Growing up in Southern California, I was surrounded by many amazing things. Countless sunny days, real ocean beaches only a drive away, palm trees, and more. Whereas all of those things I still hold close to my heart, TRUE seasons, you'll notice are not on that list.
When I was 9 or 10 years old I would wake up for school, look outside. If I saw a grey sky...Yay! I'd run to check out the weather section of the L.A Times, see 60 degrees and put tights on and a sweatshirt. Brrr :) I would be SO excited. But every afternoon without fail, the sun would pop its head out of the clouds, it had only wanted to sleep in, all snuggled beneath the covers, not stay away all day. By lunchtime my tights and sweatshirt would be stuffed in my bag, forgotten until the next cloudy day. How we here in Washington feel about a good snow day, that's how we felt about rainy days. My sisters and best friend and I would say " Oh it's so cozy!" We couldn't wait to get home and "into our sweats to watch a movie and drink hot cocoa" No seriously that could have been a direct quote:)
The first year we moved here, 19 years ago, I arrived to a sunny August Washington and thought not much of it. It was beautiful and new but weather wise nothing special. It wasn't until a crisp September morning that I fell in love. This was a REAL season!
FALL! Oh the crispness of the air, the color on the trees, the leaves dropping from their perch and dancing down to Earth. This was what I had always dreamed of, but never witnessed first hand. I LOVE Summer, don't get me wrong, but I ADORE Fall! With Fall comes Fall Music, Clothes and Food!
The Soundtrack:
These are the albums, artists and songs on my Fall playlist.
Madeleine Peyroux- Albums: Half the Perfect World and Careless Love
Doris Day- Album: A Bushel and a Peck: Songs from the 40's and 50's
Damien Rice- Album: 9 and Songs: Lonelly, Cannonball and Unplayed Piano
Fleet Foxes- Mykonos
Greg Laswell- Girls just want to have fun and What a day,
Glen Hansard and Markets Irglova- The Swell Season
Amos Lee- Albums: Supply and Demand and Mission Bell
Ray Lamontagne- Albums: Till the Sun turns Black and Gossip in the Grain
Jessie Baylin- Albums: Firesight
Jamie Cullum- All at Sea
John Mayer- Continuum
Joseph Arthur- Honey and the Moon
Joshua Radin- We Were Here
Lissie- Everywhere I Go
Sleepless in Seattle Soundtrack
Michael Bublé
Paolo Nutini
Robbie Williams- Swing while your winning
Tony Bennett- Duets
Starbucks- Blue Note Blends Albums
I listen to these on shuffle. Something about the smooth sounds and old time tunes, just feels like Fall. Even Joe who prefers more popular, now music, likes to come home to this playlist, the fireplace on and the smell of a yummy dinner wafting throughout the air. I really love anything from the 40's and 50's! Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Lena Horne, Billie Holiday, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, to me they just sound like fall.
The Wardrobe:
What's not to love about Fall clothes? I mean really, jeans are pretty much a year round must have here in Washington, but I am SO ready for the long sleeves, sweaters, boots and sweats to come back in my life. I like to leave a little to the imagination. Haha! I wish I could imagine myself in anything minus this "floatie" I'm carrying around. Even with all my running, I'm looking forward to the cold weather attire and thinking maybe after a Fall and a Winter of running that I will be "floatie-less" next Summer. Probably not "floatie-free" but I'll take less anyday:) Yeah I've never said that before :) But regardless I love the clothes right now! Not necessarily MY clothes, but Fall clothes in general :)
My House:
So we got married in August and bought our first house in October. Being newlyweds we got a lot from our families hand me down wise, but the decor we bought was bought in the FALL, so I LOVE how my house looks best in the Fall as well. The lighting just accentuates everything best this time of year. I love the coziness of the dark skies accented by just a beam of sunlight streaming through my window. I turn my lamps on a little bit earlier, it makes my conserving of all that during the Summer worth it. I take my Spring/Summer pillow covers off to reveal the rich tones of their Fall/Winter counterparts. Get out a few strands of autumn leaves to bring the colors of the season into my house. All of it just reminding me what a warm inviting home I have, and how lucky I am to reside here.
But now my favorite part...surprise...surprise...THE FOOD!
There is nothing better then a beautiful warm stew on a cold Fall day. I have spoken before about my Hungarian Heritage. My Nana was not only Hungarian, but she also lived in Germany for many years. The smells, textures and flavors of that type of food are such an important part of my family and my childhood. Not just Hungarian food, but the soups, the breads, the stews, roasted veggies, all of it! Like I said I love Summer. I love the grill and all the fresh veggies but Fall food just can't be beat!
I do think that part of it is the memories I have connected with it. Those of my Nana and childhood and more recently, well 10 years ago of me as a Newlywed bride trying to figure out how to cook for my husband. I must have called my mom and Nana a million times. How do I do this? How long do I cook that? The first meal I could really make well, like Joe actually asked for it, was a roast chicken. My mom walked me through step by step many many times before I could do it right. I'd serve it with lumpy mashed potatoes (why are my mom's ALWAYS smooth?) and caramelized carrots. Sitting together just the two of us in those first coupe months; talking about our days, discussing if we could afford to buy a house, trying to figure out how to tell everyone that even though we just gotten married, we were going to have a baby:) Those are some special moments, shared over my first real meal.
Some of my go to Fall Meals:
Chicken Paprikash- Hungarian with cucumber salad...UM YUM!
Chicken Stew with biscuits-Joe's favorite
Chili
Soup- Chicken Noodle, Chicken with Noodles (Joe's mom's recipe) Chicken with dumplings, Acorn and Butternut Squash Soup (More like a bisque) French Onion, Tomato Basil with mini toasted cheese sandwiches to name a few!
Poor Man Stew
Baked Pasta
Goulash
Fried potatoes with Bratwurst and Saurkraut
Mom and Kitty's crazy Tri-Tip
Banana Bread
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies!!!
These are just SOME of my fav's so look for them in the weeks ahead. We will all be needing some inspiration in the cold dreary months to come. But for now I'm loving this change in season. I hope you are too!
What is your go to Fall recipe? Comment it or email it to me and I'll post it for ALL!
Happy Fall!!!!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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