october: autumn vibes

monthly creative curations on a theme

I’m not a pumpkin spiced latte and leggings girlie, but I am an oat milk chai and soft corduroys woman who adores autumn — particularly October! So, this month, I’m sharing some of my fall favorites for you all — from styles to snacks to songs. Something for all six of your senses! 👂👁️🤚👄👃🌌

These round-ups come out on the first day of every month, and they include my curations of music, art, fashion, beauty, and/or other areas of expression. The full content of the monthly posts (including a rad monthly Spotify playlist!) is accessible only to paid subscribers, but everyone gets a generous peek below.

Before we get into the fall yumminess, two reminders:

👉 prism is now coming out every OTHER Monday (with the weekend prompts on those same alternating Fridays for paying subscribers). See you here next Monday, Oct 7!

👉 Don’t forget to sign up for the live event on Oct 8th, The Astrology of Midlife, where I’ll host a talk with a gifted astrologer, Eric Meyers, all about astrology can support our midlife transitions. (This event is included in prism paid annual subscriptions, but available to everyone else for a small fee.) Learn more here.

As we enter October today, I’m sharing ten things I’m enjoying this autumn… what I want to be wearing, eating, drinking, listening to, smelling, watching, doing, being. This post contains links to products and resources, but they’re not sponsored.

1. Warm drinks: I began this post by confessing that I don’t enjoy the drink that has a lot of people lining up outside of Starbucks — the famous PSL. Gasp! I’m just not a pumpkin spice fan, nor can my gut tolerate coffee (even though coffee smells like heaven,) so I’m out on that one. One of my favorite warm drinks of this season is a spicy chai latte with oat milk — which is quite sugary, yeah. I love Bhakti chai, the chai at Boulder’s Dushanbe Teahouse, and I love the Trader Joe’s powdered chai blend. (I’ve learned I can only tolerate Trader Joe’s parking lot once per year, and it’s in October to stock up on this and some favorite chocolate treats.)

   I also enjoy a golden milk latte because it’s tasty, helps with my mysterious inflammation, and is a perfect drink in the morning or just before bedtime on a chilly night. A lot of companies make a decent blend for this, but you can make your own. I began using this recipe about 12 years ago for making my own golden milk. (Remember to add a little black pepper so your body can absorb all the goodness of turmeric!)

   

   bitJen with her spicy chai latte

2. Rainbow plants: Autumn is obviously known for colorful leaves falling from trees, but I also notice how flowers and vegetables display so many gorgeous colors this time of year! I think I was most connected to the colors of this season for the decade I lived in the SF Bay Area, even though the trees aren’t necessarily the most vibrant in that area of the country. In fall, we’d drive up to wine country, and I remember this farmer’s market in Napa with the most gorgeous ranunculus, dahlias, and zinnias - three of my fave flowers! We’d also go over to the pumpkin farms in Half Moon Bay where I swooned over all sorts of varieties of colorful gourds. Northern California is also where I fell in love with heirloom vegetables that range from yellow to purple, like a rainbow of tomatoes, carrots, peppers, swiss chard, beets and radishes. This is the time of year when I like to start roasting root vegetables and making soups.

   

3. Palettes: The colorways I’m feeling so far this fall (for clothing, accessories, makeup, art, etc.) are: Oxblood, taupe, and apricot. Neon yellow, kelly green, and navy blue. Plum, mustard, gray… (Yes, my brain makes palettes nearly constantly. Yours, too? 😆)

4. Snacks: Tiz the season for my favorite snacks! I wait alllll year for pomegranate season. Here’s how to open them easily.

   

   When I was a kid, I’d eat concord grapes off the vine in our backyard by squishing the inside out of the skin and sifting the seeds through my teeth, and they’re in the markets this time of year. In fall, I love honeycrisp apples with aged goat gouda… and really all things charcuterie. Fall is associated with popcorn, but I honestly eat it about 6 nights per week, all year long! Regardless, this is the perfect time to share my famous (among those who know me) popcorn recipe + ritual of the past 13 years with you all: