I'm from Michigan where you are surrounded by deciduous trees everywhere you go and nobody cares about them until October hits because that means the green leaves become different shades of yellow, golden brown, orange and red. Moving across the country to Arizona I don't get to experience my favorite season. Instead I get palm trees and dust storms. Aside from the reminder from your calendar here are 20 signs you know Fall is here.
1. Pumpkin spice everything: candles, lattes, air fresheners, bread, beer, EVERYTHING. Once September rolls around your taste buds will salivate for all things pumpkin.
2. You get to wear the cutest clothes without having to layer up or sweat to death.
3. Target has filled the shelves with Christmas decor even though Halloween is next month. Hello, where are the pumpkins?
4. You're woken up at 7:30 in the morning by a neighbor's leaf blower or lawnmower because they're sick of their yards being covered in shades of orange.
5. As soon as you pack away all of your summer clothes you've got a week of 80 degrees and sunny followed by 50 and cloudy.
6. You find yourself getting excited about the extra hour of sleep you get thanks to daylight savings time, sorry Arizona we don't get that. Bummer.
7. One word: Oktoberfest
8. Famous breweries across the globe are trying to come up with the next pumpkin flavored beer because as we all know anything pumpkin catches the attention of the female population.
9. Football season is in full swing and you can catch the games on at any sports bar. Beware of all the screaming fans, myself included.
10.My favorite season begins in the middle of Fall, but it's not fall itself.. It's hockey season. The countdown for Lord Stanley begins October 9th. #LGRW
11. This means Thanksgiving is within arms reach and nothing excites you more than food, family and a long day of screaming at the TV over the annual Lions Thanksgiving Day loss. Maybe that's just me.
12. People start calling your house and bombarding your doorstep with political campaigns as if some random conversation with an advocate will in any way dictate who you vote for.
13. Instagram is going to be flooded with cider mill pictures, donuts and of course hot apple cider.
14. Halloweekends at Cedar Point are a must for everyone in the surrounding Sandusky area.
15. Haunted houses are on everyone's to-do list before Halloween especially the ones that are self-claimed "scariest houses in America."
16. Halloween USA, Spirits, Halloween City or any other Halloween related store pops up out of nowhere but is only open until October 31st.
17. Horror movies begin to flood all the HBOs, Lifetime, FX Movie Channel, Disney Channel and the infamous "13 Days of Halloween" on ABC Family.
18. You begin to relate to Wednesday Addams more and more each time a TV network plays "The Addams Family" and you can't help and wonder if the Sanderson sisters will ever rise from the dead... Here's to waiting for Hocus Pocus 2–I hope that's a real thing because hello childhood.
19. You buy a new bag and hope it's magical like the one Aggie had in Halloweentown. That movie series changed my life.
20. Let's face it, life is just better in October. Everyone is happy because Halloween is coming which is followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas soon after. Everything is just better in Autumn.
