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Thursday, August 25, 2011

Five Fall Favorites

Mama Insomnia

Join us at Mama Insomnia and share your favorite parts of fall!

Fall in Michigan is a particularly lovely bridge between summer and winter.  The humidity relents but the sunshine remains.  Leaves change colors, blanketing the lawns and providing a perfect backdrop for pumpkins and the perfect shade of brown leather boots.
Following are my five fall favorites
(because I love alliteration)
Cider mills
Apples to pick, haystacks to climb, cider to drink, donuts to scarf, petting farms to furiously sanitize our hands after visiting, I love it all.  We've visited one of our favorite cider mills twice already this summer, to pick strawberries and raspberries, but it's just not the same as the cider mill in the fall.  If I could figure out a way to keep the cider-happy bees away, I might not leave for the entire month of September.  Or October.
Back-to-school shopping
Abbey actually needs supplies this year!  (insert hyperventilation here)
In order to harness my emotions about sending her to pre-school, I've made a list of my own.  I'm thinking a new writers' notebook and a giant pack of Flair pens, in all of the colors of the rainbow.  There's nothing like a notebook filled with empty pages and a fun new writing tool to make a former school-lover giddy with anticipation of endless possibilities.
Football Saturdays
Ryan is going to want to call my bluff on this one, mainly because of my habit (pre-children) of falling asleep during halftime and napping until the end of the game, but I adore the atmosphere of football Saturday.  Particularly when I am on a college campus, kicking back at a tailgate, and clapping along to the Michigan State fight song.  Even for non-sports lovers, college athletics are contagious in their enthusiasm.
Halloween
Pumpkins and costumes and candy, oh my!  In Michigan, even the trees get into the spirit of the holiday, trading their green leaves for gorgeous colors, their silky textures for a crunchiness that sounds so perfect that you ignore the little pieces of leaves trailed into the house in the treads of your shoes.
Fall Fashion
I love a sundress as much as the next girl, but there's something about a flattering sweater and a great pair of boots that makes me feel confident and put together.  Layering a dress with cozy tights helps me feel pretty when I'm chasing the kids around.  Jewel tones, broken-in denim, and no real need for a coat or jacket all mesh together to make fall the most drool-worthy fashion season for me.  I'm even hoping to find a way to break my ponytail habit over the next few months!
What's your favorite part of fall?  And if you don't have one, come visit for the weekend, and we'll do a fall extravagaza until you find something you love.  Maybe you can even figure out what to do about this hair of mine?
the day we picked raspberries
not surprisingly, that is an outfit of her choosing
surprisingly, she came home without a stain on it 
hanging out on the horse swing
made of tires
weird? cute? you decide

19 comments:

  1. As a fellow Michigander, I totally agree with you about our fall season....beautiful!!! The smells, the breezes, the amazing leaves....my favorite:)

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  2. I can't wait for cider!!! Thanks for linking up!

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  3. I love the fall too!! I just hate the season that follows. I love the apple picking, gorgeous trees, fall fashion (just bought some new jeans yesterday), and Halloween too. And it's my FAVORITE running weather.
    P.S. Love Abbey's outfit!

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  4. Oh, I hate winter.  It's hard for me to find the positives in winter, and I am a glass half full kind of person!!

    And the running is perfect, you're right :)

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  5. Mmmmm, and cinnamon sugar donuts...

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  6. It almost makes winter worth it. 

    Almost.

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  7. Halloween is my absolute most favorite holiday!!! Definitely on my top 5 list!

    WM

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  8. Love, love, love all of those!  Except my version of football Saturdays might be slightly different from yours due to living in Buckeye Nation.  ;)

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  9. Oh, and we always do a pumpkin patch visit.  Every year.  And they have this thing you stand next to called "how tall this fall" and we've been meauring the kids against it since they were infants.  So cute.

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  10. Lovede your list...I am quite sure that each one would be on mine (except Halloween..I'm not a fan) I love little things about fall....and while I truly love summer, it's nice to have those gorgeous colors and air filled with burning leaves smell to anticipate.

    I love the pictures of the kiddos...

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  11. Love fresh cider- and wearing jeans and a sweater. :)

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  12. I love Halloween because we throw an annual Halloween Party for the kiddos and all their friends!  I love to see all the little ones in their costumes.  I love going to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins.
    I'm drooling at the thought of a cider mill!!  YUM!

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  13. We go to the Zoo Boo at Halloween, and that is the greatest.  Little ones in costumes are too cute for words :)

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  14. I need some new things this fall :)  Jeans are pretty high on my list!

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  15. My mom doesn't like Halloween either, and I never really cared until the kiddos.  Now I kind of love it.  We do a Zoo Boo at the zoo every year, and it is so cute & fun!!

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  16. My girlfriend was telling me that they do that with their kids, too.  I might start this year, even though they're already almost 2 and 4 :)  There's still a lot of time before they are absolutely mortified to be seen at a cider mill with their mom :)

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  17. Different colors, same pumped up fans, beer, & tailgate food, right?

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  18. I like it even more now that I have kids :)  They are too cute!

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  19. Ok, this list might have gotten me a bit excited for fall. Just a bit. I'm a summer girl.  But falls has its upsides--if only there weren't winter.

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