During the glorious fall season, there are so many ways to fill your calendars and make marvelous memories. And you know my philosophy – memories with your loved ones and your besties are what life is all about!

Check out some of my favorites and be sure to download our fall bucket list below.

Decorate for Fall

There’s nothing I like more than digging through my totes of decorations to adorn my house for the fall season. Whether you go full on Halloween and then move on to Thanksgiving separately or you combine the two into a beautiful fall landscape, the choice is yours.

To make it bestie friendly, visit one another’s homes to help decorate or visit after the decorating is done to enjoy what your pals have done. Combine that with a fun, fall brunch to round out the morning. Better yet – serve warm cider and pumpkin donuts for a perfect fall treat.

Mum it Up

A few years ago, I picked up these great galvanized steel buckets at one of my favorite spots – the Springfield Antique Show and Extravaganza! Every season, I fill them with new porch plants. In the fall, of course, the gorgeous mums take center stage. So, head out to your favorite garden center (I love Harmony Farm Market near Springfield and Darby Creek Nursery in Hilliard) and pick-up some lovely, season-evoking blooms.

Go Apple Picking

The girls and I have already checked apple picking off the list this season – yay us! Thank you Lynd Fruit Farm. Find your favorite orchard and pick a bushel. Or a peck! What the heck is a bushel and a peck anyway? Regardless, make your favorite apple pie. Jar up some apple butter. So many uses for those amazing, scrumptious apples.

Visit a Pumpkin Patch

Is there anything that invokes that fall feeling any more than pumpkins? Plan the perfect autumn excursion to pick out your favorite pumpkin. Columbus and the surrounding areas have some great spots! Circle S Farms , Lynd Fruit Farm (our apple pickin’ spot), Pigeon Roost Farm and Leeds Farm, just to name a few. Be sure to check out each location for hours and requirements so you know before you go!

Make a day of it by pumpkin carving with your family and friends. Have a fun contest to figure out who has the best jack o’lantern. Speaking of jack o’lanterns – where did some of you people learn to carve these things? I can literally barely manage a few triangle eyes, let alone the elaborate faces I see some folks carve. Is there a trick? Please share it with me, won’t you!

While you’re at it, save those pumpkin seeds for roasting a yummy fall snack.

Create a Fall Cocktail

Those crisp fall evenings call for a warm, cozy cocktail and I have the perfect one for you. My Spiked Apple Cider is so easy to throw together, whether you’re making a quick batch for yourself or hosting a large gathering. I generally make a double batch for every fall gathering I host

Have a Bonfire (and some smores)

Sitting around a crackling fire with your friends and family is one of the greatest things to do all fall long. Be sure to have your favorite smore ingredients on hand. Me, I’m a traditionalist – grahams, chocolate & marshmallows are all that’s needed to make me happy, but there are so many unique smore treats to try, should you so dare.

If you’re a football fan, turn on your favorite night game and watch it by the fire, wrapped in a warm cozy blanket. Not into football – scary movies are perfect, too! For that matter, go old school and make up your own frightening ghost story.

Let Fall Fashion Take Center Stage

When the crisp fall air makes itself known, it’s time to pull out your favorite flannels, booties and cozy sweaters. Toss in your favorite scarves and hoodies and you’ll be all ready to settle into autumn. Those warm fall colors, along with anything plaid simply make me happy. Oooh – and socks and tights! And hats and fedoras! I simply love fall fashion! How about you? What tops your fall favs?

Watch your Favorite Halloween Movies

Let’s face it, there are soooo many great movies to choose from. Hocus Pocus, Beetlejuice, The Adams Family, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and hundreds of others – probably thousands of others, actually!

Make a plan to watch the classics, but add one new one into your movie-watching collection, each season. Expand your horizons!

I’m not a horror movie buff, but if you are – you can watch new movies every night the entire season. Of course, the Halloween series has to be at the top of that list!

Check out IMBD for a list of the Top 100 Halloween movies of all time – you’re sure to find something that tickles your fancy – or scares the pants off you!

Leaves, Leaves & More Leaves

Take a drive and find the top spots for viewing the best nature has to offer – that gorgeous fall foliage adorning the trees like fine jewelry. In Ohio, of course, one of the best spots for fall foliage is Hocking Hills. Plan out your route (or not) and take a fun afternoon drive. Be sure to take plenty of pics – blown up they make great decorations for your home!

And while you’re raking up those pesky leaves at home, be sure to rake some into a giant pile and spend an afternoon jumping in them. Rake them again and keep jumping. Remember – you’re NEVER too old to have a little leaf fun. Perfect family or bestie activity!

Visit a Fall Festival

Throughout the season, there are fall festivals everywhere, perfect for an outing with the girls or a fun day with family. Just south of Columbus, the Circleville Pumpkin Show is one of the biggest and best of the fall festivals. It’s hard for me to imagine that any locals haven’t been there, but if you haven’t, be sure to get yourself down there this year. It is truly a MUST!

The corn maze at Little Darby Creek is full of fun things to do for the whole family. From the 8-acre maze to hayrides to the pumpkin patch to plenty of activities for the kids and photo props for the shutterbug in the family, you’re sure to make plenty of memories on any autumn afternoon.

Fright Night – Visit a Haunted House

If you like to be scared, grab your group and visit a local haunted house. Fear Columbus, Carnegie Haunted House and Pataskala Haunted Forest are a few local favs.

Don’t overlook the Blood Prison at the The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, either.

For me, fall is sort of that last vestige of outdoor enjoyment before the harsh realities of winter set in and keep me, well, semi-homebound. Personally, I’m not a giant fan of the cold weather, so being able to take the time to enjoy outdoor activities with family and friends are what sustain me until the bleak, winter months are over.

And for those of you that love winter – kudos! I so wish I did, but the older I get, the more I’m simply not a fan.

What are your favorite fall activities?

Grab your besties, grab your family, download our bucket list and go enjoy the wonders of the fall season.

Happy Fall, ya’ll! Enjoy!

The post It’s Fall Bucket List Time, Ya’ll! appeared first on Quite Simply Us.

When you first start blogging, they tell you the most important thing is to choose a niche! I mean, I get it, but why oh why does everything have to be crammed into a little box. I have far more to say that what would fit inside! Truth is, this blog will probably end up falling somewhere between a personal blog and a lifestyle blog.

The idea for this blog started when some of my friends suggested I start blogging about the monthly girls day adventures of my best friends and I. In between, though, you’ll hear about things like food, cocktails, favorite things and places, home, decor and I’m sure some other fun stuff. So, I don’t know, maybe this is a perstyle blog? Maybe a lifanol blog? At the end of the day, it’s a Quite Simply Us blog.

Before we go too far, though, I’m going to tell you a little about me.

I’m Lori and I recently reached that dreaded 50. I’m a divorcee after being married for over 20 years. I’m currently in a happy, healthy and committed long-term relationship with Tony, who is 7 years my junior. Yes, yes I am a cougar. I’ve got a great 24-year old kiddo, who is not a proponent of social media and sharing personal information, so maybe I’ll talk about him later. If I’m allowed! I’m also lucky enough to have a beautiful bonus daughter, too! Overall, life is good!

I just resigned from my job as Marketing Manager for a state governmental agency in Ohio after a 28 year career! Yikes! Now what’s a gal to do? This, it seems. For now anyway! I have an awful lot of interests, so who knows what else I may end up doing!

But enough about me right now – you’ll likely get your fill as time progresses. This blog is about friendship. Enduring, vital friendship. Life-changing, everyone-needs-it friendship.

There are four of us girls who went to high school together – me, Heidi, Christine and Julie.

Heidi and I were best pals in high school and Christine and Heidi were also best friends in high school. Although we went to school with Julie, we didn’t really hang with her until a few years back.

Now, we’re a tribe! No, seriously! We’re the four musketeers, the golden girls (but not so golden yet) – amber, perhaps! We’ve got a few more years, okay!

Although we get together and do other things, it’s our girls day that pulls us together each month. We each plan 3 adventures a year and the others have to go along even if it’s not their cup of tea! Sometimes our adventures are quite tame – lunch & shopping. Sometimes they’re cultural – theater or symphony. Sometimes we’re swimming in a backyard pool and sipping a cocktail or two. No matter what, we’re enjoying our time together – laughing, exploring, experiencing, comforting and even crying now and then!

So that’s what this is about. Our girls’ day adventures. Our time. Our friendship. Us! Sure, I’ll venture into lots of other places, cause I’m scattered like that. You’ll learn to love it! Or not! So read at your own peril.

Here’s the thing. We’re what I would consider everyday women. Our kids are raised and some of us have grandkids. Like everyone else, we have our ups and downs. We’re all different – 4 women who have different personalities, outlooks, views, fears, hopes & desires. We don’t always agree with one another, but we do support one another. And having that support system is so remarkably important. It doesn’t matter what your best friend situation looks like, how old you are or how long you’ve been besties, what’s truly important is having that circle surrounding you for the crazy, wakadoo times and for the life-altering, earth-shattering ones.

Be sure to follow us on FB, IG and Pinterest to learn more about us and, as I like to call it, our adventures of the serendipitous sisterhood.

I can’t wait to share our stories and hear about yours. So tell me, are you lucky enough to have your own bestie brigade?

The post A Blogging I Go appeared first on Quite Simply Us.