Falling into Fall

Things are finally settling down here; I passed my licensing exams for work and finished moving into my new apartment. At first I didn’t know what to do with myself. I couldn’t remember what people did when they weren’t studying or decorating. Luckily, the beginning of fall helped me realize there was more to life than sleeping in and Real Housewives marathons.

There are so many great things about fall. It’s the start of sweater and boots season and opens the door for pumpkin recipes to take over Pinterest. There is no better way to take in everything that fall has to offer than a picnic, and when that picnic takes place at a vineyard, well, you’re pretty much in pumpkin spice heaven.

That is exactly how my boyfriend and I fell into fall. My favorite thing about Maryland is that it is a mini-America. I may live in the city, but I’m only 45 minutes from the beach, 1 hour from the ski slopes, and 30 minutes from the country. If I ever feel like I need to escape, I have plenty of options that are only a short drive away. One of those options is Boordy Vineyards in Hyde, Maryland.

I had been to Boordy once before to see a Midsummer Night’s Dream, but I had gone straight from work and was woefully unprepared for the chilly night and cheese cravings that good wine always seems to cause. This time I was going on the first fall Sunday for CRUSH ’13, an event celebrating Boordy’s 69th vintage. This time, I was prepared.

We were welcomed to Boordy with a souvenir wine glass and tastings of their newest vintage. I was born and raised in Maryland, so I went straight for their Icons of Maryland series , which have a different Maryland critter on each label. My favorite was the Shiraz, the boldest of their Icon reds, with the Assateague wild ponies on the label.

Josh was raised in Texas, so he wasn’t as drawn to the Icon series as I was and began by tasting Boordy’s Landmark series. Although I think he is quickly becoming a Marylander, since the wine he chose was 100% Maryland grown. We ended up buying two bottles of Josh’s pick, the South Mountain Red. It is a new release for Boordy and went perfectly with our picnic menu.

After setting up our picnic, we were able to tour the new Wine Building, where they offered a sample of their rose and explained the three years of planning and construction that went into the new building and expanding their capacity.

It was great to see the new building, but my favorite part was just sitting down and enjoying the beautiful weather and High Strung Bluegrass. Our picnic of cheese, salami, and pumpkin turkey chili wasn’t too bad either.

Overall this was the perfect way to welcome the new season. With my picnic essentials and easy fall menu, you can get out there and fall into fall too! Trust me, it’s even better than a table-flipping Jersey Housewife fight.

.... and how should you carry all of these things to your picnic you ask?

Pumpkin spice kisses.

Vacation days

There's a sad moment in every (full-time employed) post-grad's life when you realize that you no longer get a summer. Instead of getting three months off, you have to plan of months ahead to get three days off.

That's what I had to do in April, when I asked for special permission to get three days off to go visit Austin, Texas.

I would just like to say that I have never been happier to be in the 106 degree heat than when I am not at work. Especially when my paycheck was direct deposited in to my bank account while I was designing a new necklace at the Kendra Scott color bar midday on a Thursday.

So enjoy your weekend fellow yuppies, and I hope you like these photos from my trip! There are many many more to come when I return!

...and why would I go to Texas without learning how to shoot?

Week one of CSA eating

Week one was actually last week. When people still lived here. But dont't feel bad for me because my family and boyfriend abandoned me, I still have the dogs. You can feel bad for me when my mother takes the dogs with her after the Fourth of July, and she continues to refuse to let me get new puppies to fill this empty home. Apparently they have a problem with the whole house training thing and nobody being there to teach them not to destroy the house. This may be a valid point, but one of our dogs starts peeing uncontrollably when my dad catches him doing something bad. So, clearly, you can never really house train a dog, and I should be able to fill the house with little furry balls of canine cuteness. Anyway...

It's a lot less intimidating to pick up a box of food when you know that there will be people around to eat your leftovers. It is especially nice when your baby brother is graduating high school and there will be a party full of people to pass off your food to! All these years when he was making me look short and pale in our family photos, I just kept telling myself that he would come in handy one day- and that day has finally come! He may be gifted with my mother's ability to tan, but I get to pass on my healthy food to his friends! #Winning

(But seriously, it really isn't fair how tan he is. I tried to wear light purple shorts to his party and my mother correctly pointed out that they were almost the same color of my skin.)

This week I got a great mix of produce-

1. Kale 2. Iceberg lettuce 3. Other green lettuce (I really don't know) 4. Spring onions 5. Radishes 6. Strawberries 7. Rosemary 8. Asparagus 9. Eggs

Recipes from this box to come soon!

Local kisses,