Thursday, October 3, 2013

Some Fun Things Lately - Apple Picking, Ann's Party, Boston Globes, and Toby's New Friend

September was a crazy busy month for me.  I feel like we only had a handful of nights that we weren't off doing something, which made for a lot of fun...but has left me exhausted and fighting a cold!  I've told you about a lot of the fun things we did already, like visit the largest antique fair in the world and go to Saratoga Springs and Cooperstown, NY, but today thought I'd share a few snippits from other awesome things we did last month!

Ann's birthday was a few weeks ago, and our friend Betsy threw her a beautiful dinner party with a bunch of us girls.  It was SUCH a fun night.  I love hanging out with the husbands there, but there's something special about girl time.  Agreed?  We had a great time eating yummy food and hanging out all evening.  Betsy has a beautiful home and is an entertainer extraordinare.  Check out her beautiful fall appetizer display below - she used a large basket and layered wooden boxes to add height, tossed in some pumpkins, and even included some flowers and a cabbage.  I brought dessert: gluten free cupcakes and homemade nutella ice cream.  Happy birthday, dear friend!



Last week I shared my lasagna recipe that I made for a group of our friends after we went apple picking.  What I didn't share with you were any pictures from the first half of the day!

Honey Pot Hill Orchard is easily our favorite place to go apple picking in the Boston area.  It's about 45 minutes west of Boston and seems to have an endless amount of apple trees, hay rides, hedge mazes, farm animals, pumpkins, and yummy cider donuts.  All the makings of a perfect fall day!






The next day we had dinner with our neighbors, Paul and Ali.  We're so lucky to live next door to some of the coolest people.  Dinner was at their house and featured their homemade pesto that they made from their garden.  Seriously good!

After dinner, Ali got one of their guinea pigs (Bolt) out of the cage and we decided to see if Bolt and Toby would get along.  I was terrified Toby would think he was a toy, so we took things slowly.  Toby wasn't sure what Bolt was at first...he rarely sees animals smaller than him (besides squirrels)!  After checking him out from afar (picture number 1), Toby walked across the table and lightly "booped" Bolt on the top of the head.  Then Bolt licked Toby's face and they rubbed faces.  Success!!





We've played (and won) a lot of trivia lately.  Last week our team name was "The Intellectual Q-Tips"  to go with our head gear for the evening.  Poor Ann had to wear a head wrap to cover a 3 day electrode test, so Barb and I wrapped our heads in solidarity.  Laugh if they want....we won.  :)


The final random fun thing I wanted to share is one of the cool art installations happening in Boston right now.  There are 26 globes lining the Tremont Street edge of Boston Common that are part of the "Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet" show that travels the world.  Each globe was designed by a different artist and covers a different green strategy or environment issue.








What fun things did you do in September?


4 comments:

  1. Great photos, it looks like you are having tons of fun. I have been apple picking before and it was so much fun. The apples from the Canadian local farms just tasted so great and then we go to try some fresh apple cider. I have also been cherry picking and strawberry picking. Fresh fruit always tastes so much better and different than the stuff you get at the grocery store.

    http://diaryofatrendaholic.blogspot.ca/

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  2. I love the globes. I went to see them in Aug! I love HoneyPot but it is always so crowded. We've been going to a different place b/c the goats are super sweet and my nieces love to feed them. I meant to tell you that I had figured out that Ann was the same Ann that was friend's w/ my friend Ilka. The 4 of us should go out!!

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  3. I love all your fall activities - one thing that Vancouver is missing is an awesome apple orchard with hayrides! I'll find one somewhere ;)

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  4. Lauren, Everything that you post is so very interesting. Your blogs enhance my life. I love the vicarious trips. You should write a book someday. The adventures of Lauren. Also, your recipes are awesome. I love Toby's friend. So cute. Lots of love to you.

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