One-Bowl Pumpkin Bread

This fall I've made a number of pumpkin related baked goods, but this one is easily my favorite because it is simple, delicious and not ridiculously unhealthy.

3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. cloves
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 c. melted butter
1 2/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. mashed roasted (pie) pumpkin
1/4 c. cold water (if your mashed pumpkin is watery, use less)
1 Tbs. molasses

Mix all ingredients together. Put in greased loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 65-80 minutes.

A Weekend in Shenandoah

Some pictures from a weekend in Shenandoah last month courtesy of facebook.

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge and beyond

Pictures from a trip to Virginia Beach:

First Landing State Park.

The "knees" of the cypress trees that function to deliver oxygen to the tree

Hello Turtle

Military base lighthouses.

Here I am descending the stairs of the old Cape Henry lighthouse

This is the new Cape Henry lighthouse

Photos from around Virginia Beach

backbay wildlife refuge.

Colosseum

The Collesseum was amazing.

The Cats of Rome

There are homeless cats that roam the ruins of Rome. When I approached this one, it walked over to the wall and sat down with its back to me. Very strange cat behavior. The cats encountered in the gardens of Palatine Hill acted similarly.

Berlin

This is a palace near where my friend Hayley lives in Charlottenburg. Had such a good time with Hayley going to the various Christmas markets. We ended up walking around the palace grounds and when we'd gotten all the way around a caretaker told us that we weren't supposed to be in the gardens this late and we would have to walk all the way back around to get out (even though our exit point was a mere 20 feet from where we were standing and hadn't been closed yet!). So we walked all the way back around to the other gate which had just been shut by another caretaker. Hayley asked him (in German) if he could please let us out and thankfully he did. What a long, cold night it would have been had he not.

Hayley is an amazing violinist and is in Berlin to play with the orchestras there. Next time I visit her, hopefully I'll be able to catch one of her performances as I haven't been able to watch her play since we were little.

Manneken Pis

The peeing boy of Brussels was presented to us as "the Eiffel Tower of Brussels". These colorful guys are actually little replicas in a Belgian chocolate shop, but the actual boy is peeing into a fountain on a nondescript intersection of two nondescript streets. You'd totally miss it if you weren't looking for it, but luckily my friend was there to point it out to us.

Brussels was a really pretty city.

It rained for most of the time and by nightfall, the rain turned to snow.

Musée du Louvre

This time around in Paris, I planned my time a little more carefully. Where before I gave myself less than an hour to visit the Louvre, I cut out a half day to explore it this time. It was a good time to go because there weren't as many tourists so we could get up close to the various antiquities and artwork. This is a photo of the inner courtyard of the museum. Looking forward to my next visit to France this summer!

Regensburg

The magical fairytale city of Regensburg in southern Germany. The city is one of the only cities that was essentially untouched in WWII and so the beautiful buildings constructed in medieval times remain standing today. The city had such a lovely community feel to it and everyone was so cheery and nice.

Went with Brendan to one of the Christmas markets with lots of little wooden stalls selling various crafted objects. The market also had a campfire for people to sit around and be jolly. There was mulled wine and sausage with various potato dishes, of which we had plenty. There was even a lady going around with a stick with mistletoe at the end and holding it above couples' heads so they would kiss. Storybook fantasy kind of stuff.

Something Strange Happened Here

Venice, Italy

Daniel Firman: “SSHH is a work that offers an extendable rendition of reality. The work provokes a questioning of one’s interpretation of the “world” in which we live. In this exhibit, SSHH submits itself to the extraordinary beauty of Venice, yet at the same time, to a vision even more complex and colossal such as that of our contemporary world. Without any explanation nor assertion, the work must simply remain a psychological or even a metaphysical question that one asks oneself.”

New Apt

No Internet at the new apartment yet, however, it's starting to look like a real live place and less like a maze of boxes. I've already got some good ideas for the bedroom going. I'm thinking a Spanish influence. Not sure about kitchen yet, but living room colors will be based from these vintage fire-place ornaments that my friend Jenna got me for a house warming present.

The biggest issue is storage space so I'm thinking an IKEA trip is in order pretty soon. It's tough fitting 7 rooms into 3, but it's getting there.

Going exploring this weekend to check out parts of the city that haven't been seen yet.

I'm looking forward to checking out some of the concert venues. I'm sure DC gets a lot more coming through than good ol' Columbus. Need to research this once I can connect to the internets (on something larger than an iPhone).

Last Day in Columbus

It's my last day in Columbus. Today the objective is to get done all of the last minute stuff like making sure all of the random junk is out of the apartment before we leave. It is unbelievable how much *stuff* accumulates over three years of living in a giant apartment. I will certainly miss this place; so many fun parties, a house show, bond fires, cook outs, dance parties, and a magical little space called the dream room. I disassembled the dream tent today - I know it is only one of the many fun little creative environments I will build for myself and the people in my life, but this was definitely one of my favorites. It's time to move on to bigger and better things in a giant new and exciting city.

Mosaic in Ostia

The floor of one of the many ruins in the port town of Rome. Most of the ruins were not gated off so it was like a jungle gym for adults.

Venice by night

This one is a long exposure over the famous Rialto bridge. Venice is such an amazing little city with great restaurants.