Favorite Things: Fall 2009

When I was a wee slip of a lass, I used to dread fall, I mean absolutely dread it...with all the passion that a season can elicit in a child/teenager. It meant the end of my precious summer (including my birthday, 4th of July and serious amounts of time dedicated to doing nothing.) It meant the beginning of cold weather and the stress of school (I loved school, but was an overachiever). This year I noticed a marked difference in my attitude towards fall: I was looking forward to it and the transition into the cool season. So I began to question: am I getting old? That was a rhetorical question, so don't answer, I already know. I am particularly looking forward to:

• The chimenea . I have a bad shopping habit at hardware stores. Daniel has learned to refuse my Home Depot/Lowe's runs because I devise new project and buy way too many plants that I will promptly kill. But my last run resulted in a chimenea for the front porch (you can't kill that). I love it and intend to use it wisely (pollution reasons) throughout the cold weather to keep us warm and get us outside.
  
  
• Baking . I love to fire up the oven for some good baking. Am I a good baker? Nah, I am working on attaining the levels of reverence my Aunt Marla and my mother-in-law, Margot, have garnered. But during the colder months I don't feel guilty trying different dishes because the oven just lends heat to the house. If there are any guinea pigs in St. Louis willing to eat baked goods, let me know.
  


• Tea . Specifically chai tea. We aren't coffee drinkers in our house - a travesty if you come from my family - but we are some vicious hot and iced tea drinkers. My new-found favorite for cold weather is homemade hot chai tea that our friend, Todd, introduced us to. I promise to sometime post the recipe - I think you will be hooked.
  


• Boots/Coats and other cold weather accoutrement . In Southern California fall and winter meant changing nail polish as a nod to the changing of seasons, but still wearing flip-flops - how else would anyone know you knew what season it was? I probably won't have this attitude in the dead of winter, but I am looking forward to getting out the boots, coats, mittens and scarves for the cold weather.
  


• Landscaping . Fall is the time for landscaping, especially lawn reseeding. Our lawn has been horrible, really horrible. It has been mostly dirt and anything green is actually moss, which means erosion has been an issue. I tried to landscape myself in the past and it didn't work out. So we had professionals come in and so far these last couple of weeks I've been outside like it's my after-school job. Hopefully I will have some awesome before and after pictures this fall.
  


• Sports . Football on a Sunday - used to hate it, now I love to hear the familiar sounds of football broadcasting. Baseball - they play everyday of the week and as a Cardinal fan it is getting down to post-season, so you've got to follow. Hockey - the sport starts ramping up in the fall, so with some family members that are die-hard hockey fans, I've got to get into the spirit. Viva la Broncos (Denver - my dad is a Denverite), Cardinals and Blues!