Starbucks has been serving pumpkin spice lattes for two weeks now, so it’s time for a fall bucket list!
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Summer in Review
Seems like every season I sit down to write a seasonal bucket list since COVID began, I don’t have much in terms of traditional seasonal fun to share. That’s never been more true this summer.
Losing both my dad and my grandma in the past few months has been heartbreaking. It’s my first time dealing with this level of grief, and there just aren’t words to wrap around how I’m feeling. It changes hourly, sometimes based around [seemingly] nothing. Life has very much shifted into a day-by-day decision-making process, along with trying to get really clear on prioritizing my physical and mental health.
I’m sticking to my policy of not grieving much in public/on social media/here. I know my Instagram looks like a highlight reel right now – and things aren’t all bad, for sure! But grief dominates much of my life right now in a way I’m not representing in public. And that’s okay. That’s grief.
Summer definitely hasn’t been all bad. In light of all the hardship, I convinced my husband that we needed a truly epic Sicilian vacation. We had an incredible time and managed to get a good taste of both city and small town, beaches and volcanos, and resting and adventuring. We did so much that I’m still in the process of writing it all up to share with you! Just please don’t ask me how many arancini I ate.
August held a huge surprise: my mom came to visit! She’d planned to come in the fall, but with COVID restrictions in the US continuing to make everything tenuous, she opted to come early! We planned a last-minute trip to Paris, Slovenia, and finally showed her all my favorite parts of northern Italy.
Fall Bucket List
I haven’t shared this publicly much, but the other upheaval recently is that Logan is deploying. This has nothing to do with the current situation in Afghanistan; it’s been in the works for a few months. He’ll be relatively safe, but it’s still not what we’d hoped for at this point.
No surprise that my fall plans will revolve around that, and will remain unclear until he’s actually on his way to his assignment. But the good news is that we’re squeezing in a visit from Logan’s family before he leaves! They arrive in just a few days and we’ll do a grand Italian tour. We’re taking them to all the classics: Venice, Rome, Florence, Amalfi Coast, and of course local small towns. It’s so great to host folks after living here for over two years!!
Once Logan goes, I’ll stay busy with travel. People often expect spouses to return to their hometowns when their person deploys – I did that last time. But the opportunity to live in Italy is such a rare thing that I want to soak up as much as possible while I’m here! So I’m looking forward to making up for 2020’s lack of travel in a big way.
So with that in mind, here’s my fall bucket list! A reminder that these are loosely based on my own fall plans, but flexible enough to work for anyone!
- make: pumpkin cookies, boeuf bourgignon, and all the thanksgiving favorites
- Hike in the falling leaves!
- Spend halloween with kiddos trick-or-treating
- Send a care package to friends
- Take day trips and weekend trips monthly
- Plan a Christmas market getaway for December
- Do a winter clothing purge and donate
- Meditate daily (I use Headspace)
- Go to a Friendsgiving
- Make a meal plan every week
- Read: The Writing Life, A Thousand Days in Venice, and The Personal Librarian
- Set up a workout routine and stick to it – both gym time and long walks
- See more of my family
- Spend more time on the balcony
As always, I share a more specific seasonal bucket list with my email list! You can sign up below for all your pumpkin, leaves, and Thanksgiving desires!
What’s on your fall bucket list? Heading anywhere beautiful?
