The last week was absolutely wonderful weather-wise. I forget how nice it feels after an entire summer of 100 degree weather to get some reprieve, even if it’s just weather in the 60’s.
It’s also finally October which is a time of pumpkins and haunted houses. The student media staff is excited and preparing for our various conference trips over the next few weeks.
For the sake of bragging a little bit. Radio UTD is nominated for a CMJ award and The Mercury has been nominated for several awards including two organizational awards for best less-than-weekly student newspapers.
All of this to say, I love October. It’s possibly one of my favorite months. When I was younger, I used to love going door to door on Halloween in search of all sorts of candy. A couple years ago, I went haunted house-crazy with some of my friends and went to four different haunted houses in Texas. Not to mention that October is also State Fair season in North Texas. And then of course all of the pumpkin everywhere. In fact, one of my friends has a pumpkin challenge that she has done for the last couple years where she bakes or eats something with pumpkin in it every single day of October.
I’ve decided to compile a few of my favorite things that have hit the shelves within the last few weeks.
Fall also means it’s time to load up on scarves, boots and light sweaters before the real cold weather hits and all we can tolerate are super thick jackets and heavy, knit scarves that serve less purpose as a fashion item and more purpose as a let’s-not-freeze-our-ears- off item. And the people who know me, know that I love clothes and accessories. Fall is the best time for clothes because it’s not sweltering to the point where you just want to spend all day in shorts and tank tops, but it’s not so cold that you’re bundled up in six to seven layers of clothing. Also the changing leaves make for beautiful backdrops for photos.
Booties have been in style for awhile, but I’m just now jumping onto the bootie bandwagon. I bought two pairs this season, both from Ross, and I’m so excited to start wearing them. Even though I’ve spend pretty much the entirety of the summer in flip flops and flat sandals, I have accepted that booties mean that I actually have to wear something with a heel on it At least my mom will be happy. She thinks I’m too short and that wearing flat shoes is not helping my case.
Also under the realm of clothes: ginormous scarves that look like blankets. I’ve heard them called blanket scarves and some people call the square scarves. My friend Instagrammed a picture of a super cute tartan blanket scarf she picked up at Walmart for $8.
I was so excited, I ended up making a trip to Walmart to see if I could find one (which is a big deal for me because nine out of ten times I choose to shop at Target). Unfortunately, I couldn’t track down the scarf. I texted her and she predicted that they were just selling out really fast. I haven’t been able to find any true blanket scarves from Target or Ross, but maybe I’ll have to make a trip out to the mall and hunt around there.
Also on my list of favorite things: mugs. I will admit that I splurged a little on these. I was wandering through Target with a $15 gift card in hand hoping to find the allusive blanket scarf I had been searching for. When I couldn’t find that, I made a couple more rounds in the store before I found this aisle of mugs. I think it’s all part of a line of kitchen items Target is releasing for Fall, but regardless, I fell in love with them. I bought one mug with a monogrammed L on it, and a couple other mugs that look like someone hand lettered some cute phrases on them and then painted the mug handle a different color. I saw them and I was obsessed.
Also worth mentioning, another win for Walmart, but the store also just released a bunch of reusable coffee cup packs. They’re simple and coffee themed and you can buy them in a pack of 5 for $4. No more having to stop at Starbucks or running upstairs to Outtakes to grab a cup of coffee in the morning. With the amount of coffee I drink, it’s pretty much already paid for itself. Another win for Walmart.
Since October is also Halloween month, there has also been a bunch of Halloween-themed items everywhere. One of my favorites is a waterbottle Pink just released that says, “Here for the boos,” which I think is super cute but of course how can you resist the cute tank tops and sweatshirts with adorable little ghosts on them. Or is that just me? Regardless, I love the cutesy “terrifying” things that are sold around October.
Also around October are the plethora of pumpkin and pumpkin everything. Carving pumpkins is, of course a tradition. In fact, The Mercury had some fun carving pumpkins last year.
https://instagram.com/p/ueFuzExdGg/
It seems like October marks the time of the year where it is socially acceptable to eat pretty much everything pumpkin. And all the baking that comes with making pumpkin everything. I’ve even tried to make pumpkin cheesecake snickerdoodle cookies (Spoiler: it didn’t work). I love that Fall has a connotation of baking and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. It just makes me want to spend all my days on Pinterest. It also make me want to Instagram everything fall, but Texas’ weather has to catch up with the rest of the country’s first.
As Julie Andrews sang, “These are a few of my favorite things.” What are some of your favorite things about Fall/October?