for about 4 hours when they determined it was indeed a kidney infection. They had given me antibiotics at 7 am and wanted me to stay at the hospital for another round 12 hours later. I was super bummed, I was feeling better but the idea of staying the hospital that much longer immediately made me feel like crap again. At 10, they moved me to the observation floor and got me into a bed there where they gave me a ton more fluids and pancakes. Mom stayed with me while AJ ran home to change (we were both in pajamas still), have breakfast, grab clothes for me, and my book even though I said I didn't want to read. Clearly, he knows me well because I ended up reading a lot that day.

I slept on and off while we watched football on the TV. My room had a great view of the Charles River and Cambridge but I could only see it when I sat all the way up in my bed. Meanwhile, this entire time my grandmother is still at my mom's apartment with my dog. They were supposed to head back to Connecticut that day but decided to stay until Monday morning. I had another great nurse in the observation room and she started my second dose of antibiotics because she knew I was eager to leave and I ended up getting out of the hospital by 7:30. AJ called us an Uber and I was oh so so happy to be home!!

I was ordered bed rest for the next few days so I had to miss classes yesterday but I'm hoping to go tonight. I've been sleeping a lot. Monday I took 3 naps, Tuesday I stayed up all day to do homework but took a nap at 6:30 and woke up at 7:20 and got back in bed at 8:20. I'm writing this from bed in our, comfy new apartment. I'm feeling better but not completely myself. I'm on antibiotics for the next 2 weeks and have pain killers for my back.

I'm hoping to get back on the blogging bus now that we are  almost all done moving in and I'll have some doctor-ordered downtime for the rest of the week. I'd love to share photos of our new apartment-in-progress and AJ and I have some fun Halloween plans for Friday! Happy Wednesday all!

Fall To Do List Check-In

A few weeks ago I wrote a to do list for this October. Since the month is almost up (already?!) I thought it was a good time to check-in and see how I'm doing!

1. Go to Salem. Check! I did this one this past Saturday with AJ, my sister, her boyfriend, and some friends. It was as crazy busy and crowded as I thought it'd be but still worth it the chaos! You can read about it here.

2. Go to an apple orchard/pumpkin patch. Check as well! We got this one done on Saturday as well before going to Salem. We headed to North Andover and spent a few hours at Smolak Farms. You can read about it here.

3. Watch Hocus Pocus. Check, thank goodness! I think I've done this one a few times.

4. Go to the Boston Book Festival. Not yet! But that's because it hasn't happened yet. Hopefully I'll be able to go!

5. Eat Halloween Candy. Check! We ate a few pieces while watching Hocus Pocus because it felt right.

6. Go to the Boston Common Pumpkin Festival. Yup! We did that on Sunday. It was the first really cold day of Fall so we only stayed for about an hour but in that time we got free samples from Davids Tea, free coffee from New England Coffee, and we watched cute kids frolicking in their costumes.

7. Make Kettle Corn with Halloween M&Ms. Half check. I made kettle corn twice this week but I'm saving the M&Ms for Halloween!

8. Eat chili and pumpkin cornbread. Check! Just did that one last night! Yum!

9. Watch Halloweentown, Halloweentown II, and Halloweentown High. Not yet because I don't think it's been on yet but I'm keeping my eye on the Disney Channel schedule!

10. Make an apple pie. Not yet! But my mom and grandmother are coming this weekend so I'm planning to make one for them, especially since I have a whole peck of apples waiting on the counter.

11. Watch Stephen King movies. No, not yet. Bummer. We have two dvds from Netflix right now and if I want to get some Stephen King movies before Halloween I either have to watch them fast and send them back or send them back unwatched.

12. Decorate the apartment. Check! I got a big mum plant from Trader Joe's, a few small pumpkins, and a few decorations are sprinkled about the apartment. I didn't buy the window applications because i don't think my neighbors would appreciate them as much as I do.

13. Get Married. CHECK! I checked off the most important item on the list on October 11th.

Saturday at Smolak Farms and Salem

This weekend went by so fast! I can't believe it's already Sunday night. I'm sure the weekend went by so fast because we did a lot of fun stuff! On Friday, my sister, Marina, and her boyfriend, Sharaf, drove up from Connecticut to visit. They got here around 4 while AJ was still at work so Sharaf went to rest and Marina and I sat and chatted for a while. Once AJ got home and Sharaf woke up, we went downstairs to order two pizzas from Upper Crust. While we waited for them to be ready, we walked through the Common and down Boylston Street a ways. Marina and I walked and chatted while the guys walked together behind us and had boy talk.

Once we picked up the pizza, we brought it up to the apartment and ate ALL of it and went through a bit of wine as well. The talking was non stop, my throat hurt by the end of dinner. It was really fun! After dinner, I made kettle corn for everyone and we sat down in the dark to watch Hocus Pocus. AJ and I both fell asleep during it but I'm sure we'll watch it a few more times before Halloween.

On Saturday around noon, we all got into Marina's car and drove up to North Andover where we met with Marina's friend, Katelyn, and her boyfriend, Scott, at a pumpkin patch, apple orchard, petting zoo place called Smolak Farms. It took quite a while to find but it was so much fun! It was packed with families and little kids in cute costumes. We walked around the animals for a while at first and then, out of nowhere, it down poured! Everyone was running for cover and we, smartly, ran inside the bakery where we just had to buy apple cider donuts, hot apple cider, and baking mixes. We hid under some tents, eating the donuts and drinking the cider, until the rain let up and it was a beautiful day again.





We played with the animals a bit more; there were llamas, alpacas, goats, rams, pigs, turkeys, deer, and everything. Then we walked to the pumpkin patch but we didn't buy any pumpkins—we already have some small ones in the apartment and I didn't think we should keep the big ones inside. From there, we walked down to the apple orchard. Apple season was just about over so we couldn't pick them off the tree and bag them ourselves—but that didn't stop Sharaf. We found a few that still looked good on the trees and he picked them down. AJ and I shared an empire apple and it was so sweet and delicious!

We walked around a bit more before stopping to buy apples. They had three big barrels of apples that we could pick from. AJ and I bought the biggest bag and loaded it up with apples. I have big plans of making apple pie, apple cookies, pork chops with apples, and maybe apple pancakes so they will definitely get used quickly!

As we were leaving the farm, we decided to go to Salem since Sharaf had never been. It took a good hour to get there because the traffic was crazy! And once we actually got to Salem, it took us another 30 minutes just to park. It was absolutely packed with people!



We met back up with Scott and Katelyn at Beer Works. I had a pumpkin beer, which I've been wanting to try, and it was ok but the best part was the cinnamon and sugar on the rim. We had to wait at the bar for about 40 minutes for a table but we finally got seated outside so we could people watch as people walked by in weird and crazy costumes. The food was good and we had a really nice time. We did a bit more walking around Salem to see some of the sights and some of the places where Hocus Pocus was filmed before calling it a night and driving back to Boston.

That morning, AJ and I had realized it was our one week anniversary of being married and a few people texted us throughout the day to remind us, too. It was an ideal way to spend our one week anniversary! I love Fall in New England and everything that goes along with it, especially the apples, apple cider donuts, and festive spirit of everyone enjoying the same thing!

We Did It!

On October 11th, AJ and I tied that knot! It was wonderful and amazing and perfect and all those things that a wedding should be! We were very lucky to be surrounded by our friends and family—we had an absolute blast and it was all even better than I could have hoped for.

Of course, I have a million photos and plenty of stories to share but it's late and I still have 8 more student papers to grade—I've been playing major catch up all week. I went from Thursday to Monday without doing any school-related work and I can feel it. And I want to watch How To Get Away With Murder in 20 minutes—is anyone else watching that show? I recommend it!

For now, I'll leave you with just a few photos. I'll do my best to get up a more comprehensive (without being boring) post tomorrow depending on how much work I can get done. Tomorrow afternoon my sister and her boyfriend are coming to visit for the weekend so I'll be pretty busy and preoccupied this weekend too!

at our reception at The Waters Edge at Giovanni's

because every millenial needs a wedding reception selfie

and a wedding party selfie—although this is only part of the group

it's the little things

the whole group

the morning after

and one of my favorite wedding gifts

What I Have Learned From Grad School So Far

I've been in grad school for just over a month now. I know I still have an incredible amount to learn, but I do feel as though I have already learned quite a bit!

1. If you think you've completed and printed all your homework, check again. Two weeks ago, I had to scramble at the last minute to finish all my readings for Teaching College Comp because I forgot to read my syllabus and last week I missed turning in an assignment. I did it, but I forgot to print it. 

2. Reread everything. We typically have to read 4 stories for fiction workshop every week, sometimes more. In the past, I've been able to get away with reading assignments only once but when it comes to these in depth class discussions and analyses we have,  I've found that reading everything twice—if not more—is essential.

3. It's ok to step away every so often. It can become really stressful when you sit down to start working and your mind becomes overwhelmed by every assignment you realize you have to do. Take it one task at a time and when you feel like you need a break, take it. You'll find time to finish the rest.

4. Naps are good. It's crazy how tiring writing and reading can be! I'll do a few hours of it straight and need a nap to go on. Usually, I try to resist napping because I feel like there are too many other things I should be doing. But I always find that after I sleep for 20 minutes (sometimes 60) I feel more aware of my work and can focus even better.

5. Sometimes, you have to drink coffee at 9 pm. Especially if you are in class until quarter 10 pm and your eyes won't stay open.

Literary Links

It's been quite sometime since I did one of these posts! I hope you enjoy this little collection of literary related posts!

Poe is back in Boston! The city in which he was born but came to hate and Boston kind of reciprocated that feeling. Read this article to understand what brought on these sentiments from one of America's greatest literary figures!

An article about what it means to be a young writer hits rather close to home. Reading this article felt so realistic, I couldn't wait until the end because I felt like it would tell me my future.  

Young female writers seem to be having a moment right now and I hope that moment turns into something much, much more. This article gives some advice as to how we can make sure that's the case.

Because I love Elena Ferrante and it is oh so rare when she actually gives a (written) interview.

Lauren Conrad's Fall reading list. I can't say they all interest me but I've been wanting to read Number 1 for a while now, Number 5 is one of my favorites and a book I think everyone should read, and Number 7 sounds really interesting especially because I love Revolutionary history—especially this time of year! What do you guys think about these choices?

What Everyone Should Be Reading and Loving

I'm sure this post is no surprise to anyone who has read my blog before. I finished reading Elena Ferrante's latest installation of her Neapolitan novels a few weeks ago now I think. It was just as amazing as the two novels that preceded it.

In this, the third, novel (and thankfully not the last!) of the series, Elena and Lila are growing up, more so than they have in the past. Both become mothers and lead very different lives that causes the tension in their friendship to grow even more.

The book is also filled with the ideals of revolution as both girls play their part in enacting change for those who are suffering. Ferrante eloquently places her readers in the context of Naples during this time and she does it so seamlessly. 1950s and 60s Naples is very real in this text and adds to further develop the characters of Elena and Lila.

Elena is married and becomes a mother over the course of the book. She lives in Florence with her academic husband and yet, she is unhappy. She is bored with her husband and feels uninspired to write. Motherhood is difficult for her to accept and she feels her mother's shadow creeping into her own life. And even though Lila lives a harder life, unmarried and mothering her son on her own with help from her live-in boyfriend, Enzo, Elena is again jealous of her friend. And the jealousy only grows as Lila's fortune changes for the better. Not to mention, the reappearance of Nino Sarratore leads to more conflict and drama.

It is impossible not to become engrossed in the lives of Ferrante's characters. I became so invested reading this novel, more so than the last two although all of them are amazing tales, that when the ending came I was angry and you'll see why when you read it.

I'm so glad that there will be one more Neapolitan novel but I can't believe we have to wait a year for it to come out!

To Do List for October

This is a fun month and every year, when October roles around, I want to squeeze as many fun and festive activities into the month that I can. I'm a little worried about doing that this year, you know with the whole wedding and grad school factoring in, but this is the first year that I'll be spending the whole month of October in Boston and in my favorite state, the one that I think is quintessential New England and the most ideal for Autumn. So here's a list, that will be ever changing for the next few weeks, of what I would like to do this October.

1. Go to Salem. We're about 30 minutes from Salem, by car or ferry, and I doubt you could find a more festive place this time of year. We went around this same time last year and it was crazy packed! Witches and people in freaky costumes crowded the streets and there were so many vendors and delicious smelling food stands, it was wonderful but hectic. I was going to bypass this trip this year because of the craziness, but Marina and her boyfriend might be going and we will definitely join them if they do! I won't pass up a free ride to Salem! Plus, it's always fun finding the places where Hocus Pocus was filmed.

2. Go to an apple orchard/pumpkin patch. Again, I wasn't sure I'd be able to do this this year. It's not the easiest thing to get to an orchard from Boston when you don't have a car, but if Marina visits, I will insist on making a stop in Ipswich or Danvers to pick some pumpkins and apples and enjoy hot apple cider and apple cider donut holes.

3. Watch Hocus Pocus. I've already done this a few times in August and September, and I'm sure I'll do it a few more times this month. I find it necessary. Amok amok amok amok!

4. Go to the Boston Book Festival. It's not really festive for Fall, but it's this month, it's nearby in Copley Square, and maybe there will be free books!

5. Eat Halloween candy. Is it bad that I already bought our Halloween candy? I had a CVS coupon that was expiring soon so I bought it way ahead of time! I already poured it out into a pumpkin dish, too. So far we've been able to hold out.

6. Go to the Boston Common Pumpkin Festival. This one I've never done or even heard of before but in my quest to find festive activities within the city limits, this popped up! It looks like it's mostly for kids, but I'm sure there will be pumpkins and pumpkin flavored baked goods so I'll be there. For those interested, it's in the Common on the 19th from 4:30-6:30.

7. Make Kettle Corn with Halloween M&Ms. AJ and I love putting M&Ms in our popcorn and I thought it'd be fun to make kettle corn for a movie night on Halloween, since apparently I'm too old to trick-or-treat on Beacon Hill. I already bought the M&M's, they have peanut ones that are Fall colored I guess, and others that are supposed to taste like candy corn!

8. Eat chili and pumpkin corn bread. I already bought both so this will definitely happen at some point. I also want to drink a pumpkin beer.

9. Watch Halloweentown, Halloweentown II, and Halloweentown High. This is a given and one of my favorite parts of October! These movies remind me of childhood.

10. Make apple pie. I already did this when AJ's family visited but there's no such thing as too many apple flavored food in the Fall! I should do pumpkin pie too, but my mom always makes apple pie and it's easy for me to follow her recipe.

11. Watch Stephen King movies. I don't  feel like there are really any good, scary, and well-made Halloween movies out there in the world. But there are two Stephen King movies, which are thankfully available on Netflix (not to stream though—boo), that are kind of Halloween-y. Rose Red (which is super long and you have to order two DVDs on Netflix for) and Salem's Lot. The former has a haunted house (and Marnie from Halloweentown) and the former has vampires (the scary kind, not the Twilight kind). I'm insisting, much to AJ's unhappiness, that we watch both this month.

12. Decorate the apartment. This is already mostly done. I have a festive wreaths, two small pumpkins, two small white pumpkins, mums, and a few other decorations I've been given. But I really want to get those sticky decorations you can put on windows so that the people walking down Charles outside can see—although I'm not sure if the building or neighborhood allows that. Also, I need more pumpkin smelling candles.

And one more reason since 13 is a good number for October.

13. Get married. This is the only really important thing on the list and the only thing that I will, without a doubt, be doing this month.

The First Sunday In October

Today, the first Sunday in October, was the epitome of Fall as far as weather goes. It was sunny but chilly and you definitely needed a jacket if you were walking in the sun. AJ and I filled today to the brim!

We started the day off really early, 6:30 am early. We got up and walked down Beacon Street to Mass Ave to go to Crossroads Irish Pub to watch the Manchester United game. We usually do this if there's a weekend game.

After the game, we came back home and AJ watched more soccer while I did lots of homework. At 11:30, we walked across the Longfellow Bridge to Cambridge to go to the Cambridgeside Galleria. I had to make a return and AJ had to pick up an order. We shopped around a bit—I need new jeans but they were all too long! And we smelled lots of yummy smelling and not so yummy smelling candles at Bath & Bodyworks. 

We came back home and changed into warm clothes, our building hasn't switched over to heat yet. I lit a pumpkin candle, made a pot of pumpkin spice coffee, and got back to homework while AJ watched football. I fell asleep on him around 4 and then started making dinner at 5.

I tried a new recipe for dinner, 5 ingredient white chicken chili. I used 4 cups of chicken broth, one can of pinto beans, a little over 1 cup of cooked chicken, 1 1/4 cups of salsa verde, and 2 teaspoons of cumin and I topped it with avocado. I was nervous because AJ doesn't like chili, and I always get nervous when I try recipes for the first time, but we both loved it! AJ cleaned the pot he liked it so much. So I'm glad that was a success. I also made loaded baked sweet potatoes with parsley, bacon bits, and a blend of Mexican cheese. It was a successful dinner.

Now we're watching the Pats game and I'm trying to get more homework done even though my brain doesn't work as well as it gets later into the night.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and I hope tomorrow is as happy a Monday as can be!

Shakespeare Saturday: Romeo and Juliet

I'm a little late on this one but better late than never. A few weeks ago, AJ went back to Connecticut and I stayed behind in Boston for a few more days before joining him. One night while he was gone, I decided to have a date night with myself. I made a big bowl of popcorn, pulled up Netflix, and got ready to watch a movie I'd been wanting to see for almost a year! The newest big-screen adaption of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It came out in theaters last October and is directed by Carlo Carlei and stars Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth as the titular characters.

Romeo and Juliet is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays and I like to see how different people adapt it in different ways. This film's adaptation was really interesting! It did not get great reviews, they were really bad actually which is why I didn't see it in theaters. But it was still enjoyable and quite different than what I expected.

The first thing that jumped out at me was that they strayed from the original script. That's normal, though, for a film especially because if you include every word, that'll make for one long movie. And I think some directors and screenwriters like to add their own language in to make the wording a bit to make it a bit easier to understand. Of course, the verbiage was still true to the tone and fit in with the original language.

Also, Benvolio was given a much bigger role than usual. He was everywhere! And he seemed younger than he is typically portrayed. Paul Giamatti as Friar Laurence was genius. I'm so used to seeing him in comical or unlikable roles so I thought that maybe the Friar would be humorous in this film, but he was surprisingly perfect for this role. I think he had the best performance out of everyone. Also, the nurse, played by Lesley Manville was a great choice. She did add quite a bit humor and her character was very likable.

My favorite part of the film was the scenery. It was gorgeous! It probably wasn't extremely realistic, but it was quintessential Italian renaissance styling. There was so much detail to each scene, especially during the masked dance and during the balcony scene. I would watch it all over again just to see the scenery.

I didn't think the acting by the main characters was great but what can you do? If you like Shakespeare or Romeo and Juliet, you should watch this anyway. It's fun and, like I said, very pleasing to the eyes.

October Books

I love to read and I think it's so fun to read books that fit the season, holiday, month, and so on. I chose some books that would be fitting to read for the month of October. 

When I think of Fall I think of New England and when I think of New England, I think of Fall, so naturally my book picks reflect that bias. Fall in New England is beautiful and I always try to take full advantage of it because Autumn is so fleeting. I feel extra blessed this year to be living in Boston this Fall, it is one of the best places to experience a real New England Autumn.

 Reading books and stories that are reminiscent of the season makes me feel even more immersed in the magic of the fresh air, orange leaves, bright pumpkins, crisp apples, and spicy coffee and tea. I chose a few books that will suit all different readers and will definitely get you in the mood of October!

So the first- The Portable Edgar Allen Poe. Poe is a New Englander and therefore he makes the list. Also, a lot of his writing is spooky and perfect for the mood of October. The Raven is always a must read. And, this weekend a new statue of Poe is being revealed 5 minutes from my apartment! I'll be walking by it all the time this Fall. 

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving I try to read every October. It gets you in the spirit and gives you a look back at colonial New York history. There’s also a Johnny Depp movie with the same title that’s worth a (creepy) watch. And the new show on Fox isn’t bad either! It took a really interesting spin on the original story and adds a lot of new layers to it. But of course, nothing beats the book! Also, it’s very short so if you’re crunched for reading for pleasure time, this Sleepy Hollow is a great choice.

Witch Hunt is a Young Adult novel but would be an interesting read for anyone. It’s a  creative perspective on the Salem witch trials that historical biographies don’t give. This is more of an entertaining read because it is fiction but it sticks with the facts and is historically accurate.

Mysteries and Legends of New England is like grown up scary stories for telling around the campfire with s’mores. Like I said, Fall and New England go hand in hand in my mind so spooky legends focused on New England are perfect for October. The stories aren’t really scary, just eerie enough to give you the chills!

October Dreams is a collection of short stories and essays about the month and Halloween, so of course it would a fun anthology to flip through and pick a story every so often throughout the month to keep the spirit alive. Reading them out loud to kids or friends in front of the fire place would put you in the Halloween mood even more!

And the final book, Witch Hunt, is for those who are not as New England centric as me! This nonfiction book focuses on the history of witch hunts throughout Europe even before the witch trials in Salem! People in the United States, myself included, might not have ever learned too much about this part of Europe’s history but it is ver interesting indeed! If you’re already a Salem witch trial buff, don’t care for spooky stories or New England, this is for you!

Happy October!

I can't believe it's already October! But I'm oh so happy it is. This is my favorite month. I love the leaves and the cool weather. I love seeing pumpkins and gourds for sale at markets. I love the feeling of a new season and I love the yummy foods that come into season. Sweet potatoes, butternut squash, apples (Honey Crisp especially), apple cider donuts, and tangerines. It all tastes like Fall and it is my kind of comfort food. I added some pumpkin pie spice to my oatmeal this morning, just in celebration of this new month!

Today, Boston is cloudy and rain will be imminent all day. Yesterday was wet and chilly. The next few days will be the same but I like it. After a heatwave this past weekend, this really feels like Fall!

As you can imagine, AJ and I have been really busy lately. Every weekend there has been something keeping us busy. After we got back from our quick trip to Connecticut, AJ's family came for the weekend. This past weekend, my mom, godmother, cousin, and sister came to visit for the night and it was great! It's always fun having family around and they do so much for us when they're here. Plus, school and work take up just about all my time but I'm really enjoying my classes! I'll post more specifically on school later.

A few other fun things to note, it is now mine and AJ's wedding month! It is extremely crazy how quickly time has gone by since we started planning. It's so soon! And we're very excited and everything is coming together just perfectly.

Also, today is AJ's first day at his new job here in Boston! His start day had to be delayed due to the extremely slow processed of becoming licensed in another state but—the day is here! I just some him off this morning. I am so proud of him and can't believe how much he's done and how far he's come since the day I met him. He's amazing and I hope he really enjoys this job. I can't wait to hear from him and hear all about his day, but I have to leave at 5:30 for class tonight so I might just miss him!

Last month, I completely neglected this blog and—even though this month might be busier than last—I don't want to let that happen this month. My favorite month. I love blogging and I don't want to let this slip away and get lost in school and work. I'm going to work hard and try hard to keep this going and keep it interesting!

Posts on books, food, and school will be coming!