Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Johnny Appleseed Me

Hey there, happy Tuesday!  Fall is officially in full swing here in Chicago.  Matt woke me up before he left this morning to let me know it was 35 degrees outside, eeek!  It warms up once the suns comes out, but the chill is certainly in the air.  We need to get our firewood and ice scrapers this weekend, before I'm stuck scraping my car with another foam pedicure flip flop :)  And speaking of fall, Matt and I had the ultimate fall weekend this past weekend.  You already read about our hockey experience and football win, but the best fall treat was Sunday when we travelled to an apple orchard and pumpkin patch!  A real apple orchard and a real pumpkin patch!  Now, to many of you, this may not seem that cool, but for this city girl from Texas, it was uncharted territory and absolutely amazing!

 

DSCN3866.JPGSunday morning, we woke up early and headed west of Chicago to Malta, IL to the Jonamac Orchard.  (Thanks for the recommendation, The Pursuit of LLT!)  The drive alone was gorgeous, but when we got out of the car, I squealed with excitement!  (Its true, I literally squeal when I get excited, its an automatic response, I can't help it.)  It was so pretty, so picturesque, and so FALL!  After buying an empty peck, we were off to the orchard to pick our own apples!

DSCN3879.JPGIt was so nice to get there early, because it was fairly empty.  It felt like it was just us and the apples :)

DSCN3859.JPGI mean how cool is this?! I know for some people, this is normal, but I had never seen anything like this!  It was like something out of a storybook for me.  Each row of apple trees was labeled with their variety (i.e. Gala, Jonathon, Fuji, etc.) and those that were ready to be harvested were marked with a blue ribbon.  Anything with blue ribbon was fair game for picking.

DSCN3868.JPGA lot of the lower apples had been picked by kids, but the higher apples remained pretty and untouched.  Luckily, I got my dad's height and giraffe limbs lol.

DSCN3860.JPGPulling the apple off the tree never got old.  I just couldn't (and still can't) get over how legit this whole thing was.  I mean, I read about Johnny Appleseed in elementary school, but I never thought I'd have the opportunity to actually be him for a day!

DSCN3869.JPGMatt taking a peek at the varieties ahead.  And is that not the most beautiful sky you've ever seen?  I couldn't stop commenting on it all day!

DSCN3878.JPGPssh, and I thought Whole Foods was fresh!  This was fresh from the tree, and so so delicious!

DSCN3861.JPGPicking our peck.

DSCN3876.JPGI think Matt was a little skeptical about this whole thing when we started.  He couldn't get past the fact that you had to pay more to pick your own, as opposed to buying them already picked.  I reminded him you were paying for the experience lol.  He went with it, and in the end, really enjoyed it.

DSCN3875.JPGThough there were more apples to be picked, our peck was full.  So we said goodbye to the lovely little orchard and headed towards the pumpkin patch.

DSCN3881.JPGIt was only about a quarter of a mile walk to the pumpkin patch, but I wanted the full experience so we took the tractor out there.  So fun!

DSCN3882.JPGWould you look at that pumpkin patch?!  Its a real pumpkin patch!  I was silly enough to think that the pumpkin patches in surburban Dallas were real patches.  You know the ones where the pumpkins are nicely laid out on bales of hay with cardboard cut out photo ops every three feet.  Ha, silly me.  I couldn't help but let out another squeal when the tractor stopped here :)

DSCN3884.JPGWe walked around for a bit before deciding on our three pumpkins.  There were pumpkins of every shape, size and color, and some of the pumpkins were still attached to the vine!

DSCN3885.JPGOur fall family picture :)

DSCN3857.JPGAfter leaving the patch and loading the pumpkins in our car, we headed to the apple store to see what kind of tasty treats they had.

DSCN3887.JPGNo surprise, the apple pie was AMAZING!  So were the apple donuts, the apple cider, and the carmel apples.  Not that we tried them all or anything :)

DSCN3890.JPGJonamac Orchard also has a totally legit corn maze.  And by totally legit, I mean, yes, you can get lost in there for hours.  This was at the beginning of the maze, when I was all smiles.  Twenty minutes into it, I was on the verge of a panic attack, because we weren't making a lot of forward progress.  I thought they'd have friendly little guides throughout the maze to direct you when you were lost.  No, not so much.  Corn mazes have now been added to my phobia list.  In case you were wondering, this phobia list only includes two other things: frogs and swallowing my gum.

DSCN3888.JPGHalfway through the maze, I wondered if there was an app on the iPhone to help us out.  (Just saying, it would have been a good idea.)  Thankfully, Matt has a better sense of direction that I give him credit for, and he got us out safe and sound!

DSCN3872.JPGAnd of course, I couldn't go without a quick OOTD photo.  I wore this jacket last weekend to the Cubs game and several of you asked about it.  I didn't have a casual weekend jacket, you know, a good in between piece.  So when I saw this one at Ann Taylor Loft, I thought it was perfect.  Its not available online anymore, but when I was in the store a few weeks ago, I saw a couple left on the sale rack.  (Of course it goes on sale after I buy it.)  I have a feeling you'll be seeing a lot of it this fall!

Jacket: Ann Taylor Loft
Long sleeved tee: Ann Taylor Loft
Jeans: Ann Taylor
Scarf: The Limited, gift from my mother in law (thanks Jamie!)
Boots: Clarks
Purse: thrifted in Houston (thanks Mom!)
Apple: Jonamac Orchards

DSCN3877.JPGCan we take a moment and pause over my new boots?  I love them!  Now, I know what you're thinking..."Isn't the Clarks store an old lady store? Yep, exactly what I thought too (sorry Mom!)  I've never even thought twice about looking in that store.  But the other day after a long shift at the store, my feet were hurting so bad, that I thought, I can't take a fall and winter at the store in this much pain.  My boss bossed me to go get myself a pair of Clarks and swore my feet would thank me.  The Clarks store gives our associates a discount because so many of our associates shop there.  (I never imagined how bad retail hurts your feet.)  So when I got off work, I headed over.  I told myself before walking in, that I didn't care how comfortable they were; if I wouldn't buy them under normal circumstances, I wouldn't buy them now.  Then I saw these beauties.  I had to have them.  I saw a similar pair earlier last month at Nordstrom, but with a $490 price tag, they were outside my comfort zone.  So when these presented themselves, I had to have them.  Cute, comfortable, and with a discount?  Yes, please.  They aren't available online yet, but the store near me had a few pairs in already.  I love love love them!

DSCN3883.JPGSo there you have it, our fabulous fall day in paradise (and one more picture, because I'm still in awe.)  If you ever have a chance to visit an apple orchard, you should definitely go for it!  We had so much fun and are already thinking of all the fun apple recipes we can come up with this week.  HOORAY FOR FALL!

19 comments:

Norma said...

I think this is one of my favorite posts so far. All the pics look AMAZING and you and Matt look sooo happy!

norma
norma-inthisworld.blogspot.com

p.s. love those boots...the color especially!

PursuitOfLLT said...

GREAT Pictures!! Gosh, this makes me mad that I didn't go to the pumpkin patch :(

Looks like you had a great Fall day and that's what it's all about! Oh and those shoes...I would never, ever, think Clarks. I might have to go check it out!

I swear by the Cole Haan flats with Nike Air. They save my feet on long days!

Erin said...

oh my sweet Allison! i think this post makes me miss you more than ever! :) you know I would've totally squealed with you in all the appropriate places!
I'm so glad that ya'll are "experiencing" life, even though it might be a little more expensive ;)
Love you! Erin

p.s. love the jacket, love the scarf, and love love love the old lady boots!

Tina said...

What an amazing post! What I love about it is just how much you really enjoyed it! I've been pumpkin and apple picking at real farms like that all my life so I cant appreciate its beauty like you just did! But this year i sure will! and that outfit is great! clarks! who'da thunk??

French Lover said...

Your pictures are amazing. Going apple picking is one of my dreams. Yes, I'm a simple girl ;) But it's not really doable in Paris... and I never got to do it in the 3 years I lived in Montreal. My fiancé promised me we'd go once we move to Canada and I cannot wait :D

caknitter said...

what a fun trip! And, I am so loving the boots. This is such a nice introduction to fall. Thanks for sharing. :-)

Lindsay said...

I love apple picking! That's too funny that you guys went this weekend - me and Kevin went too! And I have a lot of pictures that look EXACTLY the same as yours! Haha, it made me laugh when I saw them all. It looks like you guys had a blast! There's nothing like an apple right off the tree :)

I also love those boots - I don't have any in-between boots like that and after seeing yours I'm starting to think I NEED a pair. LOVE THEM.

Alison Kinsey said...

I love what you wore to the orchard!! I had a very similar day as you on Sunday! in new england, apple picking, farms, etc. are definitely "normal" haha but I still love going, the whole experience just screams of fall. I'm really happy you got to experience it! I've never seen a pumpkin patch like that before - I think those pics are my favorite of the batch!

Jordan said...

ok...

1) I had no idea you picked apples and took them home at an apple patch... what is it called!?! Thought you just looked at them, ha.

and
2)Don't ruin my wonderful Texas pumpkin patch experence... I love it, even if it isn't real ;)

DrBabyMamaDrama said...

You guys are super adorable... love that mustard-y yellow color on you!

McKenzie said...

Looks like you two are enjoying all that the midwest has to offer... including the very chilly temperatures! You're making me miss Wisconsin! :-)

Anonymous said...

I so want to do this!! I've been hinting to my boyfriend that a trip to the pumpkin patch is needed, but he thinks it's way too early. Maybe I can convince him this weekend :)

Stephanie said...

Allison, looks like a super fun day! I was almost totally distracted by how you had your scarf tied ... esp in the first picture. I am so bored and tired with how I wear my scarves that I would love some new ideas on how to wear scarves (and would love to know how you tied yours in the pic!) Maybe a tutorial soon?

Alison Kinsey said...

ps thank you heaps for your wine advice! :) i know someday i've GOT to like it. i've got to!!!
another commenter suggested I try Sangria as a way to branch into it, so I might give that a shot.

ilene @ muchloveilly said...

first, your blog is sweet! these pics are so great, too. love it!

and i actually found you via swell.life - and not to sound too stalkerish, i saw that you just moved from the south to chicago. well a month ago, i just moved from chicago to the south! so im missing chicago like crazy so of course your comment caught my eye.

anyways, i hope you do enjoy chicago - its an amazing city!

Sara Louise said...

This looks like the perfect fall day. And that apple does look absolutely delicious.
Love your sunglasses and purse. Love the whole outfit!

Tieka, Selective Potential said...

Aww! Wonderful photos!! So glad you're experiencing a midwest fall - aren't they wonderful?! I can't wait to visit our apple orchard and pumpkin patches so soon!

rlutz said...

Love those boots and that yellow jacket...that color looks great.
Looks like you had such an amazing time!!

Jane Squared said...

I am a huge fan of the apple orchard! My family visits the same one every year; admittedly, I'm there more for the doughnuts than the apples, but I do understand your love for apple orchards! :)