I can count the number of friends I have in Minneapolis on one hand, so I was really excited to both work and just hang out with Winona, who is the fabulous photographer behind Winona Grey Photography and a neighbor of mine! We crossed paths at our apartment building's Oktoberfest community event and immediately started planning to get together for a photo shoot/blog collaboration.

We met on a chilly afternoon last week, hopped on a bus and hung around Uptown, which is one of my favorite Minneapolis neighborhoods and also where Winona used to live. She had the day planned out, and when we stopped immediately for coffee I knew we were going to be fast friends. She's also super talented, as I'm sure you'll see.

  

  

  

  

 

  

Thank you, Dogwood Coffee Bar and Magers & Quinn Booksellers for letting us shoot in your gorgeous spaces!

(Outfit details: Top is from Everlane, Skirt is Madewell, belt was thrifted, boots are so old I can't remember where they came from, jacket is Rugby (Ralph Lauren), scarf is J.Crew, watch is this one from Fossil, and bag is Coach.)

See more from Winona on her website or on Facebook.

I can't remember the last time I went apple picking in the fall. It's something I always want to do and never get around to, so this year, when we're together in Minnesota without many plans, we decided to go. It was a chilly Saturday morning and we stopped by our new favorite coffee shop for some almond milk lattes to to before driving about thirty minutes east to Afton Apple Orchard in Hastings, Minnesota.

It was kind of dreary and cold out, but we listened to my autumn playlist on the way and by the time we got there I was practically giddy with excitement. If all the cute, bundled up kids and the hayride out to the orchards weren't charming enough, the petting zoo stationed by the apple cider press really sealed the deal.

I had the best time. Good coffee, beautiful autumn weather, a romantic stroll through an apple orchard, and a couple of llamas. I don't ask for much, but I managed to get it all in one morning.

  

After shooting in that field at pretty much the perfect time of day, we ventured over to Hampden-Sydney to finish up our engagement session with Ashley of V.A. Photography. It's hard to believe that five years ago at the end of October, I would walk into a Halloween party with my roommates and meet Rob. Time has really flown by.

Hampden-Sydney is so many things to us--the place where Rob studied and made life-long friends, my running destination (I'd run the six miles down Back Hampden-Sydney Road and stop at Rob's dorm, where he'd give me a Gatorade and we'd talk before driving me back), our weekend hang-out and our long-distance relationship training wheels.

Midnight breakfasts, tailgating parties with more chicken wings and oysters than you could ever eat, and cheap beer popping out of every cooler. There were stomach-aches and hangovers and country music, and there were great times with friends and big Sunday brunches in the dining hall at a huge table where we'd all laugh and eat omelets and drink fresh-squeezed juice from that juicer that you had to throw oranges into like a basketball. We stayed up too late and ate too much pizza and it was relatively un-glamorous, but we fell in love and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

  

  

Thank you all so much for letting me share these photos with you over the course of three weeks! 

I am so thrilled with the job that our photographer did. Thank you, Ashley!

In case you missed it: Part 1 | Part 2

(Outfit Details, same as Part 2:

My shirt is from Everlane, my jeans are these ones from Levi's, and my shoes are Converse.

Rob's wearing a tee from Eddie Bauer, J.Crew jeans, and Keds.)