Happy Halloween! Also, Boston

Happy Halloween! There are so many festive displays around my neighborhood. I saw swarms of kids trick-or-treating around the shops on Market Street earlier. My favorite costume was a lawn gnome. My Halloween plans for tonight include scaring myself with The Haunting and eating pumpkin muffins warm from the oven.








Anna and I got a late start on our day trip to Boston so we didn't get to do everything we wanted to, but we still had a blast in this awesome city. We followed the freedom trail which included Paul Revere's house and grave, the USS Constitution, and the site of the first public school in the US. We got insanely delicious pastries at Modern Pastry (but everyone seemed to be carrying around Mike's Pastry boxes...does anyone know what's up with that place?) and stopped in for a pint at the oldest continually operating tavern in the US, Bell in Hand. My favorite thing about Boston was the cemeteries. They were so creepy and cool and situated right in the middle of things, with skinny, practically falling over gravestones, with skulls and crossbones carved into them and dates from the 1600's. I feel like I barely got a glimpse of this fascinating city and I can't wait to go back sometime in the future!

Wine on the beach in Newport

One of Anna's friends took us wine tasting in Newport. We bought a bottle and took it to the beach where we laid out some blankets and watched the sun set over the ocean. We took off our shoes and rolled up our jeans so we could put our feet into the Atlantic Ocean for the first time ever. She drove us around to see the mansions and we hung out with some of her friends and listened to her awesome reggae mix CD on repeat. Such a wonderful day!

Providence

I had such a blast in Providence! It was so great to hang out with my friend and explore the city with her. We visited some awesome places like Geoff's Superlative Sandwiches (where we quickly stopped when we were racing to catch the train to Boston and we let our sandwiches sit and get soggy which was unfortunate but we think this place is definitely worth another visit), various cemeteries (including Swan Point and one we stopped in at night and scared ourselves silly), Caserta's (for the best pizza ever), Thayer street (for Indian food, crepes, pumpkin soup, and disappointing pumpkin chai) the RISD art museum (where Anna wanted to touch everything and we heard some interesting performance art). And there was so much walking around and marveling at the beautiful fall colors and the gorgeous and huge old homes in Providence. Anna is crazy about this city and now I see why.

We also visited Newport and Boston, more on that later.

Tilth

On Sunday I had dinner at Tilth, which was fantastic! Delicious and interesting (plus organic and local!) food, great service, a cozy atmosphere. We went for the Seattle Restaurant Week deal, which is this awesome promotion where a bunch a restaurants offer a three course menu with an appetizer, entrée, and dessert for $25 and some places have lunch for $15. If you are in Seattle you should definitely check it out!

Tomorrow I am leaving for Rhode Island to visit my friend who is doing field work in Providence. So I'll be back next week, hopefully with lots of photos to share!

We're singing la, la la

Taken around my neighborhood on a photo walk.

I came across Anastassia Elias's work recently and can't stop thinking about it. She creates tiny scenes inside toilet paper rolls. They are magical.

25 things

It's my birthday today! So I decided to make one of those lists that everyone is making since I love lists and I love setting goals for myself and I want to keep track of the cool new stuff I will be doing. So here are the 25 things I want to do while I'm 25:

1. visit 3 new states
2. visit 1 new country
3. learn how to knit: in progress
4. make a mosaic
5. successfully bake croissants from scratch
6. start a regular volunteering thing
7. find a cool new charity to donate to: Valentino Achak Deng Foundation
8. see 5 SIFF films
9. shoot portraits
10. use my Polaroid camera
11. fill a wall in my apartment with favorite photos
12. create a database
13. go on a photographing adventure with my sister Amber
14. see a show at The Tractor
15. find a jazz bar/club in Seattle and go there
16. go to a play
17. go to a place where I can see the stars
18. take a yoga class
19. write in my journal at least once a week for the whole year: in progress
20. try 5 new curry recipes
21. create a photography portfolio
22. write 2 short stories
23. learn how to salsa dance
24. learn how to identify 20 wild edible plants
25. bake a loaf of oatmeal honey bread

Wooden horse and photography slide show

Just a few cool things from this month's Art Walk. I love this wooden horse hanging out on the balcony of a gallery in Pioneer Square. And I was very excited to see this slide show projected onto a brick wall across from my bus stop. I'm not sure who put on the show but according to the link at the bottom of the screen these photos were taken by Adam Sheppard. He's got some good stuff.

This transition

I'm really feeling this fall. It's creeping on slowly and it's been so nice to savor this transitional period. Taking photos has helped me notice the changing of seasons in a way I never used to. Same with shopping at the farmers market every week: seeing what's in season, watching for my favorite fruits and vegetables, trying new things, stocking up on produce before it's gone until next year. I've spent so much of my life waiting for the next thing, and it's nice for a change to really appreciate what's happening right now.

I've been thinking about Rachel's beautiful fall post and Brian's thoughtful words.

Thyme Patch Park

I stumbled on this P-Patch yesterday. I love the idea of community gardens and someday I would love to join one or something similar. I am dying to grow my own food but don't have many options since I live in an apartment building without much gardening space. Do any of you guys participate in community gardens or know how I can get in on this?