Monday, October 25, 2010

peter peter (pumpkineater)

So my fun fall weekend didn't exactly go as planned... but that's okay. On Saturday, K and I drove to Salem, MA to experience some early Halloween festivities. Oh. my. god. Don't ever do it.

First of all, it took forever just to get into town, and then we couldn't find anywhere to park so we ended up paying $15 to park in a lot with all the other suckers. We walked downtown and it. was. a. madhouse. I felt like I was going to be trampled at every turn, and the quaint historic little town had been completely carnivalized beyond recognition. It was like everything that is wrong with Disneyland--mile-long lines for every attraction and haunted house (and most frustratingly for the ladies' room in the Visitor's Center), exorbitant prices, strollers everywhere--even the graveyards were absolutely crawling with tourists. It was a major disappointment.

After attempting to escape the crowds and explore off-the-map corners of the downtown area, we finally just threw up our arms and left. It's a shame, because I remember visiting Salem my freshman year of college and having a grand old time sipping hot cider and strolling through the empty streets (and the haunted houses were so scary!). We decided that we are definitely off-season people, and maybe we'll go back next year in like... September.

(dress/fur collar: H&M; necklace: DIY; shoes: Seychelles)

This is what I wore when we picked out our pumpkin yesterday. Again, I had a full fall day planned, complete with pumpkin patches and hay rides and all that good stuff, but it was miserably cold and rainy all day. We ended up just driving down the road to a local farm and picking out a few gems (one for carving, two for cooking... and a miniature gourd that I want to attempt to carve as well). I'm going to make a pumpkin and lentil soup and K is going to make a pumpkin pie.

Sadly, the foliage was pretty decimated by the recent rain/wind storms here in VT--the tree branches already look like creepy bare bones! Just in time for Halloween :)

6 comments:

  1. Great outfit!! Love the dress and the scarf, and the rest of it (:

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  2. Wow, that sounds overwhelming, to say the least. Sorry the weekend didn't turn out as planned, but you do look lovely! :)

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  3. Love this outfit, although how are your legs not frezing without tights? It's a shame about the halloween festivities. But as you say off season is always better.

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  4. Eee, the weather looks pretty yuck. But I love your gingham dress and bicycle necklace, and the very idea of pumpkin picking.

    Salem sounds like a nightmare; I hate it when things get over touristified. Last year I was in Oaxaca City for Day of the Dead and there were masses of Japanese tourists. I kept thinking that if the Japanese tour groups had reached semi-rural Mexico then the event was officially too commercialized...

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  5. Sorry that Salem/the weather didn't work out so well, but it looks like you had a fun time pumpkin picking! I still need to go pick a pumpkin to carve.
    Your dress is so cute, you look great! :)

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  6. I've always wanted to go to Salem, but I could see how visiting in October would be a little nuts. Hopefully you can go another autumn, just earlier.

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