Autumn Adoration
Fall decorations and a killer knocker on a grand navy door
I don't like pumpkin spice lattes, but I do love fall. In fact, I think it's hands-down the best time of the year, and not just because it gives us bloggers the opportunity to visit apple orchards and take cute pictures perched in trees of Royal Galas and Granny Smiths, but because there's this sense of comfort that escorts one into the cooler, darker months, and has us with sugar plums dancing in our heads by the end of the season. Below are my ten favourite things about fall.
1. A Hot Cup of… I’m a huge fan of most hot beverages – coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cider – so I love when the cold weather kicks in and I automatically have an excuse to indulge in one of these delicious warm bevies. Of course one always needs somewhere to set down one’s mug, and these Story Tiles are the perfect coasters. Each one is handmade in Holland, in the image of vintage Dutch white tiles, and all of the tiles are painted to tell a story, with tiny details incorporated within each miniature scene.
2. Jacket Weather: I don’t mean Michelin Man coat weather. I mean chic, glamourous jackets that aren't thaaaat warm but do the trick when it's 7 degrees outside and complete any outfit. Bomber jackets, leather jackets, trench coats, pea coats - I live for these coats. They're just as amazing to me as shoes and purses, which is saying a whole lot if you know me. Some of my favourites for this season can be found here, here, here and here.
3. Apple Crumble: When I was younger, my mum's signature dessert was apple crumble. I was really fortunate to have a stay-at-home mum growing up, and even more fortunate that she created healthy, delicious, gourmet meals for us every evening for dinner. While we frequently enjoyed cookies or fruit after eating together at the dining room table (another privilege I'm so grateful we enjoyed), we were no strangers to apple crumble in the fall and winter months. My brother – a bizarre species with barely any sweet tooth and a genuine disgust for ice cream and cake (he's an alien, I swear) – loved the stuff, and I remember wanting to skip the main course and dig into the crumbly topping and cinnamon-swirled apples as soon as I smelled the dish baking in the oven. In short, I’m thrilled it’s apple crumble season again.
4. Halloween: What's more fun than eating heaps of candy and dressing up as whatever your heart desires? I'm still dreaming up my disguise for this year, but this couple really outdid themselves with their ghoulishly glamourous get-ups.
5. Soup: I really enjoy soups, stews and chilli when the colder weather sets in, and although I've had some questionable experiences attempting to make chilli in the past (that's a story for another time), I'll be collaborating with some culinary-conscious friends this season to cook up a few of these soups, and store them in festive jars for the long winter ahead.
6. Homebody Behaviour: In the summer months, I want to be out and about every chance I get, but when it’s foggy and rainy and leaves are swirling from the sky, all I want to do is cozy-up under the blankets and read a good book, or listen to music and daydream for hours. I don’t even feel guilty about staying inside, because it’s not as if I’m depriving myself of gorgeous sunny weather. I’m simply doing what Mother Nature asks of me.
7. Jazz: I've loved jazz for as long as I can remember – like actually had a full-blown Dave Brubeck obsession as a child – and my favourite time to listen to jazz has always been autumn. There's Miles Davis’ “Autumn Leaves”, definitely a favourite track of mine, but aside from that, there's something about fall that makes me want to laze around with a drink in my hand, playing Coltrane on loop.
8. TV Returns: Scandal, Brooklyn 99 and Modern Family, to name a few. I love when autumn shows up with new episodes of my favourites. This is part of the reason I'm snuggled under the blankets much more often, come fall.
9. Autumn Illumination: Yes, the days get shorter in fall, and there are fewer and fewer hours of sunlight as the days go by, but there's something about the golden shade of sunlight in fall that is absolutely breathtaking.
10. Layers: I believe fall and spring are the best seasons for dressing to impress, as both times allow for so many more wardribe options. Blazers and sweaters and chambray shirts, turtleneck ponchos and embellished leather jackets – there is so much more leeway in terms of what you can wear during fall. I recently discovered this talented Toronto-based blogger, and boy does she know how to layer.
What do you love about fall?