Just a quickie before I head out for the weekend. Last week Emily, Jim, Tom, and I carved pumpkins! I haven’t carved a pumpkin in I don’t know how many years. It was so much fun. We also toasted the seeds, mmmmm. Also: use a grapefruit spoon to scoop the insides out. Just sayin’.

And today on Full House I saw this pumpkin…genius!

The weather has been lovely lately, so crisp and chilly, and today I even needed my winter coat! As much as it’s a drag to wake up at 5:30am on Fridays, I love being out and about in the chilly morning before it even gets light out. And walking about downtown just as the sun comes up. Call me crazy but that really is my favorite time of day.

Today I made slow cooker applesauce and bought my first sweet potatoes of the season. This weekend I plan to catch up on work, watch The Crow and maybe House on Haunted Hill for old time’s sake, clean the house a little bit, call my grandma, and just relax. I don’t really do much for Halloween myself — I’m much more of a Thanksgiving girl (who wants candy when you can have an entire feast?!). And I live in an apartment building so there won’t be any trick or treaters coming to my door.

Does anyone else have any plans for the weekend, exciting or not?

When I saw this shop that Lindsey over at Lost & Fawned posted, I knew I immediately had to check it out. I have been searching for the perfect perfume for a while now, and it is so frustrating. I’m very picky with my scents, and often traditional spray perfumes don’t do it for me. I’ve been using perfume oils for a while now, but nothing has quite hit the spot. I’ve tried Auric Blends, Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs, and some brand that Whole Foods carries, all to no avail. I’ve been looking for a wintry scent: something warm, sweet, smoky, and a little minty. I’ve come to love mint smells on people because Jason is always chewing Trident gum and so there’s the vaguest cloud of mint scent around him much of the time, and I love it. But you would not believe how hard it is to find a perfume oil that incorporates a note of mint. I don’t want to wear just mint oil; I’ve been looking for more of a “mint tobacco” scent, if that makes sense. I also love the smell of my morning cuppa; since I have been avoiding coffee, I’ve been drinking a mug of strong lapsang souchong with milk and honey every morning, and I love the scent. But it’s also been impossible to find a tea-scented perfume. (Seriously, perfume manufacturers, what gives? Why all the flowers and powder and lace and frills all the time? Try something different, for once.)

Flourish Bath & Body has the most “me”-sounding perfume oil scents that I’ve seen, most notably Black Tea & Mint. I just ordered a three-pack sample of perfumes, and I got that, Ginger Tea, and Woodsmoke & Vanilla. I am impossibly excited for this package to get here. Like, I can’t even describe. I don’t know what it is about having a “signature scent” but I like the idea of having one. I wore Puma Flowing perfume religiously last year, but either my body chemistry has changed or the little amount I have left has gone off, because I just don’t like it on me anymore. Just as well, because they no longer manufacture it.

This shop also makes lip tints that I’m super excited to try, but as this was my first time ever ordering from Etsy, I wanted to keep it simple with just one order, lest I mess it up (which, umm, I still sorta did. I’m a grandma when it comes to e-shopping, seriously). Next time I’m going to try some of those, though, because I hate everything about lipstick and lipgloss, but I still want some color. And again, you would not believe how hard it is to find simple tinted lip balms that don’t look like cheap little girl makeup. I’m so glad I know about this shop now, she seems to be solving my two great beauty product frustrations. I just hope the perfumes are as good as they sound!

Images via Flourish Bath & Body.

I have been thoroughly enjoying this weather lately. Though this weekend was warm (too warm!) the majority of the days have been just the right degree of chilly, and the nights are blustery and call for soup, wool socks, and big blankets. This is, without a doubt, the start of my favorite time of year.

Last weekend we hung curtains in the living room and took down the last of the balcony garden. I was sad to see it go, but I’ve saved the soil in the pots and will plant spring bulbs around Thanksgiving time so that they’ll bloom come March or April. I can’t wait to have a big pot full of hyacinths!

I’ve also started making crock pot soup. Last weekend we had butternut squash and sweet potato soup, and yesterday we had mushroom chili, both from Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. I don’t own that book but I think I’ll be putting it on my Christmas list. I can’t believe how much more delicious soups are when made in the slow cooker as opposed to on the stovetop. And I love how I can throw the ingredients in right before I leave for work or class, turn it on, and when I come home I have a meal all ready to eat. I don’t know how I have lived this long without it.

Today I went and got some new candles, one autumn one and two winter ones. My apartment smells so divine right now! I can’t wait until it’s time to burn the winter ones. And that little pumpkin dish is from the thrift store by my dad’s house. It was just $1.50. So cute, right?

I’ve decided to ix-nay the pretentious posts. I’ve mentioned this before but I am most inspired by personal/inspirational blogs, and I feel I have so much in my life to share that I want to use this as an outlet for that. You may notice a new look around here, and I promise to try to update more frequently, and more personally. I also have decided to try to bring my camera with me more places, and to actually use it, because I have all but stopped taking photos, and that makes me sad. I may even start using film more. We’ll see.

(Oh! P.S. I’m using Flickr for my photos, just a test run for now, because I really prefer the way that Flickr handles images as opposed to WordPress. So you can click through to the bigger images on my Flickr page now.)