Fall Traditions You Should Try This Year.

Candy Party. 

My mom and I host a make-your-own-candy every October and it always goes down as one of the best nights of my year. If you've never done anything like this, it's definitely the tradition you should add to your fall.

What it is: A DIY party approach to all the Halloween candy that you no longer get showered with as an adult.

How to do it: Look up recipes for your favorite candy. We always make reese's cups, gummy worms, almond joys, and tons more. Yes, you can actually homemake these things. 

Pre-buy all the ingredients, print out all the recipes, and invite your friends over for a night of candy-making. Start the night off with soup and cider, and then hit the kitchen! It's so messy, but so much fun. Chances are, only about half of the candy will actually be edible, but you'll have an incredibly fun time making it.

Once everything is made, pack everyone their own trick-or-treat candy bucket to take home!

Tip: Last year, we pre-measured all the ingredients and put them at separate "stations" with the recipes--this cut down on time and mess by a lot! Also, don't forget any extra pans, spoons, plastic wrap, etc. that you'll need!

Visit a Pumpkin Patch. 

What it is: You, visiting a pumpkin patch. You're welcome.

How to do it: Look up a pumpkin patch near you, plan a day to go, and make the most of it. Some of them will have hot cider and donuts, and you should definitely participate in that.

Spend entirely too long looking at every single pumpkin to pick out the best one and take way too many picture. Then swing by Target on your way home and pick up a pumpkin carving kit, and have the best night ever. Put on a fall movie or some autumn music, drink apple cider, and carve your masterpieces.

Tip: Check the weather first. Try to go on a day when it's cooler, but if you live somewhere warm like I do, then make sure it won't be raining. Because 1) That's gross, and 2) They usually shut down when it rains.

Fall Date.

What it is: A date night full of your favorite things to celebrate fall!

How to do it: Pick a night that works, and plan your date before...don't just wing it! We always go eat somewhere fun, go pick out pumpkins, and carve our pumpkins while we drink apple cider. It's simple, but it's one of my favorite nights of the year, because it's us celebrating fall together, and I love that.

Tip: Don't put too much pressure on this one. If all you can afford is having a picnic in the park, then do that and make it the best freaking picnic you've ever had.

Personal Thanksgiving. 

This is one of my favorite days of the entire year. Chris and I started doing this two years ago, on our first married Thanksgiving, and I think we'll do it forever. It's so important to make time to celebrate important things together, and a family holiday like Thanksgiving can sometimes be over before you even got a chance to be together, just the two of you.

What it is: Celebrating Thanksgiving with your significant other, just the two of you.

How to do it: You can really do this one however you want, but the way we celebrate is my favorite. The day before Thanksgiving, we go to Whole Foods (yes, it is chaotic and we are crazy, but that's the fun of it!) and pick out things to cook that we normally wouldn't buy--because, you know, we don't tend to usually spend $50 on cooking dinner for just the two of us, even though that's insanely easy to do at Whole Foods.

We go home and cook our dinner together, which is so much fun. And then we just spend the night eating and drinking fancy things and talking about what we're thankful for together. It's so special.

Tip: We go to Whole Foods because they have a lot of almost all-the-way-made things, so the actual cooking we have to do is minimum. If you don't do this, still make it different than a normal dinner, but don't pick out extremely complicated recipes you've never tried. You want the focus to be on each other, not on how frustrated you are in the kitchen.

I just love fall! What fall traditions do you have?