Fall Bucket List

Time to get Cozy and Grounded

Happy day, reader dear!

Fall is finally here! (Even if the weather at 95 degrees Fahrenheit belies that.) I’ve been channeling fall since the first of September, even if that’s not the official start date. I grew up in the Midwest where we started school the day after Labor Day, so the beginning of September will always start “fall” for me! Unless I’m lucky enough to move to the Southern Hemisphere, and then I’ll have to wrap my mind around the reversed seasons conundrum.

Summer had a bit of relaxation (See the Summer Bucket List Debrief) and a focus on downtime and vegetation, but I am feeling a need for cozy and grounded. Hey! Isn’t that the definition of hygge? Let’s see!

hyg·ge

/ˈh(y)o͞oɡə/

noun

• 1. a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture):”why not follow the Danish example and bring more hygge into your daily life?” (Oxford Dictionaries)

So, maybe hygge doesn’t quite mean cozy and grounded, but I can see a connection! So with that in mind, I am going to keep my Bucket List to three items (In keeping with simplicity and not overdoing it!).

1. BBQ

On our way back from Savannah in July, Curtis and I were discussing BBQ. No worries! It wasn’t the vinegar vs. tomato or brisket vs. ribs kind of discussion… That discussion, here in the South usually means an argument! Our discussion was more along the lines of “Why, haven’t we tried more barbecue places?” We both like barbecue. But when we choose to eat out, we NEVER eat at a barbecue place. In 12+ years living here in Augusta, we’ve not eaten at one of the myriad barbecue places in town. (That doesn’t mean we haven’t had BBQ. It’s ubiquitous. We’ve just never made it a point to go to a BBQ place.) And so Fall Bucket List item #1 was born. We are going to try a different BBQ place each month this fall. I’m even thinking of going really scientific and ordering the same thing in each place to make a fair apples to apples comparison.

2. Minimize

A few weekends ago, I was blessed to take a weekend in the mountains of North Carolina at the Nspired Clarity Retreat 2019. It was an opportunity for a select group of business women to come together with Amy D. Kilpatrick, the CEO and co-founder of Nspired Business Solutions. (A business planning and marketing strategy consulting company to businesses large and small. During the retreat, I uncovered my Big Radical Audacious Goal (BRAG) for 2020, and in the process found a parallel goal that supports it. WIN! Getting clear on my BRAG aligned so many other decisions. If the choice supports my goal, YAY! If not… Nay. Minimizing is a supporting goal that will clear out a lot of deadwood AND help me get to my BRAG. I know that clearing the detritus of 12 years in one house will be a baby steps process, but I know that time working on that isn’t time wasted, and will actually get me moving on other fronts, too!

PS: #notanad

3. Stick with Shopping Plan

Yup. I’m a planner. Not a surprise to you if you’ve been reading for a while. I plan wardrobes for a living, and I also plan my own. (An exception to the cobbler’s children rule?) No only do I plan my capsules each season, but I plan my buying. Because left to my own devices, I would bust the budget on all the things I feel I MUST have. (“How much stuff do you need to be happy, Larry?” “I don’t know… How much stuff is there?”) A few years ago, I got into the French 5 Shopping concept, with various degrees of success. I appreciate how it (in concert with capsule planning) keeps me focused and out of financial disaster.

In keeping with #2 above, I want to stick with my plan and avoid extra clothing working its way into my closet. If I order a piece and discover it doesn’t work. That’s fine. I’ll simply replace it with something I truly want that will. It doesn’t matter how “pretty” a wardrobe is. If the pieces don’t work together or work for YOU, it’s useless! That’s how I feel about a lot of the capsule wardrobes out there in weblandia… They don’t suit my coloring or personality. Wearing them would constitute cruel and unusual punishment!

PS: I don’t know why the print on either side of the visual is cutting off. Sorry!

PPS: I do know how to spell “houndstooth!”

There’s my three! How about you? Do you make an intentions list or bucket list each season? I find it easier to make 3 months happen than the annual New Year’s Resolutions. Twelve months feels like an eternity, but I can hang in there for three months, right? Let me know if you have had any luck with these! Or have any BBQ places we must put on our list! Thanks!

Stylishly yours,

(And expecting some very sticky fingers…)