Autumn in Upstate NY = Heaven. (and i love a baby.)

i sincerely pray that i never, ever take Autumn in (upstate) NY for granted. it’s quite possibly one of the most beautiful things on God’s great earth. as much as i adore summer at the lake, i think i am that much more infatuated with the wonder that is Indian Summer.

when i don’t live in NYC, i live here, where there are trees and lakes and greenery and skies for miles:

indiandsummer
yep. i know. how i ever manage to leave, i ask myself every time.

some semi-good news on the running front: i managed a very-to-somewhat painful, slow, hilly 7-mile run in absolutely glorious weather on Saturday morning. the day was far too lovely to pass up running, even though my legs weren’t loving it, and i felt a bit shaky and sore the whole time but didn’t think i was going to die or fall, so that was a plus. it just felt so darn good to be outside on the loveliest of lovely days, and to be running again.

da-mo-1722
and then yesterday, using stairs was an i’m-laughing-so-i-don’t-cry-this-is-so-awful sort of misery. this morning, walking to the Citibike a few blocks away felt like an endless trek on steel-banded calves and i’m pretty sure i was shooting daggers from my eyes at every person who ran/walked/passed by me on non-painful legs. grrrrr.

but when it’s 75 degrees in late September and the day seems too perfect to be true, not running would be an absolute crime. especially when your running route looks like this:

photo

courtesy of a friend's filtering!

courtesy of a friend’s filtering. and ps, that’s a lake. but close. 🙂

colors
and yes, for those of you who have been reading RTA in the recent past — i’m still considering changing careers to an iPhone photog. available starting now. 🙂

another amazing part of my perfect weekend was spending time with my BFF and meeting my lil “nephew,” Henry David!

baybee
he’s the sweetest, most adorable little guy imaginable, and i couldn’t be happier (or more proud) of Jess for bringing this little man into the world and into my life! he’s beyond precious and my heart just bubbles over with love for this little nugget.

henryd
judging by how cute his parents are, i’m pretty sure this lil man is going to be a heck of a heart breaker. if he ever stops sleeping. i swear, this kid is taking after me already, the way he puts away Zzzzs. and i thought my own pattern of sleeping 11 hours two nights in a row was a lot this weekend…

i love him to bits and cannot wait to be home again in 2 wknds to see him and his mama. so many great boys in my life upstate, i tell ya. 🙂

this was one of the best weekends i’ve had in a long time — and that’s saying a lot. there’s nothing like being at your favorite place, with your favorite people, and just loving every single aspect of every day. there were so many, many great things packed into this weekend: sunshine and Autumn leaves; running; picnics with the parents on the boat; spending time with Jess and her beautiful little family; a lovely date at a wonderful little French wine bar/restaurant; watching football and drinking pumpkin beer; sitting in a park in the sunshine and just enjoying being alive.

these are some of my best moments, and to have them all packed into one brilliant Autumn weekend felt like a few days in paradise.

today, i’m beyond thankful. ❤

Tell me about your weekends! What was your best thing?

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10 thoughts on “Autumn in Upstate NY = Heaven. (and i love a baby.)

  1. Whoa fall is there in full force! right now the trees by me are either green still or starting to turn – which is a really cool thing to see in and of itself! No wonder you had to run. Fall running is the absolute best – you just can’t beat it. 🙂

  2. Those fall foliage pictures are just absolutely AMAZING Shawna!!! They make me homesick for Maryland. I miss the fall seasons up north. I’m so glad you where able to venture out into that piece of paradise for a run and get to spend time with your nephew 🙂 My weekend was pretty uneventful. Saturday you would have thought I was sleeping beauty. I basically slept the majority of the day. This current portion of my training schedule has me running 6 days and resting one. Guess what I did with that lone rest day … ZZZzzzzz’s haha lol 🙂 Then on Sunday I did another training run on the course of my upcoming race and watched the Cowboys/Saints game Sunday night.

  3. All your posts featuring upstate NY are making me realllly want to drive up there for myself and see the beauty in person. Fall is my favorite season and as much as I adore NYC it doesn’t exactly offer the colorful-ness (that’s not even a word) I crave.

  4. That definitely sounds like a perfect weekend and all of those colors are just beautiful. Your friend’s baby is super cute, you must be so proud. 🙂 My weekend was low-key, but just what I needed to recharge.

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