Fluff Stuff Friday #62: A Real Live Autumn Experience (in Chicago)
Fluff Stuff Friday #62: A Real Live Autumn Experience (in Chicago)
🍁 Living seasonally this week, a romcom, the best bagel sandwich ever, and more fluff stuff.
Welcome to the Seasonalist, a happy place to land, where you’ll find all things seasonal and seasonal-adjacent (books, movies, food, and fun) from Austin, Texas. If you’d like to subscribe, click below.
“Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting, and autumn a mosaic of them all.” – Stanley Horowitz
Happy Friday, y’all!
Welcome to Fluff Stuff Friday, where I recap how I lived seasonally this week (and encourage you to do the same), and provide some fluffy recommendations for the weekend.
If you’re new around here, follow the formula this week, and see if you can boost your happiness vibes.
I visited a friend (hi Rachel!) in Chicago this week, and had a very seasonal time. Pictured above:
A fall vignette at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
An autumn rooftop at J. Parker’s bar.
I got a spooky sticker at Starbucks (small thrills!).
Watched the Chicago Marathon.
On to the Fluff Stuff!
🎥 Movie Stuff
I watched Love in Taipei on Netflix while in Chicago. A predictably cute romance (a summer college program with love shenanigans AND a typhoon), and you get to travel to Taiwan on the small screen.
🥯 Sandwich Stuff
I went to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for my undergraduate degree, and my favorite meal was the 20/20 bagel sandwich at Bagel and Deli. Chicago has the Chicago Bagel Authority (a sister bagel store) with the EXACT SANDWICH. We ate there two days in a row. There is nothing like conjuring up your favorite college food (many years later).
What is the 20/20 you ask? Named after a Miami University bike race, the 20/20 includes chicken salad, lettuce, tomato, and Swiss on a bialy bagel. I add spicy mustard and a side of Cool Ranch Doritos.
🧤 Michael Jackson Stuff
I am ashamed to say we attended MJ the Musical (we have season tickets to the Austin Broadway series), and I loved it. The music was just too good. So in honor of Halloween, for you younger Seasonalists out there, if you haven’t seen this (especially the longer version), then it’s a must-watch.
🤣 Laughing Stuff
My favorite skit from SNL was the Jennifer Coolidge skit. Oh Wow.
📚 Fluffy Book of the Week Stuff
I finally read "The Pumpkin Spice Cafe” (by Laurie Gilmore, lol what a pen name). People, gag, this is as saccharine as it gets. It’s almost too corny and cringy, even for me. The fall vibes are insane, but it was like a Gilmore Girls episode with some heat. One of the reviews on Amazon asked if this was written by AI, and it’s a valid question.
❄️ Winter Clothes Stuff
Due to some unexpected cold days in Chicago, I picked up this hat and these gloves. Hopefully, I’ll get some wear out of them in Texas this winter.
🎶 Music Stuff
Of course, we went to live shows in Chicago, like Second City, and music at the Salt Shed (a super cool music venue at the old Morton’s Salt Factory). I didn’t realize how many Psychedelic Furs songs I know.
From the archives:
I had the most Gilmore Girls day ever in Chicago.
How did you live seasonally this week?
*Sorry for any typos—they’re mistakes. Blame it on the bagels.
Ok very interesting to hear your take on Pumpkin Spice Cafe - from reading the plot it definitely gave me these vibes so I haven't read it and it's good to have this confirmed. I like cute seasonal reads but there's a limit
OMG I actually wrote that in my Goodreads review about the gaggy Pumpkin Spice Cafe! I DNF'ed the audio version at 70% and this is directly from my review "the story itself almost felt like a bot was told “write a small town story but with sex scenes and make it fall”. No thank you.