Hello, friends!  I’m sorry I missed my WIR post last week, but I’ll do my best to recap the memorable bits included with this week as well, most notably our trip the last weekend of September out to Long Island, New York for a family wedding.

Southampton Wedding

It’s been a long time since we last spent time with the Ross side of the family (my husband’s father’s side), as they all live on the East Coast, although spread out from New York down to Florida.  We typically get together when someone in the family gets married or there’s a special reunion and it’s been several years now.  The seven of us Chicagoland based Ross’s (including me and Don, his parents, his sister Emily, her husband Dave, and their baby Grace) flew out for a long weekend in Southampton, Long Island.  We lucked out with gorgeous weather for all of the wedding events, including a lovely Mad Tea Party themed bridal shower, a fun rehearsal dinner at a local restaurant, and the beautiful wedding out at a local vineyard.  It happened to also be the weekend of Southampton’s Septemberfest, an annual town fall festival complete with a large craft and antiques fair, parades, and a colonial reenactment fair complete with a farm animal petting zoo (the angora bunny was my favorite!).  I was able to squeeze in a couple of morning runs to the beach and snatched up a a free half an hour for a walk barefoot in the sand one afternoon as well.  Southampton is a beautiful place to visit, but what made our trip was being reunited with family.

Hello, October!

I feel like September just kind of whizzed right on by, and Hello, now it’s October!  October is one my favorite months.  Generally the weather is absolutely perfect in the Chicagoland area this time of year.  In fact, whenever someone asks when I recommend visiting Chicago, I always offer October as the most ideal time in my opinion mostly because of the gorgeous autumn weather .  Fall is in full swing not only outside, but in our home as well, with the house all decorated now for Halloween, one of my favorite holidays!  Something about the magic of it all speaks to me even though my costume and trick-or-treating days have long passed.  We typically receive several hundred kids at our door on Halloween night.  It’s so fun to hand out candy and see all of the creative costumes.  October is also when the leaves really change and the fall chill becomes more noticeable even though the weather is usually quite pleasant.  The return of hot apple cider, homemade soup, and fresh roasted pumpkin seeds makes October all the more delightful!

I am thoroughly enjoying the return of October.  I hope that wherever you are you can find moments of magic this month! 🙂