Autumn, a time for change

This is a picture I took from Fall of last year.

The cool weather is here, and I'm loving it! The windows are open, the crisp air is coming in, and I'm freshening up the blankets. The leaves are beginning to change, and I feel like its a metaphor for my life--a little bit of revamping, change, and new things to come. This Fall is a very exciting and hopeful one for me.

Here are somethings that I'm expecting to happen this Fall:

- My Mom is coming up to celebrate her 60th birthday along with my two older twin Brothers. They haven't been up here yet, so I am thrilled to have my family here--I can't wait! :)

- I am starting another yoga teacher training. This time, here in Philadelphia with Yoga Schelter and RYAH yoga. It should be a very challenging yet rewarding journey. I can't wait to challenge myself mentally, physically, and spiritually. I'm sure I will be blogging all about it!

- I am having prolotherapy done on my hip (next week!). Its an alternative orthopedic procedure to non-surgically reconstruct joints, ligaments, and tendons weakened by trauma or arthritis (for those who don't know, I have a bad hip--born with congenital hip dysplasia, had several surgeries as a child, which has caused me to now have arthritis). This procedure makes me extremely nervous because it looks incredibly painful (think flavor injecting a turkey with a big ass needle)! It looks awful, but it is about time I do something about all of the pain that I have on a daily basis. Pray that it works! Apparently my other alternative is a hip replacement--no bueno. :(

- Our dear friend Danny is coming to visit on Halloween weekend from Florida! He has been to Puerto Rico to visit us a couple of times, but hasn't been to Philly yet. Its always a fun time when Danny is around. He is one of Allan's best friends and like another brother to me.

- Apparently, I am in charge of making Allan and Danny's Halloween costumes this year. God help me. Lol!

- We are having a Halloween cocktail/costume party at our place this year. I've realized that I really don't entertain as much as I'd like to and I just looove to dress up, so...why not?

- I am also making our dog's halloween costumes for the annual doggy halloween costume contest in my apt building. Yep, busting out the sewing machine and all. They will be winners for sure. I have some ideas and will tell you what ALL the boys will be later. ;)

- I just started a new semester of school for my CAM (Complementary Alternative Medicine) degree. I still LOVE it, and it is going very well. I will be a student forever it seems.

- I am doing a major overhaul of organizing and cleaning our apartment. One bedroom down, two more to go, plus two bathrooms...oh, and the kitchen! We have collected too many things move after move and some of it will just have to go to Goodwill or donated elsewhere. I don't even want to think about all of the stuff that is in our storage facility...good lawd!

Hmmm...Well, thats all I can think of right now. Hahha! If anyone has any good ideas for halloween costumes (pet or human), party recipes, or decorations, leave me a comment! :)

Blue Hill Fair

I was just thinking about all of the fun that we had at the Blue Hill Fair in Maine. I thought I'd post some of the pics that I took. We seriously felt like it was something out of a movie. Everyone was holding hands with their family members, riding rides, playing carny games, holding big, pink, puffy cotton candy cones, and entering contests (quilts, crochet, produce, pies, etc.). It was a nice break from the city life. It screamed Americana. Almost too much. I couldn't believe it.

Howdy! :)

This lady made yarn from her own sheep.

I think everyone in town entered a flower from their garden to be judged.

The 3 Horse Hitch Pull (talk about horse-power!)

I really felt like we were in another era.

The farm that inspired Charlotte's Web

The sheep were super friendly, and so fluffy

This dude looked so sad. (He had GREAT hair though)

The Ferris Wheel

Sweet piglets (they were so adorable!)

We said no to fried dough,

and opted out on the Bologna Burgers...

and had Thai food (of course)! LOL! (small cart on the left)

Ciao bella!

Our trip has come to an end and we are on the road again tomorrow morning. I really didn't expect to get so attached to Maine or the people like I did. I included some photos of the guest cottage that we have been so fortunate to stay in. This place is incredibly wonderful! I see us coming back again someday. I feel like the Bianco family have become family to us, and I will never forget them. I think I may have even asked if they wanted to adopt me. :) My heart is full and I feel so blessed to have been able to visit this beautiful place. We stopped by their house tonight to say goodbye and shared our last glass of wine with each other...for now. They gave us a nice bottle of french wine and some homemade blueberry jam that Mrs. Bianco made this summer. I made Mrs. Bianco (Diane) promise that she'd send me a signed copy of her cookbook that will be released later in the fall if not, early winter. We traded hugs and swore to keep in touch. They will definitely be on my Christmas card list for years to come. :)
I am now ready to head back to Philly feeling fulfilled and ready to go about my routine and everyday life.
Ciao, Bianco's and grazie mille! xoxo

She's a Maine-iac...

Allan and I are in Brooklin, ME right now on vacation. Well, not really vacation. Allan is here for work, attending the Wooden Boat School (a school where they build, yep you guessed it--wooden boats), and I am just living the life of leisure along with our two dogs. :) Not bad. We only have a couple of days left, and it makes me sad.
We took a 2 day roadtrip to get here from Philly and it was a blast! I must say, Allan and I are wonderful travel partners. He puts up with my obnoxious, "Ooh, I LOOOOVE this song!", and my, "OOH! What's that???"...you'd think I had never been anywhere before. Then when you top it all off with my obnoxious singing voice, wow. I'm lucky to still have Allan in my life.
We have a perfect snacking pattern in the car. First, we enjoy something salty like, Chex Mix. Then we move to sweet, my favorite being Fiddle Faddle. Later we will end it all with a nice handful of sunflower seeds to spit in plastic cups while talking about our dreams and options of where we could live next. Our little salty-sweet rotation. Its a routine, we love it, and we do it well. No one said it was healthy. ;)
While driving up to Maine we went through Vermont. Now that's a place that I could live. It was GORGEOUS! Burlington, Vermont to be exact. It reminded me of an Austin, TX in the mountains. Its a college, bohemian-artsy town with a lot of character, great shopping, and cool pubs. I wish we could have visited there longer instead of just driving through and staying one night. From what I could tell, I'd definitely move there. I NEVER thought I'd say that. Honestly, I never even gave Vermont a chance...it wasn't in my radar. Now I know.
Although, I do think the winter's would be way too harsh for me. I like the warm tropical climates. Scarves and boots are nice, but the novelty wears off quick.

While in Vermont, we stopped at a cute, old General Store so that I could get some maple syrup--because that's what you do in Vermont. I don't even really eat pancakes or could even tell you the last time that I've made them, but I did watch a Martha Stewart episode where they tapped syrup from maple trees and was pretty amazed. This image stuck in my head, hence why it was a mission of mine to find 100% pure Vermont Maple Syrup! So we did. I hope it's good, the stuff isn't cheap. I see french toast in my future. :)

Once we got to Maine, we settled in our beautiful, oceanfront guest cottage and immediately felt right at home. Ahh...the fresh air and cool breezes...
Since we've been here we have partied with the owners of the guest house, The Bianco's, a family that distributes meat and Italian sausage products to all of the local restaurants...possibly mafia related??? haha! Who knows, and who cares--they are great! Laughter and Limoncello, a great combo. We also went rowing along the Maine coastline (Um, well, kinda. poor Allan--long story), went to The Blue Hill Fair (the one that inspired the book Charlotte's Web), did some hiking, biking, shopping, sampled lobster ice cream in Bar Harbor (Yes, ew. This is also something I saw on tv and HAD to at least try), and have seen some of the most amazing sights ever! I will be sad to leave, but have met some incredible people and will take this trip with me forever. I will always have a sweet spot in my heart for little ol' Brooklin, Maine, population: 722.