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.