how do i love thee, fall? let me count 10 ways.

1. PUMPKINS! I can find more uses for a pumpkin than I can a....very useful thing. Just the cooking category alone:pumpkin cobbler, curried pumpkin soup, pumpkin sage pasta, spicy pumpkin waffles, Nutella pumpkin pie. Mmmm (drool). I love, too, pumpkin patches, pumpkin carving, and walking up to a front door where the steps are pumpkin-lined. Alright. That should about cover the pumpkin category. It seemed like a necessary love.
2. LEAVES! Watching them change color. Crunching through them during my walks. Jumping in a big pile of them. And yes--even raking them. Although I rented something called a lawn vacuum last year and it was frigging awesome so I totally plan on getting it again. Rake schmake :).

3. VINCE GUARALDI MUSIC! The Charlie Brown Suite is my soundtrack for fall. I think he wrote Great Pumpkin Waltz while watching leaves fluttering down from the trees. It fits the season perfectly! I start listening at the end of September and let it go right on through Thanksgiving (skipping over all the Christmas songs and saving them for, well, Christmas).

4. LAYERS! It was fun to wear cute summer dresses and t's while it was hot outside, but I'm a layer girl at heart. I love vests over shirts, cardigans over vests, coats over cardigans. Hats. Scarves.Wool tights. Dark colors. And boots, boots, BOOTS! I don't know who bike girl here is, but I'd steal her outfit (and her bike :) )
5. NEW STUFF ON TV TO WATCH! I don't watch a lot of television, but for what I do watch--it's nice to have something to replace the re-runs. I especially look forward to this show:

I know some would say it's run its course and won't survive without Steve Carrell, but I'm a die hard fan and will watch until it ends. It's never failed to make me laugh. Sometimes till stuff comes out my nose like during the fire drill episode when Angela threw her cat through the ceiling and it fell back out again (Save Bandit!). True story.

6. HALLOWEEN! This is my favorite. holiday. ever. I think it's because there's no "real meaning" that I'm supposed to be appreciating. It's just crazy clothes and candy, people. Simple. And I get giddy over my costume every year. This year I was inspired by this $1.5 million dollar peacock feather dress:

I'm turning it into something more like this:

And going as a peacock-y thing. Don't quite have the full vision yet, I just got excited when I found 100 peacock feathers for $20 from here. Come Oct. 31 there will be me, there will be feathers. That is all.

7. WARM STUFF TO DRINK! I don't drink coffee, but I love when it gets cold enough outside to want something warm in my belly. I love peppermint hot chocolate and steamed hazelnut milk, but I'm especially partial to apple cider with extra cinnamon and a little drizzle of caramel...

8. THE COLOR ORANGE! I love orange all year round. My whole kitchen is painted orange. But I really pull it out for fall. I love how it looks against the bright olive of my living room. Love, too, all the chunky and rough textures. Humble elements like leaves, river stones, dried beans, and nuts all look elegant in an autumnal setting. This is my home's fall look...

9. FIRES! It's generally too warm around here to start up our fireplace until November, but once we get it going--there's no better place to flop down and take a nap than right in front of it. Something about that warm, amber glow renders me useless. Happily, "eat cold cereal for dinner mama's in front of the fireplace and can't get up boys" useless....

AND....FINALLY--

10. THAT FIRST COMA-LIKE, COLD MEDICINE-INDUCED SLEEP OF THE YEAR! Nothing says "change of season" like a nasty cold. I prefer to deal with mine by knocking myself out with Nyquil for a week. And, really, that's not so bad, is it?

Wouldn't seem fitting if I didn't ask: What's your favorite thing about Fall?