Life, Lately | Looking Ahead

Ahh, fall, the season of sweaters and Pinterest-inspired cozy fashion, long walks through the fallen leaves and pumpkin spice…just kidding, because first and foremost, pumpkin isn't even a spice! Fall has never really been my thing, because let's be honest, people, there are only a handful of days peppered between late September and early November where it's not freezing, or pouring rain, or moody and cloudy and most of us are stuck in an office on those beautiful days, and once that passes us by as fast as it can, we're stuck with several months of winter. This year has been a year of yes for me, though, so I am taking advantage of the slight Indian Summer we've been having for as long as possible, because come winter, I somewhat proudly retain hermit status and curl up in my apartment with books, magazines, TV and lots of wine til it gets warm enough I want to venture out again (besides work, that is).

As soon as the cold weather dissipated in late spring, I started to pack my social calendar with as many chances to get out and about, from trips to the park to rooftop drinks, beach days, brunches galore and exploring the city, peppered with trips to somewhere, anywhere I could go whether for a day or an entire weekend. Something about fall kicks my itch to get away for the weekend into even higher gear than summer. I think it's the chance to escape somewhere and enjoy the crisp, sharper air while the temps are still bearable to be outside, curling up and unwinding from the always-long workweek.
This coming Sunday marks three (!) years in NYC for me and I'll be marking it with what has become something of an annual trip. My first year, I took the train out to Rockaways (weird, I know) about two weeks after moving and spent the entire day by the ocean—it was so new to me to be so near the ocean all the time! The next year, a friend and I took the train up to Cold Spring for a weekend shortly before Thanksgiving where we stayed in a beautiful old inn on the river, hiked up about 1,000 feet in the nearby Hudson Highlands and moseyed around the town for food and antique shopping. Last year,I seized the chance to rent a car for a day and drive up to Storm King art center in mid-October...the foliage was breathtaking on the drive up and wandering the grounds was exactly what my mental health needed.
This weekend, my friends & I had been thinking about a trip upstate, but after a gorgeous Saturday a girlfriend and I spent in Montauk late last month (more on that to come!) we decided to head out east...especially after we discovered beach bonfires are totally legal in the Hamptons! So, we've rented a cabin and are hoping on the LIRR bright & early Saturday morning. I'm sure I'll be sharing photos from our trip here, but to follow along in semi-real time, head over to instagram!
Reminiscing on summer has me wanting to ditch my date with my couch & DVR tonight and plan more trips with friends. Do you get the urge to travel more come fall, too? What's on your agenda before winter?
all images via my instagram