Just Chillin'

January has come and gone is a flurry...shower or wintry mix. Our schedules have been so thrown off course by all of the winter weather, at this point I am not sure what day it is. I don't really feel like revisiting this months past nightmare, but I am pretty sure we only made it to school about half of the month. Boy, am I glad to have that behind me! While the lack of routine and predictability has been a little on the non-existent side, January as a whole wasn't a bad month. After Sam's birthday, January was jam-packed with an eclectic mix of activities not recommended for the weak.
We got to see Lauren Hill in concert. This partially fulfilled a fantasy of mine. I have always wanted to go to a rap concert. While Ms. Hill isn't a self-proclaimed rap artist, but more so hip-hop/r&b, there was a DJ before the show that treated us to an array of 90's to present rap artists. And I will be the first to admit, I am a huge fan of the 90's which might explain why none of my students ever know any of my references. I guess in most of my attempts to relate to them, I date myself. Seeing Lauren Hill was a pretty monumental way to kick off the new year, but I will say I experienced an equally devastating experience. I learned that Janet Jackson, one of my favs, is coming to Atlanta, and I failed to get the memo about this. By the time I found out, most of her shows within range were sold out. However, there are VIP packages available, so if I have any rich great aunts or uncles out there reading this...they are ONLY $ 1000.00 per person! :) On the upside, Ms. Janet does have a book coming out next week.

We also took an escapade (one of my favorite Janet Jackson songs) up to Pennsylvania. It was a really hard call to make. We had been planning on it for quiet some time....like when we had originally had a four day weekend before this snow made mincemeat of it. The original plan was to head out on Thursday night, travel halfway, get a hotel room, travel the rest of the way up on Friday, and then come back on Monday. What actually happened: the Friday teacher work day got absolved due to the pre-Christmas break snow, we missed 4 days that week due to snow, and it was really questionable as to whether or not we would make it up there to have some precious niece and big brother time. Not knowing whether or not we would have school Friday (we were banking on not) we headed up early Thursday morning. We arrived Thursday night, wound up having a 3 hour delay on Friday, and came back on Monday. The time we spent up there was fun. We went to Moonbounce (this indoor-inflatable playground world); went to the Philly Museum of Art which pleasantly surprised us by having some VERY nice/exciting pieces, and of course did all things Rocky-style; spent some time in a favorite little Philly suburb of mine called Manayunk where we got a parking ticket (shhhhh), and somehow managed to fit ice skating and a children's museum into the mix as well. Sam did not skate, but took some classy photos:
(From the above pictures you can see that Sam does not ice skate, but instead is a great photographer!)
All in all- good wholesome fun. Sam engaged in countless hours of pretend play, and I got to see how much my nieces have grown and enjoy the ages and stages they are in right now. I definitely learned that when we have kids, I'm going to have to watch Sam because he doesn't know how to say no. I can also see myself saying, "Ok, dear sweet husband, you are going to have to stop playing, the kids have to go to bed now." The real kicker is that when we returned from PA, Sam really did get sick and had to take an actual-for-real-sick day that Tuesday. That is what you get when you try to flee town and play :cough:cough:sick for one day. He had a pretty nasty stomach bug that was pretty much a replay of what he had last year except Exorcist style with split pea soup

January was also filled with shaking my muffin maker. I vowed to make two types of muffins a week. Typically, I have been making a breakfast muffin and a dinner muffin. This has been quiet enjoyable. So far I have made berry jam muffins, salsa muffins, banana walnut muffins, cranberry orange muffins, rosemary corn muffins, regular corn muffins, wheat supper muffins, sweet potato muffins, fig walnut bread, and I am sure there are a few others. Needless to say, there is nuffin' like a good muffin. In the way of domestic duties, we also decided to repaint our indoor stairs and fireplaces one fateful snow day. I have to say that black paint is very messy and made me very nervous. It took some teamwork to paint the stairs as we both wouldn't fit on them side by side, and you can't really work on different steps because you will eventually be stepping on the other person's work. Don't worry we very civilly persevered. We also made it to game night at Beth and Freelin's house as well as a school/holiday party for Sam's school...and I feel like several other things happened...but is it February already?...the middle of the month? I so meant to get this blog out a few weeks ago. Stay tuned for a February update as we have had some exciting times here in the Summers' household.

Don't slack on your Summers reading.


A note from Sam:
Was sick in January. Got sick again in February. "Finished" genealogy for my side, for a while. Started genealogy for Kellie's side. Apparently, they're from Leicester. North Carolina. And have been for forever. A great mini-series is "Pillars of the Earth" about England in the 1100s. I'm getting ready to start some seeds for gardening time!

Happy Birthday, Dean!

Oh this day in history, 1981, I was born.
Why is the blog named "Happy Birthday, Dean? Well, Ill let you see:


My beautiful and loving wife seen here:
Made me a chocolate cheese cake with chocolate ganache. She was going to write "Happy Birthday Dear Husband" but the white icing got to hard. So it looks like "Dean" instead of "dear". But the wife says "Hasn't anyone seen a cursive "r"? Oh the funny hilarious times.

Well, I've up and turned 30. I don't know how to use these new fangled machines anymore. These computers. hope I can still remember how to write these blogs in my old age. So for my 30th birthday, I stole an idea from an old friend who also turned 30. I've made a list of my 30 favorite things I've done in 30 years. It was a great exercise in remembering and being thankful for all the great experiences in my life. It was hard to narrow it down to thirty, but here they are, in no particular order:

1.Going to the Alamo
2. Sitting on the back porch in Texas with my granddad, drinking coffee and eating Cracklin' Oat Bran cereal. Watching squirrels and talking.
3. Getting married and honeymooning in Spain.
4. Eurotrips 1 and 2 with Mathew
5. My many adventures at Appalachian State (such as crawling through steam tunnels
6. Eating Caramel Apples from Barber's Orchard
7. Working on my house with mom and dad
8. Eating homemade strawberry jam
9. Taming the wild cat Muffin
10. Playing music in bands
11. Learning to garden from my parents
12. Learning how to read and developing a love of reading from mom.
13. Playing G.I. Joes in the sandpile
14. Playing Davy Crockett in the fort
15. White Dragon beach trips
16. 2005: The Summer of the Dragon (was that the year? I can't remember in my old age)
17. Taking parents to new restaurants
18. Driving trips with my parents: to Texas, Civil War battlefield tours, Grand Canyon, Oklahoma, Washington D.C. etc
19. Hanging out at Haywood Community College watching Westerns (and developing a love of westerns from my dad)
20. Learning yoga from my wife
21. Trying new restaurants with the wife
22. Working puzzles and drinking hot chocolate with the wife
23. Playing fireman with my dog Joe during cookouts. We pretended the smoke from the grill was a real fire.
24. Eating the best chicken and dumplings made by my Mamaw Williams (even though my mom's comes pretty darn close)
25. Eating the best pecan pie made by my Grandmother Summers (even though my mom's comes pretty darn close)
26. Summer church trips
27. Seeing live music
28. Shooting guns with dad
29. Making gingerbread cookies
30. Being outside in the woods, whether it be sunny or snowy, playing or hiking.

That about sums it up. All the good stuff is on there, at least as much as I can remember. I probably forgot a few. I highly recommend this activity for anyone turning 30.


I don't really have any reflections on being old. There's a lot of grey in my beard now. My goal for the year is to do more yoga and stay active. I'm also going to be taking a course at AB Tech about writing and publishing for children, so maybe I'll get Muffin the Toothless Cat going. Some of my presents included books on raising chickens, bees, clothes, dominos, a John Wayne knife and a Bowie knife. Oh, and Snake Eyes the sweetest GI Joe action figure ever. See him standing guard behind my birthday dinner of turkey cheese meatloaf, mashed sweet potatoes and apples, rosemary cornbread, and green beans. Being old is delicious.

SNOEL: A Holiday Hindsight

Well, as always, the holidays have proven to have went by in a flurry. It seems that you spend an awful lot of time preparing for something that seems to be over in a snap leaving everyone pretty tired and also tired of food. However tiring, Christmas is one of those holidays that opens the month of December up to endless, festive possibilities that are every minute worth the effort. From holiday performances, to baking, to decorating, there is not a dull moment; the year goes out with a bang. We had a very good holiday season and were pleasantly surprised (thank you weather man) by the 8-12 inches of snow we got on Christmas day!

We got the house all decorated. The tree this year wasn't my favorite, but after messing with it about 12 times, it did it's job and actually kinda grew on me.
The cats sure enjoyed it. I don't think there was a moment that they weren't curled up underneath. There were lots of scrumptious goodies floating around, probably earlier than they should have been. We made chocolate covered Ritz peanut butter crackers, snow balls cookies, blackberry thumbprints, pecan bars, a citrus filled spice cake for Christmas day, and asiago pear scones for Christmas morning, not to mention the candy that we found in our advent calendar the 25 days prior to Christmas.



On Christmas Eve, we went to my parents for lunch for the traditional meal where a Christmas surprise showed up! Little Noel (we named her that) wondered into my parents yard. She was a cute, very sweet little kitten that we tried to entice to stay with ham which she ate a lot of; however, she must have had owners as after spending the evening with us, she disappeared. In the evening we watched a church performance that Katy, my niece, was performing in. After that we went to my older brother's house to eat hor d'oeuvres and exchange gifts. It was good to spend the evening over there, and we got a sweet camera!
Christmas morning was magical as always! After getting Sam to go back to sleep until 7, we woke up and had our Christmas morning here. Complete with coffee, scones, and times I wouldn't swap for anything! I got several awesome books. The one I am most excited about is my muffin recipe book with 750 recipes!

I also got some running clothes, kitchen gadgets, a sweet owl shirt and earrings. Sam got a wine rack, so he can now store all the wine he made! He also got some books, a fabulous purple cardigan and shirt to go with, as well as a whoopie cushion!


After we had wrapped up business on the homefront, it had already been snowing for two hours! We attempted to head out to Sam's parents in Haywood County, unfortunately the roads had not been touched yet and looked pretty hazardous. Not knowing what to expect, we turned around and headed home, and the snow kept falling.


Later that day, my dad, who has a truck that can barrell through anything, picked us up and we all went back to Scott's house for Christmas lunch and a little snow play. We rolled the world's biggest snowball that was stolen from Scott's neighbors yard into Scott's yard which was the beautiful start to an igloo. This was a huge snowball. It took some serious heave-hos by four adults. I'm not sure what the tonnage comes out to, but I am sure it was at least 500 lbs.

Later that evening, we made a successful second attempt to get to Haywood County to spend the night with Sam's parents. Thankfully it was only slightly treacherous, and my husband is a manly driver. Once there, we opened presents and ate some delicious food. I got a lot of cool socks, some books, clothes, and a cast iron skillet! Sam got some clothes, books, and a converter cartridge for his black powder (woo). As an early gift, we received this magical dishwasher that actually cleans the dishes! Tuckered out from the days events, we went to bed and woke the next morning to tackle sledding. And can you believe it was still snowing!?



I think a total of 12+ inches fell. We made it out of there after lunch and came home to shake off the Christmas crazies and relax a little.

The rest of the week was spent joyously...with just the right amount of relaxing. Mark was in town which was a special treat. It was good to see him, as always! The Sunday Skype sessions just don't do his essence justice. We went to see Little Fockers and True Grit, while polar opposites, both were pretty excellent. Sam was like a child in a candy shop all throughout the viewing on True Grit. We also went bowling. I dominated. Not shying away at all after Christmas, good food made it into our mouths several times. We went back to Kathmandu and then, on New Year's Eve we went back to The Southern with Mark, Jon, and Christian. Those two joints might be my favs as of right now. On the opposite end of indulgence, we partook in several yoga classes. I really enjoy the new studio I go to, for it has really good vibes and lots of colorful souls.

Now 'tis January, a new year, and lots of exciting stuff awaits us! Cruises, concerts, trips, and we are also keeping a flexible schedule and an opening to all the possibilities. A January blog is commin' round the corner!



Happy New Year! May it be filled with love, light, and laughs (which according to scientific studies may help burn off those extra holiday calories)!




Bon Voyage, Ya'll!

Sam's version of how we spent New Year's Eve:

Sorry for all the pictures. I've been enjoying the new camera. However, this New Year's pictojourney isn't complete because I couldn't get a picture of us asleep on the couch about 10:30 pm.

Happy Owlidays and Malidays and Holidays!

Gobble, gobble, ho, ho!

Well, the holidays are once again upon us. Loads of food, tempting treats, festive lights, halls to deck, carols to sing, stockings to hang, friends and family to love, presents to wrap, and cats to wrangle. Don't be surprised if you find a cat in your stocking this year.



I suppose the first thing to recount (besides the number of calories) would be Thanksgiving. Kellie and I, along with her parents, and our dear dear friends Taco and Tanya, went to my parents for Thanksgiving Day lunch and festivities. So much delicious food was eaten, including a yummy pumpkin cheesecake. We had some great times playing ladderball, shootin', hootin', and kasplootin' on the couch in a turkey daze. That night, we went to the Grove Park Inn to check out the gingerbread houses and decor.



Sometime before Thanksgiving, Kellie decided to get in touch with her non-existent Italian roots and make some PIZZA! Thankfully, this did not end in disaster, and instead ended in my stomach.


Let's see, what else? Oh yes, winter cleaning update. We had a little trouble with the vacuum cleaner a couple weeks ago. It just wasn't getting enough suction and the yellow warning light came on. So, we bought a new bag, and I cleaned up a few things. Still didn't work. Next, I broke down the tube thingie and low and behold, I found a rat!

It wasn't really a rat. It was a BIG clump of cat hair! What in the world?!


Yesterday and today were snowdays, so no school for these two teachers. I've been enjoying my day by reading, going to the gym, and of course, watching the best TV show ever, The Young Riders, about some riders for the Pony Express.

Well, as you may remember, I made a batch of wine some time ago. Turns out, I dropped a kabob stick in it and can't get it out. I was pretty upset. I don't want to say any more about it. Other than that and workin' out at the gym getting ripped, I'm still in the process of genealogical work. Unfortunately, records from Indian Territory, [aka Oklahoma], are pretty hard to come by. I'm getting a few tidbits here and there about ancestors from the Choctaw tribe. Oh, and I put a train around the Christmas tree, but Delilah keeps derailing it. She's the abominable snowcat.

Kellie has been busy sewing some convertible aprons for her nieces. They are craft/cooking aprons that convert into bags to carry things. She might end up making one for herself because the fabric has owls on it, and she is really into owls right now. Along with sewing, she has been going to yoga classes and fretting over what goodies she is going to make for the holidays. Our house looks festive with lights on the outside, a fun tree with a train around it, an almost complete nativity, and the stockings are hung.
On the downside, her computer got a pretty nasty virus that we have been unable to repair/locate, so we had to buy an external hard drive to back up important documents and shut her computer down for a couple of weeks until her bro from Idaho can come to the rescue. Every cloud has a silver lining, though. This one has 2: we are fortunate enough to have two computers and family that can repair these problems free of charge...maybe a Christmas goody or two thrown in there.
We also made some gingerbread houses with Kellie's nieces. More holiday funtimes coming soon!

The A-MAZE-ing Summers know how to SHAKE it up

Fall has fallen. There were green leaves on the trees when we wrote our last blog. However, in an effort to complete our Fall adventures checklist before the last leaves fall from the trees, we have to stay away from the computer. We enjoy the changing of the seasons; we love fall particularly. Consequently, you have to try to hang on to it quickly between summer and winter. There isn't much in between as far as the temperature goes, and the leaves at their peak. There are many musts that make our fall fun list including, eating a lot of apple, pumpkin, and gingerbread goodies; hiking and parkway leaf peepin', Halloween festivities, make wine, fall display, and a corn maze. Nevertheless, the surreptitious Summers managed to sneak a few other surprises in as well.

Hiking has been a pretty low priority to us this year (which we are ashamed of). I think we managed to sneak in one hike around these parts. We went on several out in Yellowstone, but with these beautiful mountains in our back yard at home, there really isn't an excuse as to why we didn't go on more. We made it up to Sam Knob right when the leaves started to turn. The weather was still pretty warm. It was nice. We had both been there, but never together, so that makes it special.

We also made it to the State Fair in Raleigh. It has gotten rave reviews from Matt and Tanya. Sam has been; I never had, so we went to check it out. It pretty much lived up to its hype. There was a lot of fried food, people, and fun things to check out. We ate some yummy falafel, a chicken gyro, roasted corn, and a fried pumpkin pie! The food feature this year were Kool-Aid pickles and Krispe Kreme bacon cheeseburger which are not for the weak (or the healthy and sane). We also didn't ride any rides which are also not for the weak. So I'm pretty much saying we are weak. We did see some fun stuff like an 800 lb. pumpkin, and Sam learned how to grow a pineapple, a project in the works. I did not know that 1. pineapples grow from the ground, and 2. each plant only produces one pineapple. Sam also impressed me with his manly attempt at the Marine challenge of 20 pull-ups. He got 19 and a half! Swoon!

I have had a few exciting breakthroughs where school in concerned. We had spirit week, and on one special day, I was able to let my inner nerd shine. I was successful, if you ask me. I also helped my homeroom enter a door decorating contest against drugs. The theme was "Don't let drugs haunt you." Each door had a saying. I have been waiting for an avenue to premier my genius idea: pun on spirits and exorcise. So our slogan was "Lift your spirits with healthy choices...like exorcise" accompanied by a ghost lifting weights. Award winning. My homeroom won ice cream.

Halloween endeavors were not as lofty this year. We did not have a Halloween party which was a bummer, and I am sure left many souls unsettled. We did, however, take part in some pumpkin carving with Mathew and Becca. My current obsession with owls inspired my pumpkin design, and Sam let released his inner wolf man. Mathew did a spooky bat, and Becca did a cat. I guess our theme was creatures of the night, and they turned out just dandy. Ours, unfortunately, didn't last very long, so we didn't get a good picture with them both lit up due to a lack of candles.

We just really dropped the bomb this year with our All Hallows preparedness. But, since we didn't have a party of our own, we did attend one. We didn't spend a lot of time this year coming up with our costumes, but sometimes the simpler the better. What can I say? We are pretty classic and awesome: salt and pepper- homemade costumes. We can definitely shake our money makers.


For the big night, we watched a few spooky Halloween movies, order pizza, made rice crispy treats and awaited trick-or-treaters. A whopping 2!
In other exciting news we went to a fun corn-maze that took us 2.7 miles and 45 minutes to complete. I will be honest, I was beginning to freak out a little bit! Thank goodness we went early enough in the day and there wasn't a chance of it being dark and turning into the haunted corn maze! Yikes! We also trained and completed the 4 miler Power for Pink breast cancer run. We amazed ourselves! We completed this hilly run in 47 minutes. That is the farthest we have ever ran; it was also cold and had a lot of incline. We felt very accomplished.


This weekend we made Sam's wine. We are anxiously awaiting the process to finish so that we can see how it is going to turn out! ::Crosses fingers:: October 28th was our 3 year dating anniversary. Can you believe it? 3 years and we still like each other! We celebrated by making a tasty, hearty meal together and opening a bottle of wine we got when we were just beginning to date. Oh the memories!


In the meantime, we are looking forward to the holidays! Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Christmas is just behind it! We also have a few more things to check off on our fall to do list: pumpkin spice latte, and pumpkin pancakes from Ihop. Anyone want to join?

Until next time- stay warm...exorcise.

Want to Hear a Dirty Joke?

A white horse fell in a mud puddle.

CAUTION: This blog contains dirty pictures.

This blog is the official so long to summer blog. The first official day of fall was this past Thursday, and it is looking like the highs in the extended forecast are only going to be in the 60's (a few low 70's days), and my body is craving nutmeg and pumpkin and all of the heartiness that is fall. There is actually some pumpkin granola in the oven as we speak. But, this isn't a hello fall blog. There is no fall display to show for it. This is a blog to take a look at the accomplishments of the summer and close that chapter. While our summer was fairly busy and pretty short, we managed to pack a lot in.

Books that were read:
Kellie: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Velva Jean Learns to Drive, The Alchemist, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Old Man and the Sea, I'm Down, Little Bee, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and The Magicians.

Sam:
Confederates in the Attic, Shavetail, One Second After, Brimstone, Let the Great World Spin, The Family Jensen, Blue Star. And these Louis L'amour novels from the Sackett Family series: Sackett Land, To the Far Blue Mountains, The Warrior's Path, Jubal Sackett.

Personal Projects:

Kellie: I tried my hand at sewing again. I found a pretty handy dandy book that has a lot of projects that just take a yard of fabric! And, what a more appropriate project to begin with than a sewing kit? While this project looks fairly small and not particularly difficult, it took me many hours. I learned how to do a lot of new things such as put on buttons and attach a trim. The part I am still having trouble with is guiding the material in a straight line. However, this is an easy fix; I just need to slow down and not be so impatient. The next sewing project I intend to start is an apron. Also, through this project, I learned that my current favorite print is anything with owls. I've also almost completed a mosaic bird bath that was supposed to be ready for my mom on Mother's Day of last year. I pushed it back to her birthday which was Sept, '09, then to Mother's Day of this year...and FINALLY I think it will be finished in the next few days.


Sam:
Well, first off, I've spent a great deal of time keeping a vigilant eye on our drug dealing neighbors. I think my visit to the Police Station paid off. On a somewhat related note: I've enjoyed shooting my new 1858 New Model Army black powder pistol. I actually have an original one (very rusted) that my granddad found in Texas. I've been doing a good bit of genealogy. It all started when I read Confederates in the Attic and I was curious about my ancestors who served in the Civil War. I'm glad to say that, so far, I've just about completed genealogical research on my granddad Summers' side, and that all four of my great great great grandfathers on that side fought for the Confederacy. One was nicknamed "Devil" Tom Summers because he was such a tenacious fighter. If Kellie doesn't throw my computer away, I'll probably start on my grandfather on the Williams side next. It's been pretty interesting, but I guess it's not interesting for everyone. Nevertheless, I think I'll attach a picture of my great great grandfather, John Berry, and his wife Permelia Wigington Berry on their farm, Royalty Farm. I include it because it's how I picture Kellie and my future.

Also, my dad and I patched up the concrete stairs in the back. I asked Kellie if I had done anything else this summer and she shook her head "no". She seemed displeased. Hmmm. Well, yesterday I had to wrangle a feral cat out from our crawl space. It had been in there for at least two days. It got in there when I was painting the door to the crawl space and the stairs. HA! There! I did something else! Tonight I cooked chili. And P.S. I still have mud in my ears. I can feel it every time I burp.
Here is the shelf I made out of a pallet.


Other accomplishments this summer include training for, and completing the USMC Mud Run. Sam and I began training a little over 2 months before the event. This was a very intense feat for me because I have never been a runner and always convinced myself that I just wasn't meant to be good at it. I started off barely being able to run 1/2 mile and slowly built up to 3 miles. This was very challenging for me, mentally more so than physically. I have discovered that running is a very good exercise because it challenges my personality. I enjoy that area of discomfort that occurs slightly outside my comfort zone, and I feel deeply accomplished in end. It is much more fulfilling to do something that is extremely hard for you and be successful than it is to do something that comes fairly easy to you. So, through this training I learned self-discipline and that running is definitely not on my "never" list.

Vacations/Excursions: Idaho/Yellowstone/Teton/Salt Lake Trip, Biltmore House, PA, Navitat, Labor Day weekend Beach Vacay with the WD's minus a few. The beach trip is the only one that has occurred since we last posted. It was a great trip. Sam and I took a Friday off of work for a 4 day weekend! The weekend was totally filled with relaxing beach time, good food (Squiggles ice cream and Britz Doughnuts), and good times. Thanks to Yellow Dog Bread Co. for providing tasty bread!

Anyways, yesterday we traveled down to Columbia, South Carolina to participate in the Mud Run. It was challenging, but fun. I will go out a limb and speak for myself, Sam, Jon, and Christian and say that there is probably not a muscle that we do not feel in our bodies today. All 4.2 miles, 31 obstacles, and countless scrapes and bruises were completely worth it, though. Some obstacles would have been impossible had it not been for team work. On the second obstacle, which was basically a horizontal pole you had to swing your legs up on and pull yourself across, after getting up on the log at the end, I lost my balance. I wound up falling from 5 to 6 feet in the air, landing on my back, and jarring the breath out of me. This was not a good way to start out, but I will say things got better from there. We completed the obstacles, no one wound up going to the hospital, and we can still walk today, so I would say it was a success. I really enjoyed working for something for so long, and seeing my efforts pay off. AND witnessing my husbands manliness as he helped hoist me up over obstacles and carried me on his shoulders. Getting dirty was really fun, too. Although, I am still finding mud in random places, including my ears and nose. We definitely want to do it next year, and we are thinking of trying a 5K this fall.

Before:
After:


Goodbye white wine and ice cream. Hello fall festiveness!