Regardless that on any given day, the temperature may still hit three digits and our "fall" here lasts maybe 45 minutes at best, I like to tell myself that fall is indeed upon us!
Last Tuesday, the Moody girls all ventured to Tucson and then a little further south to the delightful world of Annie's Apple Orchard. It was nothing shy of amazing! We went to the pumpkin patch, cut our own pumpkins off their vines, picked sunflowers and even found some delicious peppers and produce. After the patch we headed down the road where I checked off number 49 from my 101 list: Go apple picking.
I have never picked an apple from a tree, let alone been to an apple orchard (that I can recall) but I loved every second. Before heading into the thick of things in the trees, we stopped by the bakery, purchased, and devoured a freshly baked apple pie, almost in its entirety. It was without a doubt the best pie I've ever eaten. Oh how I love fall and loved spending an amazing day with my Moody girls!
With holidays right around the corner and trying to prepare myself for 12 hour, 6 day work weeks, I decided to go on vacation and I am so glad I did. I first headed to the great city of Des Moines, Iowa to visit my dear friend Megan. We spent a day seeing the city she now calls home, from the beautiful lake she runs around, her hospital, the local bars and the best part, we played with the two new puppies she got the day I arrived. Iowa is not what i expected yet was so much better. The next day we packed up the car and made the 5 hour drive to Chicago for the weekend which was fabulous.
First night in the city we headed out and it was non stop from there. We headed out with Taylor and friends and when we entered and looked up, there they were hanging in all their glory, UA banners. As it turns out, of all the bars in the city we ended up at the UA alumni bar....awesome! The next day, Megan and I took on the city together and felt like we did it all. First stop was Millennium Park where the spitting fountain and bean sculpture awed us. From there we headed to the Art Institute of Chicago and couldn't have been happier to see work by van Gogh, Picasso, Dali, Seurat, Caravaggio and the list goes on. We then headed up and walked the miracle mile, stopped for Chicago's famous deep dish pizza then continued on which ended at the Hancock building and up we went. All the way up to the Signature Room at the 95th floor. The view could not be beat and the drinks were incredible. Later that night we headed up to Wrigleyville for a night out with Missy.
Sadly the following morning Megan headed home to Iowa but I headed to Old Town to once again meet up with Missy and other fellow UA alumni to watch the cats game. The games didn't end there because I headed to the University of Illinois Chicago to watch Taylor's soccer game which they won. The celebration continued with heading out for my last night out in the city and had a blast! The next morning I met up with Nikki, Missy and Kristen for a lovely breakfast with my Chi O's. Overall the vacation was incredibly relaxing yet energy filled and turns out exactly what I needed. I loved everything about my trips and can't wait to return to the windy city and Iowa soon.
