Finally Fall
I love alliterations. Just saying.
It’s finally here! Guys, it’s the first day of Fall! It’s time to dig into the closets and pull out the long sleeves, the hats, the scarves, the boots and the jackets! It’s time for layers and warm drinks and crunchy leaves and fingerless gloves! And don’t forget to balance an egg on end today! Yeah, that’s a thing. Each equinox you can balance an egg on it’s narrow end for a while. My science teacher did it for us in sixth grade and it was awesome. Unfortunately we used all our eggs up last night. Kind of a bummer. Ah well, there’s always next equinox.
So, if you can’t tell, I’m a little excited. I’ve been doing my best to not be one of those people who puts on all the layers and fall-ish things when it’s like 80 degrees outside, which is hard seeing as most of my clothes are naturally fall based. I did wear my new tights with a summery dress, though. But it was my birthday and we were sitting in a cold restaurant, so I feel justified. But, the official first day of fall is here, and the weather is finally starting to cool off a bit so it’s only a matter of time before scarves and hats and boots are completely appropriate attire for outside wearing. I just have to find all my hats.
It’s amazing, really. I haven’t been wearing hats all summer, seeing as it’s impractical and makes your head super hot. As an adult, I find that comfort is more important than constantly wearing a thing I like, i.e. my favorite purple hat. Yet, I still feel like I’m forgetting something when I don’t have one on my head. Especially now that the weather is cooling off a bit. I at least know where my favorite purple hat is. Now I just need to locate the rest of them in the jumbled mess that is my closet. I’ve got a box of scarves that need sorting, too. And I suppose I should probably switch out my clothes again.
I’ve been putting this last one off. I switched over too soon in the spring and then was trying to pull things out again as I needed them. It was unfortunate. This season I’m going to wait until October to be completely sure that it’s safe to put away my summer clothes. Even then it’ll probably be a bit spotty. Western PA is so bad at the whole weather thing. It can be 60 degrees one day and 82 the next; it’s madness, really. But we’re used to it, for the most part. I’ve been dealing with weather like this my whole life. But really, it’s time for weather in the 60s at most and the opportunity to layer all the things.
I love layers. As I said, my wardrobe is naturally fall based. Layers were ingrained in me as an adolescent in an age when shirts were not made a proper length and fabric was much too thin. Is much too thin. Seriously, I can probably count on one hand the number of shirts I own which don’t require a cami or something under them. Anyway, I also tend to run cold. I almost always need a sweater or a jacket or a cardigan or some outer layer, even if only as a precaution. You never know where is going to be cold or when you’ll have to run into the grocery store. Seriously, all grocery stores are freezing, always. So I’m looking forward to wearing layers without looking weird in public.
And, of course, we can’t forget the fall holidays! Halloween is coming up and we’re hosting a costume party for some of our friends. I’m super excited about it! I love dressing up, which really is the best part of Halloween. I’m working on a costume that I may switch at any moment. It’s so hard to decide. You want someone people will recognize and you want something that you can pull off really well and you want something kind of original and unique. There are so many things to consider! So we’ll see how this goes. I’m also super pumped about decorating the apartment and making fall-themed snacks and things to eat! I have a whole list of dips I want to make and just recently realized that that may be the only thing on my list. The Farki seem to be very dip-oriented people. But, my cousin gave me the recipe for orange dip and I’m so super excited to finally get to try it out!
Then comes Thanksgiving, the best of all the holidays! Seriously, it’s a day to give thanks and you get to eat all the things! What could be better? It’s also one holiday that we’ve actually got worked out perfectly with both sides of the family. We do Thanksgiving day with my husband’s family and some friends and then do Thanksgiving with my family the following Saturday. It’s great! We get two Thanksgivings and everyone’s happy! Hopefully this trend will continue to be convenient for everyone. It’s fascinating how different our families are when it comes to celebrating. Logan’s family does all the cooking together, everyone taking part in making something. We make the stuffing, which requires cleaning out the fridge so we have enough space for the two giant crock pots worth we make. In my family, Dad cooks the food and we watch the parade and the dog show and Miracle on 34th Street together. Or at least, me and Mom do. Both gatherings are a good time and we have a lot of fun. I love that it’s a holiday solely to spend time with family. We didn’t split it growing up so we didn’t have to run between houses. It’s such a chill holiday and I love it.
What I’m most excited about is the leaves. I love fall colors, I love the bright oranges and yellows and reds. I love watching the treas transform and the shower of foliage on a windy day. I love walking through the leaf-covered ground, making the shuffling sound with my feet and crunching the particularly dry leaves on the sidewalk. It’s the absolute best. Of course, the leaves are only really pretty for like two weeks, if that, and then they’re all on the ground and the trees are sad and bare, but those two weeks are magic. I’m weirdly looking forward to having my own yard to rake. I’m sure once I actually have a yard to rake I’ll be much less into the whole raking thing, but right now, in my yardless state, I kind of miss it. Granted, I haven’t raked leaves in years since my family moved from the house I grew up in to the house I went to high school and college in. It’s not that I didn’t want to help, it’s mostly I didn’t know they were doing it. I was weirdly excluded from a lot of things there. Anyway, I’m looking forward to raking my own leaves… and possibly playing in them along the way. Okay, mostly playing in them.
I am still resisting the pumpkin spice, and I’m very proud of myself thus far. Last year I got a pound of pumpkin spice coffee and a big thing of pumpkin spice creamer and I didn’t finish either of them. I barely touched the coffee, seeing as I’m the only one who drinks it, and I maybe got halfway through the creamer, again, only one who uses it. So to avoid finding year-old coffee in the back of our cupboard again, I’m just not going to buy any pumpkin spice drink things for the apartment. My pumpkin spice experiences will be limited to my in-law’s on Sundays and coffee outings. I think that’s probably sufficient for pumpkin spice. I do, however, really want to make pumpkin pancakes again this year. Logan and I made them last year and they were amazing! With chocolate chips and pecans and whipped cream, oh it was lovely. And now I’ve made myself hungry. This year, though, we’re going to get a much smaller can of pumpkin. Or make a bunch of pumpkin stuff all at once. We’ll see. Pumpkin is kinda like buttermilk; you have to use it all at once or it’ll sit half empty in your fringe until tiny lifeforms begin to grow in it.
Anyway, I’m so excited about fall! And I hope you’re excited about fall too. It’s my absolute, hands-down, favorite season, and I can’t wait to do all the fall-ish things! Perhaps I’ll make some new socks to celebrate. Enjoy your fall, my friends! And have a lovely day!
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