Olaf in Pennsylvania

This afternoon Joe and I are leaving Timo in the loving care of his nonni while Joe and I head to Lancaster, Pennsylvania for weekend festivities surrounding Joe's 35th high school reunion.

Now, did I grow up in Pennsylvania? Did I go to the same high school as Joe? Will I know anyone?

No, no, and no.

But I'm excited anyway because ...

a/ road trip
b/ weekend with Joe
c/ COOLER WEATHER!!!

Seriously, temps in Pennsylvania will be in the 60's and 40's. We will be gone Thursday through Sunday and I plan to bring at least five jackets, a gazillion scarves, and lots of sweaters. I WANT TO WEAR THEM ALL!!!

Picture me as Olaf, but instead of singing about summer and sand, I'm going to be singing about falling leaves and bright, woolly scarves.

And I can't wait to see

What my Joe's buddies all think of me!

Just imagine how much cooler I'll be

In summer autumn!

Da da ... Da doo

Finding Fall

This past weekend the temps went down to a new low -- 92 degrees! -- so I decided to take advantage of the cooler weather and decorate for fall.

(Note: That was sarcasm at its finest.)

Anyway, I was feeling more frost on the pumpkins than pumpkins on the vine, so I mostly ignored anything orange and went with a little yellow, and a lot of brown and white.

Oh, and a floating pumpkin.

one white pumpkin + an old bedspring coil = a floating pumpkin

Fall leaves fall

~Emily Bronte

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow;

I shall sing when night's decay

Ushers in a drearier day.

The Big Fat Fall Fib

It's fall, y'all!

I keep seeing that cute southern expression everywhere--on t-shirts, in coffee houses, on yard flags, at grocery stores--and let me just say that it is one big, fat lie. A fabrication of epic proportions, a falsehood, falsity, fib, prevarication, and untruth. A whopper.

When temps hover in the mid-90's day after day it is most emphatically NOT fall.

Living in the south for so long, I should know by now that simply flipping a calendar page doesn't mean a new season has arrived. I should know that just because the kids are back in school, doesn't mean it's sweater weather. And you'd think I'd now that just because it's football season, doesn't mean we can wear festive, striped scarves and huddle under stadium blankets.

Honestly, this is the time of year that really drags me down. This heat. I'm so over it. It drags on and on, beating down relentlessly, the same ol', same ol' with no relief in sight.

You might think I'm being a tad melodramatic, but I live in the south and have earned the right to be a  drama queen.

But gosh darn it, yesterday afternoon I was determined to at least make it look like fall. I pulled out my autumn candles, the yellow ceramic owl, the fall wreath, and ... I just couldn't. I wasn't feeling it and had to stop.

It's no fun decorating for fall when you are sweating buckets and the sun is blindingly bright and the air conditioner drones nonstop.

So even though it's mid-September (but not fall) I'm going to be Ebenezer Scrooge (although it's not December) and say, "Bah-humbug."

One sad little pumpkin. 

Writing, Fall, Waiting

The past few months I faced a looming deadline which was all sorts of scary, but wonderful, too. Yesterday I met the deadline and closed my laptop. And so now I wait ... and decorate for fall.

It's Fall, Y'all (Actually, It's Not)

Here we are at the end of October, but it doesn't feel like October should feel. At all. The temps through the weekend are going to be in the mid-80's and, I don't know about you, but that totally depresses me.


Last weekend we spent three days in the mountains where I felt like I could finally breathe. Deeply. Crisp mountain air, clear skies and low temperatures made me feel energized ... alive ... healthy.


And then we came home to more of the same old, same old.


So today, I decided to put up some autumn décor in a feeble attempt to at least pretend that it's fall. I planted flowers, spray painted flower boxes, hung up wreaths, and decorated the front porch.


And sweated the entire time.


So even though it's October (but not fall) I'm going to be Scrooge (even thought it's not even December) and say, "Bah-humbug."


It's just all messed up.

Front Door

Front Entrance

They may not be terribly sophisticated, but yellow pansies make me happy.
(I spray painted the flower boxes a nice brown for fall.)

Back Door

Cozy up to Fall ...

1. HOST A SOUP KITCHEN

(Invite some friends and have everyone bring a crockpot of their favorite soup ... everyone shares.)

2. GO FOR A HIKE IN THE WOODS

 

3. READ A BOOK IN FRONT OF A FIRE

 

4. DRINK APPLE CIDER

5. USE CANDLES

6. DECORATE YOUR FRONT DOOR

7. EAT OUTDOORS

 

 

Something tells me it's football season ...

Believe it or not, the helmets are arranged by matchups, game time, and networks.
They get rearranged every weekend.
And just to be clear, this is Jonathan's doing.