IT GIRL’S GUIDE TO FALL; how to romanticize the dark fall mornings & nights + embracing the season

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of A Better You. My name is Fernanda Ramirez and welcome back to a new episode. I am so excited and I'm excited to be talking to you because I have not spoken to this microphone in quite some time. I actually just got back from my two and a half week Europe trip and I actually was planning on making today's episode an episode all about solo traveling and everything I've learned on my solo adventures because you know I didn't feel that qualified before going on this trip to talk about solo traveling but this was the solo travel of my solo travels. Does that make sense? Like I went to multiple different countries, my brain was turned on for two and a half weeks straight and I now feel like I could speak on the topic but instead of going into that which first of all let me know if that's something that you're interested in because I'd love to talk about it and I'd love to tell you about my findings because it was such a good trip but I thought first because it is already October that we would talk about the It Girls guide to fall. Now I know it's been some time that fall has actually begun but if you guys are like me and sometimes you forget to enjoy the season and then the season's happening and you're like what the heck it's almost done this is gonna be the episode for you. For us late type B procrastination girlies that didn't embrace the fall season September 1st which is okay because you know what fall actually starts September 22nd so we've got time we've got all of November so anyways in today's video we are going to talk about the perfect fall morning routine, what to do during the day, the perfect fall night routine, we're gonna go through my Pinterest board together, I'm gonna tell you guys about what fashion trends are on top, we're gonna talk about some movies to watch, some shows to watch, Halloween plans. Guys I am so excited October might just be my favorite month for a number of reasons starting off with the fact that it is my birthday month. I just love the cozy vibes, I love the trees turning orange and green, I love when it gets a little bit chillier honestly as much as I love the sun and I love feeling hot I will say after this trip to Europe being in Portugal sweating every five minutes feeling overstimulated that the makeup is sliding off my face I almost could not be more hopeful for a drier season but you know the only thing that's making me feel a little bit icked out by the following season is the fact that I'm praying to Jesus I won't get eczema. October is going to be such an exciting month for me specifically because I have so many birthdays coming up and if you know anything about me I am obsessed with birthdays I'm obsessed with horoscopes I'm just obsessed with celebrating and being excited so having my friend's birthday the day before mine my birthday on the 14th my friend's birthday the week after mine and then Halloween is coming up there's like so many parties and social events this month that I'm already a little bit overwhelmed yet so excited so basically every other day that I don't have an event or something I kind of just want to be locked in and focused and just kind of keeping it low-key which is kind of the vibe of this episode a lot of what I want to do to embrace this season involves kind of being a little bit more of a home body vibe and just you know sticking to routine and starting to reel back into my little hermit crab shell but that's only on my days off because the days where I have events you already know I will be out dancing socializing living it up which I also think is very important for this time of year if you guys are not subscribed to my personal YouTube channel definitely make sure you do so because I just uploaded a fall night routine I think like a week ago and that video kind of shows how I want my fall nights to go and I did some fall cooking as well as cozy fall related things I think you're really gonna like it and anyways make sure you're subscribed to the podcast channel if you're not already make sure to give it a thumbs up and wherever you are listening to this whether it is in your car your room on a walk thank you so much for listening I love having you here and let's get on in to the episode so fall 2024 I can't even believe I'm saying that but here we are and we are going to talk about the perfect ultimate fall morning routine now I love structuring these kind of episodes with talking about what the day looks like for the fall girly what it actually looks like how you can implement these little cute tips to romanticize the season for yourself and just kind of how I want my morning routines to go I feel like they go a lot better when I have a little bit more structure to them a little bit more routine and even when I'm filming my own videos that are season related for example if I did a summer morning routine or I'm doing a fall morning routine I always try to incorporate colors and like visuals to the video that will make the entirety of the video give off the vibe I'm trying to give if that makes sense for example if I'm filming a fall morning routine yes it makes it a fall morning routine knowing that I filmed it during these months but I try to pick out my outfit in the colors that will match the theme I will try to make meals that will match the theme I will try to use blankets that match the theme and as much as I'm doing that for a YouTube video to be visually aesthetic you can do that for your own day-to-day life to kind of feel that same amount of romanticization and then whenever you take a photo of anything you're doing that season you are almost on brand with the season if that makes sense now I know that sounds a little bit extra but if you're watching this video I know you're already an extra girly that wants to embrace it so first off I want to say when you are waking up in the morning one of the things that I love to have is one of those sunset lamps or sunrise lamps this is the perfect way to wake yourself up in your room when all the light around you is like a burnt orange sometimes you have the birds whistling or you could probably find a little audio ringtone that has something to do with fall but that light is so helpful for the fall and the winter season when it starts to get really dark out I know this morning I woke up at like six and I was genuinely shocked by how dark it was outside so I definitely got to get my light out and start embracing those morning routines because it definitely made my mornings last year so much better now I'm a big morning workout girl and I don't know about you but if you are down to work out in the morning something that you can do to embrace the season is picking a workout that is a lot slower and one that is a lot more calm I feel like the summer and the spring is a perfect time to do like spin class but the minute it gets dark out I just want to do slow movement like yoga and stretching and Pilates maybe a little bit of weight lifting here and there but definitely things that are indoor is my vibe and I always love waking up in the morning and picking a workout set that matches the season so like I said in my video that I posted I wore a brown set to go to my workout and I just felt like a little teddy bear at the gym like I just felt cute whenever I feel cute I'm also way more motivated to work harder and side note doing your makeup before you go to the gym even if it's just a little bit like doing your eyebrows or your lashes you always just feel so much more presentable and ready to put in the work so that's definitely what I've been doing this morning I actually put on a black set so I could be fall vibes and I just went on the treadmill for like 40 minutes and then I did a Pilates workout and not only did I feel cute but I just I looked cute so I just wanted to be at the gym even longer now after going to the gym you might want to step in the shower and this is a great time to incorporate fall scented self-care items maybe you can go to Bath and Body Works or any sort of soap store and pick out some scents that embody the season I know Bath and Body Works has so many different scents and flavors and I don't know about you guys but I'm obsessed with having all of my things kind of be the same color or the same scent not only is it visually beautiful and makes me excited to step into the shower but if you take a photo of it it's aesthetic you'll smell delicious and also you don't have to do this if you don't want to this is just kind of like a little extra one I'm literally on the Bath and Body Works website right now and just to read you some of the scents they have they've got pumpkin pecan waffles flannel spice to apple toddy sweet cinnamon pumpkin leaves sweather weather pumpkin cupcake pumpkin bonfire sweet cinnamon pumpkin pumpkin carving okay anyways those are some of the scents they have for the fall and I'm very tempted I might just go soon maybe sometime this week to go get like a matching candle soap or maybe like a body wash you also don't have to go to Bath and Body Works but I'm sure that there is some pumpkin scented things at Walmart or like the dollar store and again you don't even need to do this if you don't want to this is just like if I'm thinking of the perfect fall morning routine this is what I would love to do also you can just light a candle as you finish your morning routine maybe as you do your makeup or as you do your hair just kind of having your apartment smell like that I also love using lighting to kind of set the tone so even having a light like a salt lamp that kind of diffuses an orange light is so calming and pleasing as I get ready or as I go about my day now to continue my fall morning routine say I go into my vanity I start doing my makeup this is the perfect time to have some brown eyeshadow maybe just kind of like a nice little latte makeup look maybe you can opt for a darker lip combo maybe you can opt for a little bit of a darker bronzer or maybe you can embrace the fact that you don't have as much sun on you and kind of rock like a more pale look kind of like a snow white look with a redder lip there's honestly so many makeup looks you can do and I feel like we've lost the art of experimenting with makeup just because the clean girl makeup is so prominent and popular these days but like I love doing a subtle wing and the wing feels very fall and winter to me because you know it's not just gonna sweat off your face like sometimes the wing is doing too much in the summer but definitely for fall okay you guys I'm popping in to talk about the sponsor of today's episode and that is Armour Colostrum as you guys know I'm always on the lookout for new ways to try to strengthen my immune system and my gut health as well as overall just care for my health fitness and metabolism for the past few weeks I have been trying Armour Colostrum and it has been such a great product to integrate into my daily wellness routine not only does this product help with the things that I just listed but it also helps with growing my hair and my nails Armour Colostrum is a patent pending premium bovine colostrum concentrate that has a new technology that actually preserves over 400 bioactive nutrients in their purest most bio available form not only that but they ensure that their composition is uniquely optimized for human health as I said earlier it has so many benefits and another one that I've recently been absolutely loving since I've been in my fitness journey is their ability to help fuel performances and help with recovery if you guys are interested in Armour Colostrum and want to test it out for yourself we have worked out a special offer for my audience where you can receive 15% off at your first order you guys can go to tryarmour.com slash BETTER in all capital letters or you can enter BETTER to get 15% off your first order that's t-r-y-a-r-m-r-a dot com slash BETTER now let's get back to the episode after I'm finished getting ready I do my hair I'm all set then we're going to pick out the outfit and you guys I feel like I've said this before but sometimes I need the reminder to myself that you actually have the ability to dress cute I always have the habit of wearing like comfy clothes or my sweats or like jeans and a random t-shirt and then when I go travel I'm pulling out these extra outfits and I'm wondering to myself why don't I do this at home why don't I put the effort to look this cute when I'm in my hometown and I don't really know why I still haven't figured it out I just get lazy sometimes but if we're trying to look cute this fall and trying to put in the extra effort try to dress up in the mornings in a cute little sweater maybe you can even go on Pinterest and pin some fall outfits and then wear the outfits to replicate those it is so easy when you have a capsule wardrobe which is kind of like a wardrobe full of basics to mix and match and pick different outfits but you're able to spice up your outfits with accessories and that is why fall is one of my favorite seasons for fashion because if you live in a colder place you are able to start layering and just using different accessories such as a scarf gloves leg warmers you can use hats or toques even just layering like flannels with jackets on top or hoodies and sweaters we are going to talk about my fall fashion Pinterest board in a little bit but that's kind of the vibe that I'm trying to go for this fall I actually just picked up a whole bunch of sweaters from oakenfort and I'm so excited to style them and just wear them throughout the fall season because I'm always so cozy when I wear them and again if I just decide to take a photo at any time of the day I already look like I'm in the fall spirit another thing you can do in the morning is go for a fall foliage walk now that's kind of when you go for a walk but you're surrounded by the fall trees and the leaves on the floor and as much as the weather might not be ideal to maybe go on a run or go on a walk or you might be thinking this weather is too muggy I do not want to be outside this is actually the wonderful weather between summer and winter where it's not freezing and you can actually enjoy the weather and go on a walk we all need the fresh air we all need the steps if you can avoid using your car and just walking to whatever destination you can you might just get to enjoy the city around you and really feel like engulfed by your city I will also say I'm sure that there's a lot of towns and cities that are less walkable but also I have a big international audience and so like if you're from London or something or Paris guys I was just there on vacation I genuinely think I well actually I was gonna say I wouldn't drive but a lot of the people there don't drive but I would abuse walking around those beautiful cities so if you are lucky enough to live in a city in Europe or like a city anywhere around the world that is beautiful and it's like a hot spot for tourists guys I'm sure I don't need to tell you twice because you probably already do this but take advantage of your beautiful city and know that so many people would probably kill to live in a city like yours especially during these seasons where the surroundings like just reflect the season so go on your walk bring your umbrella if you have to wear another jacket if you have to maybe it's the gloves and listen to some music this is the perfect time to romanticize the season with fall songs and fall playlists I definitely use this time to listen to slower music and music that makes me feel a lot more cozy also I think wearing headphones just makes an outfit look cuter as stupid as that sounds like whether it is my apple like headphones or even just like my string headphones I just feel like it makes my outfit look so much cuter and lastly if you are having a fall breakfast there are literally so many recipes you can find online I feel like my favorite types of fall breakfasts are probably like oatmeal or chia pudding or maybe even making like pumpkin protein pancakes I also just like making anything with bananas such as banana smoothies with dates maybe adding a lot of cinnamon I actually just add cinnamon to everything maybe having recipes with nuts such as like pecans or almonds almond butter definitely not like an acai bowl like that's just that needs to be cut that's last season there's also so many recipes you can like experiment with like I just looked on Pinterest and you can make pumpkin french toast which sounds divine just even saying that out loud I also found a recipe for pumpkin french toast bakes also pumpkin spice waffles as well as pumpkin yogurt bowls if you're feeling in the mood for a little bit of a sweet tooth breakfast you can even make cinnamon buns and kind of have them in the morning as a special treat maybe on the weekend I also saw a recipe for pumpkin french toast sticks guys I'm getting hungry just saying these I think I might have to make an IG reel or something of me making these because there's no way I'm just looking at these right now and not about to make them anyways if this was your morning routine I think you would be I don't know you'd be the ultimate fall Pinterest girly there's nothing more you can do or you can tell me if I'm missing anything but all of these options sound like the perfect fall morning to me now moving on to the middle of the day the chunk of the day this is kind of like your perfect weekend plan or this could be during your school day but if you are in the academia world you are studying you're in school use this time to romanticize studying because there's no better time I think having this cozy season is the perfect time to lock in stay indoors and focus on your studies and even watching a tv show that kind of romanticizes school as well as you doing it will get you in the perfect mindset maybe you can watch Gilmore Girls or Gossip Girl or Clueless like any of those shows that kind of get you in that study mindset I think would really inspire you and make you excited to be in school the other thing you can do if you want to is maybe get cute school supplies that kind of reflect the fall season like even fall colored pens or maybe stickers if you journal or something or use a planner you can kind of add fall stickers to it to kind of decorate it the other thing is working or studying in public spaces as much as studying at home is you know very helpful to kind of lock in and focus and not get distracted if you have a little bit of a lighter load of homework or you've got work to do definitely go to your local library or a bookstore or a coffee shop okay so back to talking about the activities in the day that you can do to embrace fall and just the overall October season is going for lunch at places where you can get like a soup and sandwich little combo anything honestly warm and comforting for your body I feel like is the best type of food to have during this time even if it's like mac and cheese or honestly this one's kind of random but like Indian food I randomly feel like all the spices and herbs gives fall vibes to me I don't know but that is what I want another idea for you is to go walk around some bookstores recently when I was in London I went to some beautiful bookstores and you know it's one thing to go to the local chapters and I already think that that's a blessing but if you are blessed to live in a city where you have these amazing bookstores with like different floors and like high ceilings like I don't know how you're not going to them more because I would be doing that more another thing you can do is go to crystal shops which I really love doing at any time of the year but I feel like again during the fall going to like a crystal shop is so fun because you can stay indoors that you're warm you're cozy you can have a drink and I just I personally can spend so long in there just looking at the different stuff that they sell and I always just have a good time doing it another one is just to have a fall photo shoot with your friends I definitely want to do this I did this last year with my friend Trinity and I already know I need to take advantage of the trees before they're fully gone so that's something that's on my kind of bucket list another thing that I really want to do this fall is do a lot more baking I know a while ago I went to Home Sense and I got a bunch of fall related baking supplies and like baking honestly equipment kind of like trays and different like stands for cakes and so I really want to do some more baking there's literally so many good things to do I feel like I need to make like some cookies or some muffins or a cinnamon bun whatever it is I need to make something and of course there are the fun exciting fall activities that are kind of on the bucket list which I don't want to go too in depth just because I did a fall episode last year and I really don't want to repeat a lot of things as well as I'm sure you probably know the classics such as going to the pumpkin patch or whatever but I do still think those activities are very fun I think going to the pumpkin patch something that I would love to do I did it with my mom last year and if you can find a pumpkin patch that has more to it kind of like a maze or maybe they've got a petting zoo or the one that we went to I forgot the name of it but it had so much uh food to buy and like different ice creams it also had like a little trampoline and it also just had like photo opt areas I've seen another pumpkin patch in Vancouver that has like a little cat petting area so definitely look at the different pumpkin patches around you and see if any of them offer anything else the other thing you can do is go to the apple farm which I've never been to but again my friend Trin went and she took a very cute photos there you can also do pumpkin painting which I actually ended up doing last night with my friends it was so much fun we just actually got some wine made a charcuterie board we got a bunch of little pumpkins and then we got paint and just listened to some fall music and painted them there's so much inspiration for pumpkins to paint as well on tiktok I literally did a self-care pumpkin like it had nothing to do with halloween or fall but I guess maybe it could be interpreted as like a halloween thing I'm popping back in to talk about the second sponsor of today's episode and that is skims I am so excited to be partnering with skims and I'm actually currently wearing their skims fits everybody t-shirt right now this is one of my favorite from their collection and everything they sell I swear is like butter on my skin it's kind of one of those things where if you know you know but if you don't know you need to get on it because it is too good to gatekeep all of their fabrics are stretchy and soft and they're one of my favorite fabrics to wear while I'm traveling I've been traveling a lot recently as you know and on travel days it is all I wore I specifically love their fits everybody thong as it is so seamless under dresses and skirts and it is especially useful for me when I'm going to like events or something if you want the comfortable fits everybody collection it is available in double extra small to 4x you can shop now at skims.com after you place your order be sure to let them know that I sent you you can select podcasts in the survey and be sure to select my show in the drop down menu that follows that is so exciting and yeah I hope you guys love it let's get back into the episode I actually love going to home sense and just going to like look at furniture and home decor even if I don't buy anything it's just nice and you can listen to music at the same time like another one of the hobbies where you go into somewhere that is like a third place is like going thrifting which honestly is a great idea since we are going to talk about fall fashion but it's just so expensive to buy into trends every single season so if you are able to go thrifting and kind of pick things out with a little bit more intention and a little bit more creativity and just have unique pieces in your closet I think that's a much better option and perfect for the fall season the other thing I wanted to say in terms of activities you can kind of do and kind of just getting into the fall spirit or October mindset is getting your nails done two of mine actually fell off so I am desperate for a new set and I don't really know what I'm going to do because as much as I want to do fall it's also going to be my birthday so I kind of want something to do with my birthday but then again you guys I actually am thinking I don't want to talk about my birthday just yet but I'm thinking of doing a like darker theme kind of more like purple reddish so maybe having something a little bit more fall colored actually would make sense now let's discuss the fall night routine now this is going to start off with having a clean environment I actually started my night routine off like this in my video it honestly set the tone for the night and it made me so much more motivated to actually do things and to cook in my kitchen I played a fall playlist and I got straight into cleaning and then I decided to cook a recipe and as I've talked in this whole podcast episode about kind of eating warm foods when I filmed my fall night routine I made like a couscous salad with yam and sweet potato and it was so delicious it felt so fall and warm and it also looked so fall because it had a bunch of different orange and like brown in it but I definitely think this is the perfect time to explore making different creams and soups and just having more hearty vegetables and even just playing around with color and having more colorful veggies that kind of match the season the other thing you can do is when you're having your actual dinner is kind of romanticizing it by having a lot of candles out place mats kind of centerpieces on your dinner table kind of give you the fall vibes the other thing you can do is focus on having a self-care night all surrounding fall and the fall colors again maybe that's doing a face mask or lotioning up your body I feel like the lotioning is actually a really good idea because you can get into bed all soft and cozy especially if it's post shave you can set up a warm bath and put a bunch of different candles up have the salt lamp going a very orange hue for a bath and then immediately I am putting on comfy clothes I'm already wearing a sweatsuit right now even having nice blankets on top of your bed or nice sheets it just makes the experience of going to bed so much more appealing when I was in London I went to the Notting Hill bookstore which was super cool and I actually ended up picking up Pride and Prejudice but I ended up buying that that's definitely something that I want to read and as much as I love reading self-help books I feel like fall is a good time to just kind of settle in and read a non-fiction book or something that's just a lot more fun I know some of my friends are obsessed with reading right now and they've got their Goodreads which is an app where you can like rate the books you've read and kind of have like a wish list or your bookshelf and you can add each other and see what you guys are reading so I feel like that's a good idea if reading is not your vibe journaling is definitely an option I also recently got an iPad and with iPad pen you can kind of like doodle and make notes and even just do some planning and I feel like that's actually what I wanted to touch on is the fact that I feel like fall is the perfect time to plot and plan plan your next few months at the end of the year make a vision board just overall planning I feel like is a big theme for the fall especially when you have nowhere to be and you're kind of in this underground like in between area because things will definitely pick up during the season so I feel like this is the time to kind of settle in and hermit a little bit you can also watch a tv show or a movie and again set the vibe up with the candles and the blankets and even taking a shower right before bed I feel like will make you feel so calm especially if you've lotioned up your body and everything like it's just the perfect scenario to even have a little snack and just watch a movie or watch a show or if you've got an iPad playing the iPad games I feel like is very fun too the other thing I was gonna say is just in general for the night routine in the fall I feel like sleeping early is the best way to do it I have been so tired especially with the time change now I can definitely feel the darkness settling in a lot sooner and it's making me tired so honestly you might as well just go to bed sooner and wake up earlier now the other thing I wanted to do was go through my Pinterest board and tell you guys about some of my favorite fall trends and of course I'm not going to tell you anything that's unreal mind boggling mind-breaking like it's always the same trends every single year but I guess the things I personally really love starting off with a pair of black knee-high boots that are healed with a pointed toe I think these are so chic and so cute and just make every outfit look better if you're going out in the fall as well as the Steve Madden more like rider boots I love those and they're honestly kind of underrated but maybe not really they're kind of just properly rated because everyone has them but I feel like they're so worth it the other thing that I've been loving for fall of course is ballet flats I wear my black ballet flats like almost every single day and I definitely need to invest in a better pair just because they're starting to wear down and they're from Zara but I would love a red pair a burgundy pair a black pair a cream pair I just think they're so comfy and perfect to wear and easy to slip on I've also been loving my adidas sambas which have been a trend for a while and they're probably on their way out but I mean they work and I like them so there's that I also really want the UGG Tasman slippers as well as I have the chestnut platform mini UGGs and those are my favorite I also love wearing colored leather jackets whether that's like black or red or white or brown I think rider ones that are a little bit more fitted are so cute as well as oversized leather jackets also when I was in Paris I wore my black blazer so much and it was so comfortable I've also been loving cardigans especially buttoning up just the first button and having the rest of it open I feel like it looks so cute and so chic of course cheetah is a big pattern this year I love cheetah I love uh cherries and the color red I feel like all of those are little micro trends but you know they don't get old they really don't same with wearing a fur jacket I feel like that is a timeless piece that will always look good and I wish I like lived in like LA or New York or Paris or somewhere where they had a bunch of different flea markets and thrift stores because I swear when I travel to those places they have so many of them and then I can never buy them because they just don't fit in my luggage to bring it back home I've also been loving wearing gold bangles and just jewelry in general but also mixing and matching uh gold and silver I also love the look of off the shoulder sweaters I feel like that's super cozy especially if they're really big and thick but yeah I feel like those are my favorite fashion trends of the moment other than that I wanted to say that for the rest of the fall season I'm really excited for Halloween I am so curious to know what you guys are being and tell me what your Halloween plans are if you don't have any plans to go to any parties or anything and you're kind of having a more low-key one it's always a great idea and a fun activity to hand out candy or just sit at home and watch scary movies or Halloween movies I definitely did that in the past few years and just like ordered pizza and it was so much fun every single time I did um if you are going to a party definitely have fun and be safe I am actually going to be in LA for Halloween and I'm so excited I've never spent Halloween in LA and I have a party already planned for like Thursday the Friday the Saturday and so I'm definitely gonna have multiple costumes and I'm so excited like I just can't wait to socialize to groove to the monster and I'm going with Mayela so I think we're gonna have the best time and hopefully I don't lose anything this time because last time I was in LA it was traumatic anyways my camera is about to die right now so I wanted to say thank you so much for listening to this episode it was a fun one and I hope to see you around very soon I love you