Sweater Weather Tag!

I saw this tag on Kayley's Closet and thought I'd do it myself to get into the fall/winter/holiday spirit!

Favorite candle scent?
I'm not a big candle person because I'm afraid of fire :/
BUT I do love the way candles smell, and if I had to pick a favorite scent, it would probably be something spicy and autumnal. I especially love things that smell like cinnamon.

Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?
I somehow got through college and grad school without being converted to coffee, so not the first. Black tea (along with bread) is one of my basic life's essentials, but I truly am a hot chocolate fanatic. I judge cafes and restaurants based on how good their hot chocolate is - and the best way to get in my good graces is to serve spiced hot chocolate. Yummmmm.

What's the best fall memory you have?
Hm, hard to pick a favorite. One favorite memory from last fall in England was going to see the fireworks in the park on Guy Fawkes night. It wasn't just fireworks (although they were spectacular) - there were also food stands and games and rides and a giant bonfire. I'd never really been to a 'country fair' kind of thing, so it was really fun to wander around, try and fail at the games, and soak up some much needed warmth from the fire (despite above-mentioned fear of flames).

Which make-up trend do you prefer: dark lips or winged eyeliner?
I'm not sure why winged eyeliner is specific to fall.... But in any case, I'd say, for myself, dark lips. I've always been more of a smoky eye girl.

Best fragrance for fall?
Not a perfume person. Maybe cinnamon?

Favorite Thanksgiving food?
Stuffing. Stuffing, stuffing, stuffing.

What is autumn weather like where you live?
Much warmer than where I lived last year! Now that I'm back in the bay area, I'm enjoying clear, sunny days, most of which have been really warm as well. It's only this week that the temperature dropped about ten degrees. Now it really feels like fall, and I'm eagerly pulling out my scarves and my knitting needles.

Most worn sweater?
A pale grey pull-over that goes with basically everything. Then I like to dress it up with colorful scarves.

Must-have nail polish this fall?
My favorites for fall and winter are dark reds and greens. I have one stupendously deep and sparkly green from Butter London that's just perfect for holiday parties.

Football games or jumping in leaf piles?
Leaf piles. Obviously.

Skinny jeans or leggings?
I just got my first pair of leggings/jeggings. They are super comfortable, it must be admitted. But I also love jeans, because you can depend on them for almost everything you do.

Combat boots or Uggs?
Er, neither? Tall brown leather boots are more my thing.

Is pumpkin spice worth the hype?
Probably, yes.

Favorite fall TV show?
Hm, haven't really been watching much TV because I've been trying to read more.

What song really gets you into the fall spirit?
Timshel by Mumford and Sons, I think. It captures something calm and quiet that I love about cold months - something far from the busy-busy of holiday shopping or parties, but which is so lovely to find in between the busier moments.

Pancake weather

I've been experimenting a lot more with my cooking and baking this year and been wanting to share the results on this blog. And what better to start off with than breakfast? And did I mention it's raining? So obviously we need pancakes.

So here are some apple-cinnamon pancakes I made to start off the day yesterday and today. I got the idea to put shredded apple in the batter off the internet, but I used my own recipe for the batter. Well, when I say recipe, I mean the casual, estimated-proportions, busy-before-school recipe that I've come up with this year. It starts with one egg and a cup of milk (or milk mixed with yoghurt, which gives a fluffier pancake, I think), and then I add a little bit of baking soda and baking powder, salt, and as much flour (or oats, or cornmeal) as I need to get it to batter-like consistency. It never turns out quite as good as following some of my favorite recipes for pancakes, but sometimes I don't have the right ingredients or am too lazy to do proper proportions. Or, like in this case, I want to try something new.

I must warn you, these are pretty gooey, no matter how long I let them cook, but I'm OK with gooey. The apples (which I shredded with a cheese grater) give them great texture. I added a bunch of shakes of cinnamon but would recommend even more, because I couldn't really taste it too well. I added nutmeg, too, but not sure I could taste it as such.

Finally, these photos are from day 2, so as you can see, the batter keeps well overnight in the fridge. Yummy and ready in no time. I do enjoy putting together the batter in the morning, though. So often, I think, we rush through our mornings, trying to get somewhere or harness our energy to work before it wanes later in the day. But sometimes it's nice to put that energy into something restorative, like standing in the quiet kitchen stirring oatmeal and doing a little gentle yoga while it bubbles away. I find that if I do something like that first thing in the morning, I end up feeling more productive and accomplished than if I had plunged straight into work.

So, give these pancakes a try, and let me know how it turns out. Or do you have a favorite variant on the basic batter recipe?

Arrivals II

This is my second arrivals post, since I have now landed in the place I'll be living and studying for the next year. So although I went through passport control and walked past the "Nothing to Declare" sign at the airport about 2 months ago, I still feel like I'm embarking on the adventure. I'm starting to settle, but I haven't quite stopped ruffling my feathers in attempts to get more cozy in my new nest.

When I arrived at school, I was overwhelmed by new people and places and the sense that I had landed in a much bigger pond than I was for my undergraduate degree. Actually, I still feel that way a little. But there have been bright spots during the last week or so that promise a future sense of warmth and familiarity that will gradually replace the homesickness and confusion.

First, when I showed up at registration with my important documents in hand, the first thing they did was offer me a free novel. Could there have been any better sign that I've come to the right place to study literature?

Then there was the nice bookshop owner who special ordered in a copy of a book I have to read by Monday and recognized me when I came in the following day to pick it up. There was the relief at finding that my share-house actually does have both washer and dryer and I won't have to struggle to get my clothes to dry in the cold English winter. The wonderful Italian deli with free samples and delicious panini; the discovery of a nature reserve right next to my house; the news that Ian McEwan is coming here to talk about his latest book, and subsequent pleasure of tearing through said book over the weekend, letting everything strange and confusing melt away for a few hours every day as I leaped back into the story to pursue that most basic of goals: to find out what happens next.

I guess (not to be existential or anything) that that kind of sums up my life right now. I'm not really sure what to expect from this new city, new school, new community, so I'm just waiting to see what happens next, what strange encounter or new discovery I stumble upon each day, and how each little thing affects the way I see this place and anticipate the coming year of study.

So, here I am. Stay tuned for more travel observations and - judging from my reading lists - lots and lots and lots of book reviews.

Pre-departure thoughts

Oops. I was doing really well there for a while, blogging a couple of days in a row. Then I got busy. Sorry about that.

I leave for England in 8 days. How is that possible? Half of my desk is covered with things-I'm-bringing-to-England. I've made a preliminary packing list. It's kind of starting to feel a little bit real. But only a little, because even up until the moment I step onto the plane, it will still be unreal to me that I'll be thousands of miles away in another country, on another continent, starting the new phase of my life, which I've been planning for SO long.

It's odd, though, how as I begin this year, I'm already thinking of next year. I spent the last month-and-a-half sorting through all my belongings, from childhood toys to college notebooks, and in addition to making me feel hopelessly materialist and sentimental, that process also gave me a very strong desire to start establishing a space where I can live with all my objects, where I can hang the pictures I never hung up or admire the books that are currently packed carefully into cardboard boxes.

So I thought I'd do a little 5-year plan here, before I set off, a list of things I want to achieve in the next few years. In no particular order, I'd like to:

Move into a house with friends.

Own a cat.

Earn a master's degree.

Start earning my keep.

Get something published (could be a story, a few articles, a book).

Write something (could be a novel, a series of short stories....This should probably come before getting something published).

Travel to New Zealand and/or Scandinavia

Start playing around with my video camera again.

Start playing music again.

Become a more accomplished seamstress and sew more of my own clothes.

Become more fit.

I guess that's it for now. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is literally all I know about what I want to do after this year. Who needs plans, anyway?

Right now, I'm focusing on this year, about which I'm both very excited and pretty nervous. I'm starting to get intermittent bouts of butterflies in my stomach. I'm an odd combination of ambitious and not adventurous. I'm both curious and timid. Which is why I'm going to England, not, say, India.

So even though I have a very strong nesting instinct, which is making me dream of a nice big house with a nice big kitchen and a library and a workshop...I'm going to indulge my wanderlust a little before I give into my nestlust.

My next post may be coming to you from England. Maybe I'll even start posting some pictures of my travels here. Who knows? I'm practicing exploring and not knowing.