The sky is bluer than ever; the trees are gorgeously scarlet, olive and burnt sienna (a shout out to my fave Crayola!); cute boys are tackling each other, shirtless in the late afternoons all in the name of football. Your hair is looking f*cking awesome thanks to lower humidity levels. What better time to fall in love, or be in love?

Whether your just celebrating your fab relationship or enjoying the company of that cute guy you just met in Stats, take this fall semester to ‘fall’ in love with these seasonal date ideas. (Ok I’ll stop being obnoxiously cheesy now.)

1. Go wine Tasting

Providing you and your companion are of age (or if you have an excellent fake), look up a list of local wineries or bars that offer tastings. Search through WineWeb or Wine Directory to find the closest one to you. A wine connoisseur (or sommelier) will coach you on how to smell and taste a wine’s different components, what its bouquet says about it and how to differentiate between vineyards. A sampling should be relatively inexpensive (if not free) and most restaurants that host them prepare a special menu of heavy appetizers, cheeses and desserts that pair well with the wine. You’ll leave feeling warm and fuzzy even if the sparks don’t fly with your date and all that wine will act as a nice shield against those nippy fall nights.

2. The Fair!

Most county fairs take place in fall months, but even if you go to a specialty fair (food, craft, you name it) you and your date can spend the day meandering from booth to booth seeing, trying and eating different things. Go get your faces painted and see who can rack up the most tickets to trade for a SWEET prize (as a gift for the other, of course.) Eat funnel cake and sit realllly close on the ferris wheel. See if you can win a goldfish and (playfully) fight for custody rights. No one is ever too old for the fair, and you’ll both bond by letting your inner child run loose.

Check Lastminute.com to see what bands or performances are coming to an amphitheatre near you, even if it’s a short notice date or you’re just looking for something to do this weekend. Definitely buy lawn seats (A) they’re way cheaper, and B) you get the true concert experience). Check venue regulations and see if you can pack a picnic lunch or dinner for you and your boo. Don’t forget a big blanket to sit on (hives from itchy concert grass = a no no), and binoculars to check out any John Mayer faces the guitarist might be making. For added hilarity, watch “Outdoor Concerts Do’s and Don’ts” on YouTube (if your phone has internet) while you wait in line for parking.

4. Get Spooked

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There’s a reason why boys like scary movies so much: all that adrenaline pumping really gets them…worked up. Add to that the macho factor they get out of having you huddled close to them so they can protect you from the big bad chainsaw man and – presto – he’s putty in your hands. Take that idea out of the living room and head to a haunted house! Hauntworld.com will help you find the nearest one to you, so grab your guy, tell him to dress for a night of gory horror and try not to laugh if he jumps a foot in the air when something jumps out from around a corner.

5. Visit A Pumpkin Patch

Not just any pumpkin patch, though; make sure it’s a tricked out one. Fields upon fields of pumpkins, fun wooden cutouts to take pictures with, the works. This Pumpkin Patch Locater should help. Stroll among the gourds taking fun/adorable pics with and of each other to incite jealousy in the hearts of your Facebook friends — this idea is really super freaking cute. Bring a mug of hot apple cider and go on a hayride if the patch offers it (which, going back to the tricked out requirement, it should!). At the end of your day, pick out the perfect pumpkin to carve together…or make a pie out of… or various other pumpkin related activities—and you’ve automatically got a second date lined up.

All a great date takes is a little imagination and the willingness to get out of the dinner and a movie routine. With nature providing the perfect backdrop and the season lending you plenty of great opportunities, tell your date that you’ll take care of the plans for the outing and enjoy their appreciation of your brilliant idea.

[Photos courtesy of: www.cse.unsw.edu.au, gct13.com, ahevents.co.uk,z illowblog.com, psaphoto.org]

After a week filled with tests, papers, about five gallons of coffee, and way too much spiked apple cider (Quickie Recipe: Apple cider + apple brandy, varying the amount of brandy for the amount of drunk, is f*ckin’ delish), a few of my friends and I decided to be a bunch of kids. We hunted down a corn maze and got utterly lost in it, went to a pumpkin patch, and picked apples.

We didn’t do anything particularly stupid or sophomoric — unless you count getting in a fight with a 10-year-old over the existence of infinity. No, we just had fun. Fall is my favorite season, and I hadn’t properly enjoyed it in years ’til last weekend. The only thing missing was a hay ride…

This week was/is slightly worse, with a ten-page-paper that was due yesterday (that still isn’t done, shhh) and a psychology test tomorrow I haven’t really studied for. But this weekend, after dealing with trying to write a paper for an outrageously vague professor (who I think really only teaches because he a) likes to hear his voice b) likes to make students feel stupid) and studying for a test in a class I sometimes think I’d enjoy more if it weren’t for the tests, we’re doin’ it again. No, not the corn maze and pumpkin bit. But hey. Come on, you guys. You honestly mean to tell me that you wouldn’t go to FrightFest if given the chance?

I’ve also done yoga twice this week. I have yet to work up the balls (probably because they’re still ovaries) to actually go to the yoga class my school offers, since I’m not sure how I feel showing up in an old band t-shirt and a pair of $5 Target sweatpants when everyone else is wearing stuff that I feel like they could go out on a date in. I know you’ve probably heard all of your gym-buddies say it, but yoga really DOES get those happy-endorphins flowing. I found a nifty little 15-minute routine that I’ve been going by, and while I’m not saying that I suddenly have the ability to breeze though War and Peace in about three hours, I do feel…well, lighter. And that’s a hell of a change from last week.

So. Moral of these past two weeks’ story?

Calm the hell down.