tradition.

third year in a row.

caramel apples with my besties. 

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only this this year, i did round two.

we needed MORE!

you'll need:

-apples. pretty round ones. i chose gala's.

-caramel bits. one bag covers five (or so) apples.

-white chocolate chips

-brown sugar

-cinnamon

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-milk chocolate chips

-coconut

be sure to wash your apples in hot water. 

this melts the shiny wax off and will help the caramel to stick a little better. 

prepare a cookie sheet with waxed paper sprayed with cooking spray.

i used the double broiler method to melt my sweets. it was easier not to burn them that way.

i'm very good at burning things. 

i dipped the apples in caramel first. then let them cool completely in the fridge while melting my chocolate chips.  

i frosted on the chocolate, (i liked that look better than the dipping method) sprinkled on the toppings, then back to the fridge for more chilling. 

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the funnest part? packaging them up. 

-black grosgrain ribbon

-manila tags - initialed.

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and then delivered!

one birthday.

charlie grey turns one! 

photos by: danyelle mathews + kristin andelin + me. 

custom cake toppers by: roxana barrus for roxy marj

the circle game.

on this day last year:

my belly was big. and tight.

my mommy was here - baking a baby-be-born-soon pie.

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there were cranberries. 

and a crumbly topping.

crisp apples.

cinnamon.

 and lot's and lot's of love.

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we tucked ourselves in for the night

...and then there was a babe.

right now:

this is very quickly becoming my favorite time of the day. 

my time. 

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am loving:

 ryan adams. without the cardinals. 

it's like finding a long lost friend. 

mmmm. missed that voice.

and it's full of A-plus-L-equals-true-love dancing songs.

am loving:

cath's new space. 

can't wait for her to fill it with new words. 

and loved the one-in-the-morn phone calls until we got it right. 

am loving:

my husband back to building houses. and not apartments. 

we can breathe again.

and he comes home happy from a day spent doing work that he really truly loves. 

that is so lucky.

am loving:

the peaceful light.

the lamp on at eight o'clock in the evening.

the curtains drawn.

my favorite part of these few cozy months.

am loving:

feeding my family. good food.

food from my own stovetop. 

from my own warm oven.

and discovering that i can. 

we call these russian donuts 'round here.

only andrey actually says something like donuts in russian.

he says they're just like some sweet little pastries that his mom used to make.

...and he'd hide them in his pockets.

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i've been stuffing my own boys' bellies up with them. 

hoping that they'll remember them too, someday.

this kind of day.

it's raining outside. 

it was a downpour - now it's just a drizzle. 

and it doesn't smell like pretty rain - it smells like worms. 

and the sky is gray. 

this is not the good kind.

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 it matches my mood. 

i woke up in one. 

and since it's raining - i can't escape the laundry pile.

not helping.

the only cure for this - is adventure.

and finding a good song to match. 

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it's gonna be iron + wine. from around the well. i'm pretty sure.

and it's a good thing i've got the cutest plaid umbrella,
this side of the blue bridge.

'cause me and those gavi feets - we're going out. 

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cath, get those rain boots on the big brown truck and headed this way. stat!

for sippin' pumpkin steamers on:

i'm still awake.

12:37 a.m.

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tryin' to convince myself into (or is it out of) those pillows.

and that rug. 

to change it up around here for the seasons.

only i can't find any curtain panels.

or i'd have clicked 'buy' and gone to bed a loooong time ago. 

help me?

pillows | throw | pillow | rug

little fox. eleven months.

we went through a long list of names before settling on charlie. 

and an even longer one before we came to charlie grey. 

he was almost harper. 

we rolled the two around in our hearts for days after he was born. 

said them both out-loud. over and over and over again. 

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in the end - the decision was mine. 

i played it this way:

if he was charlie - would i miss harper? 

if he was harper - would i miss charlie? 

i missed charlie more. 

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i had a dream about a red fox when this little bub was growing in my belly. 

and every time i imagined him after that, i pictured his sly foxy totem. 

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his almost middle names: true, red, fox, wild or blue. 

decided on: grey. because of the gray morning rain on the day he was born. 

and well... because it just sounded so. very. handsome. 

i should have gone with fox. or wild. or red. 

his dark baby hair has slowly faded to strawberry. here to stay.

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this boy has a wild heart. and i knew it all along. 

it thumped his wild heart message to me while i dreamt and he grew.

this little red fox of mine. 

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wild fox photo by Dave AC