October

I mentioned in Monday's post that I am just beside myself with disbelief that it is October already. I have only been living outside of Florida for five years now, but that apparently is plenty of time to alter my perception of fall. Now whenever someone says "fall," my mind automatically changes that to "almost winter" and then I want to weep. All I can see is this:

Winter in Central Park, 2009

Pretty? Sure, if you like that sort of thing. But all I can think about is the months on end of cold that we'll be facing soon. I can't even enjoy the pretty fall weather, because I know that very shortly it will be time to bust out the hats and gloves and scarves and curse at the cold as I walk down the street face-first into the wind. Blaaaaaaah.

So, to lift my spirits and improve my outlook on fall, I thought I should take some time to put the impending winter out of my mind for a moment and think about what I do like about fall. Because really, fall is nice, and it's a shame I can't enjoy it. I'm going to try my best to turn that around this year.

My favorite thing about fall is probably obvious: Gator football. I spend my summer conflicted over being excited about Gator football starting back up, and sad about summer ending. Gator football certainly helps ease the pain of fall.

Go Gators!

Similarly, there are some television shows that I get super excited to start watching again. I'm happy to have them back in my life come fall.

Dexter, Glee, Modern Family and 30 Rock are some of my fall favorites.

Of course, I also love the obvious: the colorful trees. Who doesn't like that?

We obviously took the pic on the left when we lived in D.C., and the pic on the right is from Peoria, IL last October.

And then there are the smells. I do love busting out my Pumpkin Pie candles from Yankee Candle. These are the candles that prompt my poor husband to come home and say, "ooooh, did you bake?" No. No, I did not. Gotcha!

Oh, heavenly scent.

Not only do I love the smell of my Pumpkin Pie candle, but mmm mmm, I love all pumpkin food. I love pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin whatever-you-want-to-put-on-my-plate.

This is a cute pumpkin that I would like to eat in bread form.

And to drink, I love me some hot apple cider.

Cinnamon, apples, yum.

And last fall in Peoria, Illinois, I was introduced to apple cider in another fabulous form: apple cider donuts. YUM.

I will eat these in great numbers.

With the changing weather also comes a changing wardrobe. I do like that I can switch my entire wardrobe out twice each year, because just when I start to get sick of all my summer clothes, it's time to switch to winter clothes. It's like getting a whole new wardrobe, and what girl doesn't like that? My favorite part of the switch is that fall allows me to bust out my boots again. I do love a good pair of boots!

I bought these boots last year and they are definitely a wardrobe staple for me during the fall/winter months.

And then of course, there's the fall holidays. You all already know how much I love humiliating my dog for Halloween, so that's a plus for fall.

Poor thing.

And Thanksgiving means lots of mashed potatoes, which I certainly can't complain about. Mashed potatoes are my most favorite food ever. I'm a "lick the bowl" kind of girl when it comes to mashed potatoes.

Tell me you don't want to just dive in to that bowl of mashed potatoes.

So really, there are a lot of things about fall that I enjoy. And this fall, we have some fun events coming up as well: my cousin Molly is getting married in Mexico the weekend before Thanksgiving. I will be traveling to Illinois for her bridal shower in two weeks, and Eric and I will both be hitting the beach in Mexico in November for the wedding. Who can be mad about fall when it also includes a beach vacation, and the wedding of one of your most favorite people?

 Molly took this picture last November, on the beach where she will be married. BEACH! In NOVEMBER! Yay!

Here's Molly with her fiance, Arturo. They're looking very "fall-y," and very appropriate for this post.

Okay, I think I'm feeling better about this whole fall thing. What are your favorite things about fall, or what are you most looking forward to this season?