Happy Halloween from Beacon Hill

Enjoy the night! 

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Macbeth has the best quotes for Halloween. Right now I'm eating an early lunch, listening to an Alice Munro Podcast, and waiting until it's time to go to my TA class. Last night I ventured outside of our apartment for the first time since getting out of the hospital to go to my fiction workshop. I'm feeling much better and I'm hoping I don't get tired today, then I'll know I'm on the mend.

I'm also thinking about tomorrow—HALLOWEEN! I love festivities and holidays but I feel like Halloween isn't that easy to celebrate when you're too old to trick-or-treat and you don't have kids to take trick-or-treating yet. Also, I doubt kids trick-or-treat in this building. So I came up with a fun idea that's kind of festive and halloweeny for AJ and me to do tomorrow.

AJ has to work Saturday so he got tomorrow off! First thing in the morning, we're going to bundle up (it'll be low 50s tomorrow) and head out to walk through and explore all of the old cemeteries near us in Boston. We'll start in the Boston Common at Central Burying Ground and then go to Tremont Street to Granary Burying Ground and Kings Chapel Burying Ground. Then we'll walk to the North End to do Copp's Hill Burying Ground. On the way home, we'll grab sandwiches at Bricco.

At night, I'll make kettle corn with Halloween M&Ms and we'll watch Dateline. Originally I wanted to get some Stephen King movies but AJ doesn't love sitting for movies and those movies are long so instead we'll watch Dateline, which is even better, and maybe some Halloween episodes of our favorite TV shows. And maybe I'll wear my pumpkin costume while we watch. Who knows?

I'm excited for Halloween this year and I hope everyone has a fun, festive night! What are your plans?

Fall To Do List Check-In

A few weeks ago I wrote a to do list for this October. Since the month is almost up (already?!) I thought it was a good time to check-in and see how I'm doing!

1. Go to Salem. Check! I did this one this past Saturday with AJ, my sister, her boyfriend, and some friends. It was as crazy busy and crowded as I thought it'd be but still worth it the chaos! You can read about it here.

2. Go to an apple orchard/pumpkin patch. Check as well! We got this one done on Saturday as well before going to Salem. We headed to North Andover and spent a few hours at Smolak Farms. You can read about it here.

3. Watch Hocus Pocus. Check, thank goodness! I think I've done this one a few times.

4. Go to the Boston Book Festival. Not yet! But that's because it hasn't happened yet. Hopefully I'll be able to go!

5. Eat Halloween Candy. Check! We ate a few pieces while watching Hocus Pocus because it felt right.

6. Go to the Boston Common Pumpkin Festival. Yup! We did that on Sunday. It was the first really cold day of Fall so we only stayed for about an hour but in that time we got free samples from Davids Tea, free coffee from New England Coffee, and we watched cute kids frolicking in their costumes.

7. Make Kettle Corn with Halloween M&Ms. Half check. I made kettle corn twice this week but I'm saving the M&Ms for Halloween!

8. Eat chili and pumpkin cornbread. Check! Just did that one last night! Yum!

9. Watch Halloweentown, Halloweentown II, and Halloweentown High. Not yet because I don't think it's been on yet but I'm keeping my eye on the Disney Channel schedule!

10. Make an apple pie. Not yet! But my mom and grandmother are coming this weekend so I'm planning to make one for them, especially since I have a whole peck of apples waiting on the counter.

11. Watch Stephen King movies. No, not yet. Bummer. We have two dvds from Netflix right now and if I want to get some Stephen King movies before Halloween I either have to watch them fast and send them back or send them back unwatched.

12. Decorate the apartment. Check! I got a big mum plant from Trader Joe's, a few small pumpkins, and a few decorations are sprinkled about the apartment. I didn't buy the window applications because i don't think my neighbors would appreciate them as much as I do.

13. Get Married. CHECK! I checked off the most important item on the list on October 11th.

Saturday at Smolak Farms and Salem

This weekend went by so fast! I can't believe it's already Sunday night. I'm sure the weekend went by so fast because we did a lot of fun stuff! On Friday, my sister, Marina, and her boyfriend, Sharaf, drove up from Connecticut to visit. They got here around 4 while AJ was still at work so Sharaf went to rest and Marina and I sat and chatted for a while. Once AJ got home and Sharaf woke up, we went downstairs to order two pizzas from Upper Crust. While we waited for them to be ready, we walked through the Common and down Boylston Street a ways. Marina and I walked and chatted while the guys walked together behind us and had boy talk.

Once we picked up the pizza, we brought it up to the apartment and ate ALL of it and went through a bit of wine as well. The talking was non stop, my throat hurt by the end of dinner. It was really fun! After dinner, I made kettle corn for everyone and we sat down in the dark to watch Hocus Pocus. AJ and I both fell asleep during it but I'm sure we'll watch it a few more times before Halloween.

On Saturday around noon, we all got into Marina's car and drove up to North Andover where we met with Marina's friend, Katelyn, and her boyfriend, Scott, at a pumpkin patch, apple orchard, petting zoo place called Smolak Farms. It took quite a while to find but it was so much fun! It was packed with families and little kids in cute costumes. We walked around the animals for a while at first and then, out of nowhere, it down poured! Everyone was running for cover and we, smartly, ran inside the bakery where we just had to buy apple cider donuts, hot apple cider, and baking mixes. We hid under some tents, eating the donuts and drinking the cider, until the rain let up and it was a beautiful day again.





We played with the animals a bit more; there were llamas, alpacas, goats, rams, pigs, turkeys, deer, and everything. Then we walked to the pumpkin patch but we didn't buy any pumpkins—we already have some small ones in the apartment and I didn't think we should keep the big ones inside. From there, we walked down to the apple orchard. Apple season was just about over so we couldn't pick them off the tree and bag them ourselves—but that didn't stop Sharaf. We found a few that still looked good on the trees and he picked them down. AJ and I shared an empire apple and it was so sweet and delicious!

We walked around a bit more before stopping to buy apples. They had three big barrels of apples that we could pick from. AJ and I bought the biggest bag and loaded it up with apples. I have big plans of making apple pie, apple cookies, pork chops with apples, and maybe apple pancakes so they will definitely get used quickly!

As we were leaving the farm, we decided to go to Salem since Sharaf had never been. It took a good hour to get there because the traffic was crazy! And once we actually got to Salem, it took us another 30 minutes just to park. It was absolutely packed with people!



We met back up with Scott and Katelyn at Beer Works. I had a pumpkin beer, which I've been wanting to try, and it was ok but the best part was the cinnamon and sugar on the rim. We had to wait at the bar for about 40 minutes for a table but we finally got seated outside so we could people watch as people walked by in weird and crazy costumes. The food was good and we had a really nice time. We did a bit more walking around Salem to see some of the sights and some of the places where Hocus Pocus was filmed before calling it a night and driving back to Boston.

That morning, AJ and I had realized it was our one week anniversary of being married and a few people texted us throughout the day to remind us, too. It was an ideal way to spend our one week anniversary! I love Fall in New England and everything that goes along with it, especially the apples, apple cider donuts, and festive spirit of everyone enjoying the same thing!

To Do List for October

This is a fun month and every year, when October roles around, I want to squeeze as many fun and festive activities into the month that I can. I'm a little worried about doing that this year, you know with the whole wedding and grad school factoring in, but this is the first year that I'll be spending the whole month of October in Boston and in my favorite state, the one that I think is quintessential New England and the most ideal for Autumn. So here's a list, that will be ever changing for the next few weeks, of what I would like to do this October.

1. Go to Salem. We're about 30 minutes from Salem, by car or ferry, and I doubt you could find a more festive place this time of year. We went around this same time last year and it was crazy packed! Witches and people in freaky costumes crowded the streets and there were so many vendors and delicious smelling food stands, it was wonderful but hectic. I was going to bypass this trip this year because of the craziness, but Marina and her boyfriend might be going and we will definitely join them if they do! I won't pass up a free ride to Salem! Plus, it's always fun finding the places where Hocus Pocus was filmed.

2. Go to an apple orchard/pumpkin patch. Again, I wasn't sure I'd be able to do this this year. It's not the easiest thing to get to an orchard from Boston when you don't have a car, but if Marina visits, I will insist on making a stop in Ipswich or Danvers to pick some pumpkins and apples and enjoy hot apple cider and apple cider donut holes.

3. Watch Hocus Pocus. I've already done this a few times in August and September, and I'm sure I'll do it a few more times this month. I find it necessary. Amok amok amok amok!

4. Go to the Boston Book Festival. It's not really festive for Fall, but it's this month, it's nearby in Copley Square, and maybe there will be free books!

5. Eat Halloween candy. Is it bad that I already bought our Halloween candy? I had a CVS coupon that was expiring soon so I bought it way ahead of time! I already poured it out into a pumpkin dish, too. So far we've been able to hold out.

6. Go to the Boston Common Pumpkin Festival. This one I've never done or even heard of before but in my quest to find festive activities within the city limits, this popped up! It looks like it's mostly for kids, but I'm sure there will be pumpkins and pumpkin flavored baked goods so I'll be there. For those interested, it's in the Common on the 19th from 4:30-6:30.

7. Make Kettle Corn with Halloween M&Ms. AJ and I love putting M&Ms in our popcorn and I thought it'd be fun to make kettle corn for a movie night on Halloween, since apparently I'm too old to trick-or-treat on Beacon Hill. I already bought the M&M's, they have peanut ones that are Fall colored I guess, and others that are supposed to taste like candy corn!

8. Eat chili and pumpkin corn bread. I already bought both so this will definitely happen at some point. I also want to drink a pumpkin beer.

9. Watch Halloweentown, Halloweentown II, and Halloweentown High. This is a given and one of my favorite parts of October! These movies remind me of childhood.

10. Make apple pie. I already did this when AJ's family visited but there's no such thing as too many apple flavored food in the Fall! I should do pumpkin pie too, but my mom always makes apple pie and it's easy for me to follow her recipe.

11. Watch Stephen King movies. I don't  feel like there are really any good, scary, and well-made Halloween movies out there in the world. But there are two Stephen King movies, which are thankfully available on Netflix (not to stream though—boo), that are kind of Halloween-y. Rose Red (which is super long and you have to order two DVDs on Netflix for) and Salem's Lot. The former has a haunted house (and Marnie from Halloweentown) and the former has vampires (the scary kind, not the Twilight kind). I'm insisting, much to AJ's unhappiness, that we watch both this month.

12. Decorate the apartment. This is already mostly done. I have a festive wreaths, two small pumpkins, two small white pumpkins, mums, and a few other decorations I've been given. But I really want to get those sticky decorations you can put on windows so that the people walking down Charles outside can see—although I'm not sure if the building or neighborhood allows that. Also, I need more pumpkin smelling candles.

And one more reason since 13 is a good number for October.

13. Get married. This is the only really important thing on the list and the only thing that I will, without a doubt, be doing this month.