Welcome to another edition of Guilty Pleasures Friday! Indulge yourself, get cozy, here all gluttony reigns! I won’t tell on you.
For the month of October, I’m focusing on all things wicked. So today’s guilty pleasures are my top 10 favorite things about fall.
- The Desire to Spend Copious Amounts of Money on Pumpkins I’ve never met a pumpkin I didn’t like. Big ones, baby ones, spotted ones, warty ones, pumpkins with curlicue stems! They are a fall tradition and welcomed inside and out. Sometimes, I name them, a bizarre habit to be sure, but one I refuse to give up.
- The Urge After Purchasing Pumpkins to Consume Them in Multiple Forms Pumpkin Bars. Glorious pumpkin bars, the birthday treat of choice for this redhead. Then there’s pumpkin spice lattes and roasted pumpkin seeds, and I’m also a fan of their cousin, the Butternut Squash.
- The Decking Out of Houses: From Home Sweet Home to Enter At Your Own Risk I love seeing the houses that put gravestones in their yard, stick bones out of their lawn, and make dummies out of old clothes. Nothing is as fun as giving yourself a little chill walking up to your own front door.
- The Expectation of Shenanigans and the Increase in Security That Follows Late night runs through a corn field telling ghost stories with friends! Getting kicked out of Paradise Road! Scaring unsuspecting strangers with motion sensing Halloween décor and creating really good alibis when the police pull your car over and ask what you’re doing out so late.
Apple Picking: Not Scary, but Good Old Fashioned Recreational Fun Grab a basket and pick your very own tangy sweet apples. Stock up the pantry with a local orchard’s cider, apple crisp, and handmade caramel drizzle. Mmmm- Tea Drinking Season: Not Just For School Marms Anymore Every day is a tea drinking day in the fall. Green Tea in the morning, pomegranate oolong in the afternoon, peppermint tea at night. This charming habit is made even more fun with a big, funky mug collection. My favorite coffee shop in town is a teeny tiny shop that has the biggest selection of actual dried tea leaves, they brew you a whole cozy pot to yourself and let you pick your tea cup!
- The Bizarre Fashions That Become Acceptable Bring out your flannel, put on some gloves, and grab your flip flops! What’s that you say? One of those things is not like the other? Doesn’t matter in autumn, the weather changes so fast, you may as well keep your dresser stocked: Long sleeve shirts, rainboots, tank tops, corduroys, wool socks, ear muffs and a bathing suit.
- The Hibernation of the Human Race Once the weather gets a little chillier, suddenly people start to disappear into their houses, the windows get boarded up, and you don’t seen your neighbor bring the trash out for weeks. You question whether you should call the police and have her checked on, but there’s smoke coming from the chimney and a faint flicker of blue TV light every Thursday at 7pm. Give her another week…
- The Beer, Brats, and Polka Bands Autumn brings Oktoberfest to my town and that means brats with sauerkraut, beer and drinking gloves, and lots of live music and parades. The big parade is the Maple Leaf Parade and there’s one at night too called the Torch Light Parade. I went to that for the first time this year and it was really fun. All the marching bands are decked out with glowsticks, even on their instruments. And, you can drink on the sidewalk of the parade route. *Weeeeeeeee!*
- The Changing of the Colors The best part about fall is the colors. And living in Bluff Country, we certainly get to enjoy a multitude. There’s nothing quite like sitting on the edge of the bluff overlooking the adjacent forest, marsh and city below, ablaze in fall colors. Joe and I went hiking this weekend and here’s some shots I took along the way!
Overlooking Myrick Marsh
Wish You Were Here, Love Jess and Joe
What are your favorite things about fall?
Jess Witkins' Happiness Project 
I love the pictures. We don’t have a ton of “changing of the colors” here in California but we have some! Just a few weeks ago the trees that were lush and green started turning yellow and dropping leaves onto the streets. I love it, yet at the same time I do not like the cold. But out here cold is, like, 45 degrees in the winter, so I shan’t complain. There are a lot of things to like about Halloween time and I look forward to seeing all the decorations on the houses though people have cut back on that over the years and it’s not as festive as it used to be. Some streets, however, really out-do themselves and it’s really a treat to look at.
Patti
Such a true point Patti. Many people are cutting back. We didn’t buy any decorations until after Halloween last year so we could stock up when they were clearance. Now it’s a treat to unpack them this year. And that’s why I like pumpkins, one little orange plant can bring a smile to so many faces, and most are under $3 around here.
Love the colourful leaves, autumn is so pretty!
Definitely the best part of the season, that and the crunchy sound of the leaves under your feet.
The colors at their best in the fall. Thanks for a wonderful post and a twist in fashion 🙂
Are you putting your gloves on and grabbing a beach towel?
Sorry, can’t agree about Halloween stuff because of the history of the holiday. I can certainly agree about fall, though. It signifies the end of 100 degree Texas summer days, which is wonderful. I also love the changing colors. Although they’re not as beautiful here as they are in some places, they are really pretty.
We have a red oak in our yard whose leaves turn fiery colors and a bald cypress whose needles turn beautiful shades of rust, along with a couple of cedar elms and a burr oak that turn boring shades of yellow. Oh, and two Chinese fringe flower bushes that turn fantastic shades of maroon.
Ooooh I love rusty and red colored leaves. They look ablaze on the streets. So gorgeous. I used to do leaf rubbings as a kid, gathering maple, gingko and oak leaves around the neighborhood.
I love Halloween. I just do. It is the only holiday of the year I “get into.” In past years, I loved sitting out front of the house, handing out candy to kids. Their costumes are so cute. In the last two years, we haven’t had as many trick-or-treaters. Yuppie neighborhoods are sprouting up all around us. I suppose this neighborhood–which is older–probably seems like a place where you wouldn’t get any good candy.
There are no “fall colors” in Texas. Oh, a few trees turn yellow or orange, but for the most part, it’s just evergreen pines. However, as David says, the fact that it is no longer 100 degrees every day is a blessing. 😀
We don’t get many treaters either. My sister throws a party each year around the time the trick or treaters come out and they have good food and tally up how many witches, princesses, etc. they see. Too fun.
1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10. We have so much in common. I already purchased cans of organic pumpkin for homemade muffins (great with that afternoon cup of tea–yes, brewed with real tea leaves and requiring a tea strainer) and pumpkin pies (because my Italian family insists that the pilgrims ate Italian cheesecake for Thanksgiving and I have to BMOPP for dessert. 😐 )
Hmm, my original comment didn’t take. It primarily pointed out that last summer I visited Plymouth, MA and went to the Plantation, a living history museum, and I recall an Italian pilgrim in the town serving cannoli at the first Thanksgiving. You can pick it up from there. 😉
I’ve already gone pumpkin crazy (and those cute little gourds too). Other faves are hikes (love the pics, btw!), campfires, and nights like tonight, where it is crazy window here so we’re bundled up watching scary movies. September-December is my favorite time of year : )!
I so want to hang out with you, that’s my kind of weekend. Pumpkins and gourds, hiking and campfires, and scary movies. I was curled up watching Carrie last night. Agreed, best time of the year (except for snow – I HATE snow.)
In terms of guilty pleasures I definitely spend too much money on Fall stuff just because it’s Fall and it’s exciting. But it’s Fall and it’s exciting!! 😀
LOL. I couldn’t agree more. And you got me on an oatmeal kick with your recipe too. Mmmm
I used to love romping through the leaves, especially when they’d just been raked! Best of all was when they were all in the street awaiting collection. I could and often did get lost in them.
Here in SoCal, I settle for watching my son stomp an errant leaf or two and giggle. It’s not quite the same, but the feeling’s still joyous.
Today I even got to teach him the word “pumpkin” at the credit union! “Sparkly,” too, as there was a sparkly pumpkin ahead. And I quietly reveled in his proclamation as he pressed himself into my shoulder, “Ghosts scawy.”
Awww that’s so cute. My niece apparently called pumpkins “presents.” Same difference, if you ask me. 🙂
Love your pics! I love fall colors and Indiana’s are great too. That’s one of the things I missed living in Ireland. I don’t go crazy buying pumpkins and gourds (although I do buy pots and pots of chrysanthemums), but my favorite guilty pleasure is pumpkin-related. Those little pumpkin-shaped mello-creme candies. I can make myself sick on them, then go back and eat more an hour later!
Those and candy corn, I used to go wild as a kid. I’m more of a reese’s pieces girl now, but pumpkin BARS all the way!
I’ve been to Ireland and loved it. Galway was my favorite city, but the Aran Islands are so breathtaking. It’s been years since I’ve been to Indiana. Have to make a scenic fall drive sometime. Thanks for stopping by, Jennifer!
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I like fall decorations – pumpkins, leaves, thanksgiving items, cutesy (not scary) Halloween items.
I like seeing the trick-or-treater costumes :). I’ve seen some creative costumes in recent years. An Ipod. A group of preteens dressed as hotdog dressings – a hotdog, bottle of ketchup, bottle of mustard, etc. And of course the cute princesses, fairies, and Buzz Lightyears that are out there.
My favorite thing about Fall is that it means that Winter is coming soon, which is my favorite season.
I was with you up until “winter” So NOT my favorite season. I’m guessing you have a garage? I park on the street and offside parking plus shoveling out my car makes me cranky in winter. This year, I will determine to have more fun. I mean it.
This is amazing (and also a bit embarrassing), but I happen to be reading this post while wearing a flannel shirt, gloves and flip-flops. And a bathing suit underneath it all. It’s like you read my mind or something…
And I second you on the whole tea thing. Love it in the fall!
LOL. ROFL. I don’t even a comment back to you. Maybe…you’re my hero, Mark.
I love “tree-turn” season, too. That’s what I used to call it when I was a little girl. Maybe I should post something about autumn. It’s been so dang rainy here, it’s been hard to go apple picking and there has been a shortage on pumpkins in our area! It was so windy today that a lot of leaves blew off the trees! We may have a very short season and head right into … gasp… hat and coat weather. 😉
*gasp* I hope not! What’s the fun of wearing hats and coats if you can’t wear capris and sandals and crunch around in the leaves for awhile too.
Oh! I love all of these (and I love your guilty pleasure lists in general). One that made me chuckle a bit is the apple picking. My husband and I look forward to doing this every year with the kids and every year it’s a fiasco. The lines for cider and donuts are long, the kids get tired and complain. I think next year we’ll leave them home with a sitter and actually enjoy ourselves!
Aww, the orchard I went to was busy, but we got there right before the rush, so we had the apple trees to ourselves! They handed out complimentary cider and had salsa and dip to try. We of course did buy some apple crisp. MY. GOD. It was SO delicious. Homemade caramel drizzle on top. Yum!