This Savor The Season Giveaway is now closed!
I wonder if it is Fall yet where you are. I am seeing everything from snow to beach vacations pop up on my feed daily and I think elusive Autumn is fighting for it’s place somewhere in-between. My kids are watching Elf and listening to Christmas music while running barefoot and shirtless until after dark. Not me. Nope. No Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Let Fall have it’s day! There have been some cool mornings here on the Ranchito… I am anticipating the debut of a pair of new boots I have been wanting for a year. The pumpkin spice creamer is in the coffee, the Fall candle is burning beside my Bible. Let it sink in.
I love this time of the year because the anticipation of the approaching holidays is just starting to tickle our senses without the crushing pressure of it all yet. We know it is coming… the planning, the decorating, the cooking, the shopping, the wrapping, the school parties and full schedules. We will be waist deep in all the fun and festivities and busyness soon enough.
But not yet.
This is the golden hour.
We are just on the cusp and from here the coming months still look dreamy and picturesque. We are full of hope that this will be the year that expectations will be met, that we will actually slow down and enjoy it all, that we will not lose our ever-loving minds. So here we are BEFORE. Before it is too late and the rollercoaster of demands has us strapped onto its dizzying ride. My hope for us all is that we will anchor deeply here in this golden hour so that when the winds of the coming season blow we will not be shaken.
So here in this “Before,” while we all still have a moment to breathe, and a thought in our head, I want to share with you some of my favorites…
Beautiful words top the list.
They always have and they always will. I love a beautiful word. I was reading Elizabeth Barrett Browning when everyone else my age was reading Sweet Valley Twins and The Babysitter’s Club, because give me all the beautiful words. When I was a little girl, I thought my dream job would be getting to name lipsticks, nail polish, and paint colors, because let me use all the descriptive words. This summer, on a girls’ trip with 3 of my dearest friends, I noticed that my bestie would pull pictures up of potential restaurants and their fare on her phone to decide if it was a contender. She is visual. Unsatisfied, I inevitably would want to read the description of the setting or entrees, because tell me all the delicious words. I am a verbal processor as well. I need to say all the words. And to be fair, in relationships, I’m going to want you to say a lot of words too… they don’t have to be words about me, or important words. I just want to feel connected to you in all the adjectives you can come up with. So when I come across good words that represent beautiful things, important practices, spiritual disciplines I want to imprint on my life, I hold them tight. I want to talk about them and learn from them and write them on chalkboards in my home and share them with my friends… So here we are.
Savor, Celebrate, Rest, Repeat.
Those are good words. They feel good on my lips when I say them… chant them even, like a sacred mantra. They feel like a breath of fresh air. Like Fall. Like this “Before” space. Like a golden hour.
Let’s dive in and anchor ourselves in these important words and practices together over the coming weeks. We will take each one apart and give it it’s moment in the sun, in our hearts. We will roll it over in our mouths and in our lives. I hope you will join me for this 3 part series.
In the end, these favorite words will be joined by a basket full of favorite fall goodies for one lucky subscriber to savor…
Just make sure that you have subscribed to A Word That Matters to be entered to win the following:
- This lovely Spiced Pumpkin and Clove Fall candle to cozy up with on a cool morning.
2. The cutest “Morning Pumpkin” mug you’ve ever seen {It’s currently SOLD OUT too!}.
3. A bag of my favorite “Porch Blend” coffee roasted by my friends Travis and Megan Voskamp at their roastery Leapknot Coffee. Drink it on the porch (obviously) in the cute mug while watching their inspiring story here.
4. This beautiful “gather” sign from Magnolia Market. All the heart eyes… no explanation needed!
5. “The Road Back to You” by Ian Morgan Cron. I cannot tell you enough how into this book I have been over the last 3 months. I have made all of my people read it because I am literally unable to have a face to face conversation that doesn’t involve the Enneagram. (I’m a 4 by the way… thus all the beautiful words). OBSESSED. That is all.
6. And last but certainly not least, a copy of a recipe for “Suz’s (MY MOM’S) Pumpkin Cookies.” Seriously, these are the best things you will ever put in your mouth. I am a terrible baker, (or at least a reluctant one), but if you come to the Ranchito from September to November, you can bet there will be a plate of these waiting for you! So so so good!
So, subscribe for your chance to win a few of my favorite fall things. And meet me back here soon for our 3 part series: SAVOR, CELEBRATE, REST (Repeat).
Happy Fall Y’all!