{I'm going to pause for a second and have a little bit of a sentimental moment to just say that I really love the fact I can wind down and come here to share what's on my mind and what has been getting me excited lately. Thank you all so much for reading!}. Carrying on, I thought I'd take a little break to catch you up and share a few things with you!
I can't wait to travel. New York is the prefect gateway to so many other great cities, so while I'm here I definitely want to take advantage of it. I've never been to Philly (going for Thanksgiving!), and I really want to visit Baltimore, Boston, somewhere in Maine, and Vermont. Especially Vermont.
I found a blog a couple weeks ago called Cannelle et Vanille (in French this name translates to Cinnamon and Vanilla) It has become a daily read, and I couldn't wait any longer to share with you.
The blog belongs to Aran, a very talented photographer, food writer and stylist. I must say I am envious of all her amazing ventures. Aran was in France last month styling and shooting food and cooking up some amazing recipes. What a life! All of the food and scenery she captures is absolutely breath taking. Speaking of food, she is actually working on a naturally gluten-free cookbook full of yummy "small plates and sweet treats" that will be released in Fall 2012. Can't wait Aran! I know it's going to be beautiful, insightful, and certainly inspiring!
Very recently, Aran revisited Vermont and shot some gorgeous photos there. They were so gorgeous, it made me want to visit. As I said earlier, I have put it down on my list places to go while I'm in New York and close by. Here's a little taste of Vermont though the scope of Aran's adventure. Aran, thank you again for inspiring me with travel through the beauty you've captured along the way. I can't wait to share when I go there!
Look how beautiful and saturated the leaves are! I don't think I've ever seen so many beautiful fall colors altogether in one place like this. Fall time is my favorite time of year, so when I saw these photos, I was sold. Not only do I have the simple plan of visiting Vermont, I also know exactly what time of year I'm going to go! I was curious as to what part of Vermont these photos were taken. After reading the entire post I did a little research after seeing that Aran visited the Middlebury Farmer's Market. And there you have it, Middlebury, VT!
Apple picking. I remember when I was little my brother and I would pick green apples (the ones within reach) off the trees in my grandparent's back yard and munch on them all day long. My grandparents didn't care, but my mom and dad would freak out because when they would see us with one, they didn't know if it was straight from the tree, or if it was already on the ground...I do remember getting a lot off the ground too. I can hear them right now saying "You need to come inside and wash that apple before you eat it!" or "Don't be eating any of those apples right now, we are about to have dinner and it'll ruin your appetite!!" I especially remember the "appetite" quote because I was so young I didn't even know what an appetite was... I remember the first time I heard my mother say it, I took it very very seriously. I looked at my younger brother and I said, "Did you hear that!? It'll ruin our appetites.. " and I threw the apple in my hand down.
There was something about the word "ruin", and the fact that she said we were about to eat dinner. Putting it all together in the way I could best comprehend it was that the apples would ruin and hurt my stomach, and that I would get sick, but it would only happen if I ate one before dinner, and I would never want to have an issue before dinner; especially at my grandparents house because the food was amazing. All home cooked vegetables that came straight from their garden out back. Why would anyone want to ruin that, right? I think I was pretty close with understanding the term, but in my mind it was a lot more dramatic than knowing that I would just be too full do eat dinner if I kept eating all those apples!
That was my experience, with apple picking, but I know it wasn't the official kind of apple picking. Aran did some apple picking herself at a friend of a friend's orchard while in Vermont. Oh, I would love to do this! I have several friends who have gone upstate to pick apples, and next time I want to come with.
Of course, Aran was able to whip up some delicious snacks and sweets from the apples she picked. I particularly would love to try the gluten and dairy free vanilla and cardamon flavored natillas with sautéed apples, which is a custard her grandmother used to make for her. Yum. I look forward to seeing it in her upcoming cookbook, which she noted would be in there!
I can say for sure my favorite so far has been southern France. I'll have to dig up some old photos and share with you some of my favorite areas when I studied abroad there. I'm also going to see if one or two of my photo friends can do some guest posts to shed their perspective of our spectacular and surreal adventures in France, so stay tuned!
