opening chapter eleven – hello november

The magic that comes hand-in-hand with November is never lost on me.

Whether it’s because it’s the penultimate month of the year (which always forces me to reflect) or because it’s the bridge between Autumn and Winter (which means that Christmas is on its way!), for me, chapter eleven offers so much hope and enchantment for the weeks ahead.

Whilst I appreciate that there’s a hardcore “decorations must wait until December” tribe out there (!) I proudly fall into the “decorations should be put up whenever makes you happy” camp and always look forward to my annual decorating day mid-month! It usually starts with Ali playing Christmas carols throughout the house to get the whole team feeling festive. The scent of cinnamon, clove and orange (courtesy of The White Company’s ‘Winter’ candle) fills every room. And Jemma from Hello Petal joins us soon after and we adorn every room with decorations from dawn ’til dusk! 

The result always transports me into a Winter Wonderland and never fails to leave me feeling festive and ready to start prepping for Vlogmas! 

Interested in what vibe I’m going for this year? 

Think dried thistles and birch twigs weaved into the trees, black watch ribbon wrapped beautifully around recycled, brown paper and ceramic bowls filled with pine cones and you’re on the right track…

I’m very aware that we haven’t quite said goodbye to Autumn yet though so before I get too ahead of myself (calm down Lydia, I know!) I couldn’t not acknowledge how grateful I’ve been for the lessons that this season taught me. Like so many of you, Christmas is always the busiest time of year (closely followed by Summer that is) but Autumn always reminds me of why it’s important to slow down and rest. It’s like it knows that the next few weeks are going to be jam packed so it sends reminders to rest and recharge (in order to bloom again later down the line) our way.

I mean, it literally gets dark at 5pm now. If that’s not a reminder to get into your comfies and go easy on yourself, I don’t know what is!

With that in mind, though I am very excited for the upcoming season and sparkle it sends our way, I will continue to treasure my morning walks with the boys this month and savour the light, the fading colours and the last remaining leaves whilst we have them. 

I hope you find the magic in this month too.

As always, I’d love to hear what you’re looking forward to this month. Let me know in the comments below.

Looking for an easy way to find everything I’ve featured recently? Take a look at October’s Shopping Edit here.