See you at the patch.

Fall is in full swing around here! I’m sure you are all rejoicing in the fact that you could take your sweaters and boots out of storage like I am. Gavin was a fabulous assistant, and rode around in his little ERGObaby pack while I did my semi annual closet project. It took a little longer, but with his help, the closets have been switched in this house! Summer went upstairs and down came the cozy and cuddly fall/winter wardrobe, complete with scarves and booties. Speaking of – how do you store your scarves? May I suggest this little miracle worker? One of my fellow mommy friends discovered it during one of her Amazon Prime shopping sprees while she too was on maternity leave. (We have since both agreed that Prime is dangerous when you stay at home! I also ordered a shoe organizer but in my hurry to satisfy my starvation to shop I failed to realize it was way too large for any closet I have! But another perk of Prime is free returns... so the cycle continues.) Anyways, my scarves were previously folded into a useless bin and now, I can see them all at once! Even better, this actually doesn’t fit in my closet, so it must be housed in the husband’s… it just allows me to spread out even more and control every possible inch of square footage in this house.

A perfect place to wear your favorite scarf and other fall clothes is… you guessed it… the pumpkin patch! I realize this is not an original idea – I have seen tons of your adorable photos and everyone's patch looks have been so cute! My patch outfit this year was pretty basic; it wasn’t very cold, so I didn’t have the opportunity to bust out a scarf or hat, but I was pleased that I could wear my Hunters. These are definitely a staple for all wardrobes, especially a Washingtonian. I promise they are worth the $$! You can spot them at pumpkin patches, football games, and I know they will be making appearances at Christmas tree farms in a couple of months! If you don’t have your own pair yet, check them out here – pick your fave color and they will be on your doorstep by the end of the week. Don't forget a pair of liners too! You can thank me later. (Read one of my first blog posts ever here, when I first purchased my Hunters 4 years ago- oh the memories!) 

If you need a basic scarf to wear with everything, including your Hunters, the tissue weight cashmere-wool blend ones by Nordstrom are my favorite. They last forever and so it is no wonder I own multiple colors - check out the rainbow of offerings here. I have my eye on the bordeaux (Nordstrom online calls it "dark purple") one on the left. 

Someone who did get excited about his patch look was… the husband. I’m not really sure who’s style he was channeling; all I know is he wore his chambray shirt with a Carhartt vest – and you know how I feel about the C word.

He wasn’t hard to beat, but cutest boy at the patch was a tie between Gavin in his pumpkin hat and our friend Wyatt in his own kids size Hunter boots. See, they are a must-have for the little tikes too!

Back to the patch. There we were, major new-bees. This is another one of those first-time-parent moments. I suppose most people will become parents and will have… experienced a pumpkin patch before. Not us. See, we prefer to get our pumpkins at the grocery store. We are all about the convenience. We never carve them either. We go through this same anti-attitude at Christmas and Easter too. This was the first year we dyed Easter eggs and it was almost a bust when I only had balsamic vinegar instead of regular (and I thought it would be ok to use – good thing I was corrected). Christmas is another time of year where we really reign in the field trips and stick to Safeway and its peers. In 4 years of Christmas tree shopping, at least we have diversified our purchases amongst 4 different grocery stores. Last year, we really patted ourselves on the back when we went to the small, local gourmet grocery store. We felt that was practically the farm and were extra pleased when they offered to give the (probably month-old tree) a fresh cut! However, like always, by the time we woke up on Christmas morning, we pulled our presents out from beneath a very dead tree. Whomp whomp. 

The husband wanted to do our usual lame routine this year, and even suggested we take photos of Gavin at the STORE, pretending it was a pumpkin patch! I have to admit – at first, I agreed. But then I had this strange guilt that our 1 month old would surely remember his first Halloween picking a pumpkin in a parking lot while his parents filled their cart with meat and produce and I couldn’t get past it. It took a lot of convincing, but I finally convinced the husband to accompany us to the pumpkin patch. I received a few choice comments, especially when I gave the wrong directions, there was no parking, blah blah blah. As if he plans everything to a tee? I think not. He also insisted on driving the truck versus the Prius so he would “feel less lame.” He was definitely feeling a little less lame a few minutes later, when he happily snacked on hot roasted corn on the cob and fresh kettle corn. Such treats are not available at the local grocer, I assured him. There was also a little petting zoo; this didn’t really impress either of us (especially because I can see a duck any old time and they are not a favored animal in this Husky home), but it was an added element that again is not featured when you shop at Safeway.

So, if you need it, here are the top 5 reasons you should pumpkin patch it within the next week or so:

• ·      You will have a reason to bust out your Hunters for their 2013 season debut
•       Take your pick from traditional, minis (you know I love them!), sugar pumpkins, ghost pumpkins, yellow pumpkins… shop til you drop!
• ·      The best patches have yummy snacks that literally taste like fall
• ·      It will get you at of the house long enough to miss almost an entire football game (Wives and girlfriends everywhere: rejoice! Even us football fans can use a break.)
• ·      Your new social media profile picture will be way cuter with a real pumpkin patch in the background instead of a parking lot with shopping carts