the tale of a birthday that was almost bad but then was very good pt. 2

Jared drove a very sniffly, sleepy me up to Richmond the evening of my birthday, where Amelia had prepared an amazingly fall-filled intinerary of activities. First stop on Saturday morning was Charlotteville's infamous Carter Mountain Orchard for some apple picking. After a week of rainy days, it was a super foggy & super gorgeous drive.

It was SUCH a pretty, fall morning. Crisp, breezy, & oh-so-dramatic. It never rained, but the fog lingered on the mountain until about mid-morning. Even though I couldn't unclog my ears between the sickness & the elevation, I was in picture-taking heaven.

^ BFFs ^

Let me tell ya, I have never been so grateful for my Hunter boots. It was nothing short of a miracle that none of us fell while climbing through the rows of apple trees, shlepping our way through orange mud. Every few minutes, you could hear someone fall a few aisles over, which served as a reminder to watch your step & hold that camera above your head like your life depends on it.

After we picked our 10 lbs. of apples & made an obligatory apple cider doughnut stop, we rallied back to the car & spent a good 20 minutes try to get out of our boots & into dry, mud-less shoes without making a mess in the car. It's days like these that we look at each other & try to imagine what things will be like when we all have kids. We will not be going anywhere fast, that I can assure you.

^ You're the apple of my eye! ^

Our next stop was down the mountain at the Blue Mountain Brewery for lunch & a brewery tour. I'd love to tell you that I learned a lot about how to brew beer, but all I heard was "Science science science hops science science CHEMISTRY science science." I'll just leave that to the professionals.

^ Aren't they just the cutest? ^

We ended our fall festivities at Bold Rock Cider's... cidery? & did a tasting before doing a tour about the processes of cider-making. Jared, of course, was super interested since it's allz aboutz some juice pressing, & he's in the business of pressing juices. Again... A delicious experience. & oh so fall-y.

^ My younger sister & her friend just happened to be at Carter Mountain the same day as us ^

^ In which we demonstrate all the different ways you can pose with an apple? ^

My sickness didn't slow down over the weekend, but I'm happy to report that none of these wonderful people picked up my cold. I'm even happier to report that being surrounded by great friends & fellow 25-yr-olds made for a perfect birthday weekend. I'm so blessed to have been born in October, because every birthday is filled with autumnal celebrations & things like apple cider doughnuts. Cannot beat that. Huge thank-yous to my parents & sisters, Amelia, Andrew & my wonderful Jared for such a wonderful, memorable 25th birthday. LOVE YOU!

^ TO DIE FOR. & that's coming from a girl who isn't that into cake doughnuts. But holy moley. ^

Now that I have met 25 & looked it in the eyes, I'm more determined than ever to make it my year of motivation. I want to stop being intimidated by what others are doing (or not doing) or what they have that I don't & instead be encouraged to by their successes. To go out & get it done. It's gonna be good. It's gonna be great.

& lastly, my birthday has passed, which means that Halloween is almost over, which means that the holiday season is PRACTICALLY here. This is how my brain works. But hey, it's Monday so we all need a happy thought.