seasonal slowdown.

I love summer.  It really is my favorite.  And we probably can all agree, it’s more than a little busy as far as seasons go.  Wisconsinites have only three (if we’re lucky maybe a little more) fleeting months to cram such a huge amount of summer living in – work slows a bit for me and I’m more focused on getting outdoors and doing/going to any of the tons of summer events that are being held, and camping.  But as much as I love summer, I do look forward to fall being a time to get back into routine and chill out.  The daylight gets shorter, the nights get cooler and I find myself inside more than outside.  Work gets busier too. It’s a tough transition, but at the same time, it is welcome.  So in these months of transition what do I do to calm the panic of summer ending, and bridge the time knowing a darker and colder landscape will soon be here?  

Bake something. 

I love to bake, but in the summer when it’s hot and sunny, who wants to be inside and  turn on a hot oven? With the cool of fall coming, and the harvest of apples and other garden bounty, fall seems like the perfect time to bake. Maybe an apple pie, maybe some savory squash dish. It’s comforting to me, and taking the time to find and follow a recipe is soothing and slows me down. Also, the results are delicious!

Listen to a record from start to finish.

I feel a certain amount of music ADD in the summer. There’s tons of new music, live outdoor shows abound, and summer jams are plentiful.  It’s hard to focus on one artist with summer mixes on repeat.  But I do love to listen completely to an album, and with some great music coming out this fall, I look forward to having a sit (or a dance party) and really listen to a full record.  I feel like it often makes more sense to listen to songs in the order of how the artist wanted them to be heard, as if you’re listen to them tell a story.  I like it.  In fact, I am probably the only weirdo you know who still buys cds to do just that, in my truck.  I love to listen to cds in my truck.  And records – we’ll buy our very favorite albums on vinyl.

Take a walk.

Crisp air and warm sun.  One of the best fall feelings. What more is there to say about that?

Fall clean out.

As mentioned in our post earlier this week, I am indeed on a spending freeze when it comes to cosmetics (I cry a little inside each time I force myself to skip the cosmetics department when I visit Target.)  It is a great time of year to get to cleaning up my massive product arsenal, as what I am using on my skin currently, will also change with the season too. Wardrobe is no exception to this. Switching over my drawers and closet from summer to fall/winter comes with another purge of things I maybe didn’t wear at all this summer or that just need to be retired.

None of this is super ritualistic, it happens gradually… like summer to fall.  But it all helps me to start to slow down after a summer of go, go, go.  What things do you do that are specific to the change of seasons?

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