Apples to Apples

Apple picking on Saturday was quite a success. I ended up going w/ the plaid shirt as I talked about in this post and took everyone's advice and went totally feminine with my accessories- my tory burch reva's, gold bangles, and gold hoops.

I was pretty happy as far as all of that goes except it was super warm to be wearing flannel and jeans but since I had been thinking about this for a while I kept on with my original plan and tried to think cool thoughts. What can I say- I am willing to suffer for fashion.

Anyway, we went to Homestead Farm in Poolesville, MD. There were tons of families with children- next year I may need a child to borrow and drag along as all the kids looked like they were having so much fun and none of my friends (all 20 something young professionals) didn't want to feed the goats, play in the hay bales, or go on the tractor ride like I did. It's their loss...

Last year we went to the same farm and had an abundance of apples- my eyes were apparantly way out of touch with the amount of cooking that I realistically would do. This year we all set a limit for ourselves- 30 apples max. We shouldn't have worried- the crop was a bit sparse this year. There were several rows of Pink Lady apples (my faves) that weren't quite ripe enough but the Golden and Red Delicious apples were pretty tasty. My group- the single girls group as we referred to ourselves as (the others were either married, long term relationship, and just started dating)- actually threw in the towel and ended up going back to the beginning and bought a few bags of already picked apples to round out our meager offerings.
 

Whatever- no one will ever know the difference.

We capped the night off with a feast and a football game-- unfortunately only one was successful (UGA almost broke our hearts on Saturday... sigh). Everything was a little bit apple-y-- we had fruit/veggies and dip, apple bread, baked brie with apple butter (my contribution), apple/cheddar pizza, pulled pork in homemade tortilla bowls with apple relish, swordfish and apple skewers, veggie quinioa (the only non-apple item-- we needed a bit of a reprive), and apple-rum cake. Seriosuly- we all had to be rolled out of there.

Anyway, apple picking is a super fun activitiy that gets you outside and actively doing something. It was pretty affordable too- only $1 or so per pound, much better than what you get at the grocery store, not to mention the satisfaction of knowing that you picked them youself. Apples also are pretty nutritious from what I hear so as long as you don't cover them in sugar, put them in pastry, and bake them- it's a pretty healthy activity too.

My major tip would be to make sure that you hit the orchard at a good time for the variety of apples that you are looking for- otherwise you might have to cheat like we did and purchase some that have already been picked.

Happy fall!

-T

(p.s.- I have included some of my favorite apple specific pictures... a longer post will likely happen later with my pumpkin saga... consider that your warning to have tissues handy as it's pretty tragic)

Weekend Project

Ok so it may only be Tuesday but I am soo ready for the weekend, especially since it is Columbus Day so it will be extended a bit. I have a few things that I would like to get done, including checking out the sales at the nearby outlet mall. My big project is going to be a room (really just bed) makeover.


Below is my bedroom now:

When I finish, the bed will be this color (the red-ish main front color- Martha Stewart Vintage Rickrack, fyi):

 This will be quite the task, especially since I can't figure out how to take my bed apart (much less put it back together) so I am thinking about leaving it in the room and just moving things around a bit.

It could be fantastic, it could be a disaster.

My Favorite Season

While I can't believe that it is already October and I wonder where the summer went, I am so glad that it seems like fall is finally here, or at least on the way. The leaves are beginning to change and it is consistently becoming cooler. This past weekend my friends and I went apple picking (full post to come later this week) and ushered in fall with an apple feast. There are so many things to look forward to- Football season, Halloween, blazers, scarfs, and of course, my birthday. I am going to try and chronicle some of my favorite things about fall in the next few weeks.

Today I broke out my fall fragrance- Burberry Brit. It is woodsy, spicy, and just has all of the essence of fall in a few quick squirts (a little goes a long way). Plus the bottle is super cute with the classic plaid desgin...

Happy fall!!

-T

ps- Thanks SOO much CTB for the shout out... and the encouragement to start this blog- finally!

Taking the World by Storm

For the one or two people that didn't know, Lonny, the online design magazine, was launched yesterday (more info here). This fills the slots left behind after several home decor magazines were shut down within the past two years. With all of the talk of print journalism being eclipsed by blogs (muah ha ha ha) this is a super exciting development.

I have a stack of both Blueprint and Domino that have moved with me many times and I even kind of created a scene last time I went home and found out that my mom got rid of a few issues that I had left behind... what can I say, I like my magazines.

Under the editorial direction of Michelle Adams (see her blog here) and photographer Patrick (www.lonnyphoto.com) features by Eddie Ross (from that show on Bravo and this website) and Grace from Design Sponge I am really looking forward to seeing what they have to offer.

There are many great things about Lonny but the fact that I can sneakily look at it while at work and it conveniently provides instant links to the products featured for impulse shopping is probably a huge plus-- especially considering I have at least 2 months worth of Glamour, Marie Claire, Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, Martha Stewart, Esquire, and Rolling Stone unread and gathering dust on my bookshelf...

Tweet Tweet

Last night I had the most difficult time explain why I like to twitter to three non-twitter friends. They pretty much it is the silliest thing in the whole world. I tried to explain that if I told them (or anyone for that matter) all of the random thoughts or articles or whatever that I come up with they would no longer be my friends.

I can control who sees these thoughts better than facebook, because really, girl I was in 2nd grade with, I don't care what you had for breakfast. Facebook is for stalking, twitter is for communicating with a select few people that I can carefully screen. Write that down.

Twitter is also great for things like this video:



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48 Days and Counting

My birthday is in 48 days. A year ago I decided that 24 was going to be my year. So far, not so much. Nothing bad of course, just not the life changing, best year of my life, that I imagined. I have 48 days to make that happen.

In the meantime, I am building my wish list for my 25th birthday. Who wants to buy me this?

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Weekend Outfit

My friends and I are going apple picking on Saturday. We will then go to my friends house for an apple themed dinner party while we watch football and drink wine. I am pretty pumped, I just am not sure what to wear.

Part of me wants to go all out lumberjack and rock a plaid shirt and jeans like we have been seeing everywhere. This one from Target is in the running, as it is my team colors and within my price range ($15- cheap) because I mean really, how many times am I going to wear a plaid shirt again...

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Then I remember that I am so not a lumberjack, not a 90's grunge, and will probably look silly trying to look like either.

PS- are these shirts (and other similar designs) button-ups or button-downs? They are referred to equally and I am not sure what the difference is...