My Favourite Fall Traditions

Thoughts & Musings

Oct. 7

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I am a nostalgic individual, and I lookforward to my seasonal traditions and rituals every year. Fall is when I reallystart to embrace my creature comforts, and I become more and more eager tocelebrate the same routines right through until the holidays. This may seemdull to some, but I really look forward to it. Come January, I feel bleak, nomatter how hard I try to find things to celebrate. Spring and summer are allabout renewal and adventure. I welcome fall, my time to reacquaint myself withthe familiar.

Here are a few of my favourite traditions:

Apple picking

Yes, yes I am that #basic pumpkin-spice-drinking-ugg-boots-wearing-apple-picking b*tch. I am hundo p ok with that, because pumpkin spice is delicious, ugg boots are comfy AF, and freshly picked apples are perfect. I don’t blame Eve for giving into temptation ( I, for one, give into temptation often and I think I’m doing quite well).

Maybe it’s because I’m a city girl throughand through, so the novelty of picking actual food off of an actual tree willnever wear off. I also love the neatly organized rows of the orchards, and theabundance of everything. It’s beautiful.

I usually go with Azim, and he is happy to take me because he knows a freshly baked apple crisp will quickly follow. I used to bake often when I didn’t work full-time while juggling a blog and social life, but that hobby has taken a backseat. I still pull out two tried and true recipes: blueberry lemon squares in the spring, and apple crisp in the fall. Azim can polish off an entire baking dish of apple crisp in one sitting. He did this when we first started dating, and I made it for him while he was living in residence at UBC. It still makes me smile to remember :)

Driving down the DVP to see the changingfoliage

I often go for hikes in the fall to admire and appreciate the gorgeous leaves changing colour across the city. But my favourite way to truly keep track of the change, is driving down the Don Valley Parkway. I usually take the DVP at least once a week, and because the landscape is so familiar, the changing colours are that much more noticeable.

This blazing, golden season is far too short, so I try not to ever take it for granted. Here are a few pictures, NOT of the DVP, because I don’t take photos while I’m driving. Throwing in one photo of me driving very tensely because I hate being on the highway, but Azim is a good cheerleader.

Ghost tours, séances, and other spookythings

I’ve written several times about how myfamily has a fondness for the macabre. We celebrate it quite regularly byvisiting haunted destinations, going on ghost tours, and watching scary moviesand films. We watched the Haunting of Hill House together after I moved back inwith my parents, and I made them sleep with their door open because I am a hugebaby.

Toronto has no shortage of ghoulishactivities. Last year I was scared out of my wits at a séance at Black CreekPioneer Village, and we’ll be doing something similar this year at George BrownHouse.

We’ve done Legends of Horror at Casa Loma, Séance by Nicholas Wallace, Toronto’s ghost walks at UofT and Distillery District, and we visit the haunted Keg quite often. If you need spooky suggestions, you’ve come to the right place!

Swapping out my summer wardrobe for fall

I recently invested in a humongous PAXwardrobe system from Ikea, so I technically don’t need to swap out my wardrobeanymore. All my clothes are in one, visible place. It’s bliss. I’m sure when Iachieve my goal of a walk-in closet with a shoe-case and leopard rug, I’llreally be in heaven.

Although I’m not taking sweaters out ofstorage, I am pulling them out and inserting them into my outfit rotation.Along with tweed, leather, blazers, wool, and mohair pieces. Yes, elbow-lengthgloves! Hello, berets! How I’ve missed you, ankle boots!

Here’s a grid of some fall outfits thatdidn’t make it to the blog, but did make it to my iCloud:

Fall outfit inspiration — Notice the iPhone upgrade y'all

I have many other fall traditions that don’t need a whole blog post, but I will mention them here:

Making my dad carve our jack-o-lantern
Loading up on carbs because fall carbs are the best (stuffing and cranberry sauce, game over).
Watching Hocus Pocus
Paging through the September issue of every fashion magazine
Reading a classic novel
Living in turtlenecks

Do you have any fun fall traditions? Iwould really love to hear them! Thank you as always for reading xo

In-person Therapy vs. Online Therapy

I started therapy in my late twenties, and have been going on and off ever since. When I first tried it, it was because I was slowly wading through a cycle of depression triggered by a specific situation at work, and I felt desperate for help. I’m very glad I sought it out, because it’s been life-changing.