. . . when it still feels like this outside:
Ways I am trying to make it feel like fall:
1- Wearing a plaid shirt (very light material, sleeves rolled up).
2- Eating pumpkin bread (as previously discussed, I am not a PSL drinker, but find an oat milk cappuccino plus Sbux pumpkin bread to be *chef’s kiss*)
3- Embracing planner launch season! Do I need more planners? No! Is it totally fun to see all the launches? YES. Sprouted just did a video launch, new Powersheets are out, and Jetpens has all sorts of interesting options to peruse — check out this Midori Gradation Diary!
I am controlling myself for the most part but I have a few items on the way to me for review (and likely eventual giveaway as I definitely cannot use all of them!)
4- Noticing even TINY positive changes in the weather. Is it still hot? Absolutely. Did we have another massive September afternoon storm yesterday? Yes, we did! But for a few moments after the storm I noticed that it was almost . . coolish? It was 77F at 6 pm with a slight breeze and felt amazing. (Side benefit to all the storms is that sometimes soccer practice gets canceled and I’m not terribly sad when this happens, especially on Wednesday night which is a night when everyone else is home. Cozy!)
5- Thinking about Halloween and looking around at others’ fall decor. (Putting up my own? Let’s not get crazy. I’m not very good at “decor” as a concept, in general.)
6- Getting settled into a productive rhythm. This is kind of a churn-it-out season, so working hard feels right. I may be less jazzed about pumping out words and chapters during Reflection Season (which . . I will be, so hopefully I can get my head around that!). Anyway, getting as much as I can done now feels right.
7- Finding some fall recipes! Fall is the best cooking season, AMIRIGHT? You can roast things even if it’s still roasting outside, and apple pie even tastes good when it’s thundering outside (especially if it’s a la mode). I use PrepDIsh a lot but I think I will try to really focus on fall flavors for our Sunday dinners.
8- Pumpkin beer. I mean, why not? I haven’t had any alcohol in weeks (too stressed + haven’t been out?) but a pumpkin beer with the right spice profile would be fun.
9- Fall mani/pedi. I lost most of a toenail recently so it seems like a reasonable time to cover it up with darker polish, right? Lindsey Scribbles is a planner-focused YouTuber and she always has the best nails (like in this video).
10- Fall scents. I am craving a classy-smelling fall candle. Recommendations welcome. (Looking forward to the traditional candle-naming game in this year’s Girl Next Door Fall Extravaganza/Falliday episode!)
11- READING. BONUS #11, I am craving reading again. And it goes so well with many of the other items on this list! Nothing sounds cozier than combining a good book with a candle and some pumpkin bread!
21 Comments
I just lost 20 minutes to watching planner videos and it was amazing!
I’m so excited for the Sprouted launch. I especially love the peony cover <3
Fellow Floridian here, also looking for ways to feel fall-ish. I do the fall candle thing too, and my most recent favorite is Agatha’s Mysteries (as in Agatha Christie) from Etsy seller From the Page. I also bought Anne’s Octobers for my best friend, a fellow Anne of Green Gables fan.
I can’t wait for the Girl Next Door Fall Extravaganza–I listened to last year’s on your recommendation and I’ve continued to listen to the podcast since then. So much fun.
It’s been unseasonably warm in Minnesota. We’ve had highs in the mid-80s and it’s been humid. If it wasn’t humid I wouldn’t mind it but I am over sweating constantly! But it will cool off next week and I am ready for that!! I just want cooler weather by the time the marathon rolls around in October. My coworker is coming in to run his first marathon here and I want him to have cool, crisp temps! But I don’t want what comes after fall so I should probably embrace the heat while I can.
I did make chili on Monday even though it was so hot out. Sometimes you just have to ignore the weather and lean into the season!
We are having ongoing summer weather, so I’m trying to balance savoring every last minute against my desire for cooler temperatures and fall clothing options. I did make some pumpkin bread/muffins this week, which was fun! (I’m not much into PSLs either.)
Oh this is a lovely list. I’m in a place which definitely is more autumnal but I’ve been trying to embrace fall as a way of not dreading winter. My son and I are enjoying the crunch of leaves under our tires on the way to school, and being able to see the moon and stars before bedtime, etc. I also love, love, love seeing the leaves changing. I need to start burning candles during my workday, using my SAD lamp, and taking my vitamin D.
I’m definitely in a churn-it-out season and today hit the “I have too much to do so I can’t do anything” and instead of (too much) internet stalling, went through a random box of toys in my son’s room and sent some calendar invites. I feel like fall is a good declutter time, particularly as we have a big zero waste event and donations are very happily received. I volunteer at the event and take some pride in the fact that things I donate are very rarely leftover at the end.
Remember the grass is always greener…here in Texas same lows but highs in the 90s (and not cooling off in the evening). I miss Fall so much, love this list of ideas!
Rough!!!! Yeah we do NOT get the highs that TX does, really ever!! Maybe a day or two in high 90s but it’s more like low 80/high 92/very humid/routine storms for many days on end. The super high highs would be tough!
We like to celebrate fall by purchasing large garish Halloween decorations (think inflatable evil clown that is 8 ft tall and cackles), scaring the delivery people, and thanking god we don’t belong to an HOA. YMMV
the climate in your area is the same as Jakarta now. I gave up trying to see change of season. I miss fall in the US.
the midori gradation planner looks a smaller version of techno? all the same just no daily pages? looks very neat.
We DO have a good season coming (I know Jakarta really doesn’t – that is hard!). I’m just impatient bc it’s like 2 months away ..
Just finished a fantastic easy but LOL fiction book “You are Here” by David Nicholls; really put me in the mood to get outside and to appreciate that life is messy. Highly recommend for your fall reading pleasure
I LOVE THIS!!!
I am a HUGE fan of celebrating things seasonally and give a standing ovation to your list.
I have an amazing pumpkin bread recipe that gets rave reviews and is ridiculously easy to make. I’ll email you the recipe! It makes two loaves, but it can be sliced and frozen by the slice—I either give away the second loaf or freeze it by the slice to then have for an easy breakfast in the future.
Fall scented candles: highly recommend the Whole Foods 365 brand “lakeside leaves” candle for a scent with just the right amount of cinnamon apple smell without being sweet. Found this fall and am obsessed.
Finally, not on your list but perhaps worth being item 12…autumnal movies!! Many people our age (though not me; I never got into it) swear by Hocus Pocus, and others love The Nightmare Before Halloween. I am personally partial to…Harry Potter!! I will reread the first book and rewatch the movie basically every fall (the Halloween feast! The troll!) but also winter (staying at Hogwarts for Christmas! Hedwig landing on Harry’s arm in the snow!) I feel like watching movies set in fall is just cozy. Other movies that can be good are You’ve Got Mail and When Harry Met Sally (both also have great winter scenes so…I’m predictable?) There must be other ideas here! (We watch It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! On Halloween every year when we finish trick or treating!)
Happy fall, even without the fall weather!
Totally unrelated, but FIGS are having a huge sale. I know you talked about ordering some as self care. I did it yesterday in the middle of the night when my ylunfest was up all night screaming in pain and we could figure out why (turned out his eardrum was rupturing.) We’ve had a really tough transition back to school-mostly my oldest-huge emotions that are really affecting the whole family-and some
Other tough family drama-as well as new late activities. Thinking of you!!
Thank you!!! Totally going to order today, hoping the sale is still on!
90-degrees here for the past 2 weeks! I like it, though, because I am not ready to sort out fall clothes for everyone and I think I have erm “outgrown” all my jeans…
well luckily I feel like jeans styles have evolved a lot lately, so, good timing!!!
I have a “fall in Florida” post as well today- but yours is more extensive. Yes to everything you said, and I’m eagerly looking forward to the upcoming GND Fall Extravaganza episode.
I have several fall candles and I light a different one everyday. My very favorite one ever is from Anthropologie, and I think it’s something like “Pumpkin Clove.” I got it a couple years ago but it’s not used up yet so I continue to light it. Target also has some good ones- you should probably go and smell them (ha, yes every time I do that I think of Kelsey and Erica naming their candles.)
Watch it with that pumpkin beer- we tried a couple of them from Trader Joes and didn’t love them. We did love their Oktoberfest though.
I’m not good at decorating either, but I do it enthusiastically for the holidays anyway!
I am here for the fall candle recommendations! I had a pumpkin vanilla from Trader Joe’s that smells just right, but it doesn’t’ light anymore so I am looking for a new one.. I will let you know if I find a good one!
Does Florida ever cool down? LOL I mean low of 74 is not low… we’re used to some pretty intense heat here in the summer in CA, but a) it’s dry (thank goodness) and b) at least we still cool down most nights. If I get up in the morning and have to deal with 74F, I consider that a hot run. LOL
The thing about FL weather is our highs are NOT the 100s that TX and AZ get, but the temp range is very narrow and the lows are high. It’s a tropical climate, and it’s not great for running! In December we’ll start to get some lows in the 60s and below. Will SAVOR that. But for now anything 75 and under is pretty great! (and we’re talking often 93%+ humidity)
The weather in FL is killing me. Today, I was sweating within 5 minutes of leaving my house! I’m so over these high humidity days but I know we have a long way to go before we see the cool downs. I’m burning fall candles and have some fall-scented Wallflowers to get me in the Fall mood, and of course, drinking my weight in PSLs. 😉