It is fall...because I declare it so. A housewives ode

Bust out your yoga pants ladies! It's fall. Sure its 100 degrees outside and the trees are still greenish,  I'm in an autumn state of mind regardless. I am officially declaring it so. I'm sure if Oprah made that statement instead of little ol me and my teeny audience it would have more bearing. I had a long summer. It was both busy and fun yet boring at times. It was freaking hot. Heat makes me moody. I also hate wearing summer clothes. The cloud of melancholy has always followed me. That type of personality was made for chunky knits and corduroy skinnies, paired with knee high leather boots and those adorable boot socks peaking out. Come on ladies, you are so excited to bust out that outfit. On days where you just need to make a Target run after hitting up Starbucks for your Pumpkin Spice latte (or my personal fall drink, Chai Tea Latte), you pull out your favorite pair of yoga pants and a cute hat. Whether or not you actually do yoga is up to you. Speaking of our housewife mecca, Target. Have you been by their fall section yet? I'm currently trying to snag up the patio stuff on clearance. In my hometown fall is when we start eating outside more. It's too damn hot to host a party in the summer. Everyone ends up hanging out in your kitchen with the AC blazing. In fall we go outside. I've already filled my patio flower pots with cinnamon scented pine cones to set the mood. My house would be covered with them too if my husband hadn't banned them to the outdoors. Don't worry about inside though. I've got my harvest scented Scentcy and apple pie candle going. My dogs are munching on pumpkin flavored raw hides (they're confused but will eat anything)  while I do laundry in my perfect climate (aka got the AC bumping') in a complete amber haze of autumn.

Whey do we love fall so much? I do not recall the housewives of the 80's and 90's being this nostalgic. I completely blame Target and their clever hipster marketing team. They've made fall more awesome and the other stores just followed behind. Who do you think follows the stores? Wives and mothers and those damn kids.

I've always loved fall. It was and is my favorite season. I grew up in  northern Utah and fall is beautiful there. While I'm glad my family moved from there when I was 11, I am so grateful to those fall memories of leaf piles and orange hues. I'm grateful because fall in my life since has been hot. It sucks. Because it sucks I've had years to perfect the faux fall that seems to be all the rage now. My oldest son was my only victim. His birthday happened to fall in October and that is by far my favorite month. I'm a Halloween fanatic (see above's melancholy cloud) that is in a very festive mood all month long. Well, I cheerfully packed his bag for the hospital. An adorable little pumpkin long sleeved outfit and a brown chunky lion beenie. Well, that kid entered our house in a short sleeved onesie with the name of the hospital on it and beenie free. It was 95 degrees outside. It was worse than the week before when I was still huge and pregnant. At least then I could sit in a cool pool half the day. Even the best fall faking can sometimes be reminded that I don't live in a quaint Connecticut farmhouse seen on Pinterest, but a sweaty dessert valley in California.
I haven't purchased my first Chai Tea Latte yet but I'm nearly there. I think everyone has their own personal touches that get you into the fall mood. We can't all be about yoga pants and coffee. I used to love being a kid this time of year and can only remember the really good things about seasons. For example, I loved having white Christmas's but never had to drive in the weather or shovel my sidewalk twice a day.  I'm sure there are annoying or trivial times in my memory somewhere but they aren't there when September hits and I immediately get excited. A couple other things that immediately put me in a fall mood are the dang pine cones and The Rocky Horror Picture show. I but the cinnamon pine cones the minute they come out (Michael's is always first in mid August) and then watch that movie while the kids are at school and I'm power cleaning. I have seen it 800 times and don't need to sit and watch. I sing the songs while stepping over pets while carrying laundry baskets all over the house. It's my me time and it's amazing. In November these things will switch to baking cookies and Christmas Vacation. I'm the most predictable person on earth.
I'm patiently waiting for October to hit. My favorite month is filled with 2 of my children's birthdays, a Broken Bells concert with my husband, Monday night footballs with our best friends and my beloved Halloween. So help me out ladies. Lets declare it fall and get the good moods flowing. Turn on The Great Pumpkin early this year or turn up the speakers in your SUV to your fall mix. You don't have a fall playlist on your iPhone? Stop reading immediately and make one...

my early fall contributions