A Seasonal Update.

It's officially Autumn in my eyes. Schools have been back for weeks, the temperature has dropped, it's stormy and rainy and the nights are drawing in. This is not a bad thing in my eyes. I love the idea of summer and late nights and being inspired because I feel happy and summery all the time but in reality, by about July I'm all 'when can I get the jumpers out?' (August in British summertime).

With this in mind, this week I did a quick scribble to celebrate autumn and the seasons changing and I'm going to follow that up with a little round up of what I am excited to see again this autumn.

autumn

1. My 23rd Birthday. 

October is my birthday month so the beginning of autumn always feels a bit like a countdown. I'll be doing some birthday themed giveaways and posts in the coming weeks so keep your eyes peeled!

2. Tartan.

Tartan skirts, tartan dresses, tartan scarves, tartan jumpers, tartan wrapping paper, tartan home decorations. Blue tartan, green tartan, red tartan. All tartan.

3. Similarly, blanket scarves. 

The scarf in this illustration is a homage to a Primark scarf I own which I also have in red and white. Blanket scarves are a staple to my autumn/winter look and double up as coats, hats, literal blankets-they have all the uses.

4. Red brick. 

If you read my Sussex blog post or you saw my Instagram account when I was holidaying there in August, my love of red brick colour will have been wildly apparent. I love autumn because everything turns the colour of red brick. Pumpkins, leaves, trees, everything. It's massively inspiring.

5. Halloween. 

I never bothered with Halloween when I was little. I live in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere so trick or treating wasn't an option, I wasn't a massive fan of dressing up and the furthest we went to celebrating was apple bobbing during which time my father would inevitably push my head in the water as only fathers can do with their children. However, in the last few years I have started celebrating it with my boyfriend's family who developed a love of Halloween during their year living in America and have brought all their fun and decorations back with them. The house is made up, the sweets are out (we are all over the age of 20) and the pumpkin carving has become a real tradition.

6. Graduation. 

I finished university a long long time ago but on October 30th I will finally be graduating. The hotels are booked, the dress and (flat) shoes are bought, the gowns are hired and I am looking forward to seeing my friends, Glyndwr University and Wrexham once more (Freshers week has got me all melancholy).

7. Seasonal makeup. 

Specifically nail varnish. Long gone are the corals and mints and lemons and whites of the summer season which inevitably just chip immediately. Hello to the plums, wine, evergreens and navys of autumn/winter 2015 (I know the lingo). These beauties always hide the imperfections of crinkled cold hands and make your nails look longer. Win win.

8. Tea. 

Ok admittedly I drink tea every day. Four times a day. But there is nothing like drinking a huge warm cup of tea when you come in from an autumn evening out where the wind has hit you a bit like the depths of winter.

9. Light shows and illuminations. 

This is a weird one and one not everybody might enjoy or encounter. But, bear with me here. When I was in school, I nearly always went on an autumn holiday during half term week in October (the week after my birthday no less) and we often went to gardens or country parks and the like in an autumn evening to see the illuminations. Lots of places do these types of shows and events during the winter but the best I have seen are Westonbirt Arboretum and Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens. The latter especially is something everyone should strive to see even if it's just once because they really make an event of it. There's nothing like wrapping up in your woolies and your coat, donning the wellies, grabbing a cup of something warm and walking round the gardens when they are all lit up. Also more often than not they have a Christmas shop and fake snow so you start to feel the faintest bit festive.

10. Back to School Stationary. 

Alright I haven't gone 'back to school' for many years but places like Paperchase, Tiger, Scribbler, W H Smith's and even the humble supermarkets make a huge market of back to school stationary. There is nothing like a fresh new notebook, file and set of pens in September and if you wait until schools really have gone back, they often whack out a hefty discount too.

Having found this post and its corresponding illustration has really got me all geared up for the new season, I am going to aim to do one at the beginning of each new season! Keep a look out come December!