Fall Favorites

Fall Favorites.

It’s Fall y’all! The BEST season ever to me. It’s my birthday season, cool weather, football, soups and pastas and baked goods, extra mugs of warm things, cardigan sweaters, boots and cozy socks, more candles than my firefighter brother-in-law would ever approve, and so much more. I’ll share three of my current obsessions with you.

Go Jets! Aaron Rogers may be out for the season (heal up Aaron!), but we’re cheering on!

Fall Football

I grew up watching college football with my Dad and Paw Paw every single Saturday. Waaaaaaaaaaar Eagle! HEY!! I love the sound of a drumline, the cheer of a crowd, the drama, the emotion, the shared successes and victories, the stories and the athleticism. I love a stadium hot dog and ice cold Coke, the smell of fresh-cut grass and muted roar of tens of thousands of humans all gathered together for shared experience.

I started watching the NFL because of Chris, my husband, and his family’s love of the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rogers. I had a brief love affair with the Dallas Cowboys in 8th grade, but that was more because of my junior high’s obsession with the Cowboys and Jimmy Johnson, but nothing held my interest like college ball.

That all changed when we started watching NFL shows like Pat McAfee and Quarterback. But it was Hard Knocks that got me in a chokehold. I love all things triumphant and feats of strength. I’ve gotten obsessed with cheese-rolling in Cooper’s Hill (not for the faint of heart), Cheer, The Olympics (obviously), soccer (prefer the US Women’s National Team), gymnastics and dance competitions, spelling bees, an incredible marble racing tourney we found out about from John Oliver, and basically anything you can compete in.

When it starts getting cooler and we’re inside more, it’s the perfect time to get loud and proud about your chosen competitive sport. Warms the blood and edifies the soul.

If you’re looking for a good place to start, may I suggest the latest season of Hard Knocks with the NY Jets. And if you’re so inclined, you can do the ridiculously fun thing I did for the first time this year and join my family’s fantasy football league. I am doing horribly, in case you’re wondering.

Fall Fashion

Fall Fashion

I love Fashion. Hear me out…

I worried a bit about including fashion as part of what I’m sending out. I didn’t want to feel misunderstood or judged as shallow. I’ve had so many experiences in my life where my intelligence or competency or even goodness have been questioned and challenged due to the way I look and dress. I guess we really aren’t all done with projections and insecurities. It’s interesting that this has felt more vulnerable to write and share than speaking about my dark night of the soul.

I love dressing myself in ways that make me feel good in my body. Whatever my body is experiencing. The way I currently think about how I dress is similar to how I envision moving my body. I’m not interested in trying to meet an external ideal, though I’d be lying if I said it didn’t impact me. It does. I notice it all the time. People say it out loud to me at trainings. That’s okay. I know it’s a systemic issue that’s always been here and won’t go away just because I’m good and kind to myself or others.

Dressing for my body and coloring and comfort and beauty has given me a way to love myself well, care for my embodiment, feel lovely with the way color blends or contrasts - like an artist choosing pigments and textures to best convey a vibe or mood or story. This is the story of me, and I enjoy getting to choose my own presentation, rather than living in response to what others want, expect, like/dislike, or approve/disapprove of. It’s a subversive act of love for myself to choose what feels good to me, just because I like it and feel good about myself.

Some of the things I’m loving for Fall are:

• All the boots. Over the knee are so fun. Plus you can play pirates.

• Silk everything - skirts, blouses, scarves

• Sweaters. It’s sweatah weathah!

• Autumn colors! Burgundy, Deep forest green, Navy, Browns, Gold

• Sneakers. Trainers. Tennis Shoes. Street shoes. Did I get all the terms?

• Dresses with good shape

At home, it’s Vuori and yoga pants and sweatshirts and whatever gives those cozy vibes.

Ah, Pride and Prejudice. An Annual Fall tradition in our family.

Fall Family Fun

Every year on my birthday, Chris watches the entire BBC series of Pride and Prejudice with me. Our kids have both watched with us, and when the Barbie movie showed a scene of this for Clinically Depressed Barbie (lol and also felt this), the kids cracked up in the theatre and laughed and pointed at me. They were right, of course. This is so on brand for me.

We also love the Danish tradition of hygge. Hygge is the ritual of creating warmth and comfort in your home as the light of the days gets shorter through the Fall and Winter months. The creation of comfy space encourages connection, engaged solitutde, rest, and ease to move through the dark seasons without slipping into the darkness of isolation and despair. We light so many unscented candles, light a fire in the fireplace, place throw blankets everywhere, drink warm mugs of things, wear cozy socks, and snuggle on the couch while reading or watching comfort TV like The Great British Baking Show. We love The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living by Meik Wiking.

I love cooking, and as the days turn cool, the kitchen doesn’t get quite so hot, so cooking and baking become more enticing. This works great because my family loves eating. It’s a match! Do y’all love soups as much as I do in the cooler seasons?

Walking outside as the leaves turn is good for processing emotion, releasing the stress cycle, and digesting food. Chris and I love walking and talking together. It’s uninterrupted, not tech time to just be together. In Jane Austen speak, we take a turn about the garden for our constitutions.

I hope you enjoyed these Fall favorites. What are some of your favorites?