Hello friends! We made it to Friday and GUESS WHAT. Sunday is officially the first day of fall! Pour yourself a delicious fall-themed beverage and let’s talk about what that means.
This week, Elisabeth posted her Top Five/Bottom Five Fall lists. In her Top Five was the delightful fall weather, and in her Bottom Five was “winter is coming.” Well, in Florida that is reversed.
One of the WORST things about fall is our weather. September is absolutely terrible. Hot, steamy, rainy, and the chance of hurricanes increases every day. Now that my kids are older, it doesn’t bother me as much. But when they were young, there were all sorts of outdoor activities we thought we should be doing… like the PUMPKIN PATCH.
The “pumpkin patch” was actually the yard of a nearby church that had hundreds of pumpkins- obviously no pumpkins actually grew there- they were imported from another state. It seemed like a fun thing to do, but the weather just wasn’t conducive. One year stands out starkly.
The day we planned to go to the pumpkin patch, it rained. But then the rained stopped- oh, good! Let’s go to the pumpkin patch! The problem is, when it rains here in September, it just makes things unbearably steamy. Our time at the pumpkin patch was muggy, muddy, and horribly uncomfortable.
(They don’t have that pumpkin patch anymore- I WONDER WHY.)
Okay, so we don’t have fall weather here. But you’re probably thinking that I’m guzzling down all the fancy fall drinks, right?
No pumpkin spice lattes for me! Starbucks does have some vegan seasonal drinks, but they all have a ton of sugar. This year I’ve been having some serious FOMO, so I’ve tried a couple things…
This is a vegan, unsweetened creamer, and I’ve been putting it in my tea (NOT in my Earl Grey- that would be gross. Just regular black tea.) I think I like it? I can’t really decide, but it does make me feel festive and fall-ish.
Some friends gave us another new (to me) beverage:
It’s sugar free! The ingredients are black tea, chai spices, and sucralose. Okay, I know sucralose isn’t good for you. I know! But I’m more willing to have sucralose every once in a while than sugar. I’ve only tried it once- I mixed it with soy milk and made a DELICIOUS chai latte. My daughter went a step further and added the pumpkin creamer to hers and made a super fancy fall beverage.
Let’s go back to Elisabeth’s Bottom Five Fall item: winter is coming. YES. Winter is coming! In Florida that means a break from the heat and humidity. We’ll get some cool nights and beautiful days. It won’t happen until November/December, but we’re here, waiting patiently.
What would you tell me over coffee? Do you like festive fall beverages? Are you excited for the first day of fall?
25 Responses
Okay, okay, your Septembers do sound pretty miserable. But the thought of our winters makes me so, so sad. I’m not ready for it and I feel like I hate it more with each passing year. If all the stars align, I can definitely see trying to find someway to “snowbird” in the winter. I love Canada from April to November, but from December to the end of March. Blergh. Well, I love Christmas here…so maybe I’d go to a warm destination from January 1 – March 31? Sounds dreamy to me!
I don’t drink many fall-themed seasonal drinks. I do like the Silk peppermint creamer at Christmas time. Delicious. But I am determined to try a pumpkin spiced latte at my favourite cafe. I’ve never actually HAD a PSL (can you believe it? I’ve never actually had anything from Starbucks!)…so this is the year <3
Okay, you can have a PSL and report back!
My husband and I have talked about moving from Florida, but then I can’t take the harsh winters. Splitting the year between two locations would be the dream.
SO MUCH SUGAR in the Starbucks fall drinks! I can do one pump of pumpkin but that’s my absolute limit. The Midwest definitely does fall right, but it has been 90 degrees for the past 2 weeks, so we’re on a bit of a delay…
I know you’ve been having a heatwave up there! I hope it cools down soon for you.
I don’t drink coffee or tea with milk, so you’ll get nothing from me…
BUT JENNY, YOUR DAUGHTER IS SO, SO ADORABLE!!!!
(All caps to express my delight–not shouting, I swear!)
I am excited for fall–I’ve been waiting for cooler temps to change from summer bedding to fall bedding…
I never used to put milk in my tea, but I’ve been branching out lately!
I agree- my daughter was so cute. It’s hard to see her now with her blue dyed hair, septum ring, and general alternative clothing and remember what she was like. But- they can’t wear pink forever.
My 16-year-old wants a septum piercing for their 17th birthday…
I’m wincing for them!
Fall here is very beautiful, as opposed to fall in Calgary which would last maybe two weeks. By the end of September in Calgary the trees are all completely bare and remain that way until mid-May. But here, the colours last for months! The temperatures are beautiful and it’s sunny and lovely.
I don’t care for pumpkin spice anything, so I’m not a seasonal drink gal, but I do support others in their PSL love!
Nicole, your fall sounds BEAUTIFUL. And, you deserve it. You paid your dues, living all those years in Calgary.
September does not sound nice in Florida! We were still in summer here until this week when our high temps dropped to the low 90s and overnight lows in the mid 60s. That may sound hot for most of the country but once it’s out of the 100s, it officially feels like fall here haha! And the high is supposed to be 81 tomorrow which will be perfect for my long run — temps in the 80s are my sweet spot for running, but I much prefer when that’s the high for the day and not the low!
I’m not a fan of the sugary drinks either and I also don’t like hot drinks (besides hot tea when it’s really cold) so most of my pumpkin consumption comes in the form of snacks. I’ll have to go to Trader Joe’s this weekend to see what they have!
Oh, you will find plenty of pumpkin snacks at Trader Joes!!!
There are a lot of similarities between Florida and AZ, and a lot of differences too. I think your summers are worse, but then you have more of a fall than we do. And I’m pretty sure you get colder than us in the winter. I’m envious.
I usually don’t get Starbucks drinks, but I feel like I could make room for a pumpkin cold brew.
I love that someone tried to bring the pumpkin patch experience to FL! I think that it’s normal to want what we don’t have, so I’m all up here like “I’d move to FL in a heartbeat” but you do make me take a minute to appreciate the seasons – the good parts of them anyway. I’m never going to “appreciate” endless cold and ice but it is fun to get a nice fluffy snowfall.
I wouldn’t mind a nice fluffy snowfall! But then I’d want it to be 50 degrees again the next day. I want to live somewhere with maybe a week of winter.
Oh my goodness look at your sweet little girl!!!!! The pumpkin patch experience does sound pretty miserable. I have to tell you, Jenny, it is miserable in its own way up here in Fall Country. Even though the weather is usually gorgeous and the leaves are all changing colors, the pumpkin patch is one of my least favorite traditions. It is SO crowded. There are a bazillion bees. And there’s a disgusting playground that my kid INSISTS on playing on with ten million other kids who all have fall colds. YUCK. We do go every year, though.
I am not a big fall drink person. In fact, I don’t really enjoy anything with pumpkin. But I did make some pumpkin bread/muffins this week which was fun and my husband bought me some of the butternut squash mac and cheese from Trader Joe’s that I like.
Ha, that does sound awful. Thanks for making me realize I’m not missing out on much up there!
What a PERFECT fall photo of your daughter. Just perfect! And it’s great blackmail material for her as in “if you don’t clean up this mess I’m going to submit this photo of you wearing pink for your throwback photo in the yearbook.”
I am a basic lady who does like a PSL, but since I am also a no-caffeine lady these days, I haven’t had one in years. I do reallllly like hot spiced apple cider. I’m sort of excited by fall because fall is great, but I’m on Elisabeth’s side here that it’s a harbinger of winter and winter is terrible and the shorter days really bring me down. But! I’m here to focus on the good, which is that fall brings cooler weather (sorry for you, friend!), corn mazes, haunted houses, and long trips to the dog park because the dog won’t be too hot after fifteen minutes.
Hee hee! I have any number of humiliating throwback photos for the yearbook, but this would definitely be a good one.
When I lived up north, I hated winter so much that I couldn’t enjoy fall at all. So I’m glad you’re leaning into the good parts- long trips to the dog park sound perfect!
Fall is my favorite season! So far September ‘s weather has been amazing – it can sometimes be a mixed bag here, but this year Mother Nature is delivering. I’m not much of a PSL fan – but I do love to make pumpkin bread and muffins.
Michelle, you are lucky- everyone in the midwest has been complaining about a heatwave! I guess the northeast is the place to be. Glad you’re enjoying it!
Oh gosh, look at little Angie! What a cute flashback photo! She is so darling!
Fall is usually wonderful here but this year it has been so hot! It will cool off this weekend and hopefully stay like that. I am ready for highs in the 70s. The boys are so excited for Halloween. They are both in their costumes right now (Pikachu and Chase from Paw Patrol).
I will occasionally get a PSL but I modify it because is way too sweet as it is typically made.
I’m with Engie, my fall/winter drink is spiced apple cider. But I haven’t had that in years. I will sometimes put a cinnamon stick and a couple of cloves in a little pot on the stove and simmer it, to give the house that yummy smell. I tried PSL once. So gross.
I like winter too, but we don’t have snow or horrible weather. Just rain, which I love. Humidity is the worst, and I feel for you! Come to California, where it is warm and dry. I think you would thrive in SoCal.
We don’t really have autumn themed drinks/foods at all in Australia- no pumpkin spiced lattes to be found. But I doubt I’d be into them if they were – I’m a simple coffee/tea person. And similar to you the first month of autumn for us (March) is still hot and sticky. So not sure a pumpkin themed season would work for us anyway! Although we do a lot of snow-themed Christmas stuff in December when it’s like a thousand degrees outside- which I don’t mind! Ha!
I am living my best PSL life right now! I even bought PSL k-cups at Publix because why not?!
Gah, I am so over the hot weather. It doesn’t look like we’ll get a cooldown anytime soon.
We were having the sucralose conversation – or whatever is in Equal – and I’ve made my peace with it. It’s not good, but nor am I without coffee. LOL
I don’t think I’ve ever been to a where they’re grown pumpkin patch, but yeah no to Florida September
I like fancy fall drinks in theory, but when it comes down to it, I usually just go with my regular coffee with soy milk LOL (I am not one for overly sweet concoctions).