Yankee Peddler

Saturday was the first day of fall. I absolutely love fall! I love the crisp chill in the air - it's the perfect weather! I love all the beautiful colors! I love football! I love cider and hot chocolate and pumpkin flavored everything! I love sweaters! I love Halloween! I seriously could go on forever! I just love fall!

Dan's sister wanted to go to Yankee Peddler. I had never been there, but I had heard people talk about it before, so I thought it would be fun to check it out!

I didn't realize it was at Clay's Park. It brought back lots of memories of summer, Youth Group and the Alive Festival. It looked so different there without all of the campers, tents and people! I can still remember my way around! Hopefully I'll be able to make it back to Alive next summer!

It was such a nice day and everywhere I looked there were signs of fall!

 

 

Gabby was so excited to go to Yankee Peddler - I think mostly for the American Girl Doll stand, but also so she could spend quality time with Uncle Dan!

 



 



One of the things Gabby was excited about was the butterfly tent. You could go in and the butterflies were flying around you. You could use q-tips with a syrup or sugar on them to attract them.

There was a stand there for Boswell. They have such awesome dips and dressings! We stocked up!

Dan and I got a funnel cake. Gabby was mad because she wanted an elephant ear, so she wouldn't eat any of it. She had never had a funnel cake, so I bribed her with a $1 to try it. She can't resist dollars. She took that dollar and bought herself a face painting!

 

We loved checking out all the art and crafts, especially the jewelry! There were these really cool necklaces made out of typewriter keys. Gabby liked them too!

 

 



There are so many wonderfully talented people in the world. Sometimes I wish that I could do some of these things that they can and as well as they can!

 



 

 

Even Dan had a good time... well, at least he pretended to! 

 

 

Gabby saw this man and had to take a picture with him!

 

 

And, of course, there is my favorite purchase of the day! This messenger bag is from All Put Together (www.beallputtogether.com). It is made of all recycled objects - coats, sweaters, blankets, etc. I love owls so much, so I just couldn't resist this gem!

I can't believe I have never been to Yankee Peddler. It reminded me a lot of the Shaker Woods Festival, but closer! We will definitely be headed back next year!

Cow Tales and Toblerones

This year, Dan and I have been together for 5 years. Ah! Where has the time gone! Dan is one of the greatest things that have ever happened to me. I love him and all of the time we have spent together. I have so many wonderful memories and I can't wait to make more!
Over the past 5 years Dan and I have settled into some of our own traditions. I love traditions. I love the stability of them. I had a rough childhood (a whole other blog), and never really had a lot of traditions growing up. So, I love that we have started making our own traditions that we will be able to continue with our children someday.

One of our traditions is our Christmas Eve. Every year, we make a nice dinner, always filet and twice baked potatoes and after dinner we do our Christmas together.

After dinner we sit down to open presents, always stockings first. There may be different little things in our stockings, but one thing is always the same. I always put Toblerones in Dan's and he always puts Cow Tales in mine.

This year while we were opening our presents we started talking about why we like these candies so much. I explained to Dan that when I was a child growing up in Youngstown, I would always walk with my biological father to gas station down the street so that he could buy cigarettes and beer. He would always let me buy either a Cow Tale or a Moon Pie. I loved the little treat and it made everything seem not so bad.
I asked Dan why he liked Toblerones. He said that the first time he had them, he was on a family vacation. They were at a nice hotel and he asked his Dad if he could have them out of the mini bar. He has loved them ever since.
He laughs and tells me I'm ghetto. I laugh and tell him he's a snob.

We laugh about how different our lives were growing up. It's amazing that we found each other. But I'm glad we did.