10 on 10 - October

I know, I know, you have all been counting down the days since the beginning of the month. The wait is over, and the 10th is finally here! Better yet, this is the first month that we are going to have a theme to the post.

"Fall" is the theme for this month. I picked this theme because I absolutely LOVE summer in Portland. Yes I said wrote summer. Hear me out. Summer in Portland is unbeatable. Seriously, it probably beats everywhere else. Festivals, wine, beer, hiking, beach trips, happy hour, looong sunny days, the list could go on and on. And because we have such a gloomy winter, everyone wants to partake in summer festivities. There is always something fun to do! Because of that, I always get sad when summer comes to an end, so I needed something to lift my spirits. Don't get me wrong, fall in Portland is great too. More festivals, vineyard harvests (which means wine tasting), farmer's markets, etc. Fall just tends to have a few more cold, rainy days and means the inevitable cloudy winter is getting closer.

All that being said, in the fall, we get AMAZING light. For all you non-photog folk, this may seem kinda boring, but a nice, crispy, fall afternoon is absolutely the most fun time to get out and take some pictures ...and the perfect time for a family photo shoot in the park.

I hope we get a few more days like this before it starts getting dark way too early. Next up on the fall schedule is pumpkin seeds and turkey!

Now go check out all the other posts from other 10 on 10 contributors. It's a good month to scope out everyone's post because these photogs are from all over the country, and fall means something a little different in each place. So go on, blow off work a little longer and hit 'em up!

Anya Elise Photography

Grace Photography

CLB Creative

Twinty Photography
Jamilah Photography

Until next time...

Psst... Believe it or not, this is our fourth 10 on 10 post! To see past 10 on 10 posts, click here and here and here. And then make sure to check out all the others too.

Thanksgiving 2011

When the blog is quiet, life is not. It has been a while since my last post, but the Zerizef household has been bustling. We had my sister, her boyfriend, Nabil's uncle Greg, and a few friends over for Thanksgiving dinner. I have been cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the last six years. I started cooking when we couldn't afford to go back to Wyo for fall break my junior year of college. I hosted the "Thanksgiving for Lost Souls" and invited all of our friends who also could not go home. Since then, I have perfected the art of the cooking turkey, and not to brag, but my turkey is amazing. Juicy and delicious! ...sorry I'm not giving away any turkey secrets this year.

This is the only pic of the turkey I got this year. : (

I feel a little bad for Nabil's sister, Nora, and my sister, Sydney, because as of right now, I have no intention of not cooking Thanksgivingdinner, ever. I will secede Christmas, but I love cooking for Thanksgiving. I start looking forward to it about two months beforehand. We eat appetizers all day while watching football, and eat dinner around real dinner time. I have no idea why most people eat dinner in the early afternoon. It is my favorite day of the year, and I want to spread it out as long as possible. : )

Since I was busy cooking and preparing, I couldn't get too many pictures but if you check out my good friend Brooke's blog, she will likely post her pictures soon.

Fall flowers at the table



I made the placemats myself (how-to to follow), and everyone got a jar of homemade apple butter to take home.

The tablescape

Nabil, Sydney, and Jacob getting a pre-turkey nap.

Another pic of the centerpiece flowers.

Luke chilling with the pups while we're waiting for the turkey.

I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving as well! Nabil and I have had kind of a rough year this year. We are both in the middle of our "quarter life crisis". Trying to figure out our next career moves has not been easy, but we still have so much to be thankful for. While our career path is frustrating right now, we both have jobs which many people can't say this year. We also have great friends and family who give us unconditional support. Most of all though, this year (as with every year), I am so thankful to have a husband who I love so much and who has been my unyielding support system for the last nine years. He is incredibly intelligent, hard-working, and loyal and I am so thankful that he picked me. I am one lucky lady.

Lazy Hazy Fall Weekend

This past weekend was the best kind of weekend. It was relaxing, but we also didn't sit in front of the TV all day. We were productive but able to recover from the work week, and most importantly, we were able to wear out the dog. Nabil was able to work on one of our house projects (blog update on this when it is finally finished), and I was able to make some yummy fall food (posts to follow later this week). We also had a couple gorgeous fall mornings so I was able to get some great fall shots. You guessed it. This post is a quick photo diary of our wekend. Beware, there are a lot of Zizou pictures in this post.

One of the good things about renting is that we don't have to rake up all the leaves. And with five trees in our backyard, that is a great thing. We call the 'ol landlords when all the leaves have fallen, and goodbye leaves. Until then, we have a ton in the side yard. Zizou has a great time playing with them all.

What a cute little face.

So many leavesto munch!

Awww

Cutest dog ever!

taking a little nap behind the child gate

and then taking a little nap with dad

Sunday I made bananna oat pancakes (recipe in the next post)

Sunday Nabil had his soccer game so Zizou and Olive had a chance to wrestle.

It is the sweetest thing when they share water

...and on to the soccer game.

Nabil glaying in the gaps. They never stood a chance.

My good friend Brooke watching the pups and making sure they behave.

Halftime Huddle

Josh running circles around blue.

...just a little offside

Zizou ended the game in timeout.

Occupy Portland

Don't worry, this post isn't a political stance. We all know that I can go off for a few days on my feelings about the Occupy movement, but for the blog's purposes, I won't. Since my audience is few, I will not divert anyone away. However, no matter where you lie on the spectrum of politics, you cannot deny that this is a powerful movement. Tens of thousands of people from all over the country have come together for one purpose. They are in different cities, but stand united to have their voices heard. They may be a little unorganized, and kinda smelly (it has been three weeks of camping in the park). Last week I ventured downtown to check out the happenings.

This post is simply a window to view a piece of the movement, Occupy Portland. The first group of photos are from the park camp ground. The next are from one of the rallies downtown.

The entrance to the park.

The outside of the park. 

They have an entire community; a first aid tent, a wellness center, a community garden, etc.

The community theater

I have to be honest, going through the camp was a little... interesting. There seemed to be a limited assortment of people. Tents and free food seemed to attract quite a big homeless group. The rally had a much wider range of people.

The beginning of the rally. People are greater than money.

There was quite a few labor and union groups at this rally.

"A CEO makes more money in 3 hours than I do in a Year... I'm the 99%"

V for Vendetta

A few people got together to donate money to make enough signs for the group, all 7,000 of them. This was one of the signs.

This is the line of police bicycles at the end of the rally. Just in case.

...until next time.

Happy Halloween!

If you can believe it, it is Halloween today, which means October is almost over! This year seems to be flying by. I guess every year seems like the too, but I really can't believe that the holiday season is now so close.

Today's post is just dedicated to celebrating a happy Halloween. Nabil loves this holiday, which means that we celebrate every year. This year, we did the standard; carving pumpkins (and making seeds), costume party, and handing out candy.

We had the whole set. I was a bucket of honey and Nabil was a bee. It seemed only fitting for Zizou to be Winnie the Pooh.



Nabil chose to get the warty pumpkin this year in an attempt to try to make his jack-o-lantern more scary and gross. More "Halloweeny" as he puts it. It turns out however, that the flesh of these pumpkins is about three inches thick. This made carving very difficult, but he powered through and his pumpkin turned out great.

The warty pumpkin up close.

Nabil's finished product. The whole thing was free hand.  He is very creative when he wants to be. Yes, that is a fake, bulging eye.

My finished product.

My favorite part of Halloween is not the costumes or the pumpkin carving. It comes after the carving. Over the last eight years, I have perfected the roasted pumpkin seed. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture for you this year (we ate them too fast), but I can give you a quick play by play. To start, I think the finished products tastes better with a little pumpkin goo left on them. I rinse them off a bit an get all the big chunks out, but I leave a good amount of it on. I spread them out on a cookie sheet, making sure they are only one layer thick, and sprinkle them with Johnny's seasoning. I have tried everything from salt and pepper to cinnamon and sugar, but Johnny's is definitely the best seasoning for pumpkin seeds. The real trick to making the perfect pumpkin seed though is to roast on low heat. It takes longer, but it is well worth it. I usually roast them on about 250 until they are fully dry and golden brown.

Now all that is left is handing out the candy. The boys are exhasted which means it was a very successful and productive weekend.

Until next time...