Eek!  Fall is finally here.  It is my favorite time of year for so many reasons!  I have been wishing for fall for a month now. Summer is great and everything. Who doesn't love the sunshine, especially here in Northeast Ohio where sun can be very hard to come by? But when the nights start getting cooler and we still have that beautiful sunshine during the day, filtering through the colorful autumn trees, I want to be outside even more. And besides the cooler weather and the gorgeous foliage, there are SO many other reasons to love the season.  Here are my Top 5 Reasons Fall is Fantastic:

1. Sweater weather. And jeans. And cute boots. Or a hoodie and jeans and adorable rain boots. And cute scarves...that you can finally wear as accessories to add a little pop to your outfit without getting overheated.  I tried to pull off adding a scarf here and there to my outfit this summer and as soon as I got home I immediately peeled my sweaty scarf off so I could breathe again.  The things we do for fashion!

2. Seasonal food. Apple cider, apple crisp, chili, soup, anything that has cooked all day in the crockpot, pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll, pumpkin spice EVERYTHING!  I may or may not have gone to sleep last night, like a kid on Christmas Eve, excited for morning to come so I could have a cup of coffee with the pumpkin spice coffee creamer I just bought.  Yup, I'm that girl.

3. Fall foliage. Winter in Northeast Ohio means everything is a shade of gray. Summer means everything is a shade of green (or brown if we don't get rain). But fall...oh the colors! No matter where you look there is a good chance that you will have a beautiful backdrop of reds, oranges, yellows, greens, and browns. So gorgeous!  And as a photographer it means that you can't go wrong with capturing amazing, colorful images in just about every location. So beautiful.

4. Halloween. You dress up and pretend to be someone or something else and ask strangers for candy and they give it to you.  And no one thinks you are weird. In fact, the weirder you are, the more people love it. And again, because it bears repeating, candy...lots and lots of candy. For FREE.  Gain a little weight?  That's OK.  You aren't having to get into that swimsuit because, see #1.

5. My birthday. My birthday is in October. October 5th to be exact. I love that my birthday is in the fall, the season of sweater weather, pumpkin spice lattes, colorful trees, and free candy. When I was younger, my birthday was a very exciting time. My mom would throw me big parties as a kid. As 20-something I may have used the excuse that it was my "birthday month" as an excuse to party and treat myself to lots of fall shopping trips all month long.  These days I think "Squee...my birthday is coming up!" followed immediately by "Crap, I'm another year older!"  

I need everyone to help me make my birthday something to look forward to again!  So I've decided to give away a spot during my Fall Family Mini-Sessions!  The sessions will take place on October 17th and 18th at Skok Meadow in Concord Twp, OH in Lake County. One person will win a 30 minute session for up to 5 immediate family members along with 10 digital images with a print release so that you may print them yourself.  If you have already purchased a mini-session and still want to enter, your free session may be used on a future date during 2016.  Want to secure one of the limited spots left for my fall mini-sessions before the contest ends?  Click here!  See below to enter and share!