feels like fall

I'm on a mission to check off all the fall activities before the Midwest starts spittin' snow.  After 8 years in NC, the most fall thing I managed to do is go to the State Fair three times.

Last weekend was kind of the perfect representation of what fall should be, as this cold weather is forcing me to slowly transition from bar hopping to piling into an apartment and warming up with Bianca's chili, mulled red wine, Julia's blueberry wine, and homemade (home-popped?) cinnamon sugar popcorn.  What a productive hangout sesh it was, Crazy, Stupid Love, Settlers of Catan, and The Amazing Race (supporting the #sweetscientists).

The next morning I dragged myself out of bed to move my car (*rant about city driving/parking*) - being up at 7:30am on a chilly Saturday is not fun.  But all was right with the world when I found my way to Lazy Jane's to journal with a fantastic raspberry scone.  Oh man, this scone.  Short and cakey, sweet and lemony, it was decorated with whole raspberries and filled with jam.  Amelia was quite pleased.

The roomies, Daren, and I went apple picking when the sun was out and the sky was clear and the air was crisp.  There were rows and rows of little trees shading piles of fallen apples.  Some were picked clean.  Some were hiding their fruits out of my reach, which was upsetting until I found other fruits on other trees.  We passed by the raspberries (that were priced the same as farmer's market ones) and barely ventured into the pumpkin patch because I was on a hunt for pie pumpkins as opposed to carving ones.  We took many ridiculous pictures with apple height cutouts (I'm short), scarecrow families, and a large flatbed piled with pumpkins.

 Kids everywhere munching on apples too big for their hands - I died.  I miss my babies (and can't wait to meet the newest one in a few months).

 I ate about three apples as we filled our little red wagon with four or five varieties of apples.  Every first bite was so perfect.  I felt like Phil Dunphy and his summer plums.

 At one point, we had to hide in the trees as a hayride went by.  Kasia was quite disappointed to learn being pulled around an apple orchard by horsies is not free.  I appreciate the woman who waved back at me.

 Capped off the day with a little bonfire in Theo's backyard, where he insisted we cook everything on the fire.  Bacon failed.  Popcorn half failed.  Hot dogs were a success (minus the two that were dropped).  It was kind of the perfect end, huddled around the fire on a chilly night, chatting and laughing about grad school stuff, smelling like bacon (in my case) and burning wood, eating almost an entire bowl of pretzel sticks... almost a "my strange addiction" story.

Haunted trail.  Check.  And scared enough for the rest of my life.
Corn maze.  Check.  Aggravation from being so lost in the cold in a field of corn.  Check.
Warm apple pie with spicy ice cream.  Check.  And to come later.
Vanilla Java Porter is my new favorite thing.
I'm a big fan of fall so far.

Made some easy caramel with milk to drizzle over our freshly picked apples the next day.  Not as pretty as I imagined, but incredibly delicious during a lazy Sunday night to somewhat subside the weird mood.