fall is in the air

Pretty, pretty autumn light. Our favorite, around here.

Oh, RIP. I am doing a very bad job of reading this year. I’m in the middle of a Charles de Lint book, which I love, but it’s not really gripping me so I’m considering abandoning it for now and going to the library and getting a big stack of RIP books. I think I will do that. I’m barely reading the de Lint and I have some scary reading to catch up on! (I feel the need to clarify: I love de Lint, and I am actually really loving this book, but for some reason I find myself finding reasons to not pick it up. I will go back to it later. But no worries! He’s one of my faves.)

My birthday was great. We puttered around the house for awhile and then Terri had an appointment, and then we decided to go to the mall. We NEVER go to the mall but Terri wanted to get me a birthday gift.

We got some super-cute riding boots (left), a skirt, a top, and some awesome costume jewelry. It’s been forever since we got to go shopping together so although she definitely paid for it in terms of exhaustion, it was really fun and a perfect birthday present. (the boots are pretty awesome too)

Then we got three different slices of cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, and ordered Chinese delivery. And settled in to watch Project Runway and catch up on other trashy TV. Pretty perfect.

Yesterday I was messing around in the art room and decided to pull up a corner of the carpet… only to discover hardwood floors! I have no idea what condition they are in, but I did some more investigation and we have hardwood in two of the bedrooms and the dining room. So awesome. So eventually I will pull up the carpet in those rooms. Sooner or later we’ll get the rest of the house done too, but three rooms is better than none, especially the dining room. The carpet in there has been depressing me. I need to move some furniture and pull it back more to see if it’s in decent condition. So that was exciting. Will probably do that in the next couple of weeks or so (I hope).

The weather is perfect today. Sunny, warm, about 85, with that gorgeous golden light.

Speaking of golden(s), Chelsea has been with us for almost two months now. Seems like we’ve had her forever, at this point. She is really starting to settle in and is doing great. She was always affectionate but now she is starting to really show it — leaning on our legs to get pets, acting overjoyed when we come home, and actively looking for snuggling on the floor (or sometimes on the bed, which technically we try to discourage but when she wants to curl up and snuggle, it’s pretty hard to resist). Because she has some health issues (almost died from liver failure) she is not as energetic as most dogs, so she is a perfect fit for us. She’s put on a few pounds and now looks like a very loved dog (instead of a kind of skinny, sad dog). What a good girl.

It’s not officially fall yet but I think it’s time for some curried butternut squash soup, maybe some apple coffee cake. Although considering the amount of cheesecake I’ve eaten in the past two days, maybe just the soup.