Autumn events...

Friday, September 25, 2015 

Friday was one of those perfect early autumn days with a temperature in the high 70s and sunny with a gentle breeze - a perfect day for a Tailgating Party. Last week a nice young lady (to clarify, someone who looked they probably only just graduated from college) from one of the hotels down the road from my company gave me a flyer inviting all of us to attend a (free) Tailgating Party they were having on their patio.

I know my coworkers well enough to know none of them would be remotely interested in attending, but in spite of that, I still stuck the flyer on our refrigerator door. I told my friend (who works upstairs) about it and she thought about it, but declined. Over dinner I mentioned it to my husband, "...unless you want to come gatecrash the Tailgating Party with me." "Sure," he answered, so I had my plus one!

There weren't a lot of attendees in hour three, but there was still plenty of food - several different kinds of sliders, pasta salad, potato salad, a relish tray, potato chips (which the flyer said were homemade), tortilla chips and salsa/humus, and some sort of bread triangles. Desserts were cookies and some sort of brownie triangles. Although we had the option of having an alcoholic beverage (which I knew would be frowned upon by my company), we both opted for the very delicious (but slow pouring) strawberry lemonade.

After cleaning our plates we both debated whether to go back for any more sliders before moving on to the dessert tray. After a brief deliberation, we opted just to go straight for the desserts. I may or may not have grabbed a cookie to go, but no one seemed to mind (or saw me tuck it away).

Since we still had a bit of time before we needed to head back, I gave my husband a quick tour of my gym (which is next door to the hotel). Now he knows what I mean when I complain about the humidity level of the track over the swimming pool, although, it being still early in the day, it didn't actually feel too bad. In spite of it being a bit of a 'no frills" (i.e., a bit grungy in places) gym, he seemed to like it, so there may be a chance of a membership later.

All in all a nice lunch break with a little spontaneity, which is always nice.

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Today my husband and I did one of my favorite autumn traditions (though I only do this every few years), which was to go apple picking. Last time I did this was in 2013 I think when I went to Lynd Fruit Farm in Pataskala with my mom, sister and a friend. This time I wanted to try somewhere closer, so upon a recommendation from a coworker, we went to The Orchard and Company in Plain City. They were having a fall festival, so there was plenty of people and joyful noises coming from all the children.

After some minor deliberating, we opted to buy one small bag and one large bag, which cost us about $34. We picked mostly Macoun, but I wandered further afield and picked what might have been Gala apples (the sign said ‘Variety’) and a handful of Golden Delicious. We definitely got our money’s worth as we filled our bags to the brim and tried one of the little Gala (?) apples before leaving.

Since I heard that Yutzey’s Farm Market was nearby, we decided to stop there next. I couldn’t resist picking up a couple albino pumpkins for the front porch. Inside it was your typical farm market with fresh meat and produce, lots of jams and jellies, pickles (I chose a jar of Million Dollar pickles), relishes, and all manner of sweets. I was also surprised to see an aisle with various kinds of baking powders – different kinds of flour, cornmeal, sugar, etc. I bought a bag of organic sprouted whole grain wheat flour to use in making homemade bread since that’s supposed to be healthier than using regular white flour. I also grabbed a couple bags of homemade oatmeal – red raspberry and wild blueberry. My final purchase was a pumpkin flavored fry pie. I coaxed Andrew into buying one too, so he selected a Black Raspberry one.

On Sunday we used some of our Golden Delicious apples (and leftover bagels) to make Grandma’s Apple Bread Pudding (an internet recipe). It was very good and we still have a few apples left for eating, so we froze the leftover bread pudding and will probably just eat the apples this week.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Today we attended a screening of the annual “Manhattan Short Film Festival.” We had our choice between two local theatres – the Gateway Film Center or the Grandview Theatre. Since going to the Gateway often means playing chicken with students who like to just walk right out into the middle of the street, it was an easy decision to chose the Grandview Theatre. Plus, we like to support the little guy, and going to Grandview is always fun. Too bad ‘Pure Imagination Chocolatier’ was closed. I’m still hoping to sample some of their ice cream (tried their chocolates back in July and they’re quite good).

As per normal, there are ten finalists and they’re all international films. This year it seemed that most were from either France or Germany. Hence, lots of subtitles to read. My top three favorites were: “Dad in Mum,” “Bis Gleich,” and “Grounded.” “Bear Story” was a close fourth. I voted for “Grounded,” though I think “Shok” will probably win. It's a movie about the ongoing conflict in Kosovo. Although it certainly wasn't the only dramatic film, it was the film with the most social conscience. Andrew voted for “Bis Gleich.”

The reason I voted for "Grounded" was because of how involved I felt with the film because it had me on the edge of my seat eager to find out what would happen next. It's about a woman with a newborn trying to travel to London from Paris to attend her mother's funeral, but forgets her daughter's birth certificate. Hence, there's an endless amount of delays and dealings with several airport staff, but rest assured it does have a happy, albeit sweaty, ending. It also shows the power of good when someone goes above and beyond the call of duty in their job, so I felt inspired by that.

I will be eager to see who wins next Monday (Oct. 5^th) when they announce it over the internet at 10am EST.

After getting back from the movie I had an appointment to get my hair cut. I wanted bangs like Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge. I made sure to put photos on my phone so my stylist had a good reference point. Though my hair isn’t nearly as long as Kate’s, nor do I plan on letting it grow anywhere near that long, I figured bangs couldn’t hurt. I think I made the right decision, and I definitely have a different look than I’ve ever had before, so it’s a refreshing change (especially along with all the new clothes I’ve bought this year). Here’s a photo of me dressed in my Princess Kate-wannabe blue dress.

 

Have a good week everyone!