transformation of a pumpkin

this week was busier than i expected and i never got to write about my pumpkin patch adventure last sunday. it was fabulous. thank you stocker farms in snohomish for a lovely fall day; searching for the perfect pumpkin(s), caramel apple latte in hand.

                                                 the winners

As of last night, a few of these lovely pumpkins have been transformed into works of art. i love friday nights filled with friends, homemade caramel apples, pumpkin carving, and watching Elf :)

                      my owl, tamura's harry potter pumpkin, and kirby's face

                                                      yum!

so, although it's getting dark earlier and is gray more frequently and is much colder than it was a month ago, i am still finding the beauty and traditions that fall has to offer to be quite worth the downsides of the season.

Pensieve

The above picture is a pensieve from Harry Potter. A pensieve is a basin of swirling silver clouds that has the ability to hold a person's thoughts and memories. Once you remove these memories from your mind and transfer them to the pensieve, your mind is free of them. You may revisit these memories as you wish but the pensieve holds the burden of them for you.

A week and half ago, after a particularly hard day and during a particularly overwhelming week I mentioned to my roommate that I wished I had a pensieve. I had too much going on in my head and I just wanted some relief from it all. I wanted to remove my thoughts and come back to them later.

And then I realized that she was my pensieve that night. I sat on my bed and let my thoughts flood out and she graciously listened and held my thoughts for me. She was my real live pensieve. And the more I think about it the more I appreciate the people in my life who serve as my pensieve, and the more I want to be that for the people in my life. Because let's face it, we all need a pensieve every once in awhile.

Cupcakes and Curry

Just the other night I had the privilege of spending an evening with two incredibly beautiful and fabulous women that I am so happy to call friends. Our evening began at Jai Thai where we enjoyed a meal of curry, rice, and veggies around a low table complete with cushions and a beautiful view out the window. We talked about life in a candid and completely raw and honest way. Family, future plans, futures with no plans, the craziness of being a young twenty-something, discouragement, tough decisions, the beauty of small moments. These sorts of conversations are glimmers of hope. They remind me that I am not alone. They whisper to me that my life is worth something, that even when I feel lost someone cares enough to tell me that they see me where I'm at. Feeling so content with good food and even better friends, I was asked questions that I knew I could respond to in a completely honest, vulnerable way. It is moments like these that make life worth living. Moments where I can say things I didn't even know I was thinking. Moments that make a hard day dissolve into the realization that there is more to life than what that day was about.

And then we paid our bill, put our shoes back on, and walked out into the cold. We ended up at Cupcake Royale where we bought more cupcakes than we needed and drank Americanos that the barista gave to us for free. It may sound ridiculous, but that barista has no idea how he impacted us (and me in particular) and infused our night with a little extra joy. An extra cupcake, a free drink. That's all it takes sometimes. How freeing. We can all do things like this daily with just the smallest bit of intentionality. Just take a moment to notice those around you. Pay for someone's coffee, take cookies to work, hold the door open for someone, speak an intentionally kind word, share a smile. You really never know when you have given someone exactly what they needed to change their day from lonely to hopeful. It's the little things in life that make it exciting and special and hopeful. Little things like curry and cupcakes and good friends.