The October Edit

a roundup of fall festival fun

I do my best work in the morning. And by morning I mean 8 or 9 a.m. after I’ve had sufficient time to wake up and at least start my first cup of coffee. I’ve tried numerous times to wake up at 5 a.m. and I am just not that person. I have always had high sleep needs and I’ve come to terms with it. Unfortunately, I’m not in a position with two kids and a full-time, outside-the-home work schedule to sit down and do my most creative work when it aligns with my most productive brain. This seems to be a recurring theme in my life. I also find my ideal time to go to the gym or take a long walk to be somewhere around 2 or 3 p.m. which is coincidentally the same time my brain goes to absolute mush at work. So what do you do when your life schedule doesn’t align with your values? I don’t have the answers today but this is something that’s been weighing on my mind since my 2nd maternity leave wrapped up two years ago. I’d love to have a discussion with other working parents about how they prioritize their time to include things that matter the most to them.

Loving Lately

Here are a few things I’ve been loving lately.

Read:

I know I said I was going to be reading lots of cozy books this season but I fell back in love with romance novels thanks to Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams. Something about her writing keeps me smiling from ear to ear. I'm obsessed with Will and Annie's love story. The pining, the bad boy/good girl vibes, the fake dating trope, the voiced consent, the great communication, the small-town setting, the tattoos...all perfection. Their flirty relationship and banter were so playful and fun to read.

Watch:

I finished Only Murders in the Building Season 3 and was shocked by the ending! After that cliffhanger, I’m thrilled that they’ve been renewed for Season 4. Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez seem like the most unlikely trio of lead actors but their chemistry on screen is incredible. I’m already speculating whether we’ll see more of Tobert and Loretta in Season 4. And where’s Lucy been? Only a brief scene with Theo? I need answers!

I finished my re-watch of Normal People and fell in love with Connell and Marrianne’s messy love story again. It’s a classic right person, wrong time story. I’ve always seen a lot of myself in both characters so reading the Sally Rooney novel and watching the show feels comforting to me.

Beckham on Netflix is a must-watch. It’s an incredibly well done documentary that shows the ups and downs of David Beckham’s career and life with his wife Victoria. Even if you’re not a soccer fan, I think you’ll enjoy some of the larger themes at play. It was fascinating to see the more human side of David through his upbringing and trials and not just as a tabloid celebrity.

I don’t watch much reality TV but Below Deck has been my guilty pleasure lately.

I recently discovered the website JustWatch and it has been a game changer! It’s a one-stop shop for figuring out where you can stream a movie or TV show online. It saves me a lot of time fumbling with our TV remote to find something the kids asked to watch. We haven’t watched nearly as many Halloween movies with the kids as I had hoped but I feel like our weekends have been busy with other things.

Wear:

I’m officially of the age where I buy my clothes at Costco… especially workwear. I’ve been buying the Hilary Radly pull-on pants for a while now but I love the style they have in stores this season. They have deep pockets and belt loops! A real improvement. If you love ponte pants, these are winners for the price.

The Swank Company, a local boutique, always has the best sweaters. I look forward to shopping there and adding a couple to my collection every year. I picked up the Piper Striped Sweater and I love the green color. It’s heavyweight and the strips are classic. I don’t have anything like it in my closet so I think it was a good pick.

Decor:

Does a trash can count as decor? Functional decor anyways. Our town recently restarted their recycling program and we all got small 18-gallon tote bins to use. We have A LOT more recycling than will fit in the bin so we’re bagging it and setting it beside the tote on our recycling pickup week. My mother-in-law saw a hack where you can put two brown paper leaf bags side by side inside of it to add some vertical storage but those can be pricey. Instead, we added a second trash can to collect our recyclables. I’m so glad the recycling program is back. We always have more recyclables than trash and it’s been neat to see our bin go from overflowing with trash to barely full.

We *still* do not have a pumpkin on our front porch so that will be at the TOP of my to-do list this week with the kids.

Travel:

Marinated green beans, spaetzle and schnitzel with mushroom gravy.

We made a quick trip up to Columbia, SC for their Oktoberfest. I really enjoyed it and would go back again! The band was by far my favorite part.

Columbia Museum of Art

After lunch, we headed to the Columbia Museum of Art to see the Lee Alexander McQueen & Ann Ray: Rendez-Vous exhibit. I was so impressed by the exhibit and the museum’s collection in general. For a moment I felt like myself again. Or at least the pre-kids version of me. It’s probably been 6 years since I’ve been to a museum and I miss the quiet contemplation that goes along with viewing art up close.

Highland Games

Saturday we drove in the complete opposite direction to the Stone Mountain Highland Games. I was not mentally prepared for the crowds! We had a fun time, especially with all of the children’s forest games but if we go again I think we’ll spend the night the day before and get there early. It just didn’t feel like we had enough time there with all the driving we had to do.

Leaving you with a fall mood board. I just love these colors and textures.

If you enjoyed this post and want to see more, consider buying me a coffee and keeping me caffeinated during my writing sessions!

Til next month,