today today today

Today I walked to Trader Joe's on my lunch break and I can say that it is officially COLD out. I love the change of seasons--as soon as you think that you just can't take another hot day, the air blows colder and then, suddenly, you've got your gloves on. I love fall clothing, too. Wool! Boots! Yes!

Tonight Lev and I are having a date. We're going to this vegetarian Indian restaurant in Lakeview that we love. I'm planning on eating an absurd amount of food. And round two of the date is, um, Costco. What can I say? We are romantics.

This is the first weekend in three weeks that I'll be able to enjoy from home. I was in New York for my grandfather's funeral, and then at a work conference, and then back in NY with Lev to visit family and friends. I love NY, but I really love my apartment. Lev and I have decided that what we'd love most of all would be an apartment in NY. That's for real, too--but it has to wait until he graduates.

While in NY I got to catch up with some wise and wonderful friends, relatives, and in-betweens. The smart people in my life remind me to stop, breathe, smile--and go forward holding onto newly considered ideas and expanded plans. The future is fluid.

OK.

I made this. This is the first bundt-pan cake that I've made that didn't completely fall apart. Success!

a great man.

My grandfather passed away on Thursday, October 6 at 9:20 pm EST. He was 92. Born in Brooklyn, he lived his entire life in New York. He turned Publix shirt company from a one-factory operation (and before my grandfather's time, it was an apartment operation ran by my great-great-grandmother) into a union company with factories all over the country. He was a hard worker and a person who never forgot where he came from; he was also a loving and kind man who will be missed by his family and, as I discovered at his funeral this past Sunday, everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him. He was an avid walker who took special notice of the birds and the squirrels in his neighborhood; I believe I got my love of watching the neighborhood squirrels from my grandfather. My brother and I will miss his wisdom and his ability to confound us with word problems and, as my mother so eloquently eulogized, "his lap to sit on." It has been 25 years since I climbed onto his lap. I miss you, Grandpa.

Sheldon Berdon. November 12, 1918–October 6, 2011. Photo taken 1980. 

My Pacific Northwest fashion sense strikes again!

Today my business-casual is something that Billy Bob Thornton's character in "Slingblade" would have worn to his job.

walk with me

Lev and I went on a walk in the forest preserve yesterday. I had to really fight my instincts not to quote the Grateful Dead in this blog post.

This is my favorite time of year--a burnt sienna touches all things in the woods. Even the deer knows that winter is approaching.

Saturday morning, ten a.m. Oat pancakes.