Forcing Fall

I know it's incredibly unoriginal, but - brace yourselves - I love fall. Shocking, right? To me, it feels like even more of a fresh start than the first of the year. I am sure that goes back to school days - freshly covered books, unblemished notebooks, new classes, and all of that.

If not for the appearance of the Pumpkin Spice Latte and the racks of Halloween costumes, it would be easy to miss fall around here because it doesn't look much like those back-to-school autumns that send the leaf-peepers flocking to New England. Still, if you squint (and ignore the thermometer), it's beginning to feel downright autumnal around here.

I've been ready for fall for a while now. Despite the fact that we still needed round-the-clock air conditioning at the time, I bought these as soon as we flipped the calendar to September.

{Fear not, I removed those hideous stickers immediately after taking this picture.}

A couple of weekends ago, the temperature finally dipped below 80, and I convinced my incredibly accommodating husband that spending two hours each way in the car to go to an apple orchard was a great way to spend a Saturday. 

To be honest, the cider donuts are the real draw. These things are well worth the year-long wait...

 

Despite my how much I miss the first fire of the season, the crispness, and the actual legitimate need for boots and sweaters, there is so much that I love about Southern California in the fall. The tourists clear out, the Santa Anas swing through, and citrus returns to the farmers market, but the absolute best thing about fall in Southern California is the beach - the beautifully empty beach.

So, point is, whatever it looks like, fall is the best. Now we begin the wonderful slide into the holidays...hurrah!