It's Fall Again

When Chuck found out he was going to do his internship "off-cycle" I was excited for a number of reasons. At the top of my list though was the weather. Moving to Seattle in February meant we would only have to endure one winter in Boston (coming up in a few months...) and would get to enjoy two Fall semesters. Last year I raved on the blog about all the fun things we did during the Fall semester and how amazing it was to be in the Northeast for the fall. Now a couple weeks into Fall 2013... well, it's time to start raving again. Here's what we've been up to this past week.

Apple Picking:

Before moving to New England I thought there were three types of apples: red, green and Honeycrisp. Nowadays, I find myself at the apple display at the grocery reading all the names of the apples and trying to remember if I like Fuji or Gala apples better. This is what apple picking has done to me. We went apple picking again this year but to a different farm than last year and with less people. But the experience was pretty much the same: cider donuts (my main reason for going...), apple picking, eating apples while picking, throwing apples, apple cider, and then going crazy in the farm store buying up all the pumpkin butter and other goodies they make right there on the farm.

The guys checking out how they make the donuts.

Apples: this way.

Chuckie was a huge help while picking apples, as you can see.

 The girls.

The view driving to the apple orchard.

Our goodies.

A trip to Southwick:

My Aunt and Uncle who live in Western Mass. recently moved out of their house into a new condo. We haven't seen them since before our move to Seattle so we decided to take a trip out to see them and their new place and spend the night. They now live in Southwick, a little town west of Springfield. We arrived late in the afternoon, right in time for cocktail hour. (Side story: Cocktail hour is really big in my family and I love it. I remember when I was little, we would go to my grandparent's house for dinner and there was always cocktail hour: adult drinks for the adults, soda for the kids, and snacks for all. I LOVED cocktail hour. I still do. And I'm so happy that my mom and all of her sisters seem to have carried on the cocktail hour tradition. Seriously. Cheese, apples, crackers, hummus, chips and wine? Before an amazing, home-cooked meal? Nothing better, I tell ya.) After a delicious meal my aunt cooked for us, we sat and watched the Notre Dame football game and then went to sleep.

The view of their deck and backyard. So relaxing. :)

In the morning, my aunt and I made an 8:30 am donut run to a popular donut place right down the street, Mrs. Murphy's.  Well Mrs. Murphy also happens to be my aunt's name so naturally I made her stand in the rain and take this picture.

 We love visiting my aunt and uncle because it's fun to see family and also fun to spend time in a real house with cozy couches and candles and other house things. We can't wait to go back!

My new job:

I got a job, finally. (Yes I know, I'm a professional job-getter. I told my cousin the key is to apply for like 50 jobs and then you'll get maybe 2 interviews and secure 1 of the jobs. Seems to work for me pretty well.) I am working at MIT again but in a totally different role this time. I'm working in the Communications and Development office in the School of Engineering. My office is in the big dome building now, so I walk to work instead of taking the train since the dome building is only a 12 minute walk from our apartment. The job is fun so far and the people I work with seem to be really great and fun people, which always makes working more enjoyable. Oh and I can take walks on my lunch break and look at things like this.

This upcoming weekend is a holiday weekend, so we have 3 days to do as many Fall-type activities as we can. We have some pretty fun things planned so I can't wait to share pictures after this weekend! I hope you are all enjoying Fall wherever you are! And if you're not, well, then go put on a scarf and get a pumpkin spiced latte from Starbucks! What are you waiting for?


(P.S. I just reread this post and realized almost the entire thing revolves around food. Whoops. I have a problem.)

Fall- the Best Season of All

I love Fall more than any other season. I always have. I associate Fall with sweatshirts and boots, colorful leaves, chili and cider, football and marching band, fire pits and hayrides, season premieres of all my favorite shows, and best of all- the anticipation of the holiday season that is quickly approaching. 

This year, we get to experience our first New England Fall. From what we hear, it's a great time to live in Boston. We got a taste of it when we came to visit for Ambassador Day last year and the year before. But now we are getting to experience it.

Because I love Fall so much and because we are in the perfect place to enjoy it, we are trying to live it up best we can. I think we've done a good job so far! Check it out.

We went to a Harvard football game. The stadium was less than half full and it felt more like a high school football atmosphere to us than college, but it was a pretty day and it was entertaining to say the least.

No idea who won. We left before it was over to go order our iPhone 5s.

If on a Sunday afternoon, Chuck suddenly stands up and says "I need a break from homework. Let's walk to Starbucks and get a Pumpkin Spice Latte," who am I to tell him no? (Please note: football on the TV in the background.)

We've had perfect boot weather lately.

Chuck has joined the LGO flag football team. They had their first game last week and it ended in a tie. I thought only soccer could end in a tie (one of the many reasons I hate soccer) but apparently not. Oh well. The LGO team had better cheerleaders at least.

We went apple picking. We went with some other LGOs and SOs on a Sunday morning up to a place called Russell Orchards. We ate cider donuts, picked apples, and broke almost all of the orchard rules (including "no throwing apples" and "no shaking trees.")

 The rules didn't say anything about not sampling the apples...

 

Our goodies from the Orchard:

 Pumpkin butter, Red Raspberry Jam, Apple butter, and 10 lbs of apples. Because, you know, two people really need 10 lbs of apples.

I don't know if you can get more Fall than football games and apple picking but we plan to try. On the horizon we have a camping trip, a pig roast, and someone brought up a possible pumpkin carving block party sometime in the near future. You know I'm all over that.

I don't mean to brag but one time I carved a Goldendoodle howling at the moon into a pumpkin. Not sure how I will top that this year but, I'll try my best.