The Big E

september. one of my favorite months of the year. the air becomes crisp, the leaves start showing hints of orange and red, sweatshirts and jeans become my signature wardrobe, our house smells of apple crisp and fall festivals start filling our free time. 

one of my favorite festivals is the big e in west springfield.. my mom tells stories about how i first attended the big e when i was just a couple weeks old, so i guess it was burned into my soul from a young age. luckily, ben and his family had also been journeying out west annually and so now, we continue the tradition.  

this place is packed full with vendors selling lots of stuff you probably don't need, animals, real-life infomercials, houses for each new england state with iconic food/crafts/beer/etc from each, some of the best people watching i've ever seen and delicious fair food.

each year we make sure to go hungry, leave our healthy minds at home and basically spend the day eating our way through the place. my favorite fair foods are definitely the gyros and mini donuts (we might have gotten 2 bags and eaten them all.. maybe). 

clearly i was pretty excited about them. 

then i settled down for an adult selfie. 

we made sure to stop at the wine barn which expanded so much from last year.. we had every intention of waiting in the long line to sample all the local wineries but then saw that they now offer wine by the glass.. i'm all about free wine but i'm more about instant gratification when it comes to wine soooo.. the glass beat the line. i got a warm apple wine which was delicious and perfect for a chilly fall morning (because morning is the best time to be drinking wine, obviously). 

 later we switched from wine and drank our first pumpkin beer of the season.. complete with a cinnamon sugar rim. YUM! my goodness i'm so excited its pumpkin beer season! 

 see.. even amherst brewing thinks we're a match made in heaven.

 so i guess we're pretty boring when it comes to the big e because all we really do is drink, eat and people watch.. if you have kiddos or like buying random things, you'll definitely have more to do than just eat. there's a carnival, a gigantic slide, a craft fair, live music and entertainment, parades, animal shows and exhibits from local farmers. and if you're feeling extra daring, you can try fried jelly beans, fried kool aid or butter balls.. what more could you possibly ask for? 

happy fair season!