Never Give Up On Pumpkin

Things are different in Dublin. You don't find your every day things in their every day (Canadian) places. A bottle of regular ol' bleach takes an entire city hunt to find; forget about coffee creamer (I promise that one day I will get over this, but that day isn't anywhere near today) because here, it's completely unheard of; and don't even think about pizza yeast or pizza sauce because pizzas are always ready and waiting, everywhere you look, so people don't really make them from scratch. A couple of weeks ago, on my way home from Canada, I turned a blind eye to all of the above and, having to lose some weight in my suitcase (again with the unrealistic expectations ugh #fightback2016) I left behind a beautiful can of pureed pumpkin. I left it behind convinced that I'd find canned pumpkin in Dublin because duh it's fall and everyone loves pumpkin everything, but when I got to Dublin and asked around for it, I was given not only confused but disgusted looks. One store did have it, and that store sells imported American things that are sold at absolutely insane astronomical prices. I simply couldn't afford it. Well fine, I thought, I'll just outsmart them all and for my traditional pumpkin cream cheese roll, I'll use fresh pumpkin.   

A Quick Thanks

In light of the beautiful Thanksgiving weekend we had, I thought I'd capture a couple of the things I'm most thankful for. It was hard to hold back from posting the entire contents of my camera for this one, as I've realized it's bursting with memories of wonderful people and places.  Here's an abbreviated version...or my attempt at one:

Things I'm Thankful For

1 ) My birthday being in September!  This year, I had the pleasure of discovering these in Montreal: 

2)  Waking up to this sweet little corner every morning...

3)  Successfully baking a pumpkin roll vertically in an oven (due to cookie sheet being too large to fit oven)...

4)  And almost successfully baking a vegan pecan pie...this one bubbled wildly in the oven and, as a result, stuck to the pan. 

So there it is. I wish I knew enough people to ask what you are happy for, but for now I'll stick to perusing random blogs in search of that answer :)  And in the meantime, here are a couple of my favorite fall pieces, including my fall coat (the one that appears to be gobbling me up in the last photo) which I've had for a year now (*gasp) and which I have, quite suddenly, been receiving compliments on whenever I'm in public. Very strange that it took a year for people to say something. I now understand the meaning of an 'investment' piece ;)

I've been looking for a companion for this light vintage top for years

When I first bought this vintage dress, my intention was to cut the bottom to knee-length, but I once had it on while Jacques Brel was playing and it's serious twirliness made a poignant argument for keeping the length as it is :)

The length really makes the contrasting tones stand out. Also, if I wore this on a date, I wouldn't need to awkwardly explain that I'm not easy. The dress would say it for me. (Oh, the belt is vintage as well.)

This is what happens when I attempt to be graceful. I've given up a while ago. I blame it on the puffiness of the jacket.  Of note: I bought these shoes two years ago in Tallinn, Estonia and they still go with just about everything!