Thoughts on a Fresh Fall Start (+ a Back to School Giveaway)
Fall is my favourite time of the year. Spring is also nice, it's stretching again after a long winter's hibernation, but there is nothing quite like fall. It's fresh and the air smells clean and crisp and you can feel the wind in your hair. Everything is great about fall, the leaves, the weather, the back to school excitement. I even love fall colours! Brown! Diamine Ochre and Ancient Copper, Kiowa Pecan, Lie de The, Oku-Yama, Alt-Goldgrun. You can get hot apple cider and savour every sip as the weather gets chillier. People are returning to the city after their long summer vacations and cottage stays, and everything is bustling again. Every year, Jon and I talk about driving up to Kingston and seeing some of that fall foliage and reliving the old memories, walking by the lake, and maybe this will be the year! Did you know? When Jon and I were in school and he was "wooing" me, he made a kite out of old shirts from both of us cut up and hand-stitched together, not following one manual of instruction on kite-building. After it was all put together, we brought it down to the lake to see it fly! Unfortunately, it was unable to take flight... It's back to school! I don't know if this is early or late to be celebrating - back to school doesn't really start until September, but I think a lot of teachers start preparations in August, classrooms and curriculum plans, and I'm sure parents are already thinking of new fall wardrobe and school supplies. The headteacher has probably already thinking about hiring a commercial cleaning service to keep the school clean and hygienic before the term starts again. If you would like further information about some of the services that cleaning companies offer, then you can click here now for more. Even if you're not going back to school, the fall is the perfect time for everyone to get a fresh start - maybe it's because I have visions of pristine classrooms with newly waxed floors and tins of pencil crayons that are all the same size and have no missing colours. But your fresh start could be anything, and here are some ideas:
For this giveaway, we're including:
- Get a new journal to jumpstart that journalling habit that has been gathering dust. There is nothing like cracking open a new journal, dating it, and diving in. And sometimes that new start helps you leave behind some of the maybe-guilt-and-maybe-pressure of not having done as good a job as you might have liked over the last year.
- Take a day and really clean out the garage so you can get going on whatever woodworking or car-repairing hobby you've been thinking of. It's likely that you've got a lot of pointless and useless items in your garage that you don't use anymore that have just gathered there. It may be a good idea to look into dumpster rental in Raleigh NC to make the throwing out part easier. Once this is done, get a few new tools and pick out a brand new project to work on.
- Organize your office space - weed out all of the books you never plan on reading, get rid of all those scraps of paper and old receipts, and set up your office space so it's clean and organized for your thinking and writing. If you lose motivation, just imagine how nice it will be to sit around and breath in all the organized air.
- Give the dog a bath.
- Clean out your kitchen pantry of old spices and things you are never going to eat. Finding out just what you have in your cupboards might help inspire you to try some new recipes. Fall is the perfect time to try baking some bread (or so I keep telling myself).
- Coach House Press Softcover Notebook in Brown ($12.50)
- Leuchtturm A5 Hardcover Notebook, ruled, in Black ($21.20)
- Lamy Safari Fountain Pen in Neon Lime, F nib ($33.00)
- A package of Lamy Blue Cartridges ($4.75)
- A package of Midori D-Clips, Large, Zoo ($9.50)
- To enter, leave a comment on this blog post saying what this fall will be like for you or any fresh start ideas or just saying hello.
- Contest closes Wednesday, August 19th, 2015 at 11:59 EST. Winner be selected randomly, and will be announced on the blog August 20th, 2015. Winner will have until Saturday, August 22nd to contact us.
- Contest is open internationally.
- Sorry, no substitutions or changes.
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Comments
Louise said:
Fall means colder weather and lots of rain. It also means my birthday is coming up, and leaves make crunching sounds when you step on them.
Amanda said:
Working in Education means that my new year starts in September (Right after Labour Day to be exact), and every year I get to buy my back to school outfit…why should the kids get all the new things? January 1st, that is pretty much just another day to me but one that I get to spend with my family. For me the change of calendars is in September, it’s just easier to run on the same schedule school and that way you don’t have to change planners halfway through the year. :) I work with international students and am looking forward to welcoming new students to campus from around the world with all the excitement that brings. I get to see my part of Canada anew each Fall as students experience it for the first time. I’m looking forward to talking about our great seasons and that winter may or may not be as cold as they have been lead to believe, mostly by upper semester students who actually have just been complaining about how hot it is. The cooler weather will be welcome is it might mean my office will be warmer than it is in the summer, and then the first snow fall. That is always a fun day, as the students who are seeing snow for the first time run out to enjoy it, and those of us who know what that means stay inside and start counting the days until summer will come again. Fall brings a life and vibrancy to campus that is missing in the summer and winter; the summer because fewer students are on campus and the winter because Well it’s Winter. Fall is a wonderful season and my favorite. The warm days and cool nights makes it one of the best seasons to start a new hobby, get outside for a walk or take a “Sunday Drive” to enjoy the fall colours. I am very lucky that I live in a region of Ontario where I just have to step outside to be greeted by the changing colours and will admit that I appreciate them much more now that I’m older and don’t have to rake leaves. :)
Prachi L. said:
For me, fall is a season of colors. I love the vibrant yellows, oranges, reds and browns! As for a new start, we all could use a haircut/new hairdo for the coming winter months (when you won’t want to leave the house ;P)!
Billie said:
I have mixed feelings about Fall this year. I’m looking forward to the cooler weather and shopping for school supplies, but the house will feel empty with all the kids off to school.
Kerry said:
I have already purged my room of any and all things useless and MAN was that a great feeling!
I’m definitely a fall person, you get to wear cozy sweaters but not yet any bulky coats and the leaves are BEAUTIFUL. there’s no other time of year when the air is that crisp either. Pure bliss.
turnipsandcorn said:
This fall will just be another new year in university. Plans are to pick up more consistent journalling and be able to manage my thoughts more easily. It will be a great year of new ambitions and hard work (I hope!). Will definitely be filled with excited visits to your store to pick up new things :)
Cody H said:
This will be the first fall in a very long time where I will not be going back to school. This is sad but hey, I guess that’s a part of growing up. Fall is easily my favourite time of year with the perfect temperature (to me) and the leaves falling to the ground. I should really follow your advice and clean up my office and start journaling again!
Billy said:
I look forward to the autumn leaves and the falling rain, there hasn’t been enough rain this summer
Jennifer Cole said:
Fall is such a great season! Our kids started school last week, so even though it is still quite warm, it feels like fall is almost here. We have a big move coming up at the end of the year, so our fall will be spent cleaning and packing and saying goodbyes. Thanks for the chance to win!
Kath Stewart said:
Fall is the start of the New Year for me. I am more comfortable in the cool air, the windows are open, the house smells fresh. I love wearing sweaters and boots. This year is all about creating our office/den/music/guest room.
Annie L said:
Thanks Liz and Jon for the new contest and I hope you guys will be able to go out and enjoy the foliage when autumn comes around, especially with Caleb!
While we have had a relatively mild seasonal year, I look forward to autumn because of the colours and the excuse to always wear a thick sweater in the office without the judging looks I get now; I think the A/C is set to Hoth.
mickeyobe said:
October/November, 2011. After the untimely death of my oldest son my younger son and I had to get away from reality for a while.
We drove from Toronto to Fort St. Louis on the Atlantic coast with stops in cities and villages and magnificent landscapes.
The entire three week trip was a kaleidoscope of unbelievable colours without cessation.
We saw much of the eastern part of our country and discovered how gracious our fellow Canadians are.
I shot over 1100 photos of this wonderous land. We return to them frequently.
Mickey
bcameron007 said:
I also love going back to fresh clean classrooms, and new school supplies! Thanks for the giveaway.
minximation said:
This Autumn will be a different one, first Autumn with my little guy and I’m looking forward to showing him the seasons changing and all the wonder of the colour and the change in the air. So much fun and as you say a good time to refresh!
generalbullet said:
Fall is a busy time filled with work (nearing year end always means busy busy busy), new classes in school, and all the crafts that need doing before Christmas!
MrDPrize (@MrDPrize) said:
As a fellow pen collector I say to you greetings and salutations.
J said:
It will be plenty busy this fall struggling through crowds to finish up Back to School shopping and trying not to forget anything (or lose anything, for that matter).
Elizabeth Porter (snowbringer) said:
I’m looking forward to the cooler air and death of all the mosquitoes. >.> I’m also hoping I can clean my desk and have it stay tidy for more than three hours. ;)