Fall Fun for Equipo S!

Fall is one of my favorite seasons -- and not just because it's my birthday season, though that helps!It's also that point when the weather starts changing and I get in the mood to bake and nest and curl up with a book and my shearling-lined blanked with my cat in front of the fire. Fall is wonderful.

It's also been a good time for Sergio and I to reconnect and spend time together at home. We had such a wonderful trip to Europe, but it feels good to settle back into our "normal" routine and enjoy fall-ish things. And, for me, normal routine means traveling for work, so it's important for me to put Equipo S (S Team in Spanish) front and center for those times we have together. Here's what we've been up to as of late...

Football
I'm a huge HUGE football fan, and I think it's because I'm the oldest kid in the family, so my dad started watching football with me first. We used to do touchdown dances on the couch as the Huskies danced to the 1991-92 National Championship. My love and my loyalty has remained through my college years (cheap tickets), even when the Huskies have struggled. It's been very exciting to watch the Huskies rebuild their program. Honestly, I think there is nothing like football in the Northwest in Husky Stadium, with the breeze off of the lake and the glow of the lights on a foggy evening.

Husky -- for life!

He looks hot in purple.

The view from my seats this year.

This year has been a little wonky because I/we have been traveling so much that we have only made two of the home games (and I'll only make three overall because we're going to miss next weekend's game due to my birthday!) in the new stadium. I had to get seats in the lower bowl closer to the field because the remaining seats in the upper deck by the time I selected were in the top few rows or in the corners, where you reap no benefits of the cover. For the Oregon game (above), the weather was great, but for the Arizona game? It probably rained 2+ inches in two hours -- real rain, not showers, but rain with 30 mph winds and puddles around my feet. We ended up wearing garbage bags as skirts and we just laughed and laughed. It was awesome.

Cooking
Well, this whole Pinterest cooking experiment has been a continued success. We've been cooking up a storm lately -- everything from Butternut Squash Soup to a healthier Tuna Noodle Casserole to Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies. Last weekend we did three new recipes for three meals in a row, including a pretty gutsy go at beef pho. Okay, to be honest, it still needs some work -- but it was a good first attempt that we can build on, which I like. If I were to pick a favorite as of late, it would be the Apple Cider Baked Chicken from a few weeks ago. Not only was it really simple to make (throw a bunch of stuff in a bag overnight and then stick it in the oven), but after removing the potatoes it was pretty darn healthy. We haven't had any big flops, but, with all new recipes, they need a little bit of tweaking. I'm really excited to tackle a score of soups next and a vegan cupcake recipe that only makes two cupcakes. Because -- let's face it -- when it comes to cupcakes, I need portion control.

Apple Cider Baked Chicken

Equipo S Dinner (with flowers + candles)

Reading together
I'm a huge reader and Sergio loves to pick up a book too. But we had never read as Equipo S, so it's something I wanted to try. The goal was to spend time together, reading a book aloud.  To set us up for success, I thought we might want to start with a children's (chapter) book, so together we picked The Giver, one of my favorite children's books of all time. We took turns reading chapters aloud and talking about the characters and the deeper meaning in the book. It was great to cuddle up on the couch and read back and forth -- so we're going to pick a new book this week and start again!

The best thing about reading a book together? When they adapt it into a movie with Taylor Swift, you can bitch about it together. That's love.

Halloween
I have a newfound love for Halloween, but mainly because I like costumes. Sergio would say I love being the center of attention.  I would talk more about this, but then I'd just be attention-seeking. I'm actually dressing up for the Diwali celebration at work on Monday -- I've never worn a sari and I'm beyond excited to do that. I've had a few potential work trips to India fall apart over the years, but my teammates there have promised to take me sari-shopping when I go some day.

So I have tried to dress up most years, and this year I had a great couples' costume in mind. Unfortunately Halloween snuck up on us and our costumes involved a lot of DIY, so I'm going to spend the next year putting it together and not beating myself up for this year. What this meant, though, was a visit to the costume store to sort out what we wanted to be. This is a legit costume store -- the type that stocks old theater costumes for you to rent instead of the bad polyester, one-size-fits-all stuff from the pop-up shops. I've gone that route before, so I'm not judging. The biggest problem with the big costume stores is that there is perhaps one cute costume that is SFW -- the rest would be downright offensive because they would show cleavage and legs and midriff, something that is really unnecessary. I think I only saw one or two skirts at work that seemed inappropriately short.  Ew.

Anyway.

Between my NYC and Mountain View trips, we popped in to see what we wanted. I had trolled the website and we had come up with three categories of ideas -- Vikings, Romans, or Native Americans. I loved the horned Viking helmets on the website, and I was pictured long (fake) hair, perhaps in braids. The actual selection was a bit disappointing, probably because we were late in the game.  Sergio knew it was a no-go because, come to find out, Viking costumes aren't very feminine.  I don't do non-flattering or non-feminine costumes.  Ever.

We moved on to the Roman racks and I found several cute dresses. There was a huge selection of togas for Sergio, plus wreathes, cuffs and bracelets, necklaces, rings, and sandals. It was a huge win! My hair happened to be a little wild that day, and with the crown of vines I looked nice and ethereal.  It was perfect.  I was sold.

Okay.  It looks like we're at a high-school dance.

Halloween was, of course, cold-ish.  That's the worst part about a NW Halloween -- you have to ask yourself what will look good with a coat over the top. I did have a light cream blazer that I could wear to keep warm, but what in the world did the Romans wear to look pretty but stay warm? Clearly I needed to read up on this. I ended up putting my hair up in a bun halfway through the day because people thought I was a) Spring b) Mother Earth or c) someone from a Midsummer Night's Dream. I had to keep saying, "Actually, I'm Venus." I should have carried around a razor. But we made do. You will notice Sergio's t-shirt and tennis shoes. He refused to wear his sandals.

There's always next year. Yes, I have BIG plans for next year.  As we were driving around he said, "Oh, I want to be Sully from Monster's Inc.!" I guess we have two years planned out then.

It was a low-key trick-or-treat night because I had no food in the house so we needed to go to the store before we made dinner (at 7pm).  So I have approximately 100 of the 120 pieces of candy I bought in the mega bag. I need to find a place to donate it! I guess kids start trick-or-treating at 5 or 6, so we missed the boat.

And if you think we forgot Astrix, don't worry. I found a sale costume at Home Goods that was perfect for her -- so for Halloween, she was a Meownicorn. She's pretty good with costumes -- she's been a devil and a lobster, and she also has Christmas hats. Once we got the Roman costumes I felt a little bad that she didn't match. But I think it worked out in the end and she was only a little scared by the doorbell!

With kitty.

The Meownicorn

Happy fall, everyone! Can't wait to share my Madrid/Toledo blog with you this weekend!

xo
Sarah