slowing down. or trying.

Every fall, I have a bit of a personal dilemma.Autumn is my favorite season, hands down. It makes me want to cozy up with my loved ones, play cards by the fire, sip wine and cook huge meals for family and friends. I want to leave the windows open at night and snuggle under mountains of blankets, bake all kinds of new recipes and go on evening walks with the dog.But.But fall is also my busiest time for work. It is by far the season in which I am completely slammed -- mostly with jobs I LOVE doing. And because I love my work, I have a habit of taking too much on and then kicking myself for not having enough down time.I was pondering this problem (again) last night while examining my calendar, and I decided that I needed to slow down where I could. And one option for that was to walk to school with Ezra today.His school is about a mile away. We often bike or drive there, but I have fond memories of walking to and from school when I was young, and I'm a firm believer in that time being important for decompressing for the day or preparing for what's to come. So I leashed up the dog (my poor sweet girl deserved a walk so, so badly), loaded Ezra and all of our gear in the stroller, and headed out.It took me a full hour for the entire process, but I'm not going to lie, it was a pretty great way to start the day. We talked about who he wanted to play with today at school, we pointed at all the trees that were changing color and we laughed at Magda and how excited she was. It was really nice.I hope I can keep up these walks every once in awhile -- although I almost think they'd be even better for the way home.Anyway, here are a few photos I snapped on the way  home. The bees are so sluggish right now with the cooler weather! That was a fun surprise! And for your internet shares of the day:+ Gorgeous photos of the Faroe Islands. + Lorde covers Phil Collins.+ Refrigerator envy.+ Get uncomfortable. Reap the benefits.