Pavlov's Law and Me

I've come up with the perfect description of myself when relating to holidays: I am seasonally sentimental. I get the butterflies when I think of the excitement of a new season. Not necessarily because of the official holiDAY itself... more so because of the few weeks that precede the coming holiday. I'm sure most, if not ALL women, can relate. For example:

Halloween: Visiting the pumpkin patch with a scarf & beanie on while sipping a hot pumpkin spice latte.

Thanksgiving: Eating WAY too much food for one day and topping it off with a slice of pumpkin pie & some coffee (cause there's always room for dessert) t

hen crashing on the floor for a super long nap to the sound of football & nieces and nephews running amuck.

Christmas: Shopping for presents in my winter boots while sipping a peppermint mocha... OR ...watching a movie on the couch drinking peppermint hot chocolate with the Christmas tree all lit up. (ooooh - just got the butterflies thinking about that one!!)

The common denominator in all of these: A specific wardrobe

and a specific food item. Shocking that my sentimentality comes at least 50% from my stomach. I think I need to change the title of my blog to: Food & Rachel instead of Mark & Rachel. To give myself some credit - food isn't the only stimulus that gets me salivating for a coming season; movies or TV shows can also trigger sentimental butterflies in me.

Whenever I see a long awaited first kiss on a show, like when Rachel finally gets all 50 locks open and she and Ross share their first kiss outside the Central Perk coffee house, I get the strong urge to share a moment like that with Mark. He always gets a good laugh when I get into this mode... he knows exactly what I want at that moment and starts laughing at me before I even get a chance to land one on him. Then of course, the moment is more laughable that it is sentimental.

All to say - Pavlov's Law seems to have proven once again through me. I don't salivate at the sound of a bell, but I sure do at the thought of a coming holiday! Happy fall!

A new fall favorite to add to the list: Apple Cider Beer. Not sure how many pumpkin patches will serve that... but we lucked out this year!!