Goodbye September, hellooooooo October!
September has been a stunner of a month, with the leaves changing colors early, to the most perfect warm days and cool evenings. We had to snuggle up with extra blankets a few nights that were almost too cold, but have since been sleeping with the windows open a few inches in what I can only describe as my most ideal New England weather. It’s been glorious.
For the first time in a long time I’m feeling prepared to take on the impending cold, dark days of fall, which honestly I usually struggle a lot with. So, I’m taking this optimism and running with it, because I know it might not last.
This month we finally finished unpacking and settling into our new apartment (save for the few items I’m waiting to find at a thrift store and the ever elusive office chair that I just cannot seem to make up my mind about) had so many great weekend hikes and apple picking trips, embraced the collision of late summer and fall produce at the farmer’s market by buying way too much produce each week, formed a mildly codependent relationship with a restaurant in town that makes amazing pie (to the point where sometimes we just order a slice of pie to go instead of actually getting a whole meal), and really just settled into the groove of fall life.
I also (apparently) decided hot chocolate was my life force, finally bought the expensive sneakers I’ve been eyeing for years, decided to start picking myself bouquets of flowers every week, and made apple crisp no less than five times. It was a wild one, this September.
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HOT CHOCOLATE INSTEAD OF COFFEE
This month I…just…stopped craving coffee. Strange, I know. I didn’t make a conscious decision to stop drinking it, I just woke up one day and tea or hot chocolate sounded nice and then before I knew it the month was over and I still had the same amount of coffee beans I started with. Granted, I always drink decaf since too much caffeine doesn’t make me feel good, but still. I LOVE coffee. But this month? It was allll about the hot chocolate.
Here’s how I’ve been doing it: 1/2 cup cocoa powder + 1 tablespoon cinnamon + 1 tablespoon turmeric + a tiny pinch of salt + a tiny pinch of black pepper (to make the turmeric more bioavailable). Mix together, store in a little mason jar. To make a cup of hot chocolate, scoop a heaping tablespoon into a mug, top with nearly boiling water, mix well to combine (I like to use a hand-held milk frother for this), drizzle in a little maple syrup, and top with a generous pour of something very creamy (heavy cream, my homemade coconut milk coffee creamer, etc).
ALLBIRDS SNEAKERS
I’ve been eyeing these sneakers for literally years, avoiding them because I didn’t want to pay $100 for sneakers, particularly when they’re made in a way that exploits people and the planet and the majority of that $100 just goes towards the exponential wealth of a corporation (cough, nike, cough).
I saw these as being a slightly more eco-friendly option, but somehow must have missed the full description because they’re actually a purchase I feel really good about. They’re made from sustainably raised and ethically treated merino wool in the shoe itself, making them extremely soft, breathable, and durable. There’s castor bean oil in the soles, recycled plastic bottles in the laces, and they ship in recycled cardboard. They’re also a certified B corp, which means they’re actually held accountable for their standards, which isn’t always the case when larger corporations make claims of sustainability.
And, annoyingly, in a somehow respectable way, they literally do not offer discounts or coupon codes. They stand behind the quality of their shoes, use much more expensive materials than the synthetic mass-produced sneaker brands, and think their shoes are worth the full price. They’ll even give you a full refund after a month if you don’t like them, no questions asked. And, after wearing them all month, I really love them. If you have $100 to spend on sneakers, I highly recommend getting a pair of allbirds (I have these ones in ‘mist’ with a white sole)
PICK-YOUR-OWN FLOWERS @ QUONQUONT FARM
This September I formed a fun little habit I’m filing under the category of ‘self-care’ because it feels like a therapy session every time I do it: picking myself a bouquet of flowers every week in Quonquont Farm’s PYO flower garden.
I tend to go on random afternoons mid-week when there’s nobody else around and I get to just stroll through the rows of flowers, listening to the birds and crickets, following the butterflies as they flutter around, watching the flowers sway in the breeze. It’s seriously so peaceful, and the added bonus of leaving with flowers to sit on the kitchen table for the next week is even better. I highly recommend finding a farm nearby with a PYO flower garden and spending some time out with the flowers before we get too late into fall and they’re all gone!
THE BEST APPLE CRISP
Okay, so I might be a little biased here since I created the recipe, but DANG this apple crisp is good. In addition to making and testing the recipe for the blog, we also made this apple crisp at least fives times over the course of September, just because it’s so good and we needed more apple crisp in our lives. This is the recipe, if you similarly need more warm maple cinnamon apple goodness in your fall repertoire.
That’s it! I hope your September was full of all the best late summer/early fall activities, and you’re gearing up for all that October brings!
XO,
Chelsea