The part when I realize it's autumn.

It's time for Pumpkin Sweater and a dirty chai. 

It's autumn!

For the longest time, even though the calendar said September, even though school had begun, and even though I'd been trying to pull out fall clothes and listen to fall music, I just couldn't get a sense of that warm, cozy fall feeling that usually sweeps over me this time of year.

Whelp, it did now. Why now, you may ask?

The weather. Always the weather.

No more of this "Hey, it's September and you're in school, but the highs are in the upper 90s."

Bleh. Bleh bleh bleh.

But I can now say that is currently 50 degrees here in ol' Minneapolis, and I am feeling great.

I feel like the Weisman museum sometimes. More like all the time. Some one once said that our campus art museum is a weather reflector. I think I even made a post on this once. But it's so true. It's multi-faceted metal sides help it blend in to whatever mood the atmosphere has chosen for the day.

Gloomy sky = gloomy architecture. What a brilliant idea.

Anyways, needless to say, it is fall. It's fall it's fall it's fall.

I was over at Nina's (pronounced "Nye-nahs, for all you uneducated folks not unlike myself until very recently) Coffee Café On Cathedral Hill in St. Paul last night with good ol' Rachel, and the feeling finally hit me. 

Perhaps it had to do with sitting with an old friend in a cozy warm coffee shop in the evening, with the street lamps glowing warmly outside as the wind whistled through the changing trees.

Or it was emphasized by the safe and cozy neighborhood filled with boutiques, soaring mansions and cobblestone streets.

Maybe it was the cappuccino and rhubarb bread we shared. 

Or the jazz music I had to listen to for homework.

 Perhaps it was due to wearing a comfy sweater and moccasins and a favorite knit hat. 

Or from listening to fall music while driving back in the evening through Como Park, and seeing multiple bonfires with people sitting around them, singing songs and playing the guitar.

Or the fact that I bought warm-scented incense earlier that day, and went home to burn some that smelled like hot spiced cider.
Maybe it's because we have a black cat with golden-orange eyes.

Or that I made homemade cornbread and heated up some homemade vegetable soup to go with it.

Maybe it's because Leslie and I sat at out kitchen table by candlelight and listened to a large array of fart noises via the interwebs, and also talked about fallish things.

It was probably the latter one.



Needless to say, there were enough elements of the last few days that, combined, made my fall start out well.


Ha, another fall moment this week consisted of me bringing my new favorite snack to church rehearsal on Thursday night. See, a couple of weeks ago, Harnar, Leslie and I went to Pat's Tap on Nicollet for a drink. I ordered some cider and a smoked gouda cheese plate, and I have not regretted that decision in the least. I have since modified the initial ingredients of the dish to fit my own resources, so let me give you my recipe (apply ingredients in this order to prevent explosions): 

-round Melba toasts

-soft caramel

-dry toasted almond slices

-smoked gouda cheese

-thinly sliced apple


Then just eat it.
And you will not regret any decisions you have just made.

(Charlie, the keyboardist at church/jack of all trades.friend of Bruce who shares his office with him, even awarded me the HFS award for such a pleasantly surprising snack. You can check Urban Dictionary for the meaning if you want). I have to agree, it is pretty amazing. And fall-ish to the core. Ha.

(P.S. all of this stuff is found at Trader Joe's...except maybe the caramel. Do they sell caramel? Maybe.)


Alright, whelp, I am going to finish my lunch here in the art building before working solidly on painting and printmaking for the next bajillion hours (not a bad deal at all). I walked by Mapps Coffee on the way over here to pick up my first 'dirty chai' (chai and espresso), and it is pretty faboo. And some vegan pumpkin nut bread.

In closing, even though all my nostalgic emotions are all confused, as mentioned in the previous post, I truly cannot complain about my life right about now.



Songs for the True Start of Autumn:


Chicago (Acoustic) by Sufjan Stevens (this is truly magical)

Take To You by The Running Riot (a grand local band I've had the privilege of playing alongside)


Farewell (In 3 Parts) by Husky (an Australian band I saw in August)

The Hill by Marketa Irglova (good for quiet night driving)

Twice by Little Dragon (for eerie days)

Bloodflood by Alt-J (∆)(so fulfilling in the end)

Old Pine by Ben Howard (I'm gonna see him this Thursday!)

You Are All I See by Active Child (best heard in a large church sanctuary by yourself, if you can swing it)

One For the Road/Storm Clouds from the 3:10 to Yuma Soundtrack (always perfect for everything)

Moan by Trentemøller (complete with birds-in-the-woods noises)

Enchanting Ghost by Sufjan Stevens (because it is beautiful)

The Flies by Showbread (something disturbing but intriguing)

Big Rock Candy Mountain by Harry McClintock (make sure to watch it on YouTube)

Tesselate by Alt-J (∆)(great for watching large numbers of people going by aka college campuses)



There.