Keira-anne.com

It’s one of those perfect Vancouver evenings – the kind where the weather assures us that Autumn has arrived but also that Winter will very soon come blustering in without much warning. It’s perfectly cozy.

The rain is falling in sheets, the wind is whipping around the City’s towers and whistling in the elevator shafts, leaves slick the sidewalks (and the boots that tread them), the coffee-pimping mermaid has decorated her shops in red, white and sprinkles and your humble narrator is once again blogging in her leg warmers.

Did I mention that I set up my Christmas tree last night?

While I had planned to wait until returning from Phoenix, I found myself sipping on a perfect peppermint latte yesterday afternoon. The taste created inspiration and my mind snowballed from there.

I got home from work and cleaned every inch of my 434 square-foot apartment before hauling three bags and a box from my storage locker. Tree, lights, sparkly ornaments, a shining star and a fistful of Christmas CDs.

Call me crazy but wouldn’t you make the most of something you loved so much? Christmas comes only once a year and it’s absolutely my favourite, so I’ll milk it for all it is worth.

I’m going to walk three feet into the kitchen and fry up a garlic and grilled cheese sandwich with squash and nutmeg soup for dinner. While I do that, you can stay here and check out my little man…

“MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

In recent weeks, I, like many other people around Vancouver, find myself in a painfully consistent routine each morning. It begins by hitting the snooze button on my alarm clock more than a handful of times – at minimum. Failing that, I spend my first waking moments considering any plausible excuse to stay in bed that particular morning. Once reality kicks in, I know that the sensation of being rain-slicked while my boots become a decoupage of wet leaves is a looming inevitability. This is made even worse being that I have a dog who is desperate to pee the moment he bounds out of bed and before I leave for the office.

Despite umbrellas and hoods, my hair also falls victim to the season. I ask myself each day why I bother blow-drying, but it’s something I always do anyways. It’s the routine. After the eating of breakfast and the shower and the make-up and the blow-drying and the careful choosing of matching unmentionables comes the dreaded wardrobe selection. I must attire myself appropriately for the office but what I wear must also be functional enough to be tucked into galoshes and under a raincoat. Almost none of my office apparel fits the bill in this (or any) regard, so I normally leave my apartment a complete disarray of sunshine.

As I engaged in this daily dance with myself earlier this morning, it took almost no time to suddenly realize that this time three weeks from now, I’ll instead be waking up to this…

Original Photo: Sarah Sosiak on Flickr

The only decision that then needs to be made is red bikini, blue bikini or new bikini? You decide.

As an aside, I apologize for the lack of blog posts. I really have no valid excuse that would appease you. Feel free to stalk me on Twitter in the meantime.

What happens to be my most favourite season never ceases to stun me. As soon as the afternoon light changes, I know that Autumn is on its way, bringing with it change, renewal, crisp air and colours that cannot be duplicated. It is a season that is particularly beautiful on Vancouver Island. That said, and without any further words, I’ll let the photos do the speaking for me.

Photo: maplemusketeer on Flickr

Photo: Calypso Orchid on Flickr

Photo: thorinside on Flickr

Photo: fleshelectrons on Flickr

Photo: ecstaticist on Flickr

Photo: paulhami on Flickr

Photo: alaskapine on Flickr

Photo: Phil’s Photos. on Flickr

Photo: iwona_kellie on Flickr

Photo: Cyprien on Flickr

Photo: maplemusketeer on Flickr

Photo: iwona_kellie on Flickr

Photo: junemaffin on Flickr

It’s 10:59 a.m. and I’m still stretched out in bed. There’s something about the change in season that makes it harder to get out of bed, more challenging to choose fashion over warmth and function when getting dressed and nearly impossible to find energy and motivation.

Photo: fddi1 on Flickr

It is also, however, the season that’s usually filled with excitement and much to look forward to. Tomorrow marks the start of that with me and Jennifer’s trip to Seattle. It’s been far too long since I’ve made my way to Puget Sound and can’t yet even believe that I’ll be seeing Jenny Lewis in concert. Naturally, I’ll have a ton of photos (and hopefully a few exciting stories) to share when I’m back on Monday. Until then, have a fabulous weekend, everyone!

There isn’t much I’m thankful for. Hold on, though – I’m talking about quality over quantity. While the gracious things in my life are few, they are rich beyond any imaginable wealth.

I spent the entirety of yesterday, from 9:30 a.m., in the kitchen. I started by channeling my inner Charlotte York-Goldenblatt and baked a Khahlah loaf before preparing and stuffing a turkey, chopping a rainbow of vegetables and setting a table that would make Martha Stewart proud. Around 4 p.m. our guests arrived: our family’s oldest friends, Jim, Dianne and their daughter Kortney (whom I have blogged about many times before).

Though the meal took us about 16 minutes to consume, the conversation lasted close to six hours. After all was said and done, what was most clear to us all is that there is not much in life that ultimately matters. At least not much more than what is in your immediate circle.

That which is in my life that does matter and for which I am thankful…

While the list is short, it is solid and tenacious.

To all of you in Canada who are practicing the art of thankfulness today, I wish you all a very blessed day of reflection and peace.

Photo: Kurt Christensen on Flickr

Original Photo: Photos Infinitum on Flickr

It’s Fall, it’s getting colder out, time to wear warmer clothing, blah blah blah. Are you even surprised that this is also my favourite season to shop for? I have a lot of great jeans, two pairs of warm UGGs and enough cute sweaters and cardigans to last me until Spring.

Often I choose Fashion over Function, but in this case, the two Fs go hand-in-hand. The fact that it’s also Fall is just a threesome of Fs.

I love Marc. He makes me smell good. He’d make me fashionable too.

My mom had Frye boots in the 1970s. For years they collected dust in our house after she no longer wanted to wear them, and now they are gone without a trace (much to my chagrin). I want these ones, but they cost a lot. A lot.

Maybe I won’t be able to bundle myself in this Marc Jacobs dream or own the sidewalk in these Frye boots, but I need a new Fall and Winter jacket as well as some boots that aren’t UGGs or stilettos. Or maybe I could buy one and not the other.

Help me! Suggestions!

Any obscure places I should hunt out?

I started writing this post yesterday, but for whatever reason I never got to finish it. Then I looked at it again this morning and thought it to be quite…lame. So instead, I’m just starting over. Which is, essentially, what Fall is all about for me. I love the changing of colours, of smells, of textures and everything else that visually – and literally – represents change.

Photo: likeyesterday on Flickr

That being said, and without further ado, my endless list of reasons to love Fall…

- Waking up to the rain outside, only to realize it’s Saturday
- Wet leaves pasted to the ground
- Filling my closet with soft sweaters
- Hot tea in giant mugs
- Guilt-free movie marathons
- Climbing back under a warm duvet in the morning is most satisfying in the Fall
- The first day you feel that crispness in the air and know that the season has turned over
- Jack-o-Lanterns!
- Wearing UGGs every single day without any funny looks (or remarks from my mom)
- Scarves and mittens and toques – oh my!
- Pumpkin Spice Lattes
- Rain, rain and more rain
- Driving the stretch of coastal highway between Courtenay and Parksville in the late afternoon with the light smell of woodsmoke in the air
- After time spent obsessively checking the snowcam, discovering that the first snow has fallen at Mt. Washington (which is due to open December 5 – happy birthday to me!)
- Knowing that the Christmas season is around the corner…
- Baking pies
- Fall shopping

Photo: /3 on Flickr (used with permission)

I’m sure I could keep at this list for much, much longer, but instead I turn it over to you all: what are some of your favourite things about Fall?

P.S. This post is still lame.