October is the ideal time to gather with friends and family. Connect, relax, spend time outdoors, and enjoy all the gifts autumn has to offer: stunning foliage, crisp sunny days, spiced cider, pumpkin picking... need we say more? Let’s bring on that comfy and cozy feeling!
Enjoy the Flavors of the Season
The transition into autumn is all about putting some cozy into your menus. The animals around us know this, as they store nourishment for winter, and we can feel it too when we slow down and listen to that warm fondness that we crave. Comfort food can be both healthy and hearty when you team up with autumnal allies like pumpkin, fall squash, and apples! We’ve gathered our coziest seasonal favorites, bursting with fall flavors and perfect for bringing your family together and for sharing at your October gatherings.
Autumn Epicure
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Brown Butter Pumpkin Seed Granola
Chicken Barley and Spinach Soup
Customize Your Movie Night Popcorn: Maple-Butter, Cheddar, Salt and Vinegar, Caramel
Let that Fall Feeling Inspire You
Fall “breaks” come in many colors
We’ve settled into that school- and work-week routine that gives us structure, but it’s important to build small breaks into it. Remember last spring’s blog when we talked about “Why Not Wednesdays?” Here’s another reminder that we can make any and every ordinary day into a joyous occasion, a chance for fun or relaxation. Make Autumn the perfect time to plan small, casual gatherings and get them on your calendar. Why not? Be creative and explore new ways to gather joyfully. Here are some seasonal ideas we love:
- Morning yoga and coffee with friends
- An afternoon tea and book discussion
- Host a weekend “sweater brunch” in the brisk fall air with some of our warming seasonal favorites
- Plan a fall-inspired home cooking class with friends
- Organize a small pumpkin-carving party for families
- Spend an afternoon leaf peeping, hiking in the woods, horseback riding, gathering pumpkins, or picking late-season apples and pears
- Gather for a wine-pairing dinner with friends
- Take a hot-air balloon ride for a new perspective on the fall colors
Plan ahead but leave room for spontaneity’s fresh breath. Let the bracing air be a call to outdoors adventure, not just cozy burrowing! Autumn has so much to offer—make the most of this breathtaking moment! Let’s make this season our opportunity to gather and store meaningful memories of joy...
Make Kindness Count
At partager la joie, we’re all about creating and sharing joyful moments, small or large, anytime and often. Sometimes just a kind word, caring call, or small, thoughtful gift can change someone’s day or week. Simple acts of kindness have a huge impact on both the recipient and the giver. It is so important that we all do our part to lift each other up, be supportive listeners and lend a hand. Consider volunteering in your community, giving to a local charity and encouraging those around you to do the same. Giving from the heart brings joy to all—so go ahead and share it! Wouldn’t you agree?
Entertaining with a Crisp Fall Twist
Create a cozy oasis
Spruce up your outdoor space by adding fall plantings to your containers. Bring on the cozy by scattering warm blankets around your fireplace or patio, hanging string lights, and putting lanterns and fall-scented candles in place. Outdoor heaters are also a great idea if you’d like to extend your outdoor gathering time for weeks to come.
Greet your guests with autumn-inspired cocktails (fig martini, anyone?) and warm mulled cider with cinnamon sticks. Create a seasonal grazing or charcuterie board—see our olive boards and other accessories. Remember our homemade applesauce from September? Serve it alongside our pumpkin bread to add a fall flair to your lovely spread.
Host a tailgate party
It’s football season! Set the stage for your most-anticipated weekend game by planning a picnic-style tailgate in your backyard. Tell your invitees to pick their team and dress the part! Prepare some sweet and savory snacks and celebrate the great American pastime of getting all worked up for the game.
Fall for family dinners
We love family dinners all year round, but especially right now—cooler temperatures and comfort foods lend these autumnal gatherings a coziness that we just can’t get enough of. Strengthening connections over a shared meal and conversation and taking the time to check in with each other in meaningful ways is comfort food for the soul.
It’s a pizza party
Pizza making is a great activity for all ages to spend time together! Make-your-own-pizza night is always the perfect balance of togetherness and individual expression, especially if everyone creates their own pies. Prepare a variety of toppings ahead of time and have dough portioned, risen, and ready to shape—then let the fun begin.
Movie night by starlight
If you’ve got a portable screen or a suitable outdoor wall (or even a big white sheet!) plan a fair-weather outdoor movie night. Make sure to have plenty of cushions and blankets to go around, and a few outdoor heaters if you have them. Hot cocoa, hot cider, warming cocktails, caramel apples, and customized popcorn will make this a movie night to remember! Choose a Halloween movie and this activity can also be a great way to host your trick-or-treaters close to home.
Make some spook-tacular Halloween magic
Decorate your outdoor space with carved jack-o’-lanterns and plenty of flameless luminaries. Delight kids and parents alike by setting a festive Halloween table adorned with mini pumpkins and homemade paper decorations. Treat bags can be handmade mini totes or hand-colored paper sandwich bags filled with candies. If you’re hosting friends, be sure to have a collection of munchies—mini pretzels, crudités and dip, ghost-shaped cheese bites with crackers, and of course some sweet treats. Children love to get involved with the preparations, so let them help make Halloween cupcakes, pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies, caramel apples, and some pint-sized witches brew (apple cider with sparkling water and a cinnamon stick broom). Glow sticks and flashlights are a great idea to have on hand if your goblins are planning to trick-or-treat beyond home.
October Design Notes
Make seasonal arrangements
When we think fall, we think color! Add this brightness to your outdoor greenery with vibrant chrysanthemums, sedum, and a variety of wispy wheat grasses. Mini pumpkins and gourds bring a seasonal accent to window boxes and outdoor planters. Fill your vases with combinations of hydrangeas, alstroemeria, sunflowers, delphinium, and a variety of textured and ornamental greens and branches. Stick to a simple monochromatic look or make small bouquets with vivid colors. And here’s your reminder—now is the time to plant bulbs you’d like to see pop up in the spring!
Setting your autumn table
Use natural elements like pumpkins, gourds, mini hay bales, wheat sheaves, and cornstalks in combination with the deep hues of your autumn arrangements (see above) to add a seasonal flare to your table. See our home collection for relaxed linen and cotton napkins in neutral tones, luxurious olive wood tapas boards, and woven dinnerware to add texture and compliment all your fall entertaining plans. Shop Home Collection here
Holidays on the horizon
Let’s be honest, we’re not really ready to hear this because yesterday it was still summer—but October means the holidays are right around the corner! Keep your plans simple, stress-free, and centered on thoughtful gift-giving and gathering with family and friends. Let us inspire you in thinking ahead to design a gathering that suits and showcases your style! Learn more about our Inspiration Workshops.®
Enlighten your style for the season
We’re excited about getting cozy with our berber fleece loungewear and our extra-soft blankets. Adorn your fall table with our new tapas and olive wood table accessories, relaxed linens, and soy candles in toasted pumpkin, fig, and harvest scents. Give gifts of comfort from our wellness collection—lavender neck wraps and eye pillows, travel scarves and accessories, and luxurious bath and body essentials. Shop our fall collections
This is that lovely long stretch when the back-to-school rush is over and winter is still out on the horizon. Temperatures couldn’t be more perfect—beautiful sunny days and cool, crisp evenings!
Look back on everything you’ve already done this year with a deep breath of satisfaction. Sweeten the season with all the bounty that autumn has to offer and by turning your gratitude into kindness. Find inspiration for your style in the vivid hues nature shows us now, and take comfort in the cozy feeling fall brings to all your gatherings with family and friends.
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