You guessed it, this post is dedicated to one of my favorite parts of fall, pumpkins! Pumpkin pie, cheesecake, seeds, lattes, bread, frozen yogurt.. the list is un-ending! Just the way I like it too :)

This time, I’m actually talking about the origin of all of the delicious recipes, the actual pumpkin. I’ve been excited all week to head out to the pumpkin patch and the day had finally come! After a train ride out to Long Island we were headed in the right direction to Windy Acres Farms. I can’t remember the last time I’ve actually gone to a real pumpkin patch, so I was as excited as the 5 and 7 year old kids running around at the farm. the farm was great because it had the pumpkin patch, a corn maze, a horse carriage, play areas for the kids, and a cafe. 

Despite the “pumpkin crisis” that Hurricane Irene caused, there was still a number of pumpkins to pick from. We were looking for the perfect pumpkins though so, as perfect things do, it took a little bit of time. Plus, we couldn’t get anything too big since we did have to haul it back on the train and 2 more subways back to our apartments! 

So what do the perfect pumpkins look like? Well, here is one!

Small enough to carry, but big enough to have a nice face to carve on! I cannot wait to get my carving on! I haven’t carved a pumpkin in years either. Feels good to only have one job this year so I have more time to enjoy, well, life!

As soon as we hit the pumpkin check-out line the boys bailed and headed for the cafe stand to line up for some apple cider donuts. I’d never had one so I didn’t understand the fuss of leaving the women with the pumpkins to carry (thanks guys!). To their defense, they did end up helping us first before getting back in line. Anyways, if you ever seen apple cider donuts on a menu, make sure to try them! These ones were freshly deep-fried and covered in sugar. Fabulous! The perfect way to end a trip to the pumpkin patch :)

Now onto the real important decisions like.. what am I going to carve on my pumpkin?!

Winter may be a couple of months away, but I am already dreading the arctic tundra that becomes New York. After last winter I said I didn’t know if I could do another winter here.. but here I am going in for year two. I decided to get ready early this year and get out there coat shopping early before the rest of New York realizes winter is closing in. Of course, I wasn’t just looking for any coat.. I wanted a top of the line, survive in Antartica coat, but at a I can still pay my rent price. Luckily, the city does have some great discount stores for the same department store product. On my mission I hunted high and low from Burlington Coat Factory, to Century 21. I even found my inner 70’s child along the journey.

Nothing seemed to fit all marks of just what I was looking for.. There was always something missing.. or they didn’t have the right size… and since it is only September I figured I still have a little time to be picky. Then I headed off to Nordstrom Rack where I started to find more of what I was looking for.. puffy coat, with a hood, black, and under $100.

While this coat shined through my inner gangster, there was still a little something missing. Don’t worry though.. because the next dayyyy… I saw bright shiny lights coming out of Loehmann’s leading me downstairs to the coat selection. And, guess what! They had a coat I had previously liked at Century 21 in the size that I needed and it was $10 cheaper! Scoreeeee! 

So don’t worry about me turning into icicle Anna this winter, because I will be keeping cozy (hopefully) in my new Kenneth Cole puffy jacket that retails for $260 that I scored for $79! Oh yeah. Why pay retail?! Get your deal on!

Multi-tasking at its finest! Duck game, Yankees score, and Greys!