right here!
Favorite Things
Mom Life
Book Reviews
What I'm Learning
Coffee Dates
Pep Talks
Hi, I'm Chelsea! I’m on a mission to help you find joy and goodness in every day.
On this blog we talk about the big things (like chasing dreams) and the small things (like what books we're reading) because happiness comes in all sizes.
Candy Party.
My mom and I host a make-your-own-candy every October and it always goes down as one of the best nights of my year. If you’ve never done anything like this, it’s definitely the tradition you should add to your fall.
What it is: A DIY party approach to all the Halloween candy that you no longer get showered with as an adult.
How to do it: Look up recipes for your favorite candy. We always make reese’s cups, gummy worms, almond joys, and tons more. Yes, you can actually homemake these things.
Pre-buy all the ingredients, print out all the recipes, and invite your friends over for a night of candy-making. Start the night off with soup and cider, and then hit the kitchen! It’s so messy, but so much fun. Chances are, only about half of the candy will actually be edible, but you’ll have an incredibly fun time making it.
Once everything is made, pack everyone their own trick-or-treat candy bucket to take home!
Tip: Last year, we pre-measured all the ingredients and put them at separate “stations” with the recipes–this cut down on time and mess by a lot! Also, don’t forget any extra pans, spoons, plastic wrap, etc. that you’ll need!
Visit a Pumpkin Patch.
What it is: You, visiting a pumpkin patch. You’re welcome.
How to do it: Look up a pumpkin patch near you, plan a day to go, and make the most of it. Some of them will have hot cider and donuts, and you should definitely participate in that.
Spend entirely too long looking at every single pumpkin to pick out the best one and take way too many picture. Then swing by Target on your way home and pick up a pumpkin carving kit, and have the best night ever. Put on a fall movie or some autumn music, drink apple cider, and carve your masterpieces.
Tip: Check the weather first. Try to go on a day when it’s cooler, but if you live somewhere warm like I do, then make sure it won’t be raining. Because 1) That’s gross, and 2) They usually shut down when it rains.
Fall Date.
What it is: A date night full of your favorite things to celebrate fall!
How to do it: Pick a night that works, and plan your date before…don’t just wing it! We always go eat somewhere fun, go pick out pumpkins, and carve our pumpkins while we drink apple cider. It’s simple, but it’s one of my favorite nights of the year, because it’s us celebrating fall together, and I love that.
Tip: Don’t put too much pressure on this one. If all you can afford is having a picnic in the park, then do that and make it the best freaking picnic you’ve ever had.
Personal Thanksgiving.
This is one of my favorite days of the entire year. Chris and I started doing this two years ago, on our first married Thanksgiving, and I think we’ll do it forever. It’s so important to make time to celebrate important things together, and a family holiday like Thanksgiving can sometimes be over before you even got a chance to be together, just the two of you.
What it is: Celebrating Thanksgiving with your significant other, just the two of you.
How to do it: You can really do this one however you want, but the way we celebrate is my favorite. The day before Thanksgiving, we go to Whole Foods (yes, it is chaotic and we are crazy, but that’s the fun of it!) and pick out things to cook that we normally wouldn’t buy–because, you know, we don’t tend to usually spend $50 on cooking dinner for just the two of us, even though that’s insanely easy to do at Whole Foods.
We go home and cook our dinner together, which is so much fun. And then we just spend the night eating and drinking fancy things and talking about what we’re thankful for together. It’s so special.
Tip: We go to Whole Foods because they have a lot of almost all-the-way-made things, so the actual cooking we have to do is minimum. If you don’t do this, still make it different than a normal dinner, but don’t pick out extremely complicated recipes you’ve never tried. You want the focus to be on each other, not on how frustrated you are in the kitchen.
I just love fall! What fall traditions do you have?
Sign up with your email for a weekly pep talk, just for you. Delivered to your inbox Sunday night to combat the Sunday scaries!
I love all of these ideas! I had no idea you could make all your favorite Halloween candy! I love peanut butter cups so I'll have to give those a try! I also love the one on one thanksgiving! Family holidays can be so chaotic! My boyfriend and I always spend thanksgiving morning together watching the parade and I make a yummy breakfast that way we have some alone time before the craziness sets in!
We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday and it was the PERFECT day…amazing weather and so much fun. I love the idea of a personal Thanksgiving. We host Thanksgiving every year, and while I love it…it's very hectic. A night for just the 2 of us to enjoy it is a great idea. Thanks Chelsea!
Love these ideas, especially the Whole Foods dinner 🙂 We always try to watch Hocus Pocus at least once, accompanied by some chocolate and wine (although no wine for me this year).
such great idea… and all about a whole foods and candy party- maybe together?! haha – you are so cute and i love these. and def. need to getaway and spend a date together. ♥
I kinda want to take my dog with me to a pumpkin patch now.
I love the idea of a candy making party! It would be so fun to do with a bunch of girlfriends. Also I am determined to make it to a pumpkin patch this year – we didn't last year and I was so sad!
Okay I LOVE the idea of a personal thanksgiving with just your significant other…so so cute! I have to adopt that tradition. I've never made candy before but that would be such a fun party to have with friends! Thanks for all of the wonderful ideas girl!
So many fun ideas! The fall dates are my favorite!
You can make gummy worms? Girl, you just made my day with this knowledge! Haha. I love the idea of a personal Thanksgiving. We won't be able to see family for Thanksgiving this year (Chris is working. Boo.), but I would love for us to pick a day when he's off and do this! 🙂
Love the candy party idea! And yessss to a personal Thanksgiving! My mom started doing this a few years ago, and it's so much more special sometimes <3
Green Fashionista
I love the personal Thanksgiving idea! Sometimes the holiday is so crazy busy we forget to stop and truly give thanks. I will definitely be trying that this year!
http://www.mysortofadultlife.com
These are all so great! I'm looking forward to starting fun traditions like these when I'm married/living with my future husband (whomever he is. Don't have him yet, but that's a minor detail).
Candy party!? That sounds like so much fun! I am seriously loving the idea of a personal Thanksgiving. That sounds so sweet and fun. Great ideas.
Yes! We celebrate Thanksgiving just the two of us. We started that about 4 years ago, and it's been bliss! The candy party sounds so fun, too!!
I absolutely love the make your own candy party…how fun! The personal Thanksgiving is such a great idea too…I definitely want to try that with T this year 🙂
I love the "make your own candy" party! That's such a fun idea and I bet it would work with little kids, in a modified version maybe.
I love these! The make your own candy party is a fantastic idea!
Love the idea of a candy party! I know my friends would be into that.
​​xx katie // A Touch of Teal
Aw I love all of these! I need to start making some traditions of my own. Totally into the candy party! 🙂
The candy party idea is amazing! We usually go see Dracula around Halloween and I always make a trip to the pumpkin patch! Love this time of year!
I need to have a candy party, that sounds like the best thing ever!! You two are the cutest!
I absolutely am LOVING all your posts about fall! Can't get enough! ^_^
xx Sarah
imsarahanne.blogspot.com
Your puppy is killing me. Too much to handle. And, um, yes to the candy party. Yes, yes, and more yes.
A candy party definitely sounds like my kind of thing!
CANDY PARTY??? This is genius!! I'm SO in! 🙂
That candy party idea sounds awesome! We're having a Friendsgiving this year but I also love your idea of doing it with just your significant other. My boyfriend and I love Thanksgiving food so we might just have to try it out!
Laura
Laura Aime Vous
Love, love, love these ideas! My husband and I live away from our families and it is often hard to come together for Thanksgiving! I love embracing this idea with a "personal thanksgiving", and making it our own tradition :)!
Krista
HAPPy as We Know It
All of these ideas are amazing! The candy party sounds so fun. And the personal Thanksgiving.
A candy party sounds absolutely amazing! I'll have to try this out with my sister one weekend. She'd love that!
The whole concept of a candy party literally excites me, what a brilliant idea!!
xoxo Lex // LexMeetsWorld