It's Fall Ya'll! -- What I Love About Fall

Today is the first day of Fall (or Autumn as some of you may call it). I thought it would be fun to post about all the things I love about this season and some of the traditions that come along with those things. If I'm being honest, I used to not really like the season. Sure I liked Halloween (what kid doesn't??) but as for the season itself, I just didn't like it. As I've grown older, my appreciation of the season has also grown. So here is a list of all the things I love about this wonderful season.

While we wait all year for the warmer weather of Summer; the wearing of shorts, flip-flops and tank tops; the swimming in pools and lakes and splashing through puddles without fears of getting sick; the longer days that mean more outside time and for some of us the end of the school year, by the time September rolls around we're all looking for a little relief from the heat. We're all ready for cooler weather to ease our minds and rid us of humidity.

Do I really need to elaborate on this one? I mean, it's pumpkin pie. Well, not even just the pumpkin pie but all the foods that come along with the fall season. Comfort foods. And it's all delicious.

Yes, even though I am now an adult, I still love Halloween. I love the costumes, the candy, the Trick-or-Treating--especially getting to watch my son light up at putting on his costume and becoming one of his favorite characters for the night, going downtown and getting tons of candy. I remember that feeling and it was magical. Of course it's quite different now than it was back then. When I was young I would go door to door in different neighborhoods around town to get my candy. But because of the dangers of doing that these days, we now go to Main Street where they hold Trunk-or-Treat. Businesses and churches set up their cars with the trunks open, decorated and piled full of candy and we go through town, stopping at each one while they fill his Halloween bucket full of candy. Still fun, but it makes me sad that he'll never get to experience Halloween as I knew it.

I still very much enjoy costume parties. I think it's tons of fun to dress up and be something/someone else for a change. Like last year when I dressed up as Effie Trinket from the Hunger Games ;) You can't see them but I had on these really awesome fake eyelashes and really pretty fake nails. I also have a big feathery hair clip in my hair.. er, wig.

I absolutely love the colors of fall. The leaves changing is one of my favorite things about this season, when the green leaves on the mountains suddenly become this multitude of vibrant colors. My family and I like to take drives into the Smokies at the peak of the season when the colors are their brightest. It's such a beautiful sight.

Heritage Days is an event that happens every year in my hometown and is one of the best celebrations we have in our small little town (outside of our Fourth of July celebration which is pretty awesome as well). This celebration is kind of like a huge festival where people from all over come and set up tents filled with fun crafts and delicious food and plenty of fall-ish things to buy. There are games to play and bouncy houses for kids to run around on and even a lawn mower driven train for the kids to ride. Friday night on the weekend of Heritage Days there is a cruise in where people drive through Main Street in their old-timey cars and park on either side of the road. The shops are open and people wander about admiring the cars and browsing the different stores. Then Saturday morning, bright and early, all of the tents open up with people selling their homemade foods and crafts and such. There's even face painting and bands playing. There's a wonderful atmosphere to it and everyone in the community comes out to enjoy it. It even reminds me a little bit of the events that happen in Stars Hollow of Gilmore Girls. I wish there could be more things like this that happen throughout the year.

My favorite thing about Thanksgiving is definitely that feeling of togetherness it brings with it. Every Thanksgiving, we cook food and take it to my grandparents house and spend time with family--eating, laughing, watching the parade and just enjoying each others company. When I was younger, the holidays always brought games along with them. I remember every year as a kid, we would end up staying late at my aunts house playing board games and cards. It got to the point that at Christmas my cousin and I would both get a new board game to play and I would take mine with me when we went to exchange gifts and we would play them late into the night. It was such a fun tradition. But as we grew older we kind of got out of it, although sometimes we still play cards. Mostly though, we'll sit and watch a movie together now. The last holiday celebrated we watched Batman: The Dark Knight Rises.

I'm not going to lie and say that I'm good at carving a pumpkin. The truth is, I'm terrible at it but I try anyways. I really do. It may turn out looking like someone just hacked away at a poor little pumpkin but I still think it's tons of fun trying to put a face on them. Last year, the company I worked for had their company picnic at a pumpkin patch which had tons of pumpkins to choose from as well as a corn maze and hayride and my son decorated his pumpkin by painting it which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Do I need to say more? Even though they can be a bit itchy, they're tons of fun.

After wearing the same things all summer, it's nice to finally be able to bring out all those sweaters, jeans, leggings and boots we've put away. It's like having a whole new wardrobe!

The smells of fall are a huge part of what I love about the season. It brings the nostalgia of being a kid going back to school and attending Fall Festivals and football games and Trick-or-Treating. All the fun things about being a kid in the fall. I think that's a huge part of why I love the smell of candles that come out in the fall.

So now that I've discussed my favorite things about Fall and the traditions I partake in, I want to know your favorite things! What is it that you love about this season? Or you can tell me what you don't like about it. I just want to know! :)