Hope you have a fun Halloween! Last year, when Josh and I lived in Seattle we watched the little kids in our neighborhood go trick-or-treating up the main street of the neighborhood at all the businesses. We also got free pumpkins at the store (apparently they give them away on Halloween!) and took them home and carved them.

This year we’re finishing up our costumes and then going downtown in Austin to hang out with friends! Can’t wait and can’t wait for the craziness on 6th Street that is inevitable.

When I was growing up, San Antonio was the city that we visited more frequently than any other. I’m not sure of the exact reason why, as Houston and Corpus Christi were closer, but I have some guesses. First, my grandma’s house was on the way to San Antonio, and more often than not, we picked her up to come along on our trips. Also, San Antonio has some pretty cool stuff. I remember going to the Arts and Crafts Fair, Sea World, the San Antonio Zoo, Fiesta Texas, Rivercenter Mall and of course the Riverwalk. Lots of fun things for kids to do.

I have a project I’m working on that made it necessary to visit San Antonio, and it seemed like a great day trip. So Josh and I headed out yesterday and had a lovely day. We first stopped by the Japanese Tea Gardens and walked over to the zoo entrance (although we didn’t go into the zoo.. maybe another trip). We walked all along the Riverwalk and then stopped at a lovely grill where we had lunch under umbrellas right next to the river. Josh would toss some chips to the ducks that would swim over to us. We walked over to the Alamo, through Hemisfair Park, over to take a look at the Institute of Texan Cultures before walking back to the car to escape the city before rush hour hit.

The photos above are mostly from the Riverwalk, except for the one I threw in of the Tower of the Americas from Hemisfair Park.

This past week was filled with lots of great times. It wasn’t until the week ended that I realized I was so busy doing stuff, I didn’t really take many photos.

On Sunday night, we picked up Eric and Kat from the train station and then we all had dinner outside at P. Terry’s on South Lamar. The sun was setting and it was such a lovely early-fall evening to spend eating on benches outdoors. Tuesday Josh and I went to go see the musical Spring Awakening and it was fabulous. Such great music and performances.

Thursday evening I went to hear the photographer Will van Overbeek speak at the CapMac Photography SIG event. I also ran into an old friend and co-worker there, which was a nice surprise!

Of course, on Friday I made cupcakes, and the weekend was spent visiting grocery stores, bookstores, and catching up on dvr-ed tv shows.

Everywhere I look, people are making pumpkin-flavored goodies. Pumpkin pie bites, pumpkin and hazelnut doughnuts, and starbucks even has their pumpkin latte. So I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes. I found a recipe for cupcakes with cream cheese frosting via A Cup of Jo and it sounded so delicious I knew I had to try it!

When making them it smelled so good in here. I took a whiff of each spice (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, allspice) as I added them into the mixture because it made it feel even more like autumn was here. After baking, I let the cupcakes cool and then I made the icing and piped it onto the cupcakes to make them look even more irresistible.

Photos of mine below, recipe from Patent and the Pantry here.

When we were in Santa Monica on the beach, I noticed how there were some people that looked so isolated on the sand. I wanted to capture a sense of that isolation in these photos.

Taking a train seems so romantic. Why is that? Maybe it’s because we are so used to driving when it’s a short distance, or flying when it’s a longer distance. A train seems so impractical. You could drive somewhere in 3 hours, and a plane might get you there in 45 minutes, but the train might get you there in 6 hours. Why would you want to take that extra time? Because it’s different, it’s fun. Sometimes trains take you to places that you wouldn’t see otherwise. You meet interesting people on the train.

I’ve only taken the train twice. Once from Baltimore to Washington DC, and then going back. But it was neat. Sitting in the seats, looking out the window, chatting with the girl next to me who had 3 bags of wedding invitations with her who was going to see her mom in DC.

Up there in the Northeast, where cities are closer, taking the train seems to make sense. But here in Texas, where everything is so spread out? I’ve never thought of taking the train.

That didn’t stop my brother and his girlfriend this past weekend. Kat had an event to go to in Dallas.. that just happened to be the same weekend as the giant UT/OU game which meant lots and lots of traffic on I-35. So they decided to take the train instead! Josh and I dropped them off at the Austin Amtrak station downtown and saw them off. (Photos Below).

They had a great time both there and back on the train, and it’s definitely renewed my interest in seeing what routes there are. I’m off to go look at a map to see where I can travel!