Happy fall, y’all.

I know I’m a few weeks late to the party, but you know the drill. I’ve been busy, guys! I’m always busy. I don’t love that my calendar is never empty, but busy is just a way of life sometimes when you’ve got four little ones and stuff. But, it’s fall, it’s my favorite time of year, and it’s literally the best of the best of the best right now. Try arguing with me about why this is not the most fabulous time of the year, I dare you.

In honor of the fact that it’s not only fall but also October, which is the official start of the holiday season (my three favorites right in a row), I thought we’d talk about fall a bit. A few of my fall favorites, if you will. A sort of fall bucket list you can use to help you get into the fall spirit now that the weekend is here (we are choosing to ignore the 90-degree temps, the incessant love bugs, and the lack of anything that feels like fall around here, mmmkay?).

Weekend is officially here, so here’s a list of things to try this fall that will help put you in the holiday spirit. They’re simple, they’re fun, and they’re going to make it worth your while to enjoy a few of them.

• Light a fall candle (my favorites are from Bath and Body Works)
• Bake fall cookies (not everyday cookies. Fall cookies).
• Sit around a fire and roast some marshmallows (Floridians, hold marshmallows on a stick outside your car door…same effect).

• Watch Hocus Pocus

• Carve a pumpkin

• Find a pumpkin patch

• Take fall photos

• Go fall wardrobe shopping

• Book a trip somewhere the leaves are changing and the weather is beautiful

• Open the doors and windows (if you can do that and not die of heat)

• Decorate your home for Halloween and/or fall

• Take an evening walk

• Make cinnamon rolls

• Bake a pie

• Plan a friendsgiving

• Go find pinecones and let the kids paint them and make some crazy outdoor art with them

• Watch Gator Football

• Make chili

• Bake pumpkin pumpkin bread

• Drink a holiday-ish beverage

Try one, try them all, mark them off as you go. Whatever works for you is what works for me, but these are some of our favorite things to do in the fall around our house. We have to stretch a bit in the Sunshine State since it’s 90+ degrees, humid, and the lovebugs are insane, but we make it work (i.e. we crank down the AC until it’s cool enough in the house to pretend like it’s fall outside the house).

What do you love to do this time of year that makes it feel like fall where you are?