Looking, Playing, Wasting

Making: Excellent use of our new island - it makes our kitchen such a happy place to hang out in
Cooking: This perfectly autumnal mushroom lasagna
Drinking: A splash of wine nearly every night after Lizzy goes down for the night
Reading: This should say "slogging" since I've been working on this since August, but Longbourn
Wanting: Track pants, real bad
Looking: Oh so tired these days - I need an industrial strength eye cream or something :)
Playing: On my new iPad (I've become one teeny tiny percent more hip!) 
Wasting: Time searching for the perfect baby Halloween costume
Sewing: A new valance for my kitchen window (a total cheat answer because my Mom actually did the sewing for me!)
Wishing: I felt more clear headed
Enjoying: The evening routine we've worked out, which involves playing with Lizzy for a few hours when I get home, then her bath, stories, and bed, followed by dinner, a TV show, and dessert - always dessert - for Peter and me
Waiting: Until the October madness calms down in Salem before checking out this lovely looking exhibit
Liking: How settled our house is feeling these days, even as I make plans for a few more adjustments
Wondering: If we'll be able to pull off a big trip in 2015
Loving: My little clan more and more each day
Hoping: To make a batch of this in very near future
Marveling: At these awesome floating babies in Houston
Needing: To get some dates on the books with friends - we've been somewhat hermetic 
Smelling: Lizzy's head every night at 5:00 p.m.
Wearing: Ballet flats as much as possible before the endless season of boots begins
Following: The new-to-me blog Aspiring Kennedy
Noticing: How beautiful Boston looks this fall - the leaves have exploded in color in the last week
Knowing: Some Top 40 songs for the first time since college, thanks to a lingering Sirius XM subscription in our new-to-us second car (my current fave)
Thinking: That our new normal is starting to feel just that
Feeling: So excited to tag along with my sister to do some wedding dress shopping tomorrow
Bookmarking: Tons of recipes from Jamie Oliver's magazine - it's been a treasure trove of inspiration 
Opening: The windows just a smidge to get some of that delightfully crisp fall air in the house
Giggling: Over Lizzy's seemingly deep voice - it's seriously just like this when she laughs
Feeling: Lucky, lucky, lucky 

This post was inspired by Meet Me at Mikes!

Roasted chicken with fall vegetables

This dinner was so good - roasted chicken done the Ina way (basically, lots of butter, stuffed with lemons and herbs). I used to do it the Dorie hurry-up-and-wait way, but eh. It's kind of fussy, and this is nearly as good.

The real star was the roasted vegetables underneath, though, if you can believe that. I cleared out the fridge pre-Thanksgiving, throwing onions, carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, white potato, and garlic all in a big pile, setting the chicken with all its glorious fat on top. Yowzers. Leftovers were served the next day over quinoa - the perfect slightly bitter grain for all those rich vegetables.

Glimpses of Fall + Lemony Arugula and Apple Salad

Last weekend we went up to Crane for a beautiful final beach day of the summer. On the way home, we stopped at Russell Orchards, and it was like being literally thrust into autumn. Pumpkins and corn stalks and apples galore.

I bought a half dozen Cortland apples that I've been snacking on throughout the week. They're so crisp and perfect! Last night Peter grilled a brined pork tenderloin (on our new-to-us Weber grill that I'd been searching on Craig's list for for weeks!), and he threw together this dead-simple salad to go along with. It's a basic dressing with olive oil, a forkful of Dijon, salt, pepper, and the juice of one small lemon (so, very lemony!). Then add in thin slices of apple, toss, and enjoy. This would work just as nicely with kale as the season progresses, too.

Are you feeling ready for fall? Or trying to hold on to summer as much as possible? I'm trying to a little bit of both in this funny in between time of year.

Loving Lately

There's kind of a sub-genre of historical fiction geared toward women that starts with "the" at the moment (Exhibit A and B). Strange, no? The latest I've read in this category is The Chaperone. In the summer of 1922, a soon-to-be starlet and her middle-aged chaperone trapeze around New York. I developed great affection for the heroine (and a mixed bag of emotions for the complicated Louise Brooks). This is a good book to ease you into more serious reading for fall :)

I seriously can't believe I haven't shared my love of Fringe here before, because it's been going strong for months. We are currently wrapping up the fourth season, and I'm eagerly awaiting the fifth on Netflix. If you liked Lost and X Files, I think you'll enjoy this one, too. Plus, PACEY WITTER!!!

I've never purchased address labels before because my apartments always felt so temporary (even though I lived in some for years!). Now that we're more settled with the house, I want one of these brilliant self-inking stamps. (I always strategically put something in here that I want you all to encourage me to buy. I totally need this, right?!?)

A few other things I'm excited about:

• Do you all follow New Yorker writer David Grann on twitter? He posts the very best stuff. 
• As soon as my front steps are no longer in the midst of a construction zone, I want mums and polka dot pumpkins. 
• Next weekend, I want attempt these button-up window shades for the back porch. Right on schedule, I'm ready to sew again!