everything autumn

So, the first day of fall was September 22nd, guys. Are you ready? Are YOU READY? I am the type of person who begins preparing for autumn around mid August. I just can't help it - I think that the holidays are so much fun! I love summertime, but my favorite time of the year is that stretch from September to December. I think I just love the coziness of holidays - it's all about family, love, fun, food, and celebration. Here in Michigan, the occasional chilly day begins around mid-September - autumn is a fleeting but beautiful season in the Midwest! We have a couple of months of beautiful weather and then BAM! Good luck going outside without your fingers feeling like numb, frozen french fries.

Last year, Ben was born on October 21st. (Sweetest Day! It may be a made-up holiday but I still think it's pretty cool - he is so darn sweet.) I thought it was so funny because the leaves were fully changing around a week before he was born, and the days were still warm and sunny. We were in the hospital for two nights, and when we left, it was freezing cold! The season changed so quickly and it didn't really feel warm again until spring. I was bummed because I wanted to be able to take him outside more often as a newborn, but he was just so new and tiny and I didn't want him out in the cold too long. 

Anyway, I wanted to make a post about some of my favorite ways to get into autumn - some great ideas for finding autumn food and decor on the cheap-cheap (is "on the cheap-cheap" a phrase? If not, I just made it up! On da cheap-cheap!), a list of some simple joys of the season, some great calming autumnal music, and ideas for fun activities to get into the spirit! Just all sorts of fall-related stuff. Hope you guys enjoy!

Here is a graphic I made of some of the little joys of autumn - a big ole list that will remind you of those first little joys of the holiday season!

So - the cheap-cheap - where do I find my inexpensive autumn decor or food? First of all, as far as food goes - TRADER JOE'S. I love Trader Joe's, guys. I would do all of my grocery shopping there if I could - I often do a few "fun" foods for the week or special items from there and then buy the rest at Meijer or Aldi! When fall comes around, Trader Joe's has pumpkin everything, tons of decorative pumpkins and mums, cinnamon brooms, spiced cider, just so many fun seasonal items! Something about shopping there makes the "foodie" in me want to dance and sing. Here are some items I found at Trader Joe's...

Pumpkin shaped pasta, pumpkin bagels, organic pumpkin puree, pumpkin bread mix, granola with pumpkin seeds, and apple cider donuts! I also picked out pumpkin spice coffee and spiced cider.

For decor, I love just buying inexpensive white mini pumpkins. They're $.69 apiece at my grocery store, so that's pretty dang cheap! I also love the Target Dollar Spot (I think it's called Doggy's Playground or something now? But y'all know what I'm referring to.) Tons of cute garland, banners, fake leaves, ceramic pumpkins, mugs, and candles - all for $5 and under. We have a little gold "GRATEFUL" banner hanging above our sliding glass door that was $1! My last spot would be Dollar Tree - simple and cute little decorations and all for just a dollar. I bought a little yard decoration from there and it's so cute!

Basically, it's not necessary to spend $60 dollars on a huge fancy autumn wreath and tons of expensive decorations. You can decorate your place - whether it's a room, an apartment, a home, a mansion, or a houseboat (like ya do) on the cheap-cheap! (Also - if you have little ones, pumpkins are easy to replace instead of a ceramic or glass decoration if something is broken or played with! Ben loves to play with the little white pumpkins!)

I love listening to music that makes me feel in the spirit, as well. Some of my recommendations for artists?

• Ed Sheeran
• Agnes Obel 
• Gregory Alan Isakov
• Oh Wonder
• Martha Wainwright
• Arctic Monkeys
• Ingrid Michaelson

Basically any artist that is singer/songwriter, acoustic, and calming. It helps me embrace the cooler weather and wind down. I also will just turn on "Coffee Shop Radio" or listen to acoustic or autumn playlists on Spotify!

Lastly, here are a few autumn-related quotes to keep in mind... 

"I notice that Autumn is more the season of soul than of nature." Friedrich Nietzsche 

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree." Emily Brontë

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby

"Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of first September was crisp and gold as an apple." J.K. Rowling

"I loved autumn, the season God seemed to put there just for the beauty of it." Lee Maynard

Alright, guys! Comment below and tell me your favorite autumn quotes, songs, and foods. I love to hear from readers and I hope you are all embracing this new season. 

Hugs,

Megan

just all kinds of things

It's been almost a MONTH since I have written on this blog! Am I ashamed? Yes. Am I sad about this? Yes! It has honestly been a crazy month and I haven't taken the time to sit down and take some time to do something I love. Ben is currently napping next to me, so it gives me the opportunity to do a little typing, a little updating, all of those lovely things!

Last week and the week prior were tough. First, Chris was sick. He had a terrible cold and he had to miss work, and then he got pinkeye. I was trying to juggle caring for him and making sure Ben didn't get too close to him. Then, Ben got sick the week after. Ben hasn't been sick for quite some time - he had a very short cold when he was about a month old, but that's about it. Poor guy had a fever, and he only wanted to sleep right on my neck - all day, all night, just laying on my neck. We gave him cool baths, lots of rest time, Tylenol, and waited it out. Luckily, he started feeling better around Friday and seems to be doing just fine now. It's stressful and a little overwhelming having a sick baby - I was worried about him being too warm or not getting enough sleep, and our house was slowly becoming a disaster around me, plus I felt like I would start to develop bed sores because of how much I was laying down and being his pillow - he couldn't sleep without being on top of me. Near the end of the week, I was craving a solid night's sleep and a little extra sanity to stir into my coffee.

Chris and I are also trying to crack down on our budget. It's tough that he has to work so much, and we often feel that once we pay for our bills and groceries, it's hard to budget for saving. For those of you who may not know, our living place at the moment is temporary because we are planning a move across the country. We are quite excited about this endeavor but we are also wary because everything seems to cost so much money! The area where we are looking to live has a higher cost of living than our current situation, so it's not easy to be able to determine how much we need to have saved before we make the big move. It feels unsettled to be living somewhere that feels temporary - I am looking forward to finding a place where we plan to stay for a while.

We've been lucky to have a couple of really wonderful weekends this past month - my dad's girlfriend let us use her cottage in Oscoda, Michigan a few weeks ago, which was so relaxing. There's nothing like waking up and showering outdoors, sipping my cup of coffee in a quaint little cottage before watching the waves on Lake Huron. Her cottage was a short walk from the coast, and it felt so wonderful to be able to sneak away with our little family and just spend a quiet weekend in nature. We also spent this past weekend attending a couple of really wonderful festivals - the Lantern Festival, which was in Clio, Michigan, and the Renaissance Festival, in Holly, Michigan. It was a weekend of wonder and awe - we spent one evening dancing away to live music and then releasing beautiful floating lanterns among a crowd of hundreds, and the next day traipsing around a festival speckled with lords and ladies, tucked away in an authentic Renaissance village. It felt like sort of a magical weekend after the rough week we had.

I also took a short little week break from pretty much all of social media, but mostly Instagram. I have a love/hate relationship with Instagram, and I felt myself getting all too sucked in by the perfection of Instagram moms. Sometimes, when you're sitting in your messy house with stretched out sweats and a baby who doesn't seem too keen on you at times, it's hard to feel like there are other moms out there doing it perfectly and without flaw. I felt like I was spending too much time getting sucked into the world of social media, and it was distracting me from being the best mom I could be. It's tough because it's both a network of connection and isolation.

Also - it's FALL, Y'ALL! Guys, I love autumn - the whole season just brings me so much joy. The cooler weather, cider mills, curling up with a blanket and a pumpkin spice drink, the anticipating of the holiday season. Don't get me started on the changing leaves! I'm looking forward to fall foliage this year, because our backyard is surrounded by woods, so I'm excited to see our yard bordered with autumn foliage. Also, Ben is turning one in October, which is insane and exciting. I honestly can't believe he's already been with us nearly a year! It has flown by. I can't wait to celebrate him and see what this new year has in store for us. It's really exciting!

I wanted to finish off with some of my current favorites - just all sorts of different things I've been loving lately!

• Sweet potatoes! Guys, I make some MEAN sweet potato fries. I just cut them up into thick fries, place on a pan with olive oil'd foil (like that rhyme? hehe) and sprinkle with cinnamon and honey. Then, I bake them pretty much forever - or until the outsides are crispy and the insides are soft and gooey! I make homemade honey mustard for dipping sauce. I could probably eat an entire baking pan full of these bad boys.
• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.
• New foods for Ben! I love coming up with new meal ideas for him. For breakfast today, he had half of a wheat waffle and some peach and oatmeal puree. For lunch, pasta, peas, and ham. Delicious and nutritious! 
• Root beer from A&W - not the bottled kind, the real stuff! Ugh so good!
• Martha Wainwright's music.
• Lake cottages. We've had the privilege to stay at a couple of little cottages on the lake due to the kindness of some family and friends, and there is nothing like waking up to a cup of coffee on the sand. I just thin being near water is so calming.
• Pinterest - I've always loved Pinterest, but wow I have been using it so often lately! I just find so many inspirational things on there and tons of great ideas for mama stuff.
• Adventurous dates. Chris and I don't get to go on date nights too often, but when we do, we like to find a cool activity to do! We went to this zip lining and climbing park a couple of months back and I would totally recommend it to anyone!

Hope you are all having a fantastic Monday,

Megan

P.S. If anyone has been having a hard day, just know a few things - 1) You can't please everyone. 2) You will never be perfect, so stop trying to be perfect and just be yourself! and 3) You are amazing! Go look up some inspiring quotes on Pinterest, slap on a face mask and own it. You're a great mom, a great friend, a great partner, etc.