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You guys!! I really do LOVE Fall!! It’s my favorite season.. I love pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin decor all over my house. A deep colored floral wreath hanging on my front door?! YES PLEASE. Bonus points if I make it myself!
But, there’s 2 sides to every story #AmIRight ?
Every year about this time someone on my social media feed posts the post. You know the one. The first post of a bright, serene porch with pale colored pumpkins piled and stacked to perfection ....
The first post of the season with a fresh manicure holding a pumpkin spice latte in a well lit area.
And right then, it hits me.
“Oh gosh…I need to change out all of my nautical decor for pumpkins and flowers!”
“I guess I need to make a target run to get that faux foliage that’s really in this season”
“Shoooot…I learned how to letter this year. I should probably make me, my mom, my MIL, and my best friend one of those cute ‘Hello Fall’ signs to go next to their cute candles and whatnot”
If I’m being REALLY REAL with y’all…its one notch below panic mode inside of my brain. It’s like I have to suddenly have everything FALL instagram ready in a snap. Several things are to blame for this, I’m sure…one being that as family vloggers our home is on the internet 24/7 and I want it to look seasonal and trendy and like I’ve got it all together…another being “I’m the crafty one” in most of my social settings. (I really should make that sign now.)
But…I just don’t want to. Spending money on MORE pumpkins sounds ridiculous to me, unless it comes naturally. I’m sure we’ll go to a pumpkin patch eventually…but until then? If I had all the motivation and desire to GO get the pumpkins, that might be ok. But at this point, I would be going because I feel pressured to do so. Now, if I’m out and about—mingling with friends and family and I HAPPEN to come across a darling pumpkin or 7 —sure, I’ll take them home and find a cute spot for them. But I just cannot justify a special trip/budget for the dang pumpkins.
Pumpkin spice—I’ve had my latte for the season. I even shared one with my bestie at her office. But it was just whatever. It tasted the same (if not worse, as if the makers are beginning to cut corners so they can turn a better profit) as they taste every. single. fall. To be honest, I much prefer Starbucks’ ‘salted caramel latte’…and I’m reeeeeeally trying to drink the lowest carb/sugar oriented coffee there is…so getting that pumpkin spice the other day? That wasn’t even what I REALLY wanted! It was warm and fuzzy though, which is all we can hope for.
Don’t even get me started on fall wardrobe. It is BY FAR my favorite time of the year to be in my closet (shoutout to all you ladies who just did a massive closet clean out so your fall clothes are 1. easier to access and 2. Have room to hang in a cute way that that wrinkles them less….BUT do you know how many blush sweaters I donated this year? Two! And do you know how many stayed in my closet for the current season? Two!! That means I owned FOUR blush sweaters and actually justified the need to buy them each time?? Really? How does it come to that?
My favorite place to shop: Hazel&Olive
Finally, there’s SOUP MENUS! This one actually doesn’t come with any added pressure or stress now that I’ve discovered Instacart . (Before though? Different story, grocery lines for a zillion little ingredients...ahhhh!!)
Making and eating my own homemade soup is the one fall tradition that I looooove most of all and feel productive during and after all the shopping/prep/cooking...because it feeds my people and they all love it!
My 3 favorites are:
(add a pinch of chili powder to the hearty veggie one!)
At the end of the day, my point here is to encourage you all who scroll social media and think “Ugh! I wish I had this or made that or liked that”....to do what makes you happy, what leaves your family with full hearts, what your busy schedules allow for, and to let you know that IT’S OK to have a regular porch and drink coffee from your own kitchen and wear the SAME blush or olive or plum or any other fall-food-colored sweater you wore last year. It’s ok to spend less on the trendy and more on the necessities. It’s ok to be the neighbor with the scaled back yard and the kids who don’t always look like they stepped out of a children’s boutique ad. It’s ok to be less than in the stuff department and to be fuller in the heart department. What’s the point in all of this anyway if it leaves you broke and stressed? And truly, you’re STILL going to compare your setup to your friends’ set ups and you’re still going to want that sweater again NEXT YEAR...and it’ll be there. It’s to take a break from being cool, or “up-to-date”. No one can judge the stuff you don’t share anyway, right?
Cheers to all the ladies making wreaths and homemade soups, to all the ladies clipping coupons so they can afford that mustard sweater, and to all the ladies who don’t give a crap about any of it. You’re all doing such a great job trying to raise your tribe, and they love you no matter what you wear or make or decorate with!
love y’all!
