Fall Lovin': Let's Try Again

Ok, here we go.  It's October and that means Fall.  Summer is leaving, and as we all know, there is nothing I can promise to Summer to make it stay with me, so I'm going to try to embrace Fall.  There is a lot to love including fall clothes, football fun and the fact that as I said before, there is no other place I'd rather be than right here in Northern Virginia in the months of October and November.  When I look at the sky and the trees and the Longhorn-burnt-orange colored sun during this season, I know with absolute certainty that God is here and I am His and He loves the Texas Longhorns.

Not sure this is the best segue, but I'm going to jump in and start with fashion, though nothing I will ever find at the mall will compare to what He has done with those trees, right?  Nevertheless, here are some of my favorite things for Fall.

Fall Blazer
I've been trying to find a cropped blazer for awhile.  I am short and do not have a job.  That sentence sounds a little sad.  I have some other positive qualities, I'm sure.

Anyway, due to the shortness and the unemployment, the best blazer for me has to be casual and cropped just right.  I don't want to look like Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl which apparently was what I was going for in 1992 when I stepped into my job at the Republican National Committee.  My husband somehow still fell in love with me even while I wore my Bush/Quayle '92 pin on my red blazer with shoulder pads, which was over my plaid jumper, which was over my ribbed turtleneck.  Ironically, I also sported a Hillary Clintonesque headband.  No lie.  Ok, let's come forward twenty years and we find that Gap has saved me from myself with this Ponte Academy Blazer that comes in lots of colors with contrasting piping.  It is also offered in petite sizes and is reasonably priced which is good for those of us without the height or employment advantages of Ms. Weaver.

Long sleeve running tops
This may seem silly, but I need a good top for running in the winter or I will find myself sitting on the couch for 5 months wondering why Marlena on Days of Our Lives looks exactly the same as she did in 1980.  Nike Dri Fit brand makes great tops that really keep the cold out.  If you get hot they are much easier to tie around your waist than a bulky sweatshirt.  I have a few different colors including one that my husband bought for me that is more traffic-cone-orange than burnt orange like the one in the link.  Apparently, he really loves me and doesn't want me to get hit by a car or maybe he wants me to get a job at the airport.

Fall Festival/Pumpkin Patch/Petting Zoo Type Places
Pumpkin Patch festivals are the very, very best, aren't they?  I can't imagine that there could be anywhere on the planet that would have more perfect festivals than Virginia, so if you are in my area,  here's a list.  One of the best is only 2 minutes from my house and I've taken at least one kid there for the past 14 years.  There are slides, hayrides, little farm animals, picnic tables, music and apple cider.  Sometimes there are corn mazes, but I don't go in those because as a card-carrying claustrophobic, I'd have to be airlifted out in a helicopter.  And that tends to ruin the fun for everyone.  Unfortunately, over the past few years, our little festival has gotten ridiculously expensive and crowded and sadly, my kids don't beg me to go anymore.  If I can't convince them to go, I'll just look at this picture and remember all of the beautiful October days I spent holding the hand of one little boy and then another and then finally another, whose hair is the exact same color as the pumpkins.  Be still my aching heart.

Boots, boots, boots!!!!
It would take me five different posts to list all the boots that I love:  tall boots, short boots, cowboy boots, flat boots, high boots, slouchy boots, riding boots, rain boots.  I can't do that because my fingers would cramp up from all the linking, so I had to pick one pair which is like picking your favorite child.  Anyway,  I loved these boots on Jennifer Aniston, but I have no idea who makes them.

 

These boots from Frye are similar.  Honestly, I could look at the Frye boots website all day.  I think their boots are the best, but Holy Moly!  The price on some of them makes a girl's stomach turn.  I guess if I'd have to end up living under a bridge in my new boots, it might not be worth it.  I actually found some very similar boots at Nordstrom Rack last year.  You just have to commit to searching.  On the other hand, if you will still be able to afford food and shelter, go ahead and buy the Frye ones because you will have those boots forever.  On yet the other hand, there is the whole issue that I am struggling with (thanks for continuing to hit me over the head about it, Jen Hatmaker) which is called, just because one can afford something, does not necessarily mean one should buy something.  But now I'm getting all philosophical and my section on boots is becoming quite a downer.  I'll save that for another post.  You're welcome.



THE University of Texas Longhorn Football
This is why I love college football:  because IT MATTERS from Day One.  When I watch the Boston Red Sox in April with my husband,  I am pretending to care because it DOESN'T MATTER in April. The season lasts for something like 75 months and the Sox can lose by 75 runs to the worst team in history and then still end up in the World Series.  Now, I'm not saying I like the Bowl Series business either because my Texas Longhorns have been on the wrong end of that ridiculous math in the past.  I'm looking at you, Oklahoma Sooners. We (and by we, I mean the boys in pads and helmets and I) beat Oklahoma in 2008 and Oklahoma still went to the National Championship.  Bitterness remains four years later.  Are there any women still reading this?  Sorry, here are the photos. Stay with me because they're cute.

HOOK

 

'EM

 

HORNS

 

 

Studying the Bible

Some of my favorite things about Fall include sharpened pencils, blank pages in a notebook, colorful pens, highlighters and homework assignments.  Yes, I'm a dork.  I don't attend an elementary school anymore so I love starting a new study of the Bible in the Fall.  I love the women. I love the daily assignments.  I love underlining passages in my green pen.  I will admit that my study of Kings and the Minor Prophets is a challenge for me.  I will honestly tell you that reading four chapters about Solomon's construction of the temple and the palace had me looking out of the corner of my eye for my People magazine.  I know, though, that this is a gap in my knowledge and I know that God wants me to learn something important from this part of His Word and the women who will help me through it. 



 

And last but not least, my very favorite thing about Fall is when I get all of the Fall home decorating magazines and catalogs and I, in mere minutes, decorate my table exactly like this:

 

 

Just kidding, that never happens.  Ever.