Ah, fall. The end of humidity and the return of sweaters. The changing of the seasons has brought with it a few changes to our household. Brad decided to go back to school to become the world’s greatest librarian and spends countless hours scouring our bookshelves for items he can use to practice cataloguing.

Though life has become a little more chaotic, we are still stealing moments here and there to spend together and pretend we don’t have a care in the world. Are these moments new and refreshing? Not so much, which is why we haven’t really posted a lot lately. We assumed you didn’t care to hear that our most exciting date night in a while has consisted of going to buy blizzards at Dairy Queen or watching the latest episode of Modern Family. Though these “dates” have been exactly what we needed at the moment, they are not so worthy of a proper blog post. Am I wrong?

Even though we aren’t doing anything worthy of a blog post, we thought we would share with you a list of things we have done around this time of year in the past and things we hope to try in the future. If you have tried one of these already or plan on doing so in the future, let us know how it went/goes. If there’s a great date idea we’ve missed, we’d love to try your idea as well!

Fall Date Ideas

• Fall Photo Tour/ Scenic Drive – Try this one out before all the leaves are gone. Hop in the car with one of Second Cup’s or Starbucks’ fall drinks and enjoy the beauty of the season. If you’re a shutterbug, you can try creating a photo tour of your town. We were invited on a photo tour last year and it was so much fun to go explore areas of our province we’ve never seen before and we ended up getting some really great pictures out of it as well. Even though we live in Nova Scotia, we are embarrassed to admit that we have never taken the opportunity to drive the famous Cabot Trail. Maybe next year (fingers crossed).

• Fall Weekend Retreat – Fall is a great time to take advantage of discount hotel packages. Many hotels offer lower rates during the fall and winter months. One of our favourite getaway places in Nova Scotia is the Quarterdeck Beachside Villas. If you book 2 nights, you get the third night free – a great idea for long weekends (offer is good between October 25 and May 31st.)

• Get Physical – Those leaves are already coming down. Take a break from that monotonous workout DVD and get outside to burn some calories by raking leaves! Okay, we’ll admit this one isn’t high on our favorites list, but if you love the great outdoors and a good old fashioned jump in the leaves, you’ll probably enjoy this one.

• Hiking – another active option for those of you who like to fill your lungs with the fresh fall air. At the mid-point of your hike you could stop to enjoy a picnic. If you’re from Nova Scotia, you may wish to visit Explore Nova Scotia’s website, which lists the hundreds of trails Nova Scotia has to offer.

• Harvest Date – In both of our families there’s a strong tradition of pickling and preserving! Growing up my friends always knew when my parents were making beets and pickles because I would go to school reeking of vinegar. If pickling intimidates you, why not try an easier pursuit of pie making? Or, if that even frightens you, just go out and eat some pie! The point is to enjoy all of the great tastes of the harvest season.

• Football – Though I tend to not really appreciate all of the hours of entertainment football has to offer, I would like to try going to a live game. Check out your favorite university or professional team’s schedule and let us know if it’s any fun!

• Craft Fairs – get ready for the winter season and start your Christmas shopping early by attending one of the many craft fairs around town. The Annual Dartmouth Handcrafter’s Guild Christmas Craft Fair will be kicking off the fun next weekend (October 29-31) Visit their website for more information. Other notable craft fairs in the area include Christmas at the Forum and the NSDCC Designer Craft Show.

Halloween

• Pumpkin carving – an annual household favorite. Check our post from last year that includes surefire tips for a successful carving experience.

• Scary movie night – my feelings towards the horror genre of movies have not changed since last year’s post, but I will stand by my claim to try one per year. A friend recently suggested watching Psycho – any warnings before I indulge?

• Haunted house – if you’re into self-imposed heart attacks, maybe this experience is for you. Many towns have haunted houses set up for Halloween. If you’re a local, check out this website for Halloween events happening around the province: http://www.novascotia.com/halloween/en/home/default.aspx

• Host a costume party or murder mystery dinner – dressing up is probably the best part of Halloween, but it might be weird to just sit on the sofa in costume, so why not have your friends over to enjoy a costume party or murder mystery dinner. We have hosted neither of these, but I would love to try out a murder mystery some day.

• Daylight Savings Date – take advantage of the extra hour when the clocks get turned back to enjoy an extra hour of each other’s company. This year, daylight saving’s falls on Sunday, November 7th at 2am, so set your clocks back on Saturday night.

• New Year’s Plans – no, we haven’t jumped ahead and forgotten Christmas altogether, but if you enjoy eating out on New Year’s Eve, you may want to start thinking about reservations. Some restaurants are booking up fast so don’t miss out!

Hopefully these ideas will tide you over until our next post. In the meantime we hope you’re all enjoying the fall season and that you’re taking advantage of every minute we have until the snow begins to fall.