One Hand Waving Free: Autumn in New York: Pumpkin Palooza, Halloween Extravaganza, and Falling Leaves

So, chapter 2 and part III...whatever the heck we were at, has been a little bit delayed, obviously. Sunday night I had to call it quits so I could get some sleep before a 12 hr work day, and then I have been sick this week. Still sick, but am to the point where I can't sleep any more so I am trying to be productive. I've been on Pinterest wayyy too long today (Which is like the most addicting thing ever if you haven't been roped in yet...I'm up to 25 boards and 1778 pins since the end of June. Today's favorite discovery...turn the toaster sideways to make grilled cheese...utter brilliance/why did I not think of this? moment. Will be testing asap) and have watched wayyy too many episodes of Felicity (Which kind of makes me want to wear sweaters all day every day and be back in college studying away. Well kind of, without the stress anyway. Is that weird? It's also one of those TV shows that now makes me go...wait I actually live in New York, weird.) So now I am cuddled up with Lillie in my lap and a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks (I caved in my delirius sickness ;)...and because we didn't have milk to make our own. They're just. so. good.) and am going to update until the cows come home. Or until I fall asleep. So sit back, relax, and get ready for a blog post for the record books.

So, despite last weeks completely random blizzard, it has been a wonderful few weeks of autumn in New York. I have been looking forward to fall in New York since we decided we were officially moving out here. I couldn't wait to see Central Park's trees decked out in gorgeous fall colors, to take long walks on brisk fall days, and to enjoy all of the wonderful festivities fall brings. I adore fall. Austin always tells me I was made for fall; that my hair and face light up in this season. Do you ever associate certain people with certain seasons? I feel that some people were just made for summer shorts and days at the lake, others love the snow and look cute in hats and scarves, others look fabulous in spring pastels and are awakened by the budding of trees. While I love all of the seasons, fall holds a special place in my heart. Fall makes me feel alive like no other season can.

I really need to stop this, haha. But it just speaks to my life so much. Everything about this movie is so good and true.

Fall has been a long time coming here in New York, and I have been getting anxious. Since the start of October, every day my eyes have been peeled for changing leaves. Little by very little they have been coming. but even now, I still don't feel like it's full blown fall. I keep feeling like I'm going to be at work for a couple of days and miss it completely. I literally was yelling at the snow out our window this past weekend because I thought winter was going to overtake fall and we would miss the leaves all together. I realize now how ridiculous and childish I probably looked, but Austin gets me, and was the supportive husband he always is (Thus the aforementioned Devil's chili. It quelled my anger a bit.) It was pretty, don't get me wrong, but it's kind of like Christmas taking over Thanksgiving. I'm all about keeping holidays and seasons in their proper order, you know? Enjoy one before moving onto the other. We had two seasons at once for a bit (which was so random and spontaneous, and upon reflection, kind of appropriate for New York), but now the snow has melted and the leaves are finally changing. Yay! So here I bring you our fall happenings, and since I am so far behind they might be in somewhat random order. But it's all good stuff, I promise.

Happy Halloween? The aforementioned and pictured snow this weekend. Pretty and spontaneous, but unwelcomed this early. Guess it's just a preview of what's too come. Glad it's all melted though!

The epic chili that simmered for 8 hours and made the day oh-so-much better. Warmed our souls.

But as I said, there's hope....check out my walk today!

I was speechless both literally and figuratively today. Thank you fall colors, no thank you asthma/allergies/whatever I have going on.

Anyway, so two Saturdays ago now (After our day of awesomeness at the Museum of Natural History) we took in fall from the Greenmarket. It truly felt like the harvest had come in, as every booth was absolutely overflowing with beautiful fruits and veggies (and we didn't even get there until later in the day!). Our primary mission: to procure a pumpkin for Pumpkin Palooza 2011, as we dubbed the day.

Pumpkins galore!

Arriving late in the day (although not planned) seemed to work out perfectly, as vendors were discounting their pumpkins in order to sell them. Also, the professional pumpkin carvers that had been carving for 8 hours straight were finishing their pumpkin masterpieces....check these out!

King Kong! Very appropriate for New York.

Dino pumpkin! Also appropriate considering the previous days events :)

The pumpkin selection was pretty broad, with pumpkins and gourds of all shapes and sizes, but we finally picked a lovely medium sized one that we thought was manageable to take back on the subway.

Fall, fall, fall

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Once we had our pumpkin, we sipped on cider and listened to piano music by this guy who has spent the past 5 months traveling with his piano across America and playing in 31 major cities and 8 national parks; 15,000 miles.

Plus his cute little dog in a sweater!

Then, we perused the bounty, ate some samples, and procured some goods.

Oh, how I love mums. I wanted to take them all home with me.

Apples, apples everywhere!

Grapes are still in season...and so juicy and delicious!

Beautiful wreaths

Oats and wheats and barley grow.

Herbs...note to self, start herb garden in kitchen soon. Want to recreate this idea.

These guyz had some crazy hurz.

Pears.

Radishes.

Pretty peppers.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Beautiful hand-dyed yarn I have been eyeing for weeks. One of these times I'm going to buy some for my knitting endeavors.

Ghandi even got in the spirit of the day. We left him our raspberry apple cider to celebrate with (unfortunately not on purpose :( ).

Afterwards, we walked over to Think Coffee, where our pumpkin was our tables' centerpiece.

So intellectual.

Then, we went home and made dinner with our purchases from the Greenmarket. Burgers with cilantro, jalepenos, and gorgonzola on homemade stout bread; homemade fries with mayo (Belgian style); and apple, colorabi, and carrot salad.