Beautiful October weekend

This past weekend I had a mini-reunion with some Colgate ladies (to celebrate J's upcoming 35th birthday). J and I left from Boston after work on Friday and K and A left from Buffalo at about the same time.
They beat us to central New York by almost an hour. YAY, traffic!
We did manage to fight the traffic malaise with loud singing and also McDonald's food (we were on THE ROAD! We had no choice!).
After hugs and kisses and some laughter we went to bed because dang I get tired early these days.

Saturday morning we went to brunch in Cooperstown and paid almost no money for delicious food and coffee. Here's what I had for food: a salt bagel with bacon egg and cheese. When the woman alerted me to the sandwich's completion, she simply said: "Salt Bacon!". These are two of my very favorite food words and putting them together was brilliant. I repeated those words several times throughout the day. After food we wandered into a farmer's market and bought a knit hat for A because she put it on and it was the cutest thing EV.ER.
Then we went apple picking and we ate warm, fresh cider doughnuts. I know, people: my life is pretty much constant torture. The action doesn't stop there. When we got back to the house (J's parents kindly lent us the use of their home) we put on some Prince and had a dance party. But not satisfied with that level of awesomeness we (ok, mostly me) rode around on toddler bikes and then braved the not-altogether-stable trampoline. J and I jumped a lot while A and K bounced like frying bacon (or rather, like the freshman girls in Dazed and Confused when they are instructed to act like frying bacon). I had just had a giant glass of milk prior to the jumping: a choice I regretted immediately.

For dinner we went to a delightful place called (I think) the Rose and Kettle and I ate this:

I ate it so much:

Duck, polenta and green beans. They never had a chance.

There was not much else to do Saturday night besides chat and then roll off to bed. Sunday morning we had another brunch (delicious!) and then headed back to our respective towns.

Monday I did some things around the house, met J for lunch, and went to yoga.

Today I am SUPER psyched because the Man comes back to town and I pick him up from the airport tonight. I haven't seen him in a week and I'm going to snuggle him SO HARD.


EDITED TO ADD:
Conversation I had with J just before going into the J Crew outlet on Sunday:
Leslie: Can we just not do Christmas presents this year?
J: Deal. We'll make cookies instead.


Conversation I had with J just after getting into the J Crew outlet and seeing a purple velvet blazer:
Leslie: That is SO cute! I could get it for your for Christmas!
J: !