If you live in the south…
…in September fall is a distant dream.
Other places?
They’re pulling out their sweaters and watching the leaves turn and wrapping themselves in blankets on the occasional chilly nights and picking out their hot chocolate flavor.
But here in Texas?
Umm.
Not so much.
We’re still putting on sunscreen and wiping the sweat from our brow and sticking to the seats of our cars.
Fall will get here eventually. But don’t blink. You might miss it. It doesn’t stay long and a couple of weeks after it arrives—it’s time to start singing Christmas carols.
Here’s a tour of my fall kitchen.
And just in case you were wondering…
…you’ll know it’s fall in the south when….
1. You clear your calendar on Friday night.
Because well.
Football.
2. On Saturday you invite friends over for a football watching party.
The menu?
Fried green tomatoes.
Fried pickles.
Fried okra.
Good thing you’re eating healthy with a vegetable plate.
3. It’s still humid.
Crisp, cool fall days are things you only experience when you watch Hallmark movies.
4. You put on your new fall jean jacket that you bought.
And turn down the air conditioner to be able to wear it.
5. You got your backpack for school.
And it was monogrammed.
And your water bottle may or may not have been, too.
6. Your hair won’t stay curled.
No worries.
There’s always Aqua Net.
7. It’s flannel season.
Everything looks cuter with a flannel.
Your t-shirt.
Your jeans.
Your Aqua-netted hair.
8. You put less ice in your sweet tea.
And you don’t need your monogrammed koozie to keep it cold.
9. It gets below 90 degrees.
Otherwise known as sweater weather.
9. When someone visits from out of town and fans themselves and comments on how hot it is.
And asks you if fall is actually here.
You smile.
And say “Yes ma’am.”
Happy fall y’all.
If you’d like a little more kitchen with that fall here are some other amazing fall kitchens to check out.
Just click on the links below to take you to the posts.
A giant thanks to my friend Kristen for putting this all together.
Ella Claire | French Country Cottage | Craftberry Bush | Rooms For Rent
Jeanne Oliver | Nina Hendrick Design Co. | Shades of Blue Interiors | Zevy Joy
Dear Lillie | Home Stories A to Z | Beneath my Heart | Boxwood Avenue
Nesting with Grace | Jennifer Rizzo Design Company | Julie Blanner | Thistlewood Farms
Thank You! We're in Florida, so you pretty much summed up Fall for us too. Loved the post. So fun and meaningful.
It will be 90 here in Indiana today. Waiting patiently for fall too! Love the cute wood and brass calendar. Where do you find it?
Becky, I got it from Magnolia Market. Here's the link: https://shop.magnolia.com/products/wood-brass-desk-calendar Happy day friend! karianne
KariAnne, I was just sure that was a homemade Christmas present from your brother. Judith
Ummm... this post has just described our lives here in Florida...... Where is Fall??? On the Hallmark channel .... And you listed 3 of my all time favs!!! Fried: pickles.. okra... green tomatoes.. what ???? Sure do wish I lived close enough to pop over for some fall fun and treats!!! Gorgeous Fall Kitchen btw!!!!! :)
Yes, it’s Fall, y’all. Kinda-sorta! Lol! I love fall, but there is so little of it!
I can so relate! As you know, I live in Charleston, South Carolina. It's still 90 degrees and 90% humidity. Sweater? What's that? A 56-year-old woman on a 90 degree "autumn" day having hot flashes?
I keep telling folks it isn’t fall until September 21, so don’t worry too much that it’s still over 90 degrees here in South Carolina! Loved the post. Makes me think of a line in the Roseanne Cash song - “...it’s hot from March to Christmas and other things you’ll find”
As a native Texan (San Antonio) your post really made me chuckle....I had so many of those same thoughts growing up. The last 20 years we have lived in Minnesota....where, yes, we get to do all those fun fall things now. Temps are cooling (time for fun sweaters and boots), leaves are turning (time for the annual fall color drive). But, the flip side is you'll be having wonderful, mild winters while we will have long, hard winters with sub zero for days at a time. Spring planting time for you is March...for me it's late May when I am chomping at the bit to get to it. Having lived in both the weather extremes of MN and TX, each one has it's plus side. Love, love your fall decor!
Same here in Southwest Virginia/East Tennessee, we are still swimming in our pool even into October. No place like home . . . THE SOUTH. Love it ! ! !
I am laughing so hard! Lived in California desert for over 20 years and could relate to all of your points! Here’s to less ice in the tea!
Literally SAME here in North Carolina. I'm always so impatient for Fall. Every year I dream of a freak weather pattern that will make it cool here in September, but I'm always disappointed. And don't get me started on how I feel about it being warm/hot at Thanksgiving - I can't recall any recent times when we had a cool, crisp one even in the mountains of NC where most of my extended family gathers for turkey and fixins and fellowship. It really was cooler when I was younger. I want to wear boots and a sweater and sit comfortably in them on the porch at my grandparent's house on Thanksgiving Day. Probably never gonna happen again though. Thanks global warming (visualize my sad, pouty face)! But when Fall does finally show up here, I soak up every single glorious second of it.
Football!!! My husband is also a high school football coach, and Western PA football is almost as obsessed as Texas is with their football, or so I hear!!! Enjoy the seasons change, even if some it is only by way of a calendar flip! (and I also love the brass daily calendar you showed!!)
Here in Colorado it is cooling a bit. Thank Heaven. Cool and rainy today. The last few years it has been hot until November....and hot just makes me tired. Every year I pray for one early freeze to stop the allergies. Once it snowed on September 12. Even so, our winters are milder and Colorado gets many sunny days to melt snow. I am so happy for the change, busy putting out fall decor.
It falls below 90 degrees. Ha hahahahahaha. So true. When it does, it is such a reprieve. Thanks, I needed that!
This year in Southern Indiana we are still sweatin' so no sweaters here!!! Lol
I’m in Michigan and we are waiting for cool and crisp! Today is almost 90 and very humid!!
I adore all of your vintage pieces - like that bingo ball holder???? And you have me cracking up over your Texas vs Everywhere Else analogy lol!! It's getting cold here - I had to wear a jacket the other day!
I found out the hard way that just because the calendar says its late Sept/early October that doesn't mean its Fall in Texas! I almost roasted when we went to Round Top Antiques week in TX four years ago. I have never felt heat like that before in my life and I live in Virginia! Nope, Texas is a whole different kind of heat folks. Its not for sissies that's for sure and while I was walking around with my make-up and mascara running and my hair wet these native Texan ladies looked like they just walked out of a salon. They must be conditioned and all of them driving black SUV's for some reason.
In Arizona, so hopefully around the first of November it will cool down to 90. Do you still have the little Yorkie?
Yes, it’s true fall comes early here (I live in NH) but Spring comes really late-we can still get snow in May. So you can envy us in Fall and I will curse you in March when you’re enjoying Spring and I am still knee deep in snow!
It's still summer here in Boston with temps in the 90's. And that's OK because I'm still not ready for fall like y'all down South are!! Bless you and try to stay cool!!! xoxo
"It’s still humid. Crisp, cool fall days are things you only experience when you watch Hallmark movies." Yes, that's Maryland, too. We get fall sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving. Most of the time.
Hmm, your autumns sound like Michigan's springs--don't blink or you'll miss it! Actually, here in the mitten state it's swelteringly (yes, that is a word) hot and humid BUT we are supposed to get more moderate weather tomorrow. And not a moment too soon! The south would be a wonderful place to live except for all that hot weather .... ;) ...... good thing I don't mind snow!
Loved today’s post & had a good laugh over many of the points. KariAnne, can you tell me about those exquisite flower-looking things that are in the second picture between points 5 & 6, please? It’s the picture following your white dishes. They appear to be in your wooden dough bowl.
Ann, I just bought them at Hobby Lobby! They are so adorable and I think they were only about $3.99! Happy day friend! karianne
We have a high 91 degrees here in NY! And yesterday was hotter at 94 with 90 degrees of humidity! The fall of my childhood has suffered a major change, but really there is NO global warming! Yeah right!
Eileen, Just talked to my sister in law today that lives in the Poconos and she said it had been in the 90's there too. Usually, she said by the end of August it has already turned a lot cooler and fall like but nope not this year.
In Kentucky before Labor Day weekend, I put a mum & a pumpkin on my porch, hoping it would cool things off a bit. Maybe I should change it to a poinsettia & a Santa. I just received my copy of your latest book & I can’t wait to begin reading it.
Chicago is currently 91 degrees and will be dealing with the remnants of the current hurricane in a couple of days which means more torrential downpours. No matter where you are and what the weather is, if you have family and friends, it makes it bearable. My jean jacket is also waiting...but we’re aiming for 65 degrees. Lol
Here in Iowa it has gotten a little cooler with all of the rain we have been having. And it is still humid! So we need the AC, but then I get kind of chilly because we have to keep it cool enough to keep out the humidity!!! Labor Day has been in the 50's some years and also the 90's. I love the fall colors, but winter follows the fall and I strongly dislike winters!! Do your trees lose their leaves during the fall? I guess there isn't any perfect place to live, weather wise. I loved your post and your fall decorations!!
So true but a little sad. I bought a sweater to wear to the state fair one year. I nearly passed out from heat exhaustion. I was clearly a Texas newbie. Thanks for sharing your fall tidbits.
HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!
Same here for us in SC. It's still in the 90s and oh so humid.
Love it! Love your kitchen! Love your sweet, funny words! Thank you, KariAnne! Jane x
Love all of your stories and pictures. I must have missed the one on how many layers of tile were in the bathroom floor. I think it was the bathroom that you were taking up the tile. Just wondering how many layers you found. We had lived in a hundred year old home and know how that goes.
You just described fall in the south. I live in SE Tennessee and it's still upper 80's in the daytime. It's in the lower to mid 70's in the mornings. The humidity is 1000% still. The day is coming when we'll have a good day (or two) of rain and then it will suddenly be fall. It will go from the highs in the 80's to highs in the 60's. We never know when it will happen, but it will happen. The hubs and I are heading to the Mountains of NC the end of September and I'm so hoping it will be much cooler there by then.
As a fellow Texan, I can so relate! Cant wait to wear "fall" clothes, lol. Where did you find the Greenhouse/terrarium piece on the island? Love it, have been looking for one for quite some time.
I lived in Texas for three years. You knew it was fall when the ladies broke out their candy corn earrings and their spider web pants and their pumpkin sweatshirts because it was September and the temperature had dropped below 90 degrees. By Thanksgiving they were wearing their boots and fur jackets to do Christmas shopping because it was 70 degrees outside and getting mighty cold out there!
Fall is in the air here in Minnesota. Squash is plentiful at the farmer's market, acorns cover the ground, along with wild plums. It's apple picking season too. The leaves are starting to change color and fall from the trees. I can smell Fall all around. Sweatshirt/sweater weather is here!
I am lovin everything in this post. Niceeeeeeee!
After a loooong kitchen and masterbath remodel, I had the house of my dreams. Then, we decide to sell and built our dream home out of state. So, here I sit in a rental planning our next move. I absolutely love, love LOVE your white kitchen and pops of natural wood features/accents. It's exactly what I want but I need to ask: Do white cabinets turn yellow over time? That's my biggest fear. I had white outlet covers that turned nicotine yellow in less than a year that were out of direct sunlight, too. And the heat? I'm bypassing fall and going straight to winter. The older I get, the less I can tolerate any temperature above 65°F Ü Thanks for all you do ALL the time ♥ Your blog is always an inspiration and "instigator" Ü for things I never knew I "needed".
Love the bird cage on your counter! Would you please share your source? Thank you!
Such cute fall decor, and the house looks lovely as always. Pat
I NEED your terrarium!! Beautiful...just that the rest of your things! Could you please share where you got it?
I love this post! We live in Cleveland, OH and it's just starting to feel like fall. It's my favorite time of the year. Our winters are long, though. I guess we just need to find the joy in every season, no matter where God plants us. ☺
Beautiful kitchen! Fall is exactly the same in Georgia...well, we don't use as much AquaNet but other than that, the same. Yes, ma'am! Happy Fall!