I love the crisp chill in the air, the cool breeze carrying the scent of dead leaves, spices and apples. I love being able to put away the shorts and tank tops and pull out the jeans and hoodies. I still jump in the leaf piles. Fall holds almost all of my favorite scents - apple, cinnamon, pumpkin, and all the various "harvest" and "farmers market" type things you'll find at Yankee Candle. It hold my 2nd and 3rd favorite holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving respectively. It yields my favorite foods- turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, hot apple cider, fresh cinnamon donuts, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, various spice breads and muffins, etc. Many of my favorite activities are best saved for Fall...going to the apple orchard, taking long walks in wooded areas, baking. It's a time that stresses family togetherness and being thankful for what you've been given. All in all, it's a magical time to me.
So, imagine if you will, the pain it causes me to live in Arizona, where seasons don't exist. There are no leaves to turn color. No apples growing to pick and bake. No color, no crisp air, no anything. It actually brings on a depression every year for me. So, I do what any normal (read, crazy) person would do. I put up my fall decorations in mid August, as soon as the stores do. I leave them up until I put up my Christmas decorations. I turn up the AC and close the blinds, make a cup of pumpkin spice coffee, close my eyes and pretend i'm at home where I belong. Sometimes it even works, a little. So, this being the middle of August, that's what I did this week. Even though i'm sick and supposed to be "taking it easy", I chose to instead climb around hanging faux leaves all over, practically break my neck in the process, and turn my desert home into an autumn haven. I'm not done yet, but I thought i'd share some pictures and officially move this over into a PHOTO BLOG.
apple pie centerpiece, leaf print runner, and in the background there, my little scarecrow door-knob hanger
my dining room/office. those leaves over the windows are what nearly killed me. (FYI, when climbing the high, don't do it on a bar stool)
leaf wrapped lamp post
harvest bouquet hanging in my hallway
kitchen. they're hard to see, but there are little leaf stickers all over the stove, microwave and dishwasher. the towel hanging on the stove is a fall print that says "abundant blessings."
close up of the centerpiece on the island. ceramic pumpkin I hand painted, with a leaf wreath from JoAnn's, with extra loose leaves added in.
