As I sit here at my desk, watching the clock pass 12am, I realize that fall is finally here. Of all the seasons, fall has to be my absolute favorite. With all the foods and festivities, who wouldn’t want to spend a nice day outside carving pumpkins or even staying inside to bake an apple pie?

It’s September 22, which means changes in the weather are going to happen. But, at the moment, we’re in this weird stage where it’s cold in the morning and hot in the afternoon. It’s 55 degrees in the morning, and then 3 o’clock rolls around, and it’s 70 degrees again. It’s hard and confusing to decide what to wear, since I don’t know what the weather is going to be like. I have an idea that it should be chilly, but lately the weather has been so unpredictable I’m just not sure. Do I wear shorts and a hoodie? Jeans and a tee shirt? Or even jeans and a hoodie?  

One thing I do know is that because it’s cold in the mornings, I can bring out my fall closet. I can finally wear my favorite outfit, my red flannel with leggings and converse. My closet in the fall has to be around 60% flannels and 40% leggings and jeans. Honestly, I could probably wear a different flannel every day of the week for two weeks and not wear the same one twice. My flannels range in both color and fabric,  I have really thick flannels and then some thin ones for the changes in weather. Of all my flannels, my favorite one would have to be the red and black one I got last year, and it’s beyond comfortable because the fabric is so nice and warm.

I am so excited for all the fall festivities, apple picking and going to the pumpkin patch are my two favorites. Every year since I’ve moved to Southwestern Pennsylvania, my friends and I go to the same pumpkin patch, and every year I forget the name of it. All I know is that it’s on route 30 on the way to the Westmoreland Mall. I enjoy trying to find the perfect pumpkin, I’ve always tried to find the strangest shaped pumpkin, and bring that one home. Usually it’s more oblong shaped and has a really long stem.  Oftentimes I ask myself “Where can I find the most unique pumpkin in this patch?”

If I’m not out picking pumpkins, I’m probably picking apples, which happens to be my other fall favorite. Filling up my bags with as many apples as I can pick, and then trying to carry that bag around for an hour. I remember as a kid, going to Pippin Orchard with my godparents in Rhode Island. We would always leave the orchard with tons and tons of apples to make homemade applesauce. Then we’d go back a week later for even more apples, not like we really needed any more than we already had, but their apples are so good, you have to have more. It becomes an addiction, once you get a taste you constantly want more.

Now that it’s well past 12:30am , I’m ready to hit the hay so to speak. In the morning, I’ll wake up to the brisk 55 degree weather, and for the first time this season ask myself, “What flannel should I wear?”