I've found the only bathing suit that tops my fruitsuit(riot):



Yowza.

I did some treacherous rock climbing this weekend. Peer pressure exists, even at twenty-five! As it turns out, nobody fell to their death and all my fretting was for nothing. That's usually the case.

Merv brought me a soon-to-freeze flower and sandwich to my work today. Either he feels threatened by my middle-aged d-bag wannabe boyfriends, or he's just sweet.

Today in the kitchen: super fudgy cream cheese brownies & sweetly spiced almonds. Tomorrow: Cajun black beans & pumpkin bread. Thursday: macaroni & cheese & whatever my mama needs assistance with. Friday: LEFTOVERS, FOOLS! Saturday: scrap-sharing post-Thanksgiving potluck...either at our place or Heath's. Get ready to feast.

I've pretty much beaten both strep throat and Plants vs. Zombies in five days.
Medicinal herbs are seriously amazing.

So are supplements - after eleven years of menstrual cramps, I finally decided to take a Calcium/Magnesium supplement. Within thirty minutes the cramping vanished almost entirely. Why did Teen magazine or that lame video girls were forced to watch in sixth grade while the boys played kickball not give such crucial information?!?

During my sickness I roasted some pumpkin seeds, made pumpkin oatmeal raisin cookies, and turned some gross old bread into a delightful batch of croutons. I also reorganized all of the kitchen cabinets and somehow managed to create a lot of extra space. I'm debating what to put in it. Probably tons of nonperishable food ideas, just in case zombies end up being real. Here's the (vegan friendly) cookie recipe for anyone who loves pumpkin flavored things as much as I do:

1 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 2/3 cups brown sugar (+ a few packets of stevia)
2/3 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons molasses
1 cup cooked pureed pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
as many raisins as you can stand! (mmmm....raisins.)

Bake for 15+ minutes at 350 on a greased cookie sheet.

And did you know that mewithoutYou has been my favorite band for seven years now? I can remember trying to watch the "Bullet to Binary" video with dial-up.

Oh yes, dial-up.

And now...the most preposterous photo that showed up on an image search for "mewithoutYou":





















I'm speechless. (And not apologetic to any dudes who might be reading this that are disappointed that I not only mentioned my period in this post, but also posted a cookie recipe.)

Let me share with you some of the perks of my job: operated by women, coworkers I can learn all sorts of things from, relatively casual dress code, soothing jams, discounts, samples of new products, free expired Naked juice!, awesome customers 99.9% of the time, time off if we deem it necessary (even "just because"), paid time off, being continually encouraged to be well, and coming home smelling like a spice rack instead of a cheeseburger. Last week a coworker of mine was really sleepy so she was allowed to clock out and take a nap on the couch since we were slow. What. A. Great. Place.
I would also share with you the reasons why my husband is just as great as my job, but Andrea and Courtney read this and I know they can "do without hearing that shit." (Quoted in advance.)