Here Comes the Rain

What with the rain today and all the Back to School talk, it officially feels like autumn over here in the UK. Seriously: summer has long passed: I don't care if it's still August according to the calendar. We've had a pretty crap summer here anyway, as far as nice sunshine and summery weather goes. So I have no qualms about forsaking a lacklustre summer for the abundant joys of autumn. Especially when it means I can start stalking the hell out of every store's upcoming knitwear collections.

Let's face it, I'm not one to pass up an opportunity for new clothes, and the upcoming fall season affords me twice the usual incentive to fill out the gaps in my wardrobe.
1) The weather is changing, so I need to see what I have in the way of layerable clothes that are still in a fit state to be worn in public. (Alas, I think this discounts my holey boots.)
2) I'll be giving birth at the end of October, so the time for generously spacious maternity clothes is rapidly coming to an end. No use in investing in much more maternity wear until I'm pregnant again (which, since I'll get my way - because my way is the Husband's way - won't be for another 2 years or so).

The imminent return of something resembling my old body shape has me all kinds of excited to go buy some new clothes to show it off. Who cares if my uterus takes its sweet time shrinking back to size? With the lovely phenomenon of fall layering, I can hide my baby pooch under chunky cardis and sweaters of all shapes and sizes for months. Which means most people won't even know it's there at all, and by the time that spring bring about lighter fabrics and fewer layers, I'll have enough of my pre-pregnancy tummy to flaunt it without fear.

In the meantime, I'm going to get all a-twitter (I love that phrase) for cable knit and fair isle and corduroy, and scheme and plot my way through all kinds of seasonal DIY projects. I am a self-diagnosed Christmas fiend. From high school through college, whenever I came home, I was the Christmas Nazi. If the tree wasn't up, I made sure that furniture got re-arranged to accommodate it. If anyone even hinted that such a project as a cranberry-and-popcorn garland was on the radar, I was revving the car engine to go raid the store's supplies of Orvile Redenbacher and Ocean Spray.

And since I don't have to make Thanksgiving dinner on my own this year, I can channel what creative energies I have left after keeping my baby alive and fed (and clean) into making autumnal wreaths, candle holders, and table decorations.

Thankfully, Seb is just as much into the whole rustic aesthetic around the holidays as I am. I'm glad to have married a guy who will not only support, but instigate trips to farmer's markets and nature walks where we can scavenge pinecones, ivy vines, and holly boughs to toss around our house in true festive fashion. Just you wait for the pictures. It's my first set of end-of-year festivities as a mommy, so I'm setting the bar high for our family when it comes to how we roll from September to January.