Those Autumn Leaves

I'm bundled up inside. I can literally hear how cold it is outside. And from all reports, Davis County will blow entirely off the map today. {or, at least, it was the day i actually started penning this post.}

I'm in denial that winter weather is actually coming 'round the bend, so it seems like the perfect day to hold on to those last few memories of the gorgeous fall we enjoyed with a pictorial of our weekend outings.

We had a whirlwind weekend with the Collins and the Moodys. Collins' visit came to a close just as the Moodys pulled up in front of our place, so the guys enjoyed a quick Forest Gate apartment reunion on the sidewalk for a few minutes. Central Park was basically begging to be enjoyed that weekend. One does not turn down a lovely day in Central Park. We enjoyed ample time in the park, where we caught a chess tournament, sang along to some Beatles tunes at Strawberry Fields and - ah, heck. i'm just going to say it - I had the best hair day of my life.

On a whim, we headed up to Sleepy Hollow to run the Sleepy Hollow 10k with our Connecticut Barlow family. The course was the perfect way to enjoy this Halloween town in the fall - a headless horseman atop an actual horse was the course marker at some turns and race participants are encouraged to dress up. We were slackers in the costume dept, but Alyssa's costume had us - and everyone else - cracking up.

For the last few years, Noah's had a tough time grasping the appeal of apple picking. To this orchard-raised boy, apple picking just means chores. But we've been in the city long enough that the prospect of picking fresh apples from the tree really spoke to him. We enjoyed the most gorgeous fall day picking apples and indulging in one too many apple cider donuts with a great group of friends. And Noah impressed us all with his knowledge of apple varieties, his insight into how the trees ought to be pruned {apparently these trees are suffering from serious neglect} and his ability to break an apple in half with his bare hands. That's right, ladies. He also does laundry. I hit the dream man jackpot.

The following weekend, winter tried to sneak attack us with a snowstorm in October. Rude. But fall bounced back, thank goodness, and we made the most of its return with an afternoon at the Cloisters and Fort Tryon Park with the Hydes. 

And last, but certainly not least, I made my way to the Upper East Side on a lovely Sunday afternoon to catch mile 23 of the NY Marathon. A client of mine was running, so I met up with Zach and pals who were also there cheering on their friend. They made these great signs for their friend {the other one said "do it for the cheeseburger."  because really, who's NOT thinking about meat and cheese after running the equivalent distance of Times Square to Scarsdale?}, and I was holding on to one of the signs when my client ran past. I was all about high energy and yelling his name, jumping up and down, you get the drill... and the sign was right there in the mix of my hoopin' and hollerin'. It wasn't until after he passed that it dawned on me that I had the "extremely good looking" sign. Hoping I didn't send an uncomfortable message...