Happy Fall, Y'all!

   Although the weather has been decidedly un-fall, I decided since Labor Day and come and gone, it is fall.  Fall, that magical time of year when I wear boots and scarves (sometimes regardless of the weather), watch more football than is healthy, and consume so much pumpkin I take on a fake-tan-orange glow.  I love it.  All the best things happen in fall.  State Fairs, college football, Thanksgiving, new school supplies, hearty warm dishes like stew and the aforementioned pumpkin, bonfires and hayrides, apple picking...need I go on?
 
   To celebrate the season, and to encourage it's swift arrival, I spend yesterday fall-izing the house.  That doesn't take long when your apartment is as small as mine.  I don't go all out, but a few changes here and there really go a long way to up the cozy factor.  Here are a few examples:

A collection of things for a centerpiece on the dining room table

I love the bumpy little gourds!  I buy real ones because I don't have storage for faux.

This $5 candle from Wal-Mart gives such a nice scent and glow to the space! It's Apple Cider scented.

Our favorite fall snack, candy corn and peanuts, looks so welcoming with some burlap and more gourds!

 

   In the living room, our rug and furniture are neutral enough to stay year-round.  I used to have a brown and blue patterned rug that I used for spring and summer, and a red rug that I used for fall and winter.  Since we invested in this "grown-up rug" as I call it, we use it year-round.  In spring and summer I have sort of grayed aqua blue silk-look curtains and pillows.  Now I've switched the curtains out in favor of these brown ones with a great nubby texture that just feel warmer, and the pillows are a red and brown plaid and mustard colored velvet.  In retrospect, I should have fluffed the couch cushions.  Oops.  I added a few yummy throws. switched the botanical prints on the adjacent wall (not shown) out for more fallish wildlife, and called it good. 

   I can't wait to make that first pot of stew, wear a scarf and boots without sweating (yeah, I already tried it), and continue rooting on my Cowboys this season!  Better start planning my Thanksgiving menu...

   Do you decorate seasonally?  Have a favorite season?  Get an orange glow too?  Let me know!