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September is here and it’s goodbye to summer! Bikinis will shortly give way to sweaters, unless you live near me. It’s time to bake apple pie and consume pumpkin spice anything. Days will get shorter {and cooler if you’re lucky to live North.} Leaves will turn, and we’ll soon get to turn those clocks back. I’m most excited at this time of year, because after September comes October, which means Halloween. After that, it’s non-stop holiday in my home. I can’t wait!
For those of you who won’t be seeing the ocean for a few months, I’ve included the video above. It’s ridiculously soothing.{Perhaps, you can send me some cold weather in return?}
Loving the contrast between the raisin lips and nails against the soft hair and whitewashed lighting. I’m not a dark nail color girl {actually, my friends will tell you that my nails are usually bare}, but this makes me want to decorate my digits with a deep plum or chocolate raisin polish.
Painted white floors, flooded with light, and filled to the brim with antique glamour. It’s a wonderfully feminine space. Everything in the room looks a little worn and washed. I also love the idea of hanging a gorgeous dress as part of the room decor. It’s a little girl’s room, all grown-up.
I found this video on twitter, courtesy of Nate St. Pierre who described it as “achingly beautiful.” {Oh, how I love that term!}
Speaking of achingly beautiful, Nate runs this website that seeks to change the world with 15-minute {or less} a week assignments done by thousands of the site’s followers. Appropriately named, It Starts With Us is simply beautiful. Go, sign-up!
{btw} You can watch some more beautiful videos over at Routines.
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Can you believe one of these pictures was taken by a 7 year old? No, that isn’t a typo. I did actually type the number seven with nothing before or after. In fact, all of these images were created by children, under the age of 14. Isn’t that extraordinary?
They are a few of the past leaders in the National Geographic Kids International Photography Contest. {You can see more on the NatGeo Kids galleries.} Imagine what would happen if we replaced the wii remotes with cameras or art supplies or cooking utensils. I think we underestimate what our kids are capable of, no?
{p.s.} Can you guess which one was the 7 year old?
4 cups (tightly packed but not smashed) honeysuckle flowers, leaves and stems discarded
5 1/3 cups cool water
1 1/3 cups water
2 cups sugar
Few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice
Speck of cinnamon
Place the flowers in a nonreactive container (glass or stainless steel) and cover with the cool water. Weight down with a plate. Let stand on the counter overnight.
In a small saucepan, make a syrup out of the sugar and the water by boiling it until all the sugar is dissolved and it begins to look lustrous and slightly thick, 3-5 minutes. Add a few drops of lemon juice to prevent the sugar from recrystallizing. Cool the syrup completely. Strain the honeysuckle infusion, gently pressing the blossoms so as not to waste any of your previous efforts. Combine the two liquids and add the merest dusting of cinnamon. You don’t want to taste it, but you can tell if it’s not there. I use the tip of a sharp boning knife to measure it. Churn in an ice-cream maker. This does not keep for more than a week or two.
