Okay, I give in.

It’s pumpkin season.

I’m officially ready to embrace it.

And by embrace, I obviously mean reclaim my pumpkin-pie-for-dinner habit, as well as incorporating orange into every other meal of my life, like with pumpkin pancakes, oats, and pasta.

Yeah, that’s right – pumpkin pasta. Wait for it.

Taste of fall

Today was screaming of fall, with drizzly rain all the live long day.

Hello, rainboots. Glad you could make a reappearance.

This also clearly meant a stop at Starbucks.

But no, that’s not a pumpkin spice latte. I actually don’t like them.

Sorry! Pick yourself up off the floor, America.

Those babies are way too sweet for me, so instead I usually just try to incorporate a pump or two into another drink when I’m near Starbucks. Today I ordered a nonfat misto, with one pump of pumpkin spice. HIT.THE.SPOT.

After work, I hit up Trader Joe’s for a few items. Ironically, I spent so much time grocery shopping, that I was too starving when I got home to actually cook anything substantial using the groceries I’d just picked up. Instead, I ended up heating up this guy.

Yep, another whim Trader Joe’s purchase.

I’m such a sucker.

I’d actually never had chili before, but this turkey chili was absolutely delish. My roommate and I split this, and I ate my portion with a side of sauteed veggies and a sweet potato.

Chili is a fall meal, right?

Goal-making

Work has been blah, with lots of changes coming along the way that I can’t disclose on the blog. Actually, over the past few months there have been lots of things (both good and bad) in the works in my life and stewing in my little brain (that I keep mysteriously hinting at in an annoyingly ambiguous way here on the ol’ blog), and hopefully I can get into mooore details soon.

One of the larger ones weighing down on my mind was Penpal’s impending trip that I mentioned yesterday.

I’m hoping very soon I can communicate a bit more about all of this ish, but in the mean time guess what I’ve been doing!

Well, my Type A personality has been thinking about goals.

Yep, some updated goals for this pumpkin season, aka the season of Penpal being away, and hopefully a season of growth and reflection for me. After all, I’m 25 now damn it.

My goals for these next few months include:

1. Fitting more yoga in my life, preferably 4 sessions a day.

2. Spending more time in the kitchen doing something other than just eating.

I sort of let my love for cooking and baking slide over the past few months due to all my traveling, and baking that banana bread the other day reminded me how much I truly love stirring batter and simmering things over the stove. Baking and cooking are two of my favorite things to do and unwind, even though I often set off fire alarms and burn things.

Uh, or something like that.

Plus I have approximately ten kajillion recipes ripped out from magazines and stolen from friends/family members, plus cookbooks, and its time to put them all to good use.

3. Piecing together my long-term goals.

Yeah. I love lists and future thinking. So sue me.

Oh, and part of that future = Penpal, here in D.C. He’s moving here in spring!

YES.

I’m so stinkin’ pumped, and I have lost the will to even mildly hide it.

4. Getting more rest, reading more books.

Um, I don’t think that requires further explanation.

Mmk, time for that new Fox show, The New Girl – so hilarious so far. Goodnight!

Tell me, do you have any goals for this pumpkin season?!