It’s finally beginning to feel like fall in Las Vegas. Autumn in the desert doesn’t mean much beyond slightly cooler temps – this week we are down to highs in the 70’s F (20-25°C). Desert dwellers don’t get to witness the beautiful change of the season like other parts of the country do: we don’t have many trees here (for water reasons), and most of the ones here don’t change color or lose their leaves. We don’t have pumpkin patches or apple orchards on every corner; in fact, we don’t have farms here at all (except for Gilcrease Orchard). The crisp morning air doesn’t typically come until November or December. You can imagine how difficult it is to enjoy the first pumpkin spice latte of the season when the temps are still in the high 90’s F (~35°C). However, I still welcome the small changes the season does bring, and today that means turning off the AC for the first time since May and opening the windows to let some fresh air into the house.
And just because it doesn’t feel like fall outside, doesn’t mean I can’t make it feel like fall inside. I don’t own a lot of autumn home decor – my favorite season is Christmas and that’s when I make an effort to go all out – but I did pick up a couple of new items this year that I’m excited about!
The first addition was these gorgeous new stems from Target. They make a big impact in my dining room and they still feel like summer stems, but hint that cooler weather is coming.
I also picked up these stems and put them in the entry. I’m impressed with the stem selection at Target this year. Both are from the Hearth & Hand line, but Threshold and Studio McGee have great options too. I was really tempted by a few throw pillows at Target, but I just cannot bring myself to buy throw pillows for each season: I’d have no place to store all of them! I wish Target would get on board with selling throw pillow covers instead, they’re much easier to store, wash, and change out throughout the year.
Of course, a few fall candles came home with me as well! Weird how that always happens.
Moving on to IKEA, I couldn’t resist coming home with this adorable pumpkin bowl. I don’t usually decorate with orange in my house, but this shade of orange is a darker, burnt orange that feels more like fall than it does Halloween. I still don’t know what to put in it… I don’t eat a lot of candy, and it’s too small for a punch bowl.
The last addition I made this season was a couple of new baking pans from Williams Sonoma. I visited the store because I wanted to see the infamous Evergreen KitchenAid mixer in person (yes, it’s beautiful), but thought these pans were too cute to pass up. The pumpkin bundtlet pan came with some pumpkin bread mix, so over the weekend, my mom came over and we made some pumpkin bread muffins with cream cheese frosting! Yum, these definitely make it feel like fall in the house.
And that’s all the new purchases for the season! I put out some additional pumpkin decor and stems that I already owned, changed the artwork on the Frame TVs, and swapped out my taper candles for some yellow ones left over from last year. The house feels so festive and cozy inside, even though it’s still warm outside.
And even though, in my opinion, fall unofficially starts on September 1, we still have the official first day of fall to look forward to in a few days (September 22). I might plan a fall-themed dinner party soon, it’s been a while since I hosted one. And a trip to Gilcrease Orchard to get some apple cider donuts and pick up a pumpkin. Happy Fall, Ya’ll!
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