Tag Archives: autumn

spirit in the sky

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Ah, sweet autumn. Often staved off by clinging tan lines and rushed along by jingle bells, you might just be the most underrated quarter of the year. But with a fresh slate at the start, a smattering of costume and food focused holidays, and a remarkable ability to bring out the inner emo poet of my youth, your months are far more magical than most. You entice the whole of New England into smokey scents and pumpkin flavors. Your pale skies give way to a fiery splatter of morphing treetops. Your crisp wind plucks leaves to the ground, acorns tumble under toe. Undertoe fades from feeling until next summer as waves are observed from the safety of warm sweaters. Farmer’s markets take shelter, early sunsets coax the world inside. Your time is to rest, to nest, let cozy manifest. Quite simply, you are the best.

it’s october third.

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Oh, October. Sweet month of change. Temperatures finally dropping, but the sky does not yet fade. A dark bar incites its usual existential sound; crunchy brussels and and fluffy hummus abound. A bright breakfast expands palettes into poaching, Nick’s eggs + veggies do the experimental coaching. A weekend date requires little more than borrowed beanies and held mitts: a westside going golden and freshly layered knits. Dusty vintage rockets provoke one too many sneezes, strip-shouldered mannequins provide warm woolen squeezes. Grocery store hide-and-seek yields new plant babes and boo Sunday snacks. Portuguese fado follows carefully unplanned naps. Beanfriend makes soups, 90s Bourdain loops. Welcome, Dear Autumn, we’ve been waiting for you.

all the leaves are brown

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Ah, autumn.  This weekend felt short, yet decidedly fall.

There was a cousin visit, complete with brunch, a stroll through Swan Point and heavy and happy life discussions.

There was tea times three and lots more walking, leaf rustling, west side mansion shopping, and poster hunting.  There were Bucks & Dunnies, Ducks & Bunnies, pumpkin peeping, late night cookie baking (have you ever made just one chocolate chip cookie?) and more “life discussing”.

In a few hours it’s toes first back into ballet, but for now, I’m savoring the warm fuzzies of this photo diary.

bike n brunch

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Something about us on bikes just feels right.

One of first dates was spent behind the handlebars, racing down a bus tunnel with bellies full of froyo.  We biked our way through Vernon to Giverny, up to Monet’s gardens and back again.  We pedaled along train tracks to a rusty old bridge in East Providence, and crossed a bridge over the Seine to meet a whirring train headed for Paris.

Of course, if we’re not biking, please find us brunching.  Oh, pretty please.

Savory crêpes, sweet pancakes, miso fettuccini, we’ve brunched it all.  No discrimination.  Many a pilgrimmage in Paris led to golden eggs and spicy avocado toast.

So a Monday dedicated to biking from Barrington to Bristol for brunch?  Bliss.

hello october

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This weekend was a “kirsten weekend”- that is, I was sickish and sore and in the presence of world’s best beanfriend and thereby granted full control over activities.  My picks…

sushi + red wine + couch + this romantic drama

pumpkin blueberry pancakes + tea + couch + fleet foxes

pvdonuts + more tea + neutaconkanut hill hike + an old bridge friend

homemade portuguese soup + roasted autumn fruits + this romantic drama

Sometimes I enjoy being a walking cliché.  And sometimes I wonder how we fit so much into half of a weekend.  Welcome, October.  I like you so far.

golden october

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Indirect routes up my homestate, through towns I’ve never seen. IMG_3353

 A nostalgic first stop- witches, stitches, ships and caffeine. IMG_3334Salem in a sun shat, painted trees and paper signs- so many people packed in a little pig’s eye.

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Up the colonial coast, now pig’s fly- through magic houses in my blue beach town.
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 A feast of fall, friends and euphoria steals the season’s final bow.IMG_3439IMG_3440 2

fall report

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IMG_2740So much can happen in the quick quarter of an orbit.
IMG_2739The wily weather tests and the earth changes her ticking dress.
IMG_2808New faces become your favorites and different places are dubbed The Best.
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An adventurer’s comfort lies in knowing that discovery chases the bend of the wind.
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Temporal tides tempt exploration, and seasonal shifts never meet an end.

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Does this spot look familiar?  Despite the 80-degree week days, so far September’s weekends have welcomed a slight chill to Providence, and it’s got me feeling all kinds of cozy.  And cozy feels deserve warm brunch and beanies.  M and I decided to celebrate autumn’s arrival by filling our bellies with Salted Slate and visiting a rickety old friend of ours.  Man, I love September.

chandeliers over swan point

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Friday night I had my first evening rehearsal of the season, and it was actually quite a lovely time.  Alex and I insisted on lighting the studios with the overhead chandeliers that are usually reserved for black box events like Up Close On Hope, and of course self-proclaimed perpetual youth that he is, our boss was all too happy to allow it.  Rehearsing moonlight doused in the soft glow of chandeliers was completely transporting.  A slow drip of darkness from the two large windows facing 4th Street wafted its way in and filled the studio with a fuzzy, dim weight.  Our chandeliers indulged us with their moony glow.  The alternative lighting left an effect on the room, like the entire space had closed its eyes and our rehearsal was its subconscious monologue.  We were that thing, that strange stream of movement it had no real control over imagining when its eyelids were pulled down.  It was then that I realized, I do about 80 percent of this piece with my own eyes closed, something I have never incorporated into a performance before.  Every step of the sleepy pas de deux felt notably more honest that night, my hollow hands paddling amidst an intangible, weightless mass, the invisible density of darkness.  Heavy, but completely immune to gravity.  How frustrating to be held captive in this impossible sensation.

Before heading off to said evening rehearsal, I decided to take advantage of my long break and the beautiful fall foliage by going out for a walk around Swan Point Cemetery, right at the end of Blackstone Boulevard.  Swan Point is one of the most peaceful places I’ve ever wandered into, so much so that before I knew it I had myself completely lost amongst the red leaves and tomb stones.  What was meant to be a quick stroll turned into a 2.5-hour walk, but I don’t regret it for a minute.  Sometimes a long lonely walk with just the company of your own thoughts is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Definitely feeling the eerie October vibes these days, if you hadn’t already noticed…

ps- check out this video of choreographer Ilya Kozadayev, discussing one of the other pieces he set on FBP.

taste of october

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hummus

For the second annual company “Pumpkin Party” this weekend, T and I made some exceptionally delicious hummus.  But not just any old hummus.  Roasted garlic, rosemary, pumpkin hummus.  Yes, yes, yes.  It was as amazing as it sounds, we will be making it again by the end of the week, and you can have the recipe.  You’re welcome.

october first

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Today is the first day of October!  Of course, I celebrated yesterday (my day off from work) by fighting the unseasonably warm temperatures with a thin black sweater and my orange beanie.  I can’t wait for the weather to start cooperating with the season…

I had a lovely “faux” first day of October yesterday, shopping with friends and visiting my dad at his kingdom of chemistry office.  The crazy brilliant engineer stuff that man does like it’s no big deal will never cease to amaze me.

Today the first few guest artists arrived for FBP’s annual Together We Dance gala this Thursday, and ohmygod, they are gorgeous.  More on that in an upcoming post…stay tuned…