Start-ed to Fall.

Welcome to the very beginning of my favorite season.  The season of burnt orange, rusty red and chocolately brown.  The season of cable knit sweaters, soft leather boots and light weight jackets.  The season of crisp air, fallen leaves and cozy nights.  The season of juicy apples, velvety pumpkin and spicy cinnamon.  The season of family dinners, crackling fires and football games.  The season of perfect weather for no-frizz hair, balanced skin and walking outside without sweating.

There's something about fall that screams 'new' to me.  Perhaps it's the association fall always has with going back to school, buying new supplies and a new wardrobe.  Perhaps it's the obvious sense of change that permeates the air.  Fall allows us all to start over, forget about the somewhat exhausting long summer days and start fresh in the crisp air. 

In fact, I find I make most of my best resolutions in the fall.  Here is this year's resolution:

This year I will make more of an effort to play to my passions: take a cooking course, read about my favorite idols (currently reading Julia Child's memoir and LOVING it), learn more about wine, write in my journal, speak more french, bake a perfect pie crust, keep up with distant friends. 

It sounds easy enough: do what you love.  But sometimes, this can be the hardest thing to achieve.  First, we have to identify what it is that makes us happy, and then find the time to do it.  It wasn't until this weekend, while spending the afternoon nose-deep in Julia's descriptions of how to make an omlette that I realized what I need to be doing.  And so, I put down the book and made oatmeal raisin cookies, zucchini bread, chicken schnitzel and zucchini fritters.

I fell into bed with a full stomach and heart.  Ah, fall.  You're always so good to me.

What is your fall resolution?