# #317: Autumn Traditions

An episode of [A Beautiful Mess Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1485472892), 14 Sep 2026, 31 min.

Audio: https://mgln.ai/e/498/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/abmpodcast/ABM_EP317_Final.mp3?dest-id=1624655

Today's episode is about the rituals, recipes, and rhythms that make Autumn the coziest season — including traditions we repeat every year and the ones we're trying for the first time. Thank you to this week's sponsor: Visit ernesta.com and order five samples for only $10, and you'll get $50 toward any rug of your choice. Head to Wayfair.com to shop all things home. Sign up for Emma's newsletter: https://www.emmachapman.com/ Favorite Annual Autumn traditions: Elsie: Kitchen movies, decorating the house, and making fun recipes Emma: Halloween sugar cookie decorating, decorating the house, and Halloween movie night New Autumn traditions: Elsie: Boo baskets and Halloween cookie boxes Emma: Thanksgiving cookie box Autumn traditions that flopped: Elsie: Trying movies (keep trying theme very year) Emma: Weather related activities (have a backup plan) Autumn non-negotiables: Elsie: Baked brie, decorating, and neighborhood witch's weekend Emma: Orea truffles, pumpkin decorating, and wagon walks Book Report Elsie: Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie Emma: The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore You can support us by leaving us a couple of 5 star recipe reviews this week at abeautifulmess.com Have a topic idea for the podcast? Write in to us at podcast@abeautifulmess.com or leave us a voicemail at 417-893-0011.

## Transcript

[0:00] Elsie
[0:01] You're listening to the A Beautiful Mess podcast. Your cozy comfort listen. I'm your host Elsie Larson.
[0:02] Emma
[0:03] And I'm your host Emma Chapman.
[0:04] Elsie
[0:05] Today's episode is all about rituals, recipes, and rhythms that make autumn the coziest season of all,
[0:06] including traditions we repeat every year and the ones we're trying for the first time.
[0:07] Emma
[0:08] Huzzah! I love autumn.
[0:09] Elsie
[0:10] Yes, me too.
[0:11] Emma
[0:12] Okay, before we jump in, I wanted to talk about something. It's that I have fully, all the way started my
[0:13] newsletter. So I want you guys to know about it. It is called Joy with Edges, and if you're not signed up,
[0:14] you can sign up at emachapman.com. There's a couple of sign up places there, and yeah, my
[0:15] newsletter is free. I'm not planning to monetize it just because I don't feel I have that much. I'd rather
[0:16] just keep it free. To me, it's just better. But what it's going to be is a monthly newsletter. So there's one a
[0:17] month. I might at some point do two in a month, but that will be the max. So don't need to feel like
[0:18] you're going to get more than you want. Maybe someday you'll want more from me. I don't know, but
[0:19] that's how much I have planned for now for the coming year. I've already sent out the first two. By the
[0:20] time I'm recording this, I'll be sending out the third one later this month. So sign up now if you want it.
[0:21] But yeah, why is it called Joyd with Edges? To me, the newsletter is kind of so the the tagline under that
[0:22] is unearthing the art of play. So to me, it's very much kind of like if you've ever done the artist way, but
[0:23] you wished it was a little bit broader, other than just art. Which I love the artist way, by the way, and
[0:24] recommend it all the time. Then that's kind of what I'm aiming for with this. I want to talk. I'm passionate
[0:25] about and want to talk about play as an adult, and by the way, I also talk about play for children and
[0:26] things that I do with my kids. The newsletter is very personal to me. It's very much about my journey,
[0:27] although I try to offer up ideas that are different from just my own interest as well. But it's very much like
[0:28] finding that spark of joy in your life that might be missing because you've kind of let yourself get bogged
[0:29] down with responsibilities and things that we have to do as an adult: caring for others, caring for
[0:30] ourselves, life maintenance, making money. And sometimes you, I think, I can feel kind of silly taking
[0:31] time to do things that are just joyful and playful, and maybe silly or maybe weird. For me, these kinds of
[0:32] activities tend to lean towards art projects, weird art projects. But it could mean anything. It could mean
[0:33] taking piano lessons or learning to ride a horse as an adult. Anything that's fun, that's joyful to you, and
[0:34] it's also about joy. That so, why is it called joy with edges? It should have a little bit of friction. It's about
[0:35] lifelong learning. It's about putting your time towards something, growing your skills in some way. You
[0:36] know, you can find some joy from just like eating something delicious or scrolling your phone. But this is
[0:37] something much beyond that. This is more about like completing a task and the joy that you feel from
[0:38] that. So anyway, so the first two have already gone out. The first newsletter was very much about like
[0:39] how I got to this place, how I felt like I was going through a little bit of a midlife crisis, and part of what I
[0:40] realized was I very intentionally plan a lot of like joyful play for my children, and I actually really need
[0:41] that in my own life. And so I talked about that. I often, not always, but often put newsletters on my blog,
[0:42] which is@immachapun.com, so you can read them later. So if you've missed the first two, you can go
[0:43] read them there. There will be things, though. I'm just being honest with you. There will be things in the
[0:44] newsletter that I don't put on the blog, in part because I like having I like having subscribers who want
[0:45] to hear from me. It feels a little bit more private than just a public blog that anyone could read. Yeah. So
[0:46] there are going to be like pictures and things that I put in the newsletter that won't go on the blog. So I
[0:47] would sign up for the newsletter if you have any interest. I am signed up and I received her first two
[0:48] newsletters already, and I definitely recommend it.
[0:49] Emma
[0:50] So go to EmmaChatman.com if you want to sign up. I think you definitely should. Yeah, it's fun. It's got
[0:51] like I show stuff that I'm doing. I give ideas for things you could be doing. I always do like a monthly
[0:52] challenge, and then it has like some kind of little essay or my thoughts on something. It's really just
[0:53] positive and fun. And then you get some random like art projects I'm working on. Sometimes things I've
[0:54] done with my kids. It's really kind of similar to our more random blog posts that we used to do on a
[0:55] beautiful mess. I feel like this is my new outlet to share a little bit of that content, and then also just to
[0:56] talk about why I think it's important to like do fun in your life as an adult and make space for it.
[0:57] Elsie
[0:58] It's very important. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. No, I'm so happy you're doing it, and I think that it'll be it'll be a
[0:59] great spot. Like, and I'm really enjoying. Like, I'm always looking for cozy newsletters to subscribe to,
[1:00] and I'm always like trying out different ones. And as long as they don't send. Too many emails, right?
[1:01] Then I remain subscribed usually.
[1:02] Emma
[1:03] Yeah, that's why I'm like, it's one a month, maybe two, that's it.
[1:04] Elsie
[1:05] One a month is not at all too many. So we have a listener email from Paige. She says, "Autumn
[1:06] traditions. What are your favorite annual autumn traditions? Food, events, rituals. What are new
[1:07] traditions that you want to try this year? Decorating kids' activities, recipes. What are some traditions
[1:08] you're excited to start with your family as your kids grow? And have you ever tried anything that was a
[1:09] big flop? And what did you learn from that? Okay, let's do these one at a time. I think this is so fun.
[1:10] Okay, so first question: What are your favorite annual autumn traditions? So for me, okay, I'll go first. I
[1:11] am obsessed with my kitchen movies, which I've talked about at length. But you know that it's autumn
[1:12] when I start playing the Nightmare Before Christmas, and I like to play the first Harry Potter because it
[1:13] has you know the scene with the pumpkins hanging in the dining room. I like that, and my kids really
[1:14] like. There's a a lot of my kids really like the Corpse Bride, which is not actually my favorite, but they
[1:15] like it. I don't know, and they also love Frank and Weenie. Frank and Weenie's awesome. So I love
[1:16] Frank. My favorite is the Nightmare Before Christmas, though, because I like the songs. Yeah, I'm like
[1:17] very, I'm very into those little singing. It's kind of like my only cartoon.
[1:18] Emma
[1:19] It's kind of Christmassy, though, too, to me. You know, like you could play it either time. I think it's a
[1:20] Halloween movie.
[1:21] Elsie
[1:22] Yeah.
[1:23] Emma
[1:24] But I'm just saying, it's you know got it's got a lot going on.
[1:25] Elsie
[1:26] Yeah, yeah, no, I think so. So yeah, pretty much this time of year, like it's like decorating, baking,
[1:27] making fun recipes, and I like to like plan ahead a lot about like Halloween costumes and things like
[1:28] that. Like I, I'm not going to be caught off guard. Don't worry ever about my Halloween costumes this
[1:29] year. I feel like I'm like kind of going hard. So yeah, I'm pretty excited. You were like decorated. It was
[1:30] like mid August, and you're like check it out. I was like, whoa, pumpkin explosion in the kitchen. It was
[1:31] awesome. I honestly just was like, I'm just gonna die. Like I, I just hit a day where I was like, the there's
[1:32] only one thing I want to do, and I'm gonna do it.
[1:33] Emma
[1:34] Yeah, man. No, I mean, I feel like everyone's always bringing up my Halloween sweater vest I wore in
[1:35] the spring because I was like, I'm sad, and I was like, oh, she's she's doing what she wants. Is when
[1:36] when I saw it and I loved it.
[1:37] Elsie
[1:38] What are your favorite autumn traditions?
[1:39] Emma
[1:40] Yeah, so mine are very similar. So I always do Halloween sugar cookie decorating with the kids, or
[1:41] honestly, I've done it like with adult friends too, especially before we had kids, or when my first kid was
[1:42] really little and he wasn't doing it. So it's always been kind of a part of my life, I just love to decorate
[1:43] sugar cookies. I have a couple different recipes, but the main one I use is the one on our site, Royal
[1:44] Icing Sugar Cookies. But I love doing Halloween ones because I feel like you can do kind of silly ones.
[1:45] Like I was looking at pictures from last year, and I let the kids-they had like these pumpkins that had
[1:46] these tiny little knives, and like you know, it's just funny. It can be so fun and silly, so that decorating. So
[1:47] for me, I kind of start easy, and then it starts to get, it starts to grow. I let mine kind of snowball. So at
[1:48] first, I just get out like the pumpkin soap dispensers and throw blankets and kitchen towels and bring all
[1:49] the yeah the kids' pajamas, Halloween pajamas come out, and like Oscar has Halloween bed sheets,
[1:50] so it's like when those everyday household items start to switch over into fall Halloween, the kids know
[1:51] it's coming. And then after that, we start to add the wreaths. And I have a Halloween tree. I do a
[1:52] Christmas tree that's black, and we do ornaments on it. Here's the thing: I love a Halloween tree. It's
[1:53] basically a Christmas tree that's black, and the reason is because I think ornaments are such a great
[1:54] craft to do with kids. I love to do like a picture ornament with the kids every year, where it like has a
[1:55] picture of them in it, and they paint it or whatever, add things to it. And then I love to like. There's just so
[1:56] many ideas online of like ornaments you can make that could go either way, Halloween, Christmas, and
[1:57] so I kind of like having a tree for Halloween and one for Christmas. I know it's a lot, but it's kind of just
[1:58] like there's a lot that we can do and make together, and then it can get displayed. I kind of view a
[1:59] Christmas. This is going to sound crazy, but I view a Christmas tree or a Halloween tree as almost like
[2:00] a tiny art gallery that just gets put up once a year, and a lot of the ornaments are just like these tiny little
[2:01] pieces of art that the kids have made, and it's not necessarily like a painting on a tiny canvas. Although
[2:02] I have done that, it can be all sorts of things. But that's almost how I think of it, and I love having a little
[2:03] art gallery up in my house. I could not love it more. I almost am like, should I get an Easter tree? Maybe
[2:04] I don't know. So it. So decorating, and then the last one that I'll mention-it's like every year-and I've
[2:05] been doing it for a while-is we do a Halloween movie night. We also do a Thanksgiving movie night. We
[2:06] also do a Christmas movie night. Every Friday night at our house is movie night, which just means we
[2:07] don't have to eat dinner at the table, which is probably the kids' favorite part because they're just like we
[2:08] don't have to sit at the table. It's like we're torturing them. I'm like, you know, we sit at the table for like
[2:09] 10 minutes. I'm just trying to teach you to not be barbarians. My God! But anyway, they love not having
[2:10] to sit at the table, and we get to watch a movie and eat popcorn and snacks. That honestly, not that
[2:11] different of a meal, but it includes popcorn, and so and it's like all set out differently than on their plates.
[2:12] So just feels special to them. So every Friday night is movie night, and for the seasons, I do like a
[2:13] special one. It's different every time, but I just try to make it feel a little different and elevated. Like one
[2:14] year for the Halloween movie night, I set up this like $50 tent that I had bought off Amazon and put little
[2:15] lights on it, and had like the Halloween throw blankets inside it, and the kids thought that was amazing.
[2:16] And obviously, we watched like some kind of Halloween movie. Oscar loves this one called Boo Fest,
[2:17] but it's about like this legend called No Noggin, and he talks about it all year round. But it's Curious
[2:18] George Halloween is what he does, and so you know that's a big thing that we do. I don't know how I'm
[2:19] going to make the Halloween movie night special this year, but I've already bought some candy for it
[2:20] because we were at World Market and they had some spooky candy, and I'm like, perfect. I'll save this
[2:21] for movie night.
[2:22] Elsie
[2:23] So yeah, and then I'll do a Thanksgiving one and a Christmas one. That's what I'm like. Love. Okay,
[2:24] what are some new traditions that you want to try this year? I think I just have one. I am trying to do
[2:25] some boo baskets. I already started. Yeah, I'm making one for the girl that hosts our book club, and I
[2:26] just thought I don't know. Like I think it's fun, and like I don't know. I just want to like do that, and then I
[2:27] think if we, if I can, I don't want to like. Let's give this one like a bonus point status. But you know how
[2:28] like you make the Christmas cookie boxes. I kind of want to try to make Halloween cookie boxes and
[2:29] give them to some of our neighborhood friends. I think that would be really fun. But that I think that to
[2:30] do that, Marigold, I would have to like designate a weekend just for that. Yes, yeah.
[2:31] Emma
[2:32] It's funny you say that because this year I was gonna do basically like a Thanksgiving cookie box with
[2:33] the kids, make some batch of cookies with them, and then I'll probably make a few things like on my
[2:34] own because them doing all that will be too much. They want to do like one recipe with me, and then
[2:35] we're gonna make the little box and we were going to take it to some of our neighbors. So there's these
[2:36] like little girls who live down the street who we see a lot on walks, but we've never really met them. We
[2:37] just kind of wave, and I thought it'd be fun to take them something. And then there's this older couple
[2:38] that lives next door, and I know the gentleman's name, but I haven't. I've met the the wife many times,
[2:39] but I actually don't know her name.
[2:40] Elsie
[2:41] Okay.
[2:42] Emma
[2:43] And anyway, I've noticed that when I take Hugo out on walks, she almost always needs to put her trash
[2:44] out, or will come outside to to rake. And she always says hi to Hugo, and he waves at her. And she's
[2:45] mentioned before she had they had three daughters. You know, we've chatted before, and I just feel
[2:46] like she would love to get something from the boys because I think she comes out to say hi to him, you
[2:47] know. So anyway, so I was like, oh, I'm gonna do something where we can meet a couple of the
[2:48] neighbors that we like, kind of know, but we haven't really met them, met them, and it's just kind of like
[2:49] cute. But I thought it would be more of a Thanksgiving. I'm not gonna do it on Thanksgiving, but just not
[2:50] necessarily Halloween themed, just more fall themed. I guess is what I'm saying. So it's funny you say
[2:51] that. So that's what I was going to add this year too, just like a little hi neighbors kind of thing. I love it. I
[2:52] just love it so much. Okay, and then the last one. Have you tried anything that was a big flop? And what
[2:53] did you learn? Okay, I'm trying to think. I know. I really sat and thought about this because I feel like
[2:54] these are always the fun stories to tell, and I'm like, I feel like I'm always telling things about my kids or
[2:55] my life, and it might sound like I never have flops. I'm like, no, I definitely do. I think I just move past
[2:56] them really fast, and it's also like I don't take a picture of that, so then I don't remember it. Whereas I,
[2:57] you know, yeah, I'm like, hmm, what? What has been a big flop? Because I'm like definitely have had
[2:58] moments where it's like, ooh, that didn't work.
[2:59] Elsie
[3:00] Yeah, so I've been a parent for almost 10 years, and I think the main flop is trying movies. But when
[3:01] yeah, every movie flops, and then I just keep trying them again the next year and the next year, and
[3:02] then eventually it works. Because I remember when the kids were toddlers. I tried like probably it took
[3:03] three or four years before they enjoyed Hocus Pocus. But I was I was so determined. I never gave up.
[3:04] And guess what? Now they think it's cool and they like it. Yep. So I think if you if it is a flop, like when
[3:05] you have growing children, just try it again the next year because it might not be.
[3:06] Emma
[3:07] Yeah, same. There's been many times we tried a movie and it was like not scary, but too scary for him
[3:08] that time. But then like six months later, he was into it. Yeah, like okay. Then all of a sudden, he's like
[3:09] wanting to watch Home Alone in the middle of summer, and I'm like, okay, I don't, you know, like okay,
[3:10] yeah. Trying to think of anything else? I think sometimes you plan something and the weather just
[3:11] doesn't cooperate. To me, there's a lot of times as a parent where if I'm planning something that's a little
[3:12] bit weather dependent, I kind of have a backup plan in my mind. If it's like too cold or too hot, or you
[3:13] know, because it just can be miserable if it's like we're all freezing to death, or we're all sweating to
[3:14] death, and this is not fun anymore. So, but that can be hard because even like trick or treating can
[3:15] sometimes be. It's just if that day happens to be freezing cold, it's like, well, yeah, this is what it is. So,
[3:16] no, I agree. Yeah, just kind of have to roll with it sometimes.
[3:17] Elsie
[3:18] Okay, we have another message from Jenna, and she said, "What are your fall essentials, recipes,
[3:19] decorations, parties, non-negotiables? Okay, so recipes. I think I'm gonna say baked brie when you
[3:20] make it into a little pumpkin. I just like love it. If I can't make it for Halloween, I'll make it for
[3:21] Thanksgiving because it can go either way. But I just I love baked brie too. I think it's like the most
[3:22] delicious food, and usually every year I only get it like one or two times, you know. So that's extra
[3:23] special. What's your food?
[3:24] Emma
[3:25] I love to make the Oreo truffles. Ooh, and my kids don't love them, so I tend to make them for our
[3:26] holiday party for book club. That's kind of like a time that seems to always work for me, yeah. So, but I
[3:27] make them for for anything, really. I I just want to eat them, frankly. It's just Oreos. It's delicious.
[3:28] Elsie
[3:29] My family loves them. We make them for Halloween and Christmas. They're so good. Th
[3:30] Emma
[3:31] This year I was wanting to do more. So we're kind of a big football family, and that's a big part of fall too.
[3:32] And even the boys are starting to enjoy watching football more. It's kind of long for their age, yeah. So
[3:33] they kind of like are in and out a little bit. But Oscar's starting to like understand when they're scoring,
[3:34] and he likes to cheer, and you know it's really cute. So anyway, so I'm just trying to like bring a little
[3:35] more, like oh, these are our some of our football snacks. Like I'm going to try out some other things this
[3:36] year. Like I wanted to make some like baked pretzels and see how that goes over. I don't know, just
[3:37] stuff like that. Love it. Things the kids might like, but it's like this is a football food that we make this time
[3:38] of year. You know, it just makes it like cozy and fun.
[3:39] Elsie
[3:40] Yeah, no, that's really good. Okay, what about decoration? I mean, decorations. I feel like just like I'm
[3:41] gonna decorate. Last year was the only year because we were still renovating that we didn't like fully
[3:42] decorate, but we still put up the Halloween tree. So I feel like we tried a little bit. Like even though our
[3:43] house was like a wreck and it was like kind of not worth it. We still like had a little symbolic thing, so
[3:44] yeah, just. But I don't really feel like there's like any one decoration. It's just more like the experience of
[3:45] just doing it and going all all in. I like that feeling.
[3:46] Emma
[3:47] Yeah, I agree. One thing we haven't talked about yet is I do love to do pumpkin decorating with the kids
[3:48] or anyone. I like to do it on my own too. By the way, but the way I do it with my kids at their age right
[3:49] now, because there really isn't a way to let them carve. It's just not, especially the two-year-old. There's
[3:50] really no. So I do pumpkin decorating stickers.
[3:51] Elsie
[3:52] Ooh, yeah.
[3:53] Emma
[3:54] And I actually think they're really fun to do as an adult too, because you can just buy this giant, a giant
[3:55] pack of them for like $5, and buy a whole bunch of pumpkins that are small, and just let the kids make
[3:56] silly faces on them, and then we put them all outside the outside the house. So I feel like all our mail
[3:57] carriers are probably like these people get it, you know. So it's just out there, and we put a whole bunch
[3:58] by the free library too, the little free library in our front yard, so you can see our creations, and they don't
[3:59] last forever. But it's just fun. No, I love it. When they get bigger, we're gonna carve, but not yet. Yeah.
[4:00] Any other non-negotiables? Um, we also do this thing we call them wagon walks. Oh, we do it in the
[4:01] spring too. It's kind of like something we do when the weather's not too hot and not too cold. So fall and
[4:02] spring is when it happens. So I love a wagon walk. We'll do it in the morning or we'll do it in the evening.
[4:03] But we have this like soft wagon that can fold up. I mentioned it with the the pirate ship in the last
[4:04] episode. But the kids just sit in the wagon and Trey and I pull the wagon and we do a walk around our
[4:05] neighborhood. It's kind of like a walk to the end of the street. Our neighborhood has sidewalks in like
[4:06] 30% of it or something doesn't have sidewalks everywhere, so we kind of stick to the sidewalk. And we
[4:07] also have a lot of hills in our neighborhood, and we don't do any hills with the wagon because it's really
[4:08] hard. So we just kind of do this like straight walk on the sidewalk, and then we turn around and go
[4:09] home, and it takes like 15 minutes, 20 minutes. It's not a long walk, but the kids just kind of we play
[4:10] music, and the kids will just kind of like roll around in the wagon and just be silly. Sometimes we collect
[4:11] pine cones, things like that. It's fun.
[4:12] Elsie
[4:13] Fun. That's fun. Okay, I think my non negotiable is our neighborhood has this witches weekend, and so
[4:14] I just I love it. I'm obsessed with it. At the first one, I got the like my my bad little hand tattoos from Micro
[4:15] Lady Girl, you know. And then there there's usually like a tarot reader or an aura photo or like things like
[4:16] that, and a couple years ago, the girls did homemade potions, and this year they were invited to have
[4:17] their own stand again. So we're trying to decide if we want to do potions again, or if we want to do
[4:18] something that's more like fortunes, or I don't know, some it'll be some kind of cute little thing. But yeah,
[4:19] I love just like kind of all the neighborhood things. I can't get enough of it. I want to like, and I want to
[4:20] take a lot more walks because as soon as it starts to become cool, which it's definitely not yet. All right.
[4:21] So, do you have a book report, sister?
[4:22] Emma
[4:23] Yes. So I finished reading *The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore. Ooh! So, if you don't know, she
[4:24] has lots of contemporary romance. Also, Laurie Gilmore is a pin name, and I love it because I think it's
[4:25] kind of inspired by Gilmore Girls. I love it. I read that somewhere, and even if it's not true, I still just in
[4:26] my mind, I'm like, yeah, I get it. Especially after reading this, because this book was-if you've ever
[4:27] watched Gilmore Girls, then this book is cozy like Gilmore. It has that cozy vibe. It has that fun, fun,
[4:28] cozy vibe to it. So it's a contemporary romance. It's also a small town series. So a lot of romance
[4:29] authors will do kind of a small town series. Her series is called Dream Harbor. That is the fictional town
[4:30] that this takes place in. This, the Pumpkin Spice Cafe, is the first in the series, and yes, the series has a
[4:31] Christmas one. So if you read this one and you like it, great news. There's already a Christmas one out.
[4:32] I think it has five or six in the series. Not sure. There's a somewhat more recent one, and I don't know if
[4:33] that's number five or number six. But anyway, this is the first, and you don't have to read them all. They
[4:34] are standalone. You can read this one and just enjoy it for what it is, or you can keep going in the
[4:35] series. So this is about a young woman who this happens early in the book, so I'm not spoiling
[4:36] anything. Her boss dies, and she finds his body, and it sort of is a wake up call in her life for I need I
[4:37] need a life that's not as workaholic fast paced I need to figure out more who I am and I want to have
[4:38] actual friends in my life and like a life beyond work because my boss didn't always have that and he
[4:39] died at his desk alone and I don't want the same thing to happen to me and that's sort of her her wake
[4:40] up call. So she moves to her aunt owns the pumpkin spice cafe in Dream Harbor, and her aunt wants to
[4:41] retire. So her aunt is like, "Why don't you become the new owner of the pumpkin spice cafe? And so
[4:42] she takes the chance and moves to this town. She doesn't know anyone. She doesn't know how to run
[4:43] the coffee shop. She's figuring it out, and she meets a very handsome farmer who delivers pumpkins to
[4:44] her pumpkin spice cafe. Oh, and they hit it off. And you know, a lot of things happen in the book.
[4:45] There's like a mare who has dreams where he predicts the future. She sets up the author sets up who
[4:46] will be the love interest in one of the next books, and it's just really cute, really fun. There's a fall
[4:47] festival. There's just lots of stuff that I feel like it's kind of the perfect book to read for starting the fall
[4:48] season. And I read it actually like about a month ago, and I was just like, well, now I'm excited for fall.
[4:49] Love it, love it so much, super fun. I read it like in a few days. It's like an easy, quick, fun one. It is spicy.
[4:50] Takes a little bit to get there, but there is definitely some sex scenes, and they are fun. So if you like
[4:51] that kind of thing, as you know I do, you will like the Pumpkin Spice Cafe.
[4:52] Elsie
[4:53] Hell yeah! Oh, that's cute. Okay, so I decided I'm behind on my reading goal for the year, and I'm not
[4:54] gonna miss it. Last year, I didn't get the whole 52 book goal, and I was like, I was sad about it. It was
[4:55] the first year I didn't make my goal, so this year I am determined to catch up and get my goal. So I have
[4:56] been reading in between. I'm just, I'm reading just like books I want to read, and then in between, I'm
[4:57] reading short, easy classics because it's fun. Yeah, it's fun. So yesterday I listened to the audio book of
[4:58] Peter Pan. I think it was like four hours. I have read it before in the past, but I wanted to refresh it, and I
[4:59] just love it. It's it's like a little bit of a comfort book for me. And okay, on Audible, you have to know. I.
[5:00] Think that it's free, and they have a version performed by Lily Collins, the actor, which she did a great
[5:01] job. So know that, but yeah, it is such a cute book. Like, and I was like, I I had my paper copy kind of, I
[5:02] was painting while I listened to it, but and I had my paper copy aside, and I was like constantly getting it
[5:03] out and like highlighting sections and stuff like that. But it's beautifully written. And then at the end, I had
[5:04] a little bit of an ugly cry in the last chapter, which I feel like is pretty special.
[5:05] Emma
[5:06] That is.
[5:07] Elsie
[5:08] Yeah, it's just kind of exciting to also like compare classic stories with like the Disney version that we
[5:09] grew up on because they are pretty significantly different. So anyway, I recommend it if you haven't
[5:10] read it. It's definitely worth it. It has I wouldn't say has a sad ending, but I think it has a a tearjerker
[5:11] ending, Melancholy, yeah, yeah, yeah, but it's beautiful. Like it has so many good lines. I couldn't
[5:12] believe it.
[5:13] Emma
[5:14] Lovely.
[5:15] Elsie
[5:16] Thank you so much for listening. We'll be back next week with an episode called "Old Houses, New
[5:17] Chapters. You can email us any time with requests for topics for our podcast or with hot takes. We
[5:18] always need more hot takes. As hot as possible is what we prefer. 200 degree lattes.
[5:19] Podcast@abeautiful mess.com.

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