A Cosy September To Do List

Ah, September! You are the doorway to the season that awakens my soul

― Peggy Toney Horton

Hello everyone! Happy September 1st, the start to the Ber months! I am so excited. Autumn is my favourite season and I simply cannot wait to share my love for it on here!

With that said, I wanted to share my Cosy September To-Do List for this month. I have been thinking a lot about what it is that I actually love about autumn, and I realised that it isn't really the big things. It isn't just the candles, pumpkins and cosy jumpers, although I do love all of those things too!

I think it is the little things. The feeling of the seasons changing around you, the nostalgia of going back to school, darker evenings, rainy walks, old books, baking something on a Sunday afternoon and suddenly wanting to stay inside a little more.

So this month, I want to really take in September rather than rushing through it. Here are a few little things I am going to do to make the most of it, and hopefully they might inspire you to do the same!

Notice the first signs of autumn 

One of my favourite things about September is that autumn doesn't just arrive overnight. It starts very slowly, and I think that is what makes it so lovely. You start noticing little things that weren't there a few weeks ago. The mornings feel a little cooler, the evenings are getting darker, there might be one yellow leaf on a tree that was completely green before, and suddenly you find yourself reaching for a cardigan before leaving the house.

I want to make a conscious effort to notice these things this year. Go for a walk and look for the first signs of autumn, listen to the sound of the leaves under your feet, notice how the light looks different or take a photograph of something that makes you think, yes, autumn is definitely coming. I think sometimes we are so busy waiting for the next thing that we forget to enjoy the little transition happening right in front of us.

Give yourself that back-to-school feeling

There is something about September that has always felt like a fresh start to me. Maybe it is because I spent so many years associating September with going back to school, getting new stationery, having a new timetable and wondering what the year ahead would bring.

Even though I don't go back to school anymore, I still get that little feeling every September.

So rather than making a huge list of things I need to achieve, I want to give myself a gentle little reset. Maybe start a new notebook, tidy my desk, find a new book to read or write down a few things I would like to do this month. Nothing too serious and definitely no pressure to completely reinvent myself!

Have an old-fashioned afternoon

I think everyone needs an afternoon every now and then where there is absolutely nowhere they need to be. This September, I want to have at least one proper old-fashioned afternoon a week. Perhaps I will bake something from an old recipe, go to the library, wander around a charity shop, write a letter or sit somewhere with a cup of tea and a book.

There is something really comforting about doing things that people have been doing for generations. Reading a book, writing a letter, baking a cake, going for a walk just because you fancy one. I think we sometimes forget that our lives can be lovely without everything needing to be productive or documented.

Bring back the cosy school-night feeling

The darker evenings are probably one of my favourite things about autumn. There is something so comforting about looking out of the window at 6pm and realising it is already getting dark. It reminds me of being younger and coming home from school when it was cold outside, getting changed into my pyjamas and settling down for the evening. Dinner, a bath, something sweet, a bit of television and then bed. So why not bring that feeling back? Put your pyjamas on earlier than usual, make something warm for dinner, light a candle and read a few chapters of your book. You could even make yourself a little evening treat and get into bed embarrassingly early!

And speaking of cosy evenings...

I have been loving creating my Blind Dates with a Book for the shop, especially because they are basically an excuse to make an ordinary evening feel a little bit special.

You get a mystery book wrapped up and ready to discover, so you don't know what you're reading until you open it! I think it would be such a lovely little thing to save for a rainy September evening, make a cup of tea, light a candle and let yourself be surprised by a book you might never have picked up otherwise.

If you are looking for a little September treat, you can find them in the shop alongside my candles, wax melts and other cosy bits.

Do something that only feels like September

I don't want to rush through September and get straight into pumpkins, Christmas shopping and everything else that comes after it. I want to enjoy September for exactly what it is.

There are so many little things that feel particularly special at this time of year. Go blackberry picking, make a crumble, collect conkers when they start falling or make a big bowl of soup on the first properly chilly day. Maybe sit outside with a blanket in the evening before it gets too cold, or go for a walk just after it has rained when everything smells earthy and fresh.

These are the things I think of when I think of autumn. Not necessarily the big, picture-perfect moments, but the little seasonal things that you only get for a few weeks each year.

I think that is what seasonal living is really about. Noticing what is here now instead of always looking ahead to what comes next.

Keep a little record of September

And finally, I want to remember it! I think this might be my favourite thing to do this month. At the end of each week, I want to write down a few little things that happened. Nothing particularly important, just the things I might otherwise forget.

Something I saw. Something I ate. A book I read. Somewhere I went. A song I listened to. Something that made me laugh. Maybe I will keep a little receipt, a leaf, a postcard or another tiny piece of September and tuck it into my journal too.

Because I think that is what I love most about this time of year. Autumn makes me nostalgic, and it always makes me want to hold onto the little moments a bit tighter. I remember looking back on my old diaries where I had done the same thing, and it made me realise how much of the details you tend to forget. So this September, I would like to document and journal about the little things I did in the day a little more.

A little September reminder

I hope it gives you a few little ideas for slowing down and enjoying this month. You don't have to do everything on the list, and you certainly don't need to make September into some perfect autumnal month.

And before I go, a little shop update! My autumn collection is now back in stock over on my A Story To Light Etsy shop, which I am so excited about. My candles are available again, along with tealights and wax melts, so there are plenty of cosy scents to fill your home with this September. I have my four best sellers on there: Thornwick Lane, The Blanket Burrow, The Scholar's Study and The Vintage Bookshop. Each one has its own story and amazing scents to add to your cosy space!

If you fancy having a little look, you can find everything over in my Etsy shop. I am always adding new little things inspired by books, stories, nostalgia and the cosy seasons, so there is plenty more to come over the next few months too!

And if you would like to follow along with what I am making, reading and getting up to, you can find me over on Instagram and TikTok too. I share lots of little snippets of everyday life, cosy autumn moments, behind the scenes of A Story To Light and, of course, plenty of books!

I think that is everything from me for today. Thank you, as always, for being here and letting me share all of my little autumn obsessions with you.

Happy September everyone! I hope you have the loveliest, cosiest month.

With love,

Eleanor