Tomorrow is the first day of fall in the northern hemisphere, and the first day of spring south of the equator. Happy new season everyone!
Now, I’m told that Costco has the holiday decorations up already.
On one hand I find this deeply amusing because I cannot tell you how much I delight in knowing that I, or anyone with a membership card, can find Jesus in the aisles of Costco.
On the other hand, tomorrow is only theĀ first day of fall! It’s just the first day! We haven’t even gotten to “miniature candies for sale everywhere” yet!
I’ve written about this before, but the idea that September is another January in terms of resolutions, self-evaluations, and potential changes of habit isĀ very true for me. Not only is it back to school time, but the Jewish new year is this weekend – l’shana tovah, y’all! Happy 5783!
Each year on Rosh Hashana I make an inward resolution about something I want to change, adjust, or encourage within myself. The secular New Year I tend to focus on an external resolution. So at this time of year, I’m thinking about how I want to greet the new season, the new year, and all the new things that have pumpkin spice in them.
Related question, and maybe fellow Marylanders can help me out here: Maryland LOVES its flag. Like, A LOT. It’s on everything. I can buy just about any object covered in the Maryland flag. Which leads me to wonder: which is greater, the number of things with the Maryland flag on them, or the number of things with pumpkin spice in them?
What if it is THE SAME NUMBER.
Anyway.
This change of season and year, I’m not sure what my resolution will be yet.
I am looking forward to more soup, more quilting, and more eating soup and reading under the quilts I make. Oh – and I’m eligible for my next COVID booster in October, so I’m very looking forward to that!
What about you? Anything you’re anticipating? Anything you’re crafting or cooking or reading or doing in the coming season? Please tell us about it!
And l’shana tova if you’re celebrating!Ā
Iām in Australia and we have had Christmas decorations for at least a couple of weeks. Iām an early organised Christmas shopping person (the annoying one who buys gifts throughout the year as I see things that will suit). But this makes me tired. It just feels like pressure. Shops are slowly torturing you with a creeping Christmas display.
Iām looking forward to (hopefully) the next release of my favorite diary. Finally found a style that is dates one side and blank notes the other. I love being able to decorate it for birthdays, events etc, find stationery styles to match it and have all the fun playing with new colourful things.
I saw Halloween chocolates out at the store on the first day of school (which was in AUGUST) and I almost lost my mind. The holiday creep of capitalism bums me out. I feel like it makes those times of year less special to drag them out longer (or maybe that’s just one of the bummers of being an adult).
Anyway. My niece was born eight days ago–she was a surprise, we all expected another boy. And now I have to get used to saying that I have niblings instead of nephews. I’m sure I’ll be spending a lot of this season with her, just enjoying baby time and watching her grow.
I’m also trying to buy a house, which has been horrible, but maybe by the end of the year I’ll have that figured out.
Other than that I’m looking forward to reading some good books, maybe writing a little bit, and please lord temperatures under 90 degrees sometime soon.
I love all the halloween decorations and crafting (some already happening!) and the temperature dropping just enough to be cool and brisk and nice. Looking forward to snuggling favorite blankets and more crock-pot meals too. A couple of my favorite artists either are already doing their spooky theme stuff so the prints will be ready for October, and/or usually have special surprises in store for that month.
I already got my new-mix booster, don’t regret it at all, but remember to plan that day of rest after, i was over-confident and did not š I was flattened out for a day and a half or so. Still million times better than getting sick with it again!
Even though itās still warmish where I live, Iāve started making my old favourite cold weather meals. Years ago, my dad bought me an Emile Henry tagine and itās my favourite cooking device ever. Itās beautifully made and I love the quality of it. I recently made cassoulet and this weekend Iāll be using it to make a slow cooked pot roast. Iāve started getting a hankering for cabbage rolls and chicken paprikash so they are on my list.
I also need to get back to knitting an Afghan for my brother and SIL. I love in door cold weather activities but I actually hate the cold.
I was expecting maybe 23 cents from a class action suit against my former utility company after lawyer fees and whatnot, but it turned out to be “I can afford a few non-necessities” money (yay for getting ripped off for decades, I guess?), so I’m going to buy the yarn required to finish a sweater that’s been in progress for two years. I doubt I’ll finish it within the limits of fall, but I’m looking forward to progress.
And though it’s been said here before, I’m pretty fond of not marinating in sweat, so I’m excited about consistently bearable temperatures. The forecast often lies, but I’m willing to forgive when it promises nights in the 40s (Fahrenheit) and highs of 72 all next week.
We moved into apple growing territory last year so I am looking forward to apples! They taste so very different when they are absolutely fresh.
Also jackets. I love jackets. As does my kiddo, who has decided it is already jacket weather even though it is really too warm still. So a less sweaty kiddo would also be good.
As a Christian, I can’t stand the Christmas merchandising creep. Yes, yes, you can sell us all the things! Just NOT YET. The season of Advent starts the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I wish they could hold off on all the merchandising until then, but no chance.
I’m looking forward to whizzing across the Atlantic for my sister’s birthday in Oxford next month. Oxford’s sandstone will either be golden and glowing in the autumnal sunlight, or (more likely) soaked the colour of wet concrete to match the rainclouds. Hoping for the former, expecting the latter.
I went to Costco last Friday and it felt like they just skipped right on over fall and Halloween. Thank goodness a later trip to my local home improvement stores had all the Halloween decorations. (My favorite to browse)
I’ve been thinking a lot about resolutions and changes I want to make in my life lately. I’m not religious but something about the changes in fall and spring feel more appropriate for reflection and change. January just feels like darkness and cold and all I want to do then is hold on until the spring equinox. I haven’t figured out what I want to change yet, but I can feel the discontent that usually means I need to shake things up.
I am doing all the crafty things and it brings so much joy to create things. I have more yarn projects planned than I know what to do with. And I’ve got some fabric projects sitting at almost finished that I need to get back to.
I hope everyone has a happy and cozy fall.
The bff is selling her house, so I see a lot of packing, lifting and hauling in my near future. Hopefully it will inspire me to go all Marie Kondo on my house. I think that needs to be my goal. Making the house less full of stuff and more calm. Stuff can be nerve racking. My guest/sewing room is a wreck, even with the no more fabric moratorium. Really squelches the creative juices.
Side note: I used to work in a kitchen store at Woodfield Mall aka the largest enclosed retail space in the country (when it was built, now just east of the Mississippi). On any given weekend from September thru December there would be 75-100 buses from all over the Midwest. The day after Halloween in walks my boss with a box of Christmas decor. I told him absolutely not. I told him I would come in early the day after Thanksgiving and decorate, but just NO. And we remained the only store besides Nordstrom’s to be Christmas decor free until after Thanksgiving. Just like the good old days.
Down here, the Texas flag is on everything. EVERYTHING. I guarantee it outnumbers the things with pumpkin spice flavor.
I am not thinking about cozy things like quilts or hot drinks or any of that. Tomorrow might be the first day of fall, but they’re forecasting 99 degrees for the next two days, likely to actually hit triple digits (again). Our “cool” day will be 91 degrees next Tuesday.
Sometimes I wish south Texas understood the concept of seasons. We have like 8 months of summer and rarely get very cold in the winter (40s or 50s in most cases and warm up to 60s during the day). Two of those four months are in the 60s and 70s. Which is why the freeze year before last shutdown the state.
Also, Voter Registration Day is 9/30. Please make sure you’re registered to vote. In Texas, the cut off to register is 30 days before the election. Get a voter registration form at your public library. Roe Roe Roe Your Vote, as the t-shirt says.
Tomorrow is actually my birthday, so I’ve taken myself to Peru to celebrate. Unfortunately, I forsee this being the highlight of the rest of my year (which is an excellent highlight, tbf), so I’m mostly trying to focus on the here and now.
Oh, Maryland flag HAS to be the winner here. I see some pumpkin spice stuffs, but those flags–esp the shaped bumper stickers–are *everywhere*.
In our state’s defense, though, I have heard people from out of state (like on podcasts and such, when they’re talking state flags) say we have the “best” and the “weirdest” flag, the “hardest to draw by hand.” So I say we should go for it, fly the freaky state flag in every crab and rat cutout we want.
I’m in Arizona, so I am looking forward to temps falling below 100F (That’s 38C for my Aussie friends). We don’t love our flag (as a people) as much as Texans or Marylanders, which is a shame, because it is lovely and deserving of rabid adoration š
I’m also looking forward to those few short days between every cold my 5 year old brings home from school… and then passes along to my 2 year old…
@katie Iām in AZ too and when I picked my daughter up from school the other day and it was only 94Ā° I truly said, Wow! I canāt even feel the heat.
Itās DISGUSTING.
I decided, as a professional baker, that fall started halfway through august and am subjecting my customers to pumpkin, maple and pies and thereās nothing they can do about it. Halloween cookies start next week. No one can stop me.
lāshana tova to you, Sarah, and others who so celebrate.
Currently I’m enjoying some thrift store jaunts to buy some clothes for my daughter. A friend of hers will be going to South Korea and has offered to take some stuff.
@Jennifer: BRING ON THE FALL BAKED GOODS. I saw a cookie decoration collection on Reddit the other day that was all corn. Corn on the cob, corn in the husk, corn corn corn and I was VERY here for all the fall corny-ness. Heh heh.
@Lauren802 – Happy birthday to you! I hope Peru is absolutely terrific. What an awesome trip!
At the moment looking forward to a month-long battery of routine medical tests culminating in carpal tunnel surgery in November. In between I’m excited about Festival Season! There will be a festival every weekend somewhere nearby for the next two months, plus a Fantasy Convention (primarily HP/LOTR but all kinds of magic) and the Anime Convention my late husband founded, which I never miss. Also doing some major overhauls of my Etsy shop. New Halloween designs up now!
Here in Georgia they change the state flag on a routine basis, so there’s almost no point in merch, unless you want a collection of every variation (which they actually did once – put every state flag we had ever had all together into one state flag. It did not go well.)
Today I’m wearing a hoodie and jeans, which is NOT standard in California this time of year. We are all confused, but not to worry, it will be back up to 90Ā°F over the weekend.
I’m looking forward to *actual* Fall sometime in November, hopefully. In the meantime, I am starting to look at old writing projects in preparation for NaNoWriMo this November. Who knows, maybe this year it will result in a finished project!
L’shana tova!
It’s still very hot here, and I’m looking forward to the weather cooling off in October/November so I can make soup. A big pot of soup is just comfort food.
And I just started knitting a blanket for our first grandbaby, due on Winter Solstice (12/21). Looking forward to meeting the little nugget for the first time!
I have no particular bone to pick with the Pumpkin Spice crowd, but every September–and this escalates with every passing year–I have one question. WHERE ARE ALL THE DELICIOUS APPLE SPICE THINGS?!? Just this morning, I was at the Dunkie’s drive thru and the disembodied voice girl was telling the guy in front of me that they had NOTHING with apples. My heart ached for that guy. Sorry, pumpkin lovers, but that’s just wrong.
I’m also in a hot place with no proper seasons, unless we count hurricane season.
Looking forward to TV shows starting back up, especially Taskmaster and the rest of the British comedy panel shows.
Looking forward to fall clothes, fall weather, fall foods, and fall TV. It’s time for college football, the urge to knit hitting me again (too damned hot in the summer in this climate), and a new season of Survivor.
New Sloan album next month (though it looks like Iāll have to wait for spring for any US tour dates, sigh)! The return of Santa Clara Library Con will be nice, tooāI missed it so much during lockdownā¦
@PamG YES, this. Where are all the apple things?! I’m sure there’s room for both on the market. Most years I can find decent-ish cider, but I feel like other apple opportunities are being wasted in the pumpkin spice bonanza.
+1 wanting more spicy apple things.
I am looking forward to our Thanksgiving-week trip to North Carolina where we will have a family holiday for the first time in a looooooong time. My sister & her wife have lived there for years but my parents just moved up to the same town this summer. They like their new house & new neighborhood. I have promised to arrange for a Greenberg’s smoked turkey to arrive at their place before we do.
@AtasB I have a Maryland crab flag on my minivan. Actually makes it easy to pick it out in the parking lot. lol
Looking forward to all things fall because Autumn is my favorite season. Though, I’m not a PSL gal.
Iām looking forward to finally finishing some rooms in our house. Weāve been stuck in renovation hell during the entire pandemic, so itās about time!
Iām also pregnant, so Iām looking forward to my maternity leave and preparing for the changes to come. Our family of three will be a family of four January next year :).
That is exciting, @Asfaroth! Wishing you and yours much joy.
@ Kris: I want to be invited to dinner at your house. I love cassoulet, but it’s far beyond my meagre cooking abilities.
As for resolutions, etc., I just spent several months decluttering and downsizing as I moved from a multi-level, multi-bedroom house to a one floor, 2 bedroom condo. I felt so much lighter after the process was complete and the house seemed so airy and uncluttered. Then I moved into the condo where I’m surrounded by an obstacle course of boxes, rolled up rugs, clothing racks, etc. Makes no sense to unpack because renovation work will start soon (wanted to have it done before I moved in, but the contractor’s timeline and the backed-up supply chains did not cooperate) and everything would need to be packed up again to be moved out of the way. So my goal is to be Zen about it all until the work is done in a few months – I periodically take out the plans and repeat to myself that this is a first world problem while taking deep breaths.