Along with most people, fall reminds me of the start of school — opportunities for new beginnings, a chance to start using my planner again before the year ends, and knowledge that the next year will soon be upon us.

In that spirit, I wanted to share with you some of the new things I’ve been enjoying.  That have been brining me joy and helping settle the anxiety about another year ending and whether I accomplished the goals I set for myself this year.

New (to me) book:  White Teeth by Zadie Smith

I had been wanting to check out Smith after reading a NYT profile about her a few years ago and found this book in a book exchange library last month. The book is strange, funny, and the story is full of surprises. I even find myself missing the characters after a few days away from reading it. So far, I’ve really been enjoying it and when a member of my book club shared this by Smith, it made me even more convinced that I had picked up White Teeth at the right time.

I joined a wine club!

I know next to nothing about wine, despite hailing from a town very close to Napa Valley.  The club is definitely out of my comfort zone and challenges me to try new things.  I’ve been so pleasantly surprised with the group of people and also how excited we get to learn each month — I mean, drinking wine is easy to get excited for, but our ring leader also pushes us to do some homework and actually learn along the way. If you’re looking for a fun way to meet new people or engage with your existing friends, I would highly recommend starting your own. Or there’s always coffee clubs, chocolate clubs, etc.

Halloween costumes

I planned ahead (gasp!) and created two Halloween costumes for two separate parties:  Supergirl, but in the Clark Kent style, and Captain Marvel as a fighter pilot.

This is the first time I’ve participated in Halloween in more than three years and it’s the first time since childhood that I’ve actually followed through on what I actually wanted to be for halloween.  I was so excited to be able to be able to come up with DIY costume ideas — with minimal effort — for two of my favorite superhero characters. The added bonus is that I can reuse some of the costume props for regular life — score!