Fall Perfection

Growing up in NC, fall was my *favorite* season - pumpkins (I am obsessed), football (I am obsessed), Halloween costumes (dressing up for candy!), and a little relief from the summer heat. Living as an expat up north for the time being has stolen a lot of my former fall joy and regurgitated it as pure dread for the coming winter. I cling any to shred of warmth above 65°F and take all dips into the lower temps as a personal affront & the end of the world. I've tried to change this about myself, but I just cannot shake it. I hate dreading fall instead of reveling in it, but my idea of fall fun is NOT freezing my derrière off at a pumpkin patch in weather under 60°F. [I don't care what those of y'all who have been melting in over 90°F all summer think - you would NOT want this in exchange! TRUST ME. A few years ago this same week there were snow flurries. (You can imagine the freak out I spiraled into!) Can we agree that ideal fall highs should be above 60°F? I'm all about long-sleeved t-shirt weather.]

That said, today we were blessed with the most perfect fall day I could imagine - even up here! The sky was amazingly clear CAROLINA blue! (Yes, even up here - for me. ;-)) The morning was cold, but the sun warmed us, and thankfully there was no wind. It was Annelise's Montessori field trip to the local apple orchard. (I must say, I do LOVE how many apple orchards, u-pick pumpkin patches, & corn mazes there are up here. We have literally 10 within a several mile radius of our house!) Coming out the side entrance to our sub, we actually had to stop in the road for a doe to cross, which delighted Sis to pieces. :-) At the apple orchard, we took a tractor ride out to each pick an apple. The smell was A.MA.ZING. Not that I've never picked apples before, (yay, Carrigan Farms!) but I was just extra intoxicated by them today. So fresh!

Up here, having cider & spice cake doughnuts is a HUGE deal at apple orchards September-October. I mean, HUUUUGE! So we also had our requisite cider & doughnuts before checking out the petting zoo & leaving.

Field trip side bar: I overheard one of the moms speaking German, and my heart leapt! It took me brushing past her seven times to get up the courage to say anything, (I am PAINFULLY shy re: actually speaking German; I love hearing & understanding it, but I have no confidence whatsoever that I can make any of it come out of my mouth correctly, anymore.) I finally nervously sputtered, "Woher kommen Sie aus Deutschland?" (Where are you from in Germany?) and we actually chatted for about 5 minutes auf Deutsch with random bits of English thrown in where I couldn't remember words. Personal triumph!!!

After the beautiful morning orchard outing, we went to dance/gymnastics, and I had the best part of my whole week: hanging out w/ my BFF (whose daughter - Sissy's BFF - is also in the class) for an hour & a half of adult convo and then all four of us going out to lunch together - just the girls. It is honestly one of the most precious times of my week. Today at lunch, I got the most divine pumpkin bisque soup - pure autumnal heaven! It was just a faceful of fall, :-P pureed pumpkin, cream, cinnamon, caramelized onions, chicken stock...& I don't know what else. Mmmmmmm... After lunch, we walked around the cute downtown, relishing the perfect weather and window shopping. (I'm now obsessing over marshmallow stuffed, maple cream cheese icing topped pumpkin spice cupcakes, and I wish *I* ever needed a lunchbox, b/c I am in love with these KOKO lunch bags we found in a specialty shop!) We topped off our comfortable stroll with tea (chai latte = my fave, other than bubble tea ;-)) before we parted ways to meet our 1st Graders back at home.

It was a perfect day of bright sunshine, clear blue sky, WARM sun taking the chill out of the air, delicious fall-flavored foods, and fabulous friends. :-)