In my mind, it’s fall.

This past weekend was the last ~scheduled event~ we had for the summer, which evidently was my brother’s college graduation party. That means today was spent on the couch, hungover and not moving for the 9 hours I was awake. It was the first football Sunday of the year and it feels like things are finally going to start slowing down.

I think for most people summers are for slowing down. They’re for spending time at the beach or the pool, for vacations and relaxing and reading lots of books. But summers are always so busy in my family. We are always booked from May-September before the summer even starts– with weddings and birthdays and graduations and vacations. And while I love having all these things to look forward to, it makes the summer months go by incredibly fast. One day it’s the Fourth of July and we have two full months of summer excitement ahead, and the next thing you know it’s Labor Day weekend. It happens in the blink of an eye.

Personally I’m partial to fall. I love when the summer heat and humidity finally breaks and the mornings are chilly enough for a sweatshirt and a cup of hot coffee. I love when the air gets crisp and the leaves change colors. But mostly, I love the slowness of it all. I love lazy Sunday afternoons spent watching football, doing a crossword puzzle and baking. I love the sudden change from the go-go-go of summer to the ease of those fall months. I love the break between the craziness of the summer and the craziness of the holidays. Don’t get me wrong, I love the summertime and the excitement of it all, but I am living for the weekends on the calendar that have empty boxes for spontaneous trips, fun activities and living life a little less planned out.

Here’s to soaking in the last few weeks of sun and fully embracing sweater weather.