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First day of Fall!

/ Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life / 1 Comment

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Happy fall, y’all! It is officially the first day of autumn, although here in Michigan it still feels like summer! I am so ready for these hot days to go away, and for the cooler, crisper weather to start. I want to wear snuggly sweaters, hoodies, scarves, jeans, boots; I want to drink cider around a bonfire in the slightly chilly evenings. I want my pumpkin spice latte to not seem out of season! It looks like I am going to have to wait though, as the next week is supposed to be in the 80s still.

This is my most favorite, most wonderful time of the year! I may not have the weather (yet!) but Halloween is coming, and that means spooky movies, chilling reads, and fun activities! My calendar is literally filling up! We have family trips to the apple orchard, which I learned last year is a regional thing; various Halloween costume activities at the zoo, at our local metropark, and at Haunted Nights at Greenfield Village. I have Wyatt’s costume bought and ready to go, and I feel ahead of that game. We made his Viking costume last year, complete with a Viking ship made from a wagon, which was pretty amazing. This year I went a little easier, and bought his costume from the Land of Nod. It is adorable – I will share it with you when we get closer!

My plans are not just where we can go – but what we can do. Simpler things. Things like a nature walk through the woods, crunching leaves underfoot, collecting chestnuts and acorns. I want to bake bread, and go to a football game, make a few (easy) fall craft crafts. Make soup. I can’t wait to make soup. I know I can make soup at anytime, but it’s not that fun to eat when it is 90 outside. At least to me, someone who lives in the Midwest. Soup with crunch bread sounds amazing. With goat cheese to spread on the bread – yum!

 

I’ve got so much goodness planned – I can’t wait! What about all of you? Any traditions? Anything you look forward to in the fall? What is your favorite holiday?

Happy Mail

/ Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life / 2 Comments

I love getting mail. I practically race to the mailbox when I see our mailman deposit things into it. Usually, it is a pretty huge letdown. Surprise, surprise! Bills, circulars, flyers, credit card offers – not anything to get excited about or look forward to. So this year I decided to treat myself to something I so creatively call Happy Mail. I give myself a budget of ten dollars a month, and every month, I choose something different to be mailed to me, something fun, something I wouldn’t normally buy for myself. A treat, if you will. It is cheating to just go on Amazon and buy something. I need to find a subscription box, or magazine even. I have had a blast with it and have gotten some good stuff, and not so good stuff.

I started the year with Ipsy, for $10 a month, free cancellation at any time. Their bright pink mailers, cute little bags filled to the brim with different beauty products – definitely not stuff I would ever go to the store and buy, honestly. It’s all part of the fun, like a present to myself. Ipsy gives you the option to peek at your bag before you get it, but I never did. I wanted it to be a surprise. And sometimes I liked the stuff, other times I didn’t. I kept the stuff I liked, and gave away the stuff I didn’t. I wish I had taken photos of my bags that I received, but I didn’t think of it! Which is totally out of character for me, I take pictures of everything, everywhere.

I did Ipsy for about three months, then decided it was time to switch it up! I decided to try Birchbox, which is like Ipsy but instead of a bag it comes in a box. I paid $10.00 a month for this one too, and I could cancel at anytime, per my own rules. It is described as:

Birchbox is a monthly beauty subscription of five samples tailored to your skin, hair and style. Each month, your personalized beauty box subscription will include five product samples. You’ll get to try all types of products (from haircare to skincare to makeup), and we’ll include information on why they’re great and how to use them.

And they are absolutely right on. You answer questions as to your preferences and personal style, hair, skin, etc, and they try to tailor your box around your answers. You also have the option to peek at what is coming!

I did take pictures of my Birchbox.

 

 

I actually liked getting the stuff in a box more than a bag. I guess I have more use for small boxes! I used this one to store pens in, in my desk drawer. It looks so cute in there! As for the products themselves, I kept every one of these and used them all. I really liked the Arrow Boost color enhancing lip balm, and the Beauty Protector, to protect and detangle, leave in conditioner. I have crazy wild feral hair, and it did a nice job of keeping it soft and less frizzball.  Despite loving the Birchbox, I only did it one more month, as I wanted to totally different mail – I was done with makeup for now. I actually rarely wear makeup so it was fun but after awhile, I was ready for a switch.

Next up, I tried a book subscription box, called Bookishly.  I had such high hopes! Coffee, a book, both full of goodness. This is the description:

A surprise vintage paperback and delicious ground coffee through the post each month. You’ll receive a different 75g bag (4-5 cups) of freshly roasted medium ground coffee each month, along with a vintage book from our library. There’s no stationery in this version of the subscription.

And from the UK! How fun!

However, I was a bit disappointed.

 

I think I paid around $15.00 for this subscription, when all was said and done. The coffee was actually tasty, but not enough to keep me more than my one month. The book was just pointless, I guess. The one in the ad is of Howards End – I guess I expected something more like that, than something so pulp and that actually seemed physically dirty. It just wasn’t the subscription for me.

Moving on, I took a break from subscription boxes and instead, subscribed to HGTV magazine. I just got my first issue and love it! Now though, I need to start searching around for my next bit of Happy Mail!

Anyone have a subscription box? Which ones do you like? It doesn’t need to be within my price point, I am just curious what ones other people like – or don’t!

The State of Me

/ Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life / 2 Comments

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After a fabulous meal and some laughs with friends last night, we got in the car and I just started bawling.  Hands over my face, crying. Traffic was terrible leaving the city, with a Kid Rock concert and a Tigers game, I had stumbled on gravel in an alleyway so my knee was killing me, and I was anxious to get home. None of this warranted tears, and wouldn’t have under other frames of mind. I think despite having a fantastic time out, or maybe because, I just fell apart. Perhaps I finally relaxed enough to let emotion out that I had been keeping hard at bay.

Life can be stressful, for all of us, everyday. Our responsibilities weigh on us, our families depend on us. The house needs to be cleaned, you don’t clean it well enough. Countless trips to the store and the doctors. Phone calls. Loved ones battling serious illnesses. The country ideologically at war with each other, everyone so ready to fight with someone else. Sometimes it is hard to make the time for our mental health and physical health, and I haven’t been doing a good job of either lately. My resolution this year was to do just that, and last night was a warning why.

I need to find some balance – I need to become unbusy. I have been slowly working my way through our home, discarding things that are no longer needed, wanted, or useful, taking a minimalistic approach to things. We are buying new things carefully and thoughtfully. I think I need to clean out my schedule too, and slow things down. We are always on the run, squeezing things in, people in. I don’t want to squeeze people in. I want to be able to luxuriate in their presence! I want to spend quality time with my family and friends and have real conversations, not just hear a list of what they have been doing. I want to hear how they are, really. What they have been thinking, rather than doing. I want to taste my food instead of eating quickly so I can move on. I want to enjoy that cup of coffee, that glass of wine. I want moments to count, and just be counted off.

So what do I do from here? I guess I start letting stuff go, saying no. Working smarter not harder. To me, fall is renewal, of the cycle of life, the balance our world needs. I am going to take my cue from it, and find my own balance and renewal.

 

The Importance of Ice Cream

/ Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life / 4 Comments

I scream, you scream, we all scream, for ice cream!

Lately, this family has gone crazy over ice cream.

Vanilla, chocolate, coffee, peanut butter. In a cone. In a cup. In a cup with a cone on top. With coffee, with wine ~ sometimes even with a little whiskey poured over the top with a dash of pepper.  (the adults only versions, of course)

I have to admit, prior to this summer, I was never a huge fan, preferring slushes instead. But my skinny malinky long legs boy loves ice cream. And since he needs to gain weight, he gets it. And since we are there, so do we.

All this ice cream has turned us into ice cream connoisseurs, of a sort. We have a few locally made ice cream parlors around us, and we alternate between them on ice cream nights, every time debating the various merits. This one is creamier; that one is more flavorful. This one has a cuter shop; that one is a local tradition.

We can never come to a definitive decision for a winner.

Ice cream is one of those foods, like Proust’s madelines. I feel it is transportive, can connect you with a place or a memory or a feeling with just a bite. All those celebrations, vacations, lazy summer days.

Ice cream makes me think of my grandfather, who was always this strong, quiet presence in my life. He was a man of few words, but I remember so many nights where we load up into his car, always one of those large, plush interior cars, and I would feel so small but safe and cozy in the backseat next to my little brother and mom. He always went to the same place, Calder’s Dairy, with its white chairs that line the glass wall, and in those days, there was always a line out the door. He would  get butter pecan without fail, and I would get chocolate or superman, and then we would all eat in the parking lot, standing about in the glow from the setting sun. Everyone ate their ice cream so fast, except me. They would be finished while I was furiously trying to finish mine to keep up. As night drew on, on those endless summer nights of childhood, my grandpa always took us on a drive before heading home. Occasionally he would point out places he had worked, or the homes of friends from his younger days, but mostly he was silent, and so was I, as we navigated though neighborhoods unfamiliar to me, the empty cup in my hands, the taste of the rich chocolate becoming a memory, one that I would remember now, a married woman with my own child to make ice cream memories with.

Saturday Snapshot

/ Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life / 8 Comments

SaturdaySnapshot

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by West Metro Mommy.

Last week my friends and I went for tea at the nearby Greenfield Village. I was super excited, since they hold it in the garden of their Cotswold Cottage, which is my favorite of all the historic buildings there. Kelly and Chrissy brought their girls, and while I had planned on bringing Wyatt, I ended up having my mom watch him instead. My CP warrior doesn’t do well in heat and humidity and it was a hella humid out, as my giant hair would have proven. I missed my little guy, but I had more of an opportunity to indulge my love of photography, and my friend’s 8 year old daughter provided the right amount of drama, as only a pre-teen girl can. Here are my two favorites.

The tea itself was pretty amazing. We each ordered a full tea, which included a small pot of tea, four finger sandwiches, and an assortment of desserts – including scones and clotted cream. I chose the mint tea, a perennial favorite of mine. I was not disappointed.

 

It’s All About the Bicycles

/ Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life / 2 Comments

Today is a day that Billy and I count down to in the summer – the start of the Tour de France. He is a huge bike guy; I just love the Tour. I am in awe of what these men do, how far they ride, for how long, through the Alps for goodness’ sake. Whole mountain ranges are devoured by their bike tires and sweat. It is an amazing feat, and I am blown away by their tenacity and athleticism. We hope to go and stand on the sidelines one day, cheering them on along the road of some small town in the mountains of France.

Our date night this week was bikecentric – I am not sure if the Detroit Zoo planned it for the week of the Tour on purpose, but if not, good timing on their part! The zoo hosted an evening event, a Bike Safari if you will, where participants could ride their bikes through the winding paths of the zoo, stopping to view the animals along the way. It was family friendly, although it was sponsored by New Belgium Brewery; you just got one of those neat wristbands to prove you were over 21.  Over 800 people attended, and it made for a very fun evening. Despite being so many people in attendance, it was not a difficult ride. I get really nervous if people ride too close to me, I am not a super confident bicyclist. However, there were three different start times, and it really divided everyone up very effectively. People riding were spaced very well, and it only became tricksy a few times, when riders would stop suddenly in front of you to see an animal, rather than biking to the side of the pathway and stopping.

There were three hydration stations set up, and two of them included a 3 – oz sample of New Belgium beer to those who wanted to imbibe. We of course drank our samples, along with the water that was also provided. I am not a super big beer drinker, but I enjoyed my choices! The options were Cirtadelic Tangerine, Fat Tire, Voodoo Ranger IPA, and Dayblazer. I chose Dayblazer and Fat Tire; Billy had Voodoo Ranger and Dayblazer. We also got a can each at the end of the ride as well, same choices. We stuck with two we had already had – me again with the Fat Tire, Billy with the Voodoo Ranger. They were icy cold and delicious after the long hot ride through the zoo. There was a live band at the finish, along with a few food options and the opportunity to purchase more drinks. Alternatively, people could choose to go listen to scientists speak at the reptile house about the Isle Royale Wolf-Moose Project. Nature nerds that we are, we opted for the wolf-moose project, although our beers did come with us.

The two scientists were full of interesting information and facts. We have always wanted to visit Isle Royale, so it was cool to talk to people who have not only been there, but really know the island intimately, and all of her inhabitants. It is a sad scenario though. Right now, there are some 1500 moose on the island. And just two wolves, who are so inbred that the pack is dead. They cannot reproduce. The pack in its heyday numbered 50, at least in as far as scientists have been tracking its numbers. Due to all the inbreeding though, numbers began to fall as they died off. Their health was compromised and a strain of parvo killed a bunch off. The moose are without predators, and while this seems like yay moose ~ it really isn’t, as they may run out of food sources themselves as the island may not be able to support that many moose, unchecked. This is the subject that the scientists we spoke with were studying, the effect of the moose upon the fir, and just how long these moose could be sustained by the fir trees on the island. They eat fir trees, and these fir trees barely have the opportunity to grow, as the moose just eat the heck out of them. An obvious solution would be to introduce a new pack. I would love to see this happen, and have the balance returned to the island.

That is only replica moose scat, btw. Lol. And a kick butt caiman looking at us in the reptile house.

This event was a great time, and well worth the money we paid to do it. It was a wonderful night and we will definitely go again. If you are interested in reading more about the Isle Royale Wolf-Moose Project, you can go here and here. If you are interested in participating (even cooler!) check this out.

 

Front Porch Sittin’

/ Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life / Leave a comment

Lately, we have put done our cell phones, turned off the television, and headed outside to the front porch to sit a while, and enjoy the evening with a cold drink or two. Wyatt joins us with his sippy cup of milk, while I sip my own drink of chilled white wine, a summer thing of mine. Billy usually has a craft beer, and we just kick it on the porch for a spell.

These evenings are so peaceful. No phones ringing or dinging, just the three of us chatting away. Occasionally we give a wave to a neighbor, exchange a hello, a word or two, but mostly our little family catches up on the day, just as the day is putting itself to bed. Sometimes, we just enjoy the sounds of the world around us, the small, thriving community that is all around us but haven’t noticed in our daily hustle.

Up and down the block, birds are chirping, tweeting, heading home to their nests, beaks full of insects and other goodies for their growing families. In the big elm across the street, a family of starlings has made their home, deep inside a hollow. Down the street in the maple, you can find a nest full of robins, and across the street from the robins, a couple of nuthatches. Somewhere nearby live the neighborhood Downy woodpeckers, Northern Flickers, cardinals, who always pop by for a visit. I hear the raucous call of a blue jay usually once a day, not to mention all the little brown birds, the black capped chickadees, and finches that twitter and tussle and flit about.

We have our own little bird family, another little group of robins, five in total – momma, dad, and three young babies. Or, rather, they used to be babies. Mom and Dad Robin moved into our maple, building their nest right almost at eye level, in the crook of the tree. We watched the babies, while mom and dad watched us. The babies grew up so fast, and recently flew the nest. We saw the last of these fledglings, standing on the edge of the nest, preparing for first flight. A day or two later, we saw a fledgling hanging out in our apple tree, on the lowest possible branch.

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Used to the all the evening chatter as the birds gossip about their day, we were sitting on the porch when the conversation around us ceased, followed by the loud shriek of a hawk. This new youngling landed right in our neighbor’s tree, on the hunt for something or other. We hope the reason is not related to the sudden presence of this little guy who tried to visit.

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Don’t you just love that little face?? I hope this little guy was adventuring for fun and not because mom became dinner. Cute as he is, he wanted up on our porch and I didn’t want him to visit that close. So we gently shoo’d him a bit, and he took temporary refuge under our apple tree. Hopefully he wandered back home, because he was gone when I checked on him an hour or so later..

It is amazing what you can see right from your own front porch, if you just let yourself sit and just be, for a while. Take away the distractions, get back to a slower, simpler way of living – there is a whole other world living there in front of us. Everywhere you look, there is life. What have you seen lately? How do you unwind?