Dear Fall: A Love Letter.

The last three days, I've woken up and immediately opened all the windows. The mornings have been so crisp and chilly and perfect. Even if it's just for a few hours, Florida has been getting fall, and it's been magical.  October and November are a special kind of magic. It's not just the weather, it's the slowness that trickles through the hecticness, the hovering holidays, the pumpkins everywhere you go. It feels like a fresh start without the pressure of New Years. 
It's pumpkin patches, seeing how much Jack has grown since the last time he was there. 
It's buying mums for my front porch that I know I will kill soon, but they sure look pretty while they last. 
It's the best smelling candles of any season. And how every time I light them, my mood improves instantly. 
It's pumpkin coffee (and almond toffee coffee) in the mornings (and afternoons). If I could pour the constant desire to curl up with a blanket and read a book into a cup, it would taste like pumpkin spice coffee. 
It's wishing it would last forever, but knowing it won't, which is for the best because it makes you stop and enjoy it. 
I think the last three months of the year are the closest thing we get to magic, and I want to soak it all in.
What a beautiful thing it is to be alive in October. 

Spending October: A To-Do List For Adventuring Through the Month.

1. Make a fall bucket list. The next three months fly by faster than any other time of the year, so if there's something you know you for sure want to do, write it down!
2. Treat yourself to a pumpkin spice latte.
3. Then try to copy the recipe at home. 
4. Watch the sunrise with a pumpkin coffee (or tea!). 
5. Make an Autumn in New York station. There's something so nostalgically October about this one. 
6. Have a bonfire. S'mores are strongly encouraged. 
7. Make caramel apples. 
8. Go to a fair or festival in your town. Fall is prime time for these! 
9. Make an effort to be more positive in the way you speak. Especially when you're speaking about yourself. No more putting yourself down!
10. Read a thriller. 
11. Make it a priority to reach out to your people. 
12. Go apple picking. 
13. Host a dinner party. Fancy or casual, you choose! 
14. Work on being present. These months may fly by, but you can choose to be present and enjoy every moment, no matter where you are or what you're doing. 
15. Visit a pumpkin patch. I cannot wait to take Jack back to the pumpkin patch this year. 
16. Buy your pet a costume. Or at least go look at the pet costume section at Target. 
17. Go thrifting and find the perfect chunky sweater. 
18. Drive somewhere that really shows off in the fall. Colors colors colors! 
19. Carve pumpkins. 
20. Throw out all the weird bathroom stuff you keep, but don't use. Examples: halfway used old soap, old nail polish, the toothpaste that wasn't all the way gone, but you bought a new tube, etc. 
21. Go to Trader Joe's. Always a favorite, but they seriously shine in the fall. 
22. Listen to You Are a Bada** by Jen Sincero. It's like a pep-talk in your car. If you use this link you get two free books. 
23. Spend an afternoon baking all the fall treats. 
24. Try meditating. 
25. Make a pumpkin pie smoothie. 
26. Try some crockpot dinners. 
27. Start thinking about resolutions/goals. What are some things you wish you were doing better at / were different right now?
28. Buy Halloween candy.
29. Make soup. I could live off of soup all fall long. 
30. Bring someone a trick-or-treat basket filled with their favorite candy. 
31. Celebrate Halloween!
How will you be spending your October?

Fall with my Little Munchkin. AKA, The Season Where my Heart Explodes Daily.

Fall has always been my favorite (okay, next to Christmas), and looking back, I have loved fall so much during each season of my life. When I lived at home, fall was always fun. I get my love of fall from my mom. She's the Martha Stewart Beyonce of seasonal decorating. We always had the best decorations and traditions. 

Fall in college was so much fun. Going shopping for boots and plaid scarves, drinking entirely too many pumpkin spice lattes with my roommates (PS, did you know my very best friend is a girl who I got randomly roomed with in college? Thanks, life). 

Early married life fall was so much fun. We started our own traditions, like fall dates and our own personal Thanksgiving. Chris may not share my over-the-top love of fall, but he loves me, so over-the-top fall celebrations it was. So I've loved my lifetime of falls so far. Every one has been so much fun. But this year...

This year I can hardly even think about fall so far without getting emotional. (I'm a wimp, okay? Motherhood has made me weak). Because this year has been beyond perfect. 

This year, we have a house and a backyard and a cute little firepit, perfect for cozying up next to with a pumpkin coffee. This year, we live in this wonderful little town where Halloween is more about pumpkin patches and festivals than about going out and getting free shots. 

This year, I have this overwhelming feeling that we all know, though not nearly well enough. The feeling of, "Yes, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be." 

Logistically, this is not a perfect season. Chris is still in intern year and still works the most insane hours. In October, the month of all the fun Saturday events, he worked every single weekend. And I feel like the last two months have had their (un)fair share of sadness. But still, when I step back and look at this fall, it's absolutely perfect.

Because this year, we have Jack. 

Baby Jack, who is getting to experience fall for the first time. Jack, who loves pumpkins just as much as I do. Jack, who doesn't care that things aren't logically perfect. Jack, who's just the happiest little pumpkin there ever was. Who is an instant day-brightener and just full of love and curiousity. 

I am so, so tired. Yeah, I'm stressed out most days (working on it!) Sometimes I cry over nothing (again, weak). But at the end of the day, I am happy more than anything else. And I would call this little life of mine perfect. 

I've said it before and I'll probably say it a thousand more times: Not only is Jack everything I never knew I needed, he is everything I never knew I wanted. 

On Halloween night, Chris got off early enough to take Jack trick-or-treating. Our neighbor gave him a pack of M&M's, and he was so happy to just hold them and shake them. I thought about taking them away, but he was having the best time, and they were sealed, so what's the harm?

We got a few streets over and I turned the stroller around to take a picture of him...only to find him covered in blue. His face, his tongue, his hands, the top of his costume...all sticky and blue. This little sneak had chewed right through the package. 

I could have gotten irritated that he got his costume dirty blue before I could get a picture. I could have worried about how much sugar he might has ingested. But instead, I showed Chris, and we just laughed. 

Because this life is messy. But it is so, so good. 

Savor the Season, However it May Be.

October, November, December. Ninety-two days of pure magic. And, as magical days tend to do, they fly by. 
Last year around this time, Christopher was gone, and it sucked. Plain and simple. But I told myself that I really wanted to savor my favorite season, even if elements of it did suck. Even if I was by myself, the season was still worth savoring. 
So that's what I did! I lit pumpkin candles in the morning while I read. I baked apple treats, even though it was just me who would eat them. I listened to the Autumn in New York station and wrote a lot of blog posts. When I look back on that time, even though it was one of the hardest times of my life, I'm so proud of myself. I know myself, so I knew that being 6 months pregnant and being alone would likely mean watching Netflix in bed and eating cereal for dinner for two months, and I decided..nope. It's still my favorite season. I'm still going to savor it. 
That taught me so much about myself, and now that Chris is in residency, I see how valuable of a lesson it was. It taught me to savor the season, however it may be. 

Savor the season, however lonely it may be. 
Savor the season, however rushed it may be. 
Savor the season, however different than you imagined it may be. I think money plays a huge part in this one. Throughout the year, when we think about fall and winter and all of the holidays, we imagine our ideal circumstances. Pretty decorations and fancy parties and perfect gifts. Then the holidays roll around and, would you look at that, there was no surprise giant influx of cash out of nowhere. You may not have money for new decorations for fall, or new dishes for a Thanksgiving meal, or lavish presents for Christmas, but you still have the season. So savor it. 
Savor the season, however hard it may be. 
Savor the season, however stressful it may be. 
Savor the season, however boring it may be. 
However imperfect it may be. 
However short it may be, however long it may be. 
However tiring, however overwhelming. 
However, however, however. Savor, savor, savor. 
And then, on the days that are close to perfect..the days when your vision of your season comes briefly to life, the days when the get-together turns out perfectly, where your pumpkin cupcakes actually taste like they're supposed to, when you have enough money to swing by Starbucks, when you plan an outing to the pumpkin patch and it actually happens...turn on some Frank Sinatra, pour yourself a pumpkin coffee, and savor those, too. Because they will surely fly by.  

I Tried Them For You: 5 Popular Pumpkin Spice Creamer Recipes & How They Compare.

If you're anything like me, you're ecstatic that the time for pumpkin spice coffee is here again. But if you're anything like me, you probably don't love how much money it would cost to indulge in how many pumpkin spice lattes you would actually like to drink. 

Fall makes me want to be Martha Stewart and make all the fall treats that pop up on Pinterest. The problem with Pinterest, though, is that there are so many recipes with thousands of repins, but you have no way of knowing if those people actually tried that recipe, or if it's even any good. 

This weekend, I decided to test out five of the most popular pumpkin spice creamers on Pinterest to see how they compared and find out if they were worth your time. My kitchen is sticky, my house smells like fall, and I have a new favorite creamer. 

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Creamer from Crunchy Creamy Sweet This one has been repinned 47,400 times! Obviously I had to try it. 
Pros: Freaking Delicious. 
Cons: It was really, really thick. I ended up adding some extra milk in so I could stir it in my coffee more easily. 
Verdict: 47,400 people were right. This is delicious and exactly what I hoped for when making my own creamer. It actually tastes like real pumpkin, which is a win in my book. Just add a little extra milk if you want the consistency to be more like normal creamer. 
Homemade Coffee Creamer from Sally's Baking Addiction  This one includes maple syrup, which I've never tried in coffee before. I was intrigued!
Pros: Super tasty!
Cons: Very strong maple syrup taste. There's the same amount of syrup as there is pumpkin, and I can definitely taste the syrup more. If you're a maple fan, this may be the pumpkin creamer for you!
Verdict: I liked it, but I wanted more pumpkin flavor. Next time I make it, I'll either use more pumpkin or less syrup. 
Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer from Ricci Alexis This one uses just a few ingredients that you probably have in your pantry already.
Pros: Really Easy! 
Cons: No actual pumpkin. Also, it's half sweetened condensed milk, so it's very calorie and sugar heavy. But it's fall, so #treatyoself. 
Verdict: It's delicious. If you've ever had Vietnamese iced coffee, you know how good sweetened condensed milk and coffee are together. I think I'll try this one again with some real pumpkin next time.
Healthy Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer (Dairy Free!) from The Balanced Berry I decided to throw a vegan one on here, because why not?
Pros: SO DELICIOUS. 
Cons: You can taste the coconut milk. Let's be clear: I did not feel like this was a con, because in some strange universe the pumpkin and the coconut milk somehow mixed together into pure magic once they made it in my coffee. But if you don't like coconut, this one might not be for you. 
Verdict: You need to try this one. I assumed this would be my least favorite (I really love dairy, ha), but I was so wrong. Just be sure to stir it into your coffee well, because it does tend to seperate from the coffee if you leave it sitting too long. 
Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer from Fresh April Flours
Pros: Cheap to make! Instead of using all cream or milk, it's made up of half water, making it cheaper!
Cons: Strong brown sugar taste. It was also a little watery.  It was tasty, but it tasted more like a sugar cookie with a little pumpkin spice thrown in (which, hello, is still delicious) and less like pumpkin creamer. 
Verdict: It wasn't my favorite one. Next time I would definitely use less brown sugar, and maybe add a little more pumpkin to thicken it up a bit. 

The Winner? Healthy Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer (Dairy Free!) from The Balanced Berry. Am I shocked to find out that my favorite DIY pumpkin creamer is actually vegan? Yes, yes I am. But this was so delicious! The fact that I can drink more of it while feeling a little less guilty is just an added bonus. 

Do you have a favorite DIY pumpkin spice creamer recipe? 

The Swing Forward Camp.

In case you're new around here, I'll let you in on a very important fact about me: I start celebrating fall on September first. I love summer. Pool days and fruit and slower days...it's the best. I'm a Florida girl, a summer girl, but fall is the season that holds my heart. 
I love this quote, because I really feel that way about August. It's still bright and sunny and hot, but with the back-to-school supplies filling the shelves and the boots and scarfs that start appearing in stores, you can't deny that fall is on it's way. 
I'm in the swing forward camp all day long. It's easy for me to say that, of course, because I live in Florida. Summer really only leaves for a few months out of the year. Last year, my mom and I were planning a Halloween party, and we went over our to-do list the day before while laying out in the sun. I wore a sweater to the party and had to change halfway through because I thought it probably wasn't the best if I passed out from overheating while I was pregnant.
So to me, saying hi to fall doesn't really mean saying bye to my favorite things about summer. But if we have to swing, I want to swing forward. To apple cider and boots and pumpkin spice everything. I want to swing to (slightly) cooler weather, to pumpkin carving, to oversized sweaters and hats. 
I'm always so excited to welcome fall, but this year I have an extra special reason: Jack.
The thought of getting to do all of my favorite fall things with my tiny little love just makes my heart want to explode. Taking him to a pumpkin patch? Dressing him up in (way too many) costumes? SWOON. 

I remember taking this picture so clearly. I was about six months pregnant and we left there talking about how crazy it was that next October, we'd have a real, live baby who was a part of our family. 
It is crazy. And perfect and weird and exciting and different and something that's going to make fall a thousand times better.
Summer is wonderful. August is lovely. But if we have to swing? Swing forward, baby. Right into fall. 
Which camp are you in?

Pumpkin Spice Lattes & Other Great Loves of My Life.

Like most of the country, around the end of September, I fall into a deep love affair with pumpkin spice lattes and, even better, the creamer that makes it taste like I'm having one every morning at home. Now that Thanksgiving is next week (YES, NEXT WEEK. How this has happened, I do not know.), peppermint mochas are on the horizon. Since we're about ten days from all Christmas, everything, I thought I'd write one more post about how magical fall was and how it brought several great loves of my life, not limited to the pumpkin spice latte.

Pumpkin Butter. Hello, heavenly spread. I don't know why I've never bought this before this year, but I'm in love. I've spent the past two months trying to figure out just how many things I can get away with putting this on. The verdict: A lot. (PS: I got my pumpkin butter at Trader Joe's). 

Pumpkin Tea. Being pregnant comes with caffeine limits (unfair, since it also comes with being exhausted), so cup after cup of pumpkin coffee wasn't an option this year. Pumpkin tea, though, is fair game. Plus, it's lighter than coffee and creamer, and still a way to cozy up with a hot drink that smells like fall. 

Apple-smoked Chicken Sausage. The only way you're getting me to try a healthy alternative to anything these days is if it's delicious and requires extremely minimum effort on my part. This meets those requirements...it's delicious, and I can legitimately have dinner made in 8 minutes. That's what winning looks like, friends. 

Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte Lipgloss. Alternatively titled: The shiniest way to taste pumpkin. 

Leggings, Boots, & Oversized Tops. Honestly, I would dress like this all the time if I could. And now that I'm seven months pregnant, I most definitely can. Thank you, little babe, for letting me decide that leggings are pants, even if only for a short time. 

Candles. The fall-scented candles are always my favorite, and I look forward to them all year. But this year, I've been lighting them as soon as I wake up so I can pretend I'm drinking my coffee by a fire place. It's cozy and magical. 

Having a Clean House. Maybe it really is nesting (it's gotta be something, because I am not one to enjoy cleaning), but lately I can't get enough of having everything clean. It's just so much more relaxing to be in an environment that's clean and clutter-free. I know my mom is reading this and cursing the high-school version of myself for never feeling like this. 

What were the great loves of your life this fall?

Nothing Inspires Me Quite Like Fall & Winter.

If I had to choose a way to describe life right now, I think I'd say in love. Or maybe enjoyed. Or I'd choose content. Or savor. Or possibly inspired. 

I am just so in love with life right now. I'm in love with Chris being home, and I'm in love with getting to spend so much time with him.

I'm so enjoying how the weather is, how I've been able to break out the boots and sweaters. Only for like an hour in the morning, but still...I'll take what I can get.

I'm so content with where I am. There's so much up in the air right now, like: Where will we match? Will we be happy with it? When will the baby come? What will life be like once he gets here? Will we be able to make everything work? Regardless of the uncertainty, I'm still so perfectly content with this stage. It's unlike me, but even though I have zero of the answers, I have so much peace.

I'm savoring every moment. After spending so much time away from Chris, I'm soaking up even the normal moments as if they might be snatched away from me at any time. And really-isn't that how we should always live? I'm savoring the mugs of pumpkin spiced coffee, the early mornings snuggled under the covers, the nights spent watching movies and feeling the babe move all around, knowing that pretty soon, he'll be moving out in the world with the rest of us.

Being pregnant is hard-for real, it's really freaking hard work-but I'm still savoring this season so very much.

And absolutely nothing makes me feel inspired quite like fall and winter. The scents, the weather, the tastes, the colors, the coziness. The happiness of all that this fall means to me. I just wake up every day feeling so thankful, and so inspired to just live. Sure, sometimes I wake up in pain, or on the verge of throwing up, but even then-I'm still so inspired by this beautiful season.

What's inspiring you lately? 

Last-Minute Costume Ideas: DIY Edition.

We've all been there. "There" being the place where it's the week before (or the day before!) Halloween, and you have no costume. This usually happens because 1) You procrastinated and never quite made it to Party City, or 2) You were not going to go out. You're an adult and you have better things to do than dress up and go to a party. But then, you realize you don't have anything better to do, and you don't want to be old and boring, so you're going. But what about that costume? 

Don't worry, I've got you.

via

Mary Poppins. This is perfect, because you've probably got almost all of these things laying around your house anyway. Black skirt? White shirt? Umbrella? Oversized bag? You may have to run to the store to pick up a thing or two to perfect your costume, but this one is way easy.

how-to found here

Pineapple. I love this one because you could go as exaggerated as the picture above, or you could make a tiny little headpiece, making this appropriate for a fancier party. Bonus: Don't have a yellow dress? Wear a red one. Boom, you're a strawberry.

10 how-tos found here!

Your favorite emoji. The link above has 10 easy DIY costumes, so pick the emoji you use the most and go with it!

how-to found here!

Piñata. How cute is this? Just swing by Wal-Mart (or even the dollar store!) and pick up some streamers, and you're set! 

how-to found here!

Audrey Hepburn. Because honestly, when are you going to get to dress this classy ever again?

how-to found here!

Gum-ball Machine. This one will take a little bit more DIY-ing and a lot more pompoms on your part, but how adorable is it?! And so pretty and colorful, but still easy to pull off at the last minute. This one's a winner for sure.

Didn't find what you're looking for? Check out last year's suggestions.

A Love Letter to Fall.

I fall in love with different things about different seasons. I love that each season has big, defining things that everyone recognizes, and also little things that just make it perfect, even if it's just perfect to me.

Right now, I'm having a big love affair with fall. It happens every year-why shouldn't it? For a season, everything is just about as perfect as it can get.

I'm in love with how alive everything makes me feel in the fall. The colors, the smells, the sounds. They're all so extremely alive. When I see all the fall colors of the decorations around my apartment, I feel like magic is real. When I smell pumpkin coffee, I want to wake up and enjoy the day. When I listen to the Autumn in New York station, I want to chase every dream I've ever had. Fall just makes me want to celebrate being alive.

I'm in love with the pumpkin and apple flavors that overtake everything this time of year.

I'm in love with the tiniest chill that starts to visit with the wind and makes me feel like I could stay outside, dreaming all day long.

I'm in love with the soups and the hot drinks and the baked desserts.

I'm in love with the glow of the candy corn lights hanging in my kitchen. With the smell of the seven different varieties of pumpkin-scented candles that make my tiny little apartment seem so cozy. With the fact that no matter where I am in my apartment, there's a pumpkin in sight.

Fall, I'm in love with you. There's so much to look forward to and be thinking about, but today, I'm just going to be overwhelmingly in love with fall.

What parts of fall do you love?

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? 

Spending Your October: A To-Do List for Adventuring Through the Month.

Happy October! It's one of the best months of the year, and it's definitely one of my favorite months to spend. We get thirty-one days of October magic, so make sure you spend them well! Here are some ideas to get you started. 

1. Go to a pumpkin patch! The best location for cute pictures, ever.

2. Carve pumpkins. Quick story: One time, we were carving pumpkins outside (in the dark), and Chris was throwing pumpkin slime at me. Some of it hit my face, but I was really focused on what I was doing, so I left it there for a second while I finished what I was carving. But then it started sliding down my neck. Except it wasn't sliding, it was crawling. And making noise. Because it wasn't pumpkin slime, it was a frog. 

A frog landed on my face and I just left it there because I thought it was pumpkin. 

Moving on. 

3. Make hot apple cider. Put this on the stove (or in the crockpot!) in the morning, and your house will smell amazing all day.

4. Look up fairs around you! It's the time of the year where fairs and festivals pop up all over!

5. Read a thriller. Last October I read Gone Girl...stay tuned for this year's choice. 

6. Bake something with pumpkin. 

7. Watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

8. Have a make-your-own-candy party!

9. Make caramel apples! Pro tip: After you make them and cover them in whatever your heart desires, use an apple cutter to cut them into slices that you can actually eat, as opposed to getting 90% caramel on your face and 10% actually in your mouth.

10. Go thrifting for oversized sweaters and baggy sweatshirts.

11. Each time you feel thankful for something, say so out loud. Work on voicing your gratitude instead of your complaints.

12. Check out Bath & Body Works' fall line. Smell like a pumpkin, or an apple. Up to you!

13. Watch the Friday Night Lights Pilot. I was shocked by how many of you told me you'd never seen this show!

14. Go on a fall date. With your boyfriend or your husband or your best friend or your sibling...just have a night of your favorite fall things!

15. Go to Target, grab a pumpkin spice latte, and browse the halloween costume section. Once you've had your laughs at the adult costumes (the best), then move on to the pet section. 

16. Get the Sephora Play! Box. It blows Birchbox out of the water, let me tell you!

17. Make an effort to love out loud. I think that so often, I just assume that the people I love know I love them. This month, make an effort to say so more, both with words and actions.

18. Pop some popcorn and celebrate the return of fall television! Scandal! Blacklist! Welcome back!

19. Make a list of some fall traditions you want to start! You know I will have some suggestions for this.

20. Bake something with apples.

21. Decorate your house for fall. 

22. If you have a dog, buy them a pumpkin. Gatsby got his own tiny pumpkin last year and I really don't know who it brought more joy to: Me or him. 

23. Drive somewhere the leaves are turning colors. Just enjoy how pretty everything is in October!

24. Have a picnic. October is prime picnic season.

25. Spend a morning outside, reading a good book.

26. Have a bon-fire. Bonus points for s'mores!

27. Go stargazing. Grab a blanket and go lay in the grass or on a roof and just watch the stars. 

28. Go for a walk. Pour yourself a hot drink and just go for a walk without the intention of really getting anywhere, but just to enjoy it.

29. Surprise your co-workers or roommates with Halloween candy.

30. Dress your pet up for Halloween. You know you want to.

31. Celebrate Halloween however you want to!

Goodbye September, Hello October.

Goodbye, September. 

Goodbye to anxious nights looking over residency applications a fifth or sixth "one final time."

Goodbye to putting off my ever-growing to-do list...this baby is coming soon!

Goodbye to spending days in the park, finalizing our list of places we want to live and drinking the best sweet tea (thanks, Birmingham!).

Goodbye to saying, "I can't wait until we turn applications in!" 

Goodbye to tanktops and shorts.

Goodbye to the beginning of fall.

Hello, October. 

Hello to one of the most magical months of the year.

Hello to full blown, all out fall, every day.

Hello to a season that makes it easy to fall in love with life.

Hello to interview offers.

Hello to exploring cities that may be our new home!

Hello to slipping a pumpkin in my grocery cart every time before check-out.

Hello to fall dates, candy parties, pumpkin parties, and more time spent outside.

Hello to weather that is hopefully cool enough to sit outside with a blanket and a cup of coffee.

Hello to the time of the year that just makes me feel alive.

What are you saying hello and goodbye to in October?

Apple Recipes You Need in Your Life.

A few weeks ago, I shared some of my favorite pumpkin recipes, because it's nice to see things from Pinterest that other people have actually tried. 

While pumpkin is my favorite part of fall, I think that apple-flavored foods--specifically, apple-flavored fall desserts--are absolutely delicious. These recipes often get overlooked due to pumpkin spice everything, but trust me, they're just as delicious. 

Layered apple pies from Dashing Dish

These were so easy and so delicious! And actually relatively "healthier" than most fall desserts. 

Apple Braid by Eat, Live, Run

Side note: I made this with pre-made crust instead of making up the dough, and it was still delicious!

Apple pie pull-apart bread by The Comfort of Cooking

SO easy and so delicious! And your house smells incredible while it's cooking!

Rustic chicken with apples and bacon by Seasons and Suppers

Caramel apple cupcakes by The Baker Mama

This is a recipe adapted from a Rachel Ray magazine, and hands down, these are the best cupcakes I've ever made. 

Do you lean more towards apple or pumpkin desserts during the fall?