The autumnal equinox is today! At last. And even though I’m in the South and I know we still have several weeks before the real fall weather hits, the early mornings and the late evenings are already bursting with that fall energy. Including, of course, those amazing fall scents.
In no particular order, because who am I to say whether Pumpkin Spice is more or less important than Maple Syrup, here are the 30 most quintessential smells of fall…
1. Bonfires. Whether inside or outside, there is nothing that says fall to me more than a delicious fire.
2. Maple. Just maple.
3. Pumpkin pies. Super hot right out of the oven.
4. Freshly chopped up pumpkins. For pumpkin carving or painting or crafting or whatever your pumpkin heart desires.
5. Rotting pumpkins leftover after Halloween. It’s not weird, you’re weird.
6. Pumpkin spice lattes. #basic #sorrynotsorry
7. The smell of your sweaters when you finally take them out of storage. Let’s face it, probably two months too early.
8. Leather. That beautiful smell that lets you know Marshalls and TJs and everywhere else has finally hit boot season.
9. Apple crisp. Preferably with ice cream. And cinnamon.
10. The smell of that first frosty morning. Finally.
11. Spiced apple.
12. Mulled wine. If you’ve never smelled (or tasted) this, please make it, if only for the scent it will bring to your apartment.
13. Candy Corn. But only the smell. Do not eat candy corn.
14. Caramel.
15. Delicious Fall froyo flavors. Like Hazlenut and German Chocolate Cake and Apple Crisp.
16. Hot Cocoa (no, I don’t think it’s too early)
17. Ginger bread.
18. But mostly pumpkin bread. Let’s be real.
19. Autumn wreaths. If I was crafty I would have these all over my home. I see you, Martha.
20. The Farmers Market. It just smells more crisp and clean somehow in the fall. Maybe because people are sweating less. Maybe because of Fall produce. Either way, it makes waking up early on a Saturday morning a little more pleasant.
21. Slippers. My LL Bean slippers that have lived through 6 falls and winters, to be exact.
22. Chai tea. Any kind of tea really, I’m just partial to Chai.
23. Fall thunderstorms.
24. Yankee Candle—don’t act like this place isn’t exponentially better in the fall than in any other season.
25. Maple Syrup. This can’t just be a New Hampshire thing, right?
26. Covered Bridges. This is almost definitely a New Hampshire thing, but just trust me.
27. Hot coffee. As much as I love the transition from Hot to Iced coffee in the spring, there’s nothing I love more than my first Dunkin’ Donuts piping hot hazelnut coffee come September.
28. Beer. Because football!
29. Tailgates. Again, because football. Dips, chicken wings, pizza– there’s nothing better.
30. Fall sweat. Compared summer sweat, a morning fall run just smells different. A summer run makes you want to die in your own sweat and humidity. A fall run makes you want to run for miles and miles and love on that sweat.
[Lead image via Anna_Pustynnikova/Shutterstock]
The 30 Most Amazing Things You'll Smell This Fall
