Pop Quiz:

Which one of the following am I most excited about this time of year?

A) Football Season
B) Tights Season
C) Chili & Cornbread Season
D) Cider & Donut Season
E) Fall Movie Season
F) All of the Above
H) None of the Above
I) A & B
J) A & E
K) C & E

Wait, did I lose you? Does your chance of getting the answer right feel slimmer and slimmer because there are so many possible combinations? Am I messing with your brain and now you just want to shut down and quit the quiz because this isn’t fun anymore? WELCOME TO AMERICAN STANDARDIZED TESTING. But don’t worry, your test scores are used for only 100% of everything schools do.

Okay, okay, it’s not really a quiz and I’ll accept a multitude of answers. But let’s just dissect “E” for the heck of it because writing about things I’m super passionate about is my favorite, and while I am super passionate about the state of America, advocating for people with disabilities and fostering a personal identity outside of motherhood, I am also passionate about finding the perfect shade of merlot nail polish for October (I’m on it!) and discussing the best scenes in movies that evoke all the cozy fall feels.

(I submit Evidence A: our first viewing of You’ve Got Mail this past weekend)
The latter brought me to compiling this list so instead of poking around Netflix for something good to watch or trying to remember what movies go well with chili and cornbread, I can pull out my trusted favorites. I’m not a big T.V. watcher and rarely sit on the couch for longer than ten minutes, but I love going through my fall/winter repertoire of movies from September on. Whether it’s putting one of these movies on in the kitchen for a Saturday session of pumpkin bread baking or huddling together as a family for our Harry Potter extravaganza (floating candles! butter beer!), these movies bring us together and make me love the season more.

Don’t even get me started on the opening scenes of You’ve Got Mail (The tights! The coat! The golden leaves scattered on New York streets!). Or Dead Poets Society–all that prep school tweed. You can practically feel the crisp fall air through the screen? I can’t even.

So here you are. From football themes and Halloween scenes to autumn city settings and cozy fall family gatherings (Dan in Real Life!), a list of my fall favorites. Want to slap one on your fridge? Print yours here.

Now go forth and huddle.

Also…Fall Bucket List coming to the newsletter this week!

Don’t think I don’t realize that tomorrow is September which you know marks the beginning of my harvest fever. If you’re still enjoying summer and don’t want to hear me gushing about my love for aubergine tights and fall plaids and delicious cable knits (yes, I know we live in Florida, but I don’t want to hear that either), you might want to scoot on out of here to save yourself.

For those who chose to stay…My people! My people! You are my people! I thought I’d go ahead and fall down the rabbit hole of kids fall fashion (girls today, I’ll round up some boys over the weekend). So here you are, a Friday treat. Some delicious fall styles for girls.

1. Mauve Corduroy Jumpsuit ($24.99)
2. Deep Red Dotted Fine Knit Sweater ($17)
3. Floral Blouse ($35.99)
4. Plaid Flannel Button Down (less than $9!)
5. Plaid Backpack ($25.90)
6. Goldenrod Sweatshirt ($12.50)
7. Embroidered Blouse ($29.90)
8. Plaid Skipper Hat ($15.90)
9. Camel Corduroy Pinafore ($18)
10. Retro Plum Sneakers ($26.99 plus 20% 0ff)
11. Plaid Shorts ($29.90) Pair these with brown tights and booties…I can’t even.
12. Black Rain Boots (less than $16!)
13. Rust Corduroy Bell Bottoms (Nella has these, and every time she wears them, I die a little)

We’ve had some big transitions here these past couple of weeks, and I haven’t written much about them because A) believe it or not, there’s so much about our lives that we don’t share (I mean, we could be living in Alaska, teaching ice sculpting lessons to a small village for all you know, and these Florida pictures are all smoke and mirrors), and B) sometimes I need to process experiences before I share them to refine them down to the golden nuggets of truth with dramatic in-the-thick-of-it emotions all sifted away. By that, I mean I’d at least like to portray myself as having a shred of maturity because my initial reaction to change is–well, let’s just say unrefined. Basically, there’s a 5-day distilling process, and it looks a bit like this:

Also, this just in: Back to school sucks the mother loving life blood out of you. I’ve crashed on the couch the last two nights after “just sitting down for a second” and finally crawled in bed at 1 a.m. after I opened my eyes to realize it’s dark, no one’s awake, and everyone just left me there, lying on my casket couch.

We are past Day 5 in Reaction Time, so of course everything’s fine now and I realize these changes are miniscule in the grand scheme of things. The kids are getting older, more firsts, more lasts, new settings, new routines, less I can control because they are out of the house…less I can control because they’re their own people and figuring out their own solutions in life…less I can control because the only thing I ever could control is me.

So that’s what I do. And that’s what they need. I spend the hours they are away on me–writing, connecting, working, running, planning, photographing, organizing, implementing, reading, scheduling and possibly having a little time left to feather this nest they’ll come home to. This is the most important thing I can give them–a fortress of love and support to come home to every day.

It feels good, during this new busy time that threatens to sweep us off our feet, to grab hold to the things I know will keep us grounded–morning coffee rituals, family moon walks, holding hands, reading books, asking questions, beach sunsets, long bubble baths.

Someday, years from now, when my kids are out of the house and no longer depend on the over-the-top school lunches I make them to soften the blow of change, I will wake up in the morning, light my candles, brew my coffee, plan my run, wait for their phone calls to tell me what life adventures they’re enjoying, what hurts are stretching them. And there will be nothing I can do but listen, tell them I’m proud of them, believe in them, check in on them later but carry on with my daily routine of writing, making cinnamon muffins for the bridge group, checking our Amazon account to see what weird kitchen gadgets Brett ordered, redecorating a room that doesn’t need it simply because changing my home makes me happy. My kids will need me to do these things because loving my one wild and precious life is what makes me strong for them when they need me. And I will realize, years of drastic haircuts later, that even though things look different and even though my heart will long for days when our tub was filled with dinosaur toys and our windows were smudged with finger prints….not much has changed.

What have we been sinking our teeth into these past two weeks?

Home.

Slow weekend mornings to make up for the hustled week ones.

An impromptu visit to the beach when we realized we’d be driving by it right at sunset.

Outside toys.

Inside toys.

Getting lots of work done.

…and enjoying this little fortress we’ve built.

Happy Tuesday!