“I love summertime more than anything else in the world. That is the only thing that gets me through winter, knowing that summer is going to be there” – Jack McBrayer

I seriously think there should be a support group for people who are having problems with facing the fact that summer doesn’t last forever… I would soooo definitely be a member !!! Summer is my favorite season and every year, when summer is nearing its end, I get a bit melancholic… I simply don’t like the days shortening and the mornings getting chillier. I just want to hold on to the summer season for as long as possible… which isn’t always easy as from mid August, you are confronted with it everywhere, whether you like it or not. In magazines, in shops, in the papers, on the internet, everywhere you look you there it is… “summer is coming to its end”, “back to school”, “what to wear next fall”. I try to ignore this for as long as possible and I am simply denying the fact that summer comes to an end.

God I so love summer… and every year it seems to get tougher saying goodbye to it! I dread those windy and rainy days when the sun hardly comes out, lunch breaks when I can’t set a foot out of the office as it’s pouring down with rain, Sundays that seem to be pointless as you can hardly get out because of the wind and darkness… even during daytime! For those who hadn’t figured it out just yet… I’m not a fall/winter kinda girl!!

But as fall/winter takes up half of the year, I must see the positive side and I have to make the best of it. To make the transition from summer to fall as painfree and smooth as possible, I follow a therapy that consists of several levels…

The first level takes place at the end of August. I buy some fashion magazines to do some research on what’ll be trending. I prefer to do the research whilst sitting in my garden in the sun with a glass of chilled rosé as a companion to make it more bearable. At the beginning of September, this research of course results in a first fall shopping spree, which can lighten up my day in an instant. Mind you, I am not looking forward to fall… no I am looking forward to wearing my new clothes !

Level two of my ‘how to survive fall/winter-therapy’ consists of turning my bathroom into a private health spa. This is prescribed once a week, but I am allowed as many doses as needed for those worst case scenarios. This level starts on the first really horrible Friday or Saturday evening of September. The prescription is quite elaborate, but has to be followed precisely: soaking in a hot bubbly bath, preferably for about an hour, with the following props : cleanser, face and body scrub, face mask, oil, candles, music (depending on the mood I’m in I’ve got a choice of jazz, lounge or nostalgic 80ies/90ies music) and then there is of course the obligatory glass of Shiraz to keep me company. All this can do the trick and make me forget that I actually don’t like fall !

Level three begins at the end of September, which is the start of the many family gatherings, parties and outings that are lined up during these last months of the year. Nearly every weekend is taken with at least one activity, definitely enough to get me going !

Now if these three levels are taken with care and none of them is skipped, I can drag myself through the dreaded months and it actually makes me realise that even fall and winter have their charms !

Love, Kathleen

(Note : sometimes even these three levels are not enough. Chanting the mantra “you don’t have to shave your legs every other day in fall/winter” is then my last resolve…)