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.

  

Happy Friday! I hope you all have had a wonderful week. Rob and I are home all weekend with no visitors and plans to walk through an apple orchard on Saturday morning. I encountered a new favorite coffee shop in Minneapolis that serves almond milk, so we might be stopping there first for a latte. But until then, here are some links!

Life
Five Truths That Will Make Running Your Biz (And Your Life) Infinitely Easier. I especially liked number five. I'm definitely trying to learn how to do something positive with fear and doubt.
Six Pieces of Advice You Need To Follow If You Actually Want Your Long Distance Relationship To Work. I'm glad this doesn't apply to me anymore, but I thought it was a decent list.

Food and Health
A Doctor and a Chef Talk About Meat
A little self-promotion: Cave Girl Consulting is taking new clients, so if you need any Paleo coaching, I'm your girl!

Books and Music
I was really unexpectedly moved by this letter from Ernest Hemingway to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Even in his everyday writing, Hemingway was beautifully gifted. On enjoying letter-writing, he says "It's such a swell way to keep from working and yet feel you've done something."
Idina and Kristen, back together to shoot some Wicked-themed photos for the musical's tenth anniversary. Swoon.
This gave me a good laugh--High School Freshman Thinks ‘Romeo And Juliet’ Might Just Be Her Favorite Play. I had a fantastic Medieval Literature professor in college who pretty much ruined that play for me in the best way possible, so the snob in me always loves hearing anyone go on and on about how romantic it is.
This Pentatonix cover of Lourde's Royals blew my mind. I can't get enough a capella, ever.

Culture and Current Events
Hearing Malala Yousafzai speak to Jon Stewart felt like an honor, and I loved both her strength and Stewart's reaction to her words. However, this article made a couple arguments I hadn't thought about yet. What do you think?
Slate Forgot That the One Common Factor in Rapes Are Rapists. When are we going to stop blaming victims?

Cute Stuff
Have you guys met Tara? She has an awesome shop called Starletta Designs that you should check out this weekend!
I lost a pair of boots that looked almost exactly like these and I miss them every fall day of my life! Where could they be? Maybe I should replace them already.
This rose gold and snake-embossed watch is kind of different from my usual style, but I'm seriously loving it.
I would be warmer and a lot cuter if only I had this faux fur infinity scarf.

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What have you been reading/listening to/adding to your wishlist lately? What's on your agenda this weekend?

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.)