Wow! What a busy month it has been. So many exciting things have happened over the past month and I am truly grateful that I have had the opportunity to experience them all. Here is a brief (ha!) recap of some of the fun things that Ben and I have gotten to experience during our travels. On October 15th, my sister, Kristen Thomas, was crowned Mrs. Arkansas 2017. This was her very first pageant EVER...and she won! I am so excited for her as she represents my home state and promotes marriage and family values. She has a busy year ahead which includes promoting her platform, "Farm to Table", making numerous appearances around the state, and preparing for the Mrs. America competition that will be held in Las Vegas next August. I'm thankful for a front row seat to watching her grow this year as a career woman, role model, and wife. She will represent Arkansas well, no doubt. Check out her Facebook page, "Mrs. Arkansas America 2017, Kristen Thomas" to stay updated on her journey to Mrs. America and her reign throughout the Natural State this year. The following weekend, Ben and I headed to the beautiful state of Connecticut for Gilmore Girls Fan Fest. Kudos to Ben for becoming a fan and enjoying the weekend with me (I mean, it's not my fault that I had no friends to go with. Ha!). The fan fest was so fun and seeing Connecticut in the fall was so dreamy. I felt like I was walking the streets of Stars Hollow, and meeting some of the actual cast members truly made the experience so memorable. If the fan fest happens next year and you are a true GG fan, you should definitely consider going. I learned lots about the show, reminisced about some of my favorite GG moments, and I am now anxiously awaiting November 25th when "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" is released! The weekend ended with an honorary trip to Yale and the campus was just as I had imagined. If you ever find yourself in Connecticut, take a detour to Yale and see the campus for yourself. Connecticut in the fall is a sight to see! In case we weren't having enough fun already, my best friend Jessica came to Massachusetts the following weekend to spend Halloween weekend with us! So, we did what any other normal people would do...we went to Salem, MA! Salem is the town that inspired the ever famous movie Hocus Pocus. It is a favorite of ours and getting to visit some of the famous landmarks in the movie was epic. Jessica was only in town for the weekend ( and let's be honest, I know it looks like all I do is fun stuff...but I do actually work 40 hours a week, ha!) so we had to make the most of it! Our weekend started off in Salem on Friday afternoon. We visited THE Hocus Pocus House (aka Max and Dani's house in the movie). We also visited Allison's house and Town Hall. It was really neat to see these landmarks in person and I must say, after watching Hocus Pocus later that night (duh!), the producers were SPOT ON in their re-creation of fall in Salem. After exploring Salem a bit, we went on a tour that outlined the history of the Salem Witch Trials. It was an incredibly informative tour and provided so much insight to the history of Salem and the hysteria surrounding the witch trials. We also spend some time in Boston enjoying the city. It is the perfect time of year in New England! To wrap up our month of fun, our forever friends Sean and Elyse came to visit us from Arkansas. We had a blast with them and loved exploring Boston! We started off the weekend on Friday in the city. We went to the Aquarium, had lunch at a cute restaurant, grabbed pastries at the ever famous "Mikes Pastry" and ended the night in a pub before heading to see Hacksaw Ridge. Note: I am not a movie person. I am certainly not a war movie person. Hacksaw Ridge was by far one of the best movies I have ever seen. The entire audience applauded once it was over. I laughed and cried. Sometimes in the same scene. It was so beautiful and made me ever so grateful for those that serve and defend our country to protect our freedoms. After a fun-filled Friday, we woke up Saturday and headed to Hyannis to catch the ferry to the island of Nantucket. One of my favorite authors, Elin Hilderbrand, is from Nantucket and her fiction novels are based on the island. I cannot express adequately enough how precious Nantucket was. It was every bit as quaint and charming as I had hoped. I was literally swooning all. day. long. We started off the day with some lunch and explored downtown. The downtown area was full of quaint shops and cobblestone streets. It seriously looked like something out of a movie. Then, we rented a jeep and set out in search for lighthouses and the beach scene. It was SO fun riding in the jeep along the beautiful shoreline. We even saw a family of grey seals! We ended the day with dinner at a quaint restaurant in the center of town before catching the ferry back to the mainland. The day was so perfect...almost. Except for the slight issue that our vehicle literally broke down on the highway as we were heading back to Boston, which then prompted the police to sit with us, which then resulted in Sean and Elyse having to ride with the police to Burger King because we all wouldn't fit in the tow truck and then we had to pay $200 for an Uber ride back to Boston because of course no ones car ever breaks down in a convenient location. Like, for real. Anyway, thankful for good friends who roll with all the punches and I'm sure we will all laugh about it someday. *I'm not laughing right now because we haven't gotten the bill from the dealership...* Sunday we enjoyed some Mexican food and toured some other parts of the city. We saw Harvard, MIT, Fenway Park, and wild turkeys walking through neighborhoods (seriously. Last year a wild turkey made it's home in Cambridge and everyone was so nice to him and fed him and so he now has turkey friends and they walk in a turkey pack up and down the streets. NO. LIE.). As always, Monday rolled around and I returned to work while Sean and Elyse hit up the Freedom Trail before heading back to Arkansas. We are counting down the weeks until we can all hang out again! We have less than six weeks here in New England and I have no idea how it went by so fast. New England has been absolutely breathtaking and I am convinced we have been here during the most beautiful time of the year. Here's to hoping we have several more adventures here before our time is up! This has truly been my favorite fall season of all time. So thankful.
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