Rekindle, Rejoice... RED CUPS!!!

You heard right- the beloved red cups are back at Starbucks!!! I would say you have no idea how much joy this brings me, but I think you have an idea how much joy this brings me. A sleighful might be an understatement : )

What a way to ring in the season and start November off right! For my first red cup drink of the season, I kicked it off with a Soy Caramel Brulee Latte, which, if you haven't tried one before, now is a good time to scoot your boots into a Starbucks near you and grab a cup! If you aren't famil with what it is, it's basically what I consider the perfect Thanksgiving drink. And, being November, I think it's necessary to celebrate all things Thanksgiving in full force while sprinkling in Christmas along the way until Black Friday. By the way, in case you haven't looked at a calendar lately, Thanksgiving is only 3 weeks from TODAY. Huh?? Is it always so soon after Halloween? To answer my own question, and if any of you are still listening at home, no, it isn't usually this soon lol! It varies based on when the month starts/October ends (which is Halloween), and I believe we generally have 3.5 weeks in between, sometimes four. I may be wrong, but I think this is the shortest time in between Halloween and Thanksgiving that we can have! This is all fine by me. Keeps me on my toes : ) Next year we will have 4 weeks in between, which means 1 more week for Thanksgiving, but 1 less week for Christmas. A little holiday give and take!

Anywho, I have deviated from my original thoughts quite a bit. Back to red cups! I am really liking this handwritten cursive-y type of font that I'm seeing used by Bath & Body and now Starbucks for Christmas. The Starbucks sleeve has the word "Rekindle" written on it (hence the title of my post) and it is in this ribbon-like festive font. BBW is also using that on their nostalgic Christmas candle collection. I'm a fan. I really don't like simple block letters that have been used so much for the past few holidays- it's just too boring and ordinary, and this season is nothing but! "Rekindle the season", I very much like the sound of that!

Alright, here is my drink breakdown for the holidays, in case you needed some guidance on what drink to get when ; ) Ahem: I think the perfect drinks for fall and Halloween are the Pumpkin Spice Latte and Salted Caramel Mocha. As I stated for Thanksgiving, I like the Caramel Brulee best! It's festive, still fall-ish and doesn't scream Christmas to me like the others do. My all-time fave holiday/Christmas drink might be the Gingerbread Latte... mmm. It is soo good! That one borders with Thanksgiving and Christmas, I think it can be versatile. I'm not a fan of the Eggnog Latte, it just is too bland for me. Maybe I haven't had it made right! And if I'm really in the Christmas spirit, nothing beats the Peppermint White Mocha... nothing. O.M.G. Plan on wearing sweatpants for the rest of the day if you get it though- that thing is loaded with calories, lol! And of course, the original Peppermint Mocha (not white) is a great drink if you want the cool peppermint flavor but a few less calories : ) Or, you can get a PWM with 1/2 the normal pumps of the white mocha sauce. That will actually make a big difference in calorie reduction! So there you have it, my Starbucks holiday drink breakdown. You're welcome!

And of course, no post about Starbucks red cups being back would be complete without proof, so without further ado, here they are! In all their festive glory!

Well hello there, snowman! ; > D

Rekindle the red cup

Caramel Brulee sprinkles... mmmmm!

Doesn't the black & white make this look super cold?
Brr, winter chill in the air!

I love this time of year. I talk about transitions a lot, but I almost enjoy them more than the actual events themselves. Being November 1st, I feel like I can celebrate the holidays in my own way a little earlier than everyone else does. It's totally appropriate to celebrate Thanksgiving and gear up for Christmas, but people aren't as outward about this on November 1st as they are in the middle to end of the month... I get to have my own secret holiday club. While everyone else is dreading this time of year, I'm having my own party 24/7 until the New Year rolls through, haha! Maybe it's selfish, but I really like this time where I can have the holidays to myself and anticipate things to come! While we're on the topic of changes and new things, I thought I'd share one more picture. These leaves capture the transition from Halloween spooks and thrills, to a wintry forecast of magical things to come:

Twinkling leaves over a glowing sea of enchanting lights
signify a seasonal change is on its way

I just love the myriad of colors in this photo. Alright, that's it! Thanks for reading! Have a festive day!

Happy November!!!

Well hello! And happy November to you!

Life has been a whirlwind of mostly overwhelming crappy events the past 7 weeks or so (and I don't say this to complain- life is good and I am very, very blessed!), so I haven't been able to write and I've missed it so much! In my personal life, I was celebrating each holiday milestone and countdown, from the first day of fall (which was awesome!), to October 1st, to Oktoberfest music being on the music channel, to all-Halloween-all-the-time on the music channel, to "only 2 weeks until Halloween!", to "only 1 week until November!", to "just 1 week until my awesome Election Day birthday!", to "Starbucks red cups have shipped to stores!", to "Omg, less than 1 week until all-Christmas-all-the-time on the music channel!", to Halloween last night (which was simply amazing), and now to November! Here we are!

Ay yi yi, how is it that we only have 2 months between us and the new year?! I know, I know, time flies, gets faster as you get older, yadda yadda, but I swear, no matter how much I prepare for all of this stuff it still leaves me in disbelief once it's here!

Halloween last night was really, just.. magical. I had very low expectations going in to it since everything leading up to the day had just been crazy, but somehow it all worked out once the bewitching hour was upon us. We got a record number of trick-or-treaters, which was a really nice surprise! Even though the holiday (and really entire fall season) has been very rushed, everyone seemed so festive and in the Halloween spirit. There was a chill in the air, chili in the Crockpot, a wood fire outside, the warm, ambient glow of candles burning sweet and spicy smells of fall, orange and purple lights shining bright, jack-o-lanterns lit on porches, and plenty of Halloween hits coming from the Walking Holiday household :-) Kids seemed to get so excited when they looked across the street and saw our house lit up- our windows open just enough to peer in and get a glimpse of the festivities inside, with the promise of candy to reward their trick-or-treating skills! One little trick-or-treater even stuck her head inside to peek around at our Halloween house! I was so flattered. After our last trick-or-treater (Ketchup) around 9:00, we turned all the lights off, leaving only our Halloween lights on and watched Hocus Pocus with a little Pumpkin Pie Spice coffee nightcap :-) It was perfect. We wrapped things up just before midnight, where I walked outside and said goodnight to Halloween, and thank you for the magically spooktacular evening. As it turned midnight, I welcomed the cool, crisp November air with its harvest tidings ahead.

As I sit here now, I'm anticipating all the warmth and joy of the season ahead, and also my trip to Starbucks in a few minutes for my first red cup of the season :-D  Yay! Must. Be. Patient..... OK, I think I've waited long enough- off to Starbucks I go! Pictures to follow, I'm sure!

Have a fabulous November and don't forget, it you are in AZ with Cox Cable, channel 933 will be playing the last of the Halloween music today and Christmas will start tomorrow!!! Tune in! Have a hollie day!

Also, props to my future hubby for making things so extra special yesterday. It would not have been Halloween without everything you did- from making what I think is the best chili I have ever tasted, to going out and getting a fire pit for the backyard and lighting a real wood fire, and turning on all the Halloween lights and lighting all the Halloween candles, I could not have asked or dreamed of anything better. I am so lucky to have you! Thanks my dear! Next Halloween, we'll be married!

Spooooooooky trees

BOO!

Is this not the coolest train you have ever seen??