Everyone Loves a Little Fall

The mums, the jack o’lanterns, the homemade pumpkin spice lattes— you name it, there’s something everyone enjoys about fall. October’s cooler temperatures, plant metamorphosis, and the smell of our favorite comfort foods is like a biological signal to all humans that winter is fast approaching and the holidays are right around the corner. 
The first holiday to excuse binge eating on sweets is, of course, Halloween. And while I would love to digress about how unhealthy I eat between the months of, oh say late September to early March, I don’t care to discuss that here today. 
Instead I want to talk about this little known phenomena called keeping up with the Joneses. It’s this Pinterest-lead lifestyle a lot of girls lead that irks me in this way that I don’t seem to notice until we get around this season. Everyone is Instagramming their homemade apple streussel (of course, made with the apples freshly picked from the orchard). And then there’s the cutesy chevron-painted pumpkin that could have only cost around $20, believe you me. 
It’s that pang of jealousy that I get that makes me wonder: should I paint my living room black and orange to celebrate this pagan holiday too? 
But wait, Thanksgiving is around the corner and I should probably make those adorable turkey cupcakes, and oh my! There’s Christmas and I think the empty wine bottles could be upcycled into eight tiny reindeer (oh dear, is that an indication that I’m a wino?) 
Stop.
That’s what all of us slightly obsessive, detail-oriented, list-making girls (and guys) get antsy and uptight and want to scream when we don’t do it all. I’m not naturally crafty. Martha Stewart is not my alter ego. I aspire to be the artsy girl and end up being the anal one. It’s time to take a chill pill this time. One thing at a time is good enough. Good enough are two words overachievers hate to hear, but it’s okay to sit back and take it all in without doing it all. 
It’s cliche, I know. I ended up making a list of all the things I want to do in October. I broke my own rule, but if not making a list is a rule then isn’t that missing the point? Well, the list I made was do-able. And fun. And I’m OK with it if I don’t do everything on it. It’s just a general idea. For example, I want to make one pumpkin dish each week. This week is pumpkin fingerprint cookies. I also want to go to the zoo. I want to go to a pumpkin patch. Give my boyfriend the best birthday ever. And basically just take in the beauty of fall that is around me. 
I like to hike and see the trees and the changing colors. The smell of earth and decomposition is heavenly to me. Yes, the caramel apple candle is good but nothing beats mother nature. A new fall wardrobe would be nice, but how about dirtying up my old jeans to the point of no return? And wearing the most uniquely horrifying costume could win you a prize at a contest, but it’s harder to forget how scary it is to walk through the cemetery around midnight without a flashlight.