We're back!! After a summer of re-runs we are offically back with new episodes every Wednesday. Listen to this episode for all the updates -- adoption, what we've been up to, God moments, and my fall favorites for the ultimate cozy season.
Here's the Apple Cinnamon Roll recipe i mentioned!
Check out our new Catholic men's brand VIGIL!
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West Coast Catholic - westcoastcatholic.co
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Follow Along:
I'm your host, Mari Wagner, and you're listening to the Everbe
:podcast, where faith meets lifestyle.
:I'm so excited you're here.
:Whether you're a new listener or a longtime follower, I know
:there's something here for you.
:Pull up a chair and listen in for insightful real-life conversations
:and actionable steps on how to claim the full life God created you for.
:If you're a woman desiring to live a Christ-centered life in today's
:modern world, then this is for you.
:Welcome to Everbe.
:Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome.
:Welcome back, everybody.
:Ever Be is finally back.
:What a long summer break it has been, but I'm so excited to be back with you
:guys and to just get back on the wagon.
:And also just wanna thank you for giving me the grace to take
:a little break this summer.
:We have had such a busy, busy summer.
:It's probably one of the busiest summers that I've had in the last
:couple years, and so the break from the podcast was really needed, and I just
:thank you for just sticking around.
:Hopefully, you liked listening to some of those rerun episodes.
:I know that I was seeing DMs come through of people re-listening or listening
:for the first time if they've missed that episode when it first came out,
:and sharing little bits and pieces that they were loving or that spoke to them.
:So I think that was a great idea, rather than taking a complete break and going
:radio silent with you guys, to do some reruns so you guys could still kinda
:soak up some inspiration or whatever, listen to your favorite podcast.
:Um, what is today's episode going to look like?
:Okay, wait, actually, maybe I should reintroduce myself.
:In case this is your first Ever Be episode and you somehow
:just found me, hi, welcome.
:I'm Mari Wagner.
:I'm your host.
:I am a Catholic content creator, owner of West Coast Catholic, which is a
:popular Catholic lifestyle brand, go check us out at westcoastcatholic.co,
:um, and co-founder of a new Catholic brand, which we'll talk
:all about later, Vigil, which is a Catholic men's lifestyle brand.
:Um, and yeah, I mean, I just love this space here to go deeper into
:the topics that mean a lot to me.
:We dive deep into the faith, how to live it out in our everyday lives,
:how to have God-centered marriages, how to build Catholic homes,
:how to deepen our prayer lives.
:And then just also fun, normal, everyday things because we're
:normal, fun, cool Catholic girls.
:So today you're gonna get, um, let's see, some life updates, a little catch-up.
:We're gonna have a little catch-up call about, like, what did I just do
:the last three months this summer?
:How…
:Or has it been four months?
:When did we last see each other?
:I guess the last episode, I think, was May, so it's been quite some time.
:We're gonna catch up a little bit on what life has been like.
:We're gonna do some updates, what's new in our life right now, what's
:going on, and then we're gonna touch on fall, and we're gonna do some
:rapid fire fall favorites because I- Love, love, love, love, love fall.
:It is my favorite season.
:I'm such a seasons girl.
:Like, I love every season, and every change of season really hypes me
:up, and I feel like I kinda need that change throughout the year.
:But fall especially is my most favorite season.
:And sadly, here in Colorado, fall is very brief.
:Um, but this year I feel like the Lord gave me a little gift in disguise
:of having a, quote, unquote, like, longer fall, um, with our trip
:to Washington, which again, we'll get into in just a second here.
:But so that's what we're gonna do today.
:I have my adorable plaid new kind of like fall cardigan from Aritzia on.
:Um, I think we're just gonna put all of these up on YouTube, these like actual
:videos, because one of the updates is we, closed the Patreon just because,
:again, I needed to take a break.
:I didn't have time to pour into it, and I'll share a little bit more about that.
:Um, but I think we're just gonna put all of these like actual videos on YouTube, so
:if you're listening and you actually wanna see the video, go on over to YouTube.
:Um, but yeah, I've got my fall plaid sweater on.
:I've got my pumpkin spice latte that Trey made me this morning.
:Um, so we're fully fall.
:Like, it's fully, fully, fully October, you guys.
:I don't know how that happened.
:To be completely honest, in my mind it's like still August 30th.
:It's like about to be September, but it's not yet, and somehow
:it's actually October, um, 7th.
:I'm literally recording this this morning that we're coming back.
:So but I love October.
:It's- it's fall in full swing.
:I mean, Colorado is getting there.
:We're definitely getting a heat wave, but we're embracing real fall
:in, in my heart and in my home.
:Um, and it's the month of the rosary, which I love so much.
:So it's just an exciting month all around.
:Um, but let's get into a little Everbe moment.
:If you don't remember what these are since it's been so long, this is where
:we share some God moments, ways that God is working in my life or if we have
:a guest, ways that God is working in their life, um, just to make sure that
:the Lord's praise is always on our lips.
:That's why the podcast is called Everbe.
:So that's what we're doing today.
:So my God moment, my Everbe moment that I wanna share is about our adoption journey.
:So my husband and I, Trey, we made the decision to pursue the journey
:of adoption last year on October 12th, on Carlo Acutis' feast day.
:So it's been almost a year since we made that decision, and it has been
:a very beautiful journey, a trying journey, an exciting journey all around.
:And there's definitely bumps in the road, because even though a year has
:gone by quickly as a whole, I feel like every day and every month feels slow
:in a way, and I'm just anxious to get to the end of it when we get our match,
:and get our call, and bring baby home.
:Um, so there's trying times, times when my patience is tried, times
:when my s- my trust in God is tested.
:Um, and recently, just a few weeks ago, we were in Mass, and they, um…
:Let's see, the reading, I think it was one of the first or second readings,
:was that one where it says, like, "My ways are higher than your ways, and my
:thoughts are higher than your thoughts."
:And that reading
:brings me both comfort and, I don't know, honestly, a little bit
:of anguish all at the same time.
:On the one hand, it brings me comfort because it reminds
:me that God is God, right?
:And we're not.
:God is all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipotent.
:He takes care of every detail.
:He's got it handled, and actually, our little human brains are just not equipped
:to understand His ways, and that's okay, and that's honestly how it should be.
:Um, and then on the other hand, the anguish comes in because I'm a planner,
:I'm a control freak, and so I'm like, "I wanna know your ways, and I wanna know why
:they're higher, and if you would just clue me in on why your plan is so much better
:than mine, then we could all be at peace and we could all be on the same page."
:But, um, alas, that's just not how God created us to be, and we're not supposed
:to hold everything that God does.
:So, but I heard that reading in Mass, and it just, like, sent me into a little fit,
:and I was like, "God, what are you doing?
:I wish I knew what your plan was.
:I wish I knew what your ways were, and why you've chosen these things, and what
:our timing is all about," and, and I was just kind of despairing a little bit.
:I was like, "Oh, my gosh.
:Is this ever gonna happen for us?"
:A- and I know that adoption can take years and years for some people, and
:depending on the routes that they take.
:And so I know that in light of other people's stories, what we have waited
:so far is really not that long.
:But it feels long, right, when you're on the road to motherhood.
:And so I was just questioning the Lord.
:I was like, "When is this gonna happen?
:Is this even gonna happen for us?"
:And in the end, my whole prayer was like, "Lord, just promise
:me you're holding my baby.
:Like, hold my baby in your heart, in your arms, while I have to wait to
:hold it myself and to give all the love and care and protection myself.
:I trust that you will do that for me."
:And I love Our Lady of Guadalupe.
:She's been a big part of our journey as well, and so I prayed that to her as well,
:and I was like, "Mama Mary, you hold all of your children close to your heart.
:Please hold our baby."
:Well, crazy God moment, later that night, a friend of mine texted
:me, and she was like, "Hi, Mari.
:Kind of out of the blue, random, but this morning at Mass, I had
:this really strong feeling that Our Lady wanted me to pray for you.
:But it wasn't this crazy…
:Or it wasn't this, like, um, simple feeling of like, 'Mm,
:I should pray for Mari.'
:No, it was like Our Lady asked me to hold your baby in my heart in prayer.
:And so Our Lady and I are holding your baby in prayer, and I just
:wanted to share that with you."
:And my jaw dropped.
:I was like, "Are you kidding me?"
:Like, that was the same day just a few hours later.
:And I was like, "Wow, that is so Holy Spirit-led.
:Thank you for holding my baby in your prayers.
:Thank you for your prayers.
:Thank you for sharing this with me."
:It just kind of showed the beauty of the body of Christ and how
:the Holy Spirit is real and moves within us all and connects us all.
:And the next morning, so that was that night, that Sunday night, the next
:morning, Monday morning, I get in the car and start driving, and I notice
:this prayer card that I always have in there, but you know when you just see
:something every day, you kind of just, it becomes kind of just like nothing to you?
:Like, you just don't notice it that much anymore.
:Well, I noticed it, and it's this image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, but it is not your
:classic image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
:Let me actually…
:I might have a prayer card.
:Let me go get it
:Okay, I found this other version of the same card that I have in my car.
:I found it yesterday, um, in our loft upstairs.
:So I look in my car, or I get in my car, and I see this prayer card of
:Our Lady of Guadalupe, but she is holding up a baby towards the sky,
:and she has a little sign underneath that says, "Patroness of the Unborn."
:If you are watching on video, I'm gonna show it to you.
:I don't…
:I can't, like, focus it, because it's, like, the camera's focused
:on my face, and I don't have a tech team behind the camera, so you're
:just gonna have to see it blurry.
:But you can see here what I mean.
:It's not a normal image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
:She is beautiful and radiating as always, but she is holding
:a baby up towards the sky.
:Um, and she is surrounded by other children.
:So I honestly, I don't even believe that it's Jesus.
:She's surrounded by all these little children at her feet, and
:then she's holding up a baby, and the little sign underneath
:says, "Patroness of the Unborn."
:What?
:Isn't that wild?
:Like, it could have been Our Lady of Lourdes, it could have been
:Our Lady of Fatima, but of course, no, it was Our Lady of Guadalupe.
:It says, "Patroness of the Unborn."
:She's holding up a baby, so that was, like, my extra confirmation that Our
:Lady and the Lord are holding our baby, our future baby that the Lord has held
:in his heart from the beginning of time for our family, um, safely in their arms.
:Uh, and it was just that extra little consolation I needed to keep going with
:the journey, to have patience, um, and to keep trusting God's plan and God's way.
:So I hope that was encouraging to you if you're kind of in a similar
:season, waiting for your vocation, waiting for motherhood, waiting
:for a new chapter in your life, waiting for healing of some sort.
:The Lord is listening.
:You can go to him.
:You can throw a tantrum.
:He can take it.
:Um, and ask him to answer you, and sometimes he will.
:He'll always hear you, and he'll always answer, um, in one way or another.
:Sometimes it will be super clearly like this.
:Sometimes it'll just be a little, um, comfort or consolation in your heart.
:But don't be afraid to ask for it.
:All right, let's get onto some catch-up.
:What has life been like this summer?
:It has been, frankly, the craziest summer in a really long time, and that
:is largely because, uh, we have been preparing to launch this brand-new brand
:that just launched, um, late September.
:So it's called Vigil.
:Our website is vigil.co,
:and it is basically the men's version of West Coast Catholic.
:So most of our summer has been spent preparing for this huge launch.
:We've been doing photo shoots with, um, our team and different friends, video
:shoots, creating content, perfecting all of the products, getting samples,
:making edits, sending it back, getting the right product back until they were
:finally perfect, um, building the website, creating the visual brand identity.
:I mean, we've been working on this brand since January.
:So the backstory basically is we've had West Coast Catholic since, you know, 2018.
:I, I don't even know how many years ago that was.
:I think it was seven or eight or something like that.
:Um, and we've really only served women.
:We've had a, a couple rosaries that are, like, more masculine-ish
:and that guys have liked.
:But We do get a lot of questions of like, "Hey, when are you gonna
:launch some more masculine rosaries?"
:Or like, "I wanna buy my boyfriend something.
:Which one should I get?"
:Or we have guys ask like, "Hey, can you guys do more men's stuff?"
:Um, and if you guys know about the big Catholic conference SEEK every
:year in January, it's amazing.
:We're always vendors there.
:We have been for the last maybe three or four years.
:Um, we're gonna have a huge, huge booth at SEEK this year, so if
:you're going, you won't miss us.
:You'll see us.
:Go check us out.
:But every year, we have tons of guys come to our West Coast
:Catholic booth, and they're always like, "Do you have guy stuff?
:You guys should make guy stuff.
:Your stuff is so good.
:Can you make stuff for guys?"
:And pretty much every year, Trey and I are like, "We have so much on our plate.
:Like, I don't feel like we could take that on.
:Our team isn't big enough to handle another brand."
:And we just kind of were like, "If someone else wants to do it, go ahead and do it."
:And there are, I, I think, like, a few, um, Catholic men's brands out
:there, but in my opinion, their brands are pretty similar to each other,
:and I don't think anything has been done to the scale that we have done
:West Coast Catholic specifically.
:And we knew that if we wanted to start another brand for men, we wanted to
:serve them in the best way, in the same way that we have poured our
:heart and soul and blood, sweat, and tears into West Coast Catholic.
:We didn't want it to just to be like a little side project.
:You know, classic me, all or nothing.
:Go all in or go home.
:So we were basically waiting for that perfect time, if that's what we felt like
:God calling us to, and if not, and if someone else made something like what we
:were thinking of, that's totally fine.
:And this January at SEEK, we had more than normal requests of a men's brand,
:and With, you know, a hopeful adoption match coming quickly and a new baby
:coming late 2026 or early 2027, we were like, "If we are gonna start a
:new brand, it's not gonna happen in the first year of having a new baby."
:We have not been parents yet, but we are aunts and uncles, and all of
:our friends have babies, so we have seen how trying and how difficult and
:how much time it takes, and energy.
:So we're like, we basically…
:You know, if the people want it now, now's the time.
:Like, we can't wait till a baby comes.
:And our team has grown significantly in the past year, and so we felt
:like we had the team in place, the support to be able to do that.
:And so we said, "Let's go for it."
:So since January, we've been working behind the scenes building this out.
:But this summer was grind time, because we initially were gonna launch in June.
:I really wanted to launch before Father's Day.
:Um, but then that was just much too quickly.
:The products weren't perfectly done, and I…
:You know I don't do anything unless I really, really love the result.
:So we just weren't ready.
:We pushed it to July.
:We pushed it to August, because things weren't ready.
:And then finally we said, "Okay, September it is."
:And it happened to be the feast day of the archangels, which was not fully planned.
:We just, like, picked September 29th.
:That was the day that really worked for us in light of all the other kinda West
:Coast Catholic launches we had going on.
:And then later we realized that's the feast day of the archangels.
:So- I think St.
:Michael definitely had something to do with picking that day.
:I know that what we're gonna be doing at Vigil is going to hopefully impact
:the culture of Catholic men, um, in our Catholic world, and I know the
:evil one's gonna absolutely despise and hate that, and he's gonna try
:and do everything he can to crush it.
:And so I think it's very fitting that we ended up launching on
:the Feast of the Archangels.
:I know St.
:Michael is very present in what we're doing, and St.
:Joseph is as well.
:So for anybody that's wondering, "Okay, what do you mean?
:Like, what's a Catholic lifestyle brand," right?
:So we're gonna do exactly what we do with West Coast Catholic with Vigil.
:So that's product, content, free resources, um, online community, and
:it's all going to be aimed towards building up men who keep watch.
:That's the whole tagline, is keep watch, and it's about building spiritual
:providers and protectors of the home, building up spiritual heads of
:families, and pouring into young men, who maybe haven't even entered their
:vocation yet, to learn what it is to be a strong Catholic man, to be a true
:disciple of Christ, and how to lead a wife, children, how to be, um, a strong
:spiritual leader in their family and home.
:So we will be serving men on all, like, ages, really.
:Like, high school, college, 20s, 30s.
:Um, my dad is in his 50s and he's obsessed with our stuff, and so, you
:know, maybe your dad will love it too.
:So go, go check that out.
:The website is vigil.co.
:Instagram is vigil.co_
:because, you know, n- it's not always, the handle you want isn't
:always available on Instagram.
:So if you go to my Instagram, it's all in my bio.
:You can check it out.
:But that was a large part of why I needed to take a break this summer
:on the podcast, 'cause we were pouring into that, as well as just
:wrapping up on our adoption stuff.
:So let's kind of move into that part of the update.
:Adoption, we were finishing up all of our paperwork and all
:of our interviews this summer.
:We had all of our home, um, visits.
:So you have to have, like, multiple, uh, home visits, interviews,
:uh, just about your life.
:They tour your home.
:A social worker comes and does all that, just to make sure that it's
:a safe place for kids to come and be in, and that they know that your
:family is ready to bring in children.
:So we had that this summer, and after that, we had to, like, wait,
:like, mm, I feel like three or four weeks for them to, like, write
:up the whole home study report.
:That's, like, a big document that shares all the information about us and
:their basically, like, final verdict.
:Like, are they ready, are they approved or not?
:Um, luckily, yay, we were approved.
:I think it's kind of, like, hard to not get approved.
:Like, you gotta have some really serious stuff to work on.
:So we weren't necessarily worried, but it's always just comforting,
:and it was a relief when we got that email saying, "Hey, you're approved.
:You're all good to go."
:So after you get approved- We then got on, like, one last phone call with our
:consultant to just finish up some loose ends, make sure that all of the, you know,
:documents were in place for going live.
:That's what they call it when you start seeing cases.
:And then we went live in August.
:So it's been, mm, I'm not great at math on the spot, maybe six
:weeks, I think, since we went live.
:Um, maybe we're approaching seven today, or maybe today is the sixth.
:I can't fully remember.
:I think today might be the seventh week.
:Um, and we've seen a lot of cases.
:I mean, gosh, like, probably close to 20, maybe like fif- between 15
:and 20 cases, um, which is amazing.
:And so the process basically is you get an email, um, sharing about the
:case, and then adoptive parents get to decide whether you want to present
:your profile to the mom or not, whether you want to parent that baby.
:Um, you look at different factors to see if it's a good fit for your family.
:And then if you say, "Yes, we wanna present to the mom," your profile
:book, which is, like, this sweet little PDF all about you with pictures
:and stories of your home, of your family, of your marriage, all that
:stuff, gets sent to the birth mom, and she makes the final decision.
:She picks what family, um, she wants to parent her baby.
:So we've been in that process, and it's a wild ride, and it's time-consuming.
:And so we were also just busy kind of launching off in the adoption world in
:that sense and getting our feet kind of, you know, in the waters of it and
:getting the lay of the land and learning, like, what is it like to be in this
:stage and what can we be doing to prepare ourselves, um, and all of that stuff.
:So that's another exciting update.
:And then we also did some traveling.
:So every August we do some trips with family, and so pretty much most of
:August we were traveling on some beach vacations, which we absolutely love.
:I feel like I need to visit a beach at least twice a year to
:be, like, fully rejuvenated.
:I love the ocean.
:I love sunsets at the beach, um, the sand, everything.
:So we were on a couple beach vacations with our fam.
:It was super, super fun.
:And that meant we were gone almost all of August.
:And so then at the end of August, we came back home, and we were just so
:excited to get back into our routine and really prepare for this visual launch
:and just start getting into the fall.
:Like, for me, I feel like fall is that call back to your routines, back to
:building up order in your life, and just getting into ordinary life at home.
:And we got home, and just, like, things have been really, really
:crazy with both of our families.
:And so we got home, and, um, my sister-in-law broke her ankle, and so
:then we offered to go help with her girls.
:She's got two girls, and it was kind of a crazy time.
:And so then we spent a week…
:not a week, like, a long weekend at her place helping out with her girls since she
:couldn't really walk with her broken foot.
:And then right after that, we got home for a couple days, and then
:we went to the SENT conference, if any of you guys have heard of it.
:It's, like, an entrepreneurship conference for Catholics, um, Catholic entrepreneurs.
:And so we were out of town for a week again for that, and then we came home,
:and then we had a family trip up to the mountains here to see the fall colors.
:And then the day after we got back from that, I got news that
:my mom was in the hospital.
:She had been a little bit, um, sick and had to be in the hospital.
:Went home, we thought everything was okay, and then she got
:sent back to the hospital.
:And so then I booked a flight within couple hours of hearing the news
:and flew home to be with her and take care of her and just be with my
:family, um, during that scary time.
:It was just kind of a hard time for all of us, but luckily
:she is doing so much better.
:But that was mid-September, and we ended up being back home
:in Washington for two weeks.
:And so all of a sudden, I mean, it was end of September.
:And so we ended up, you know, finishing up all the vigil stuff there.
:We launched while we were there, um, spent really great time with family.
:And this kind of loops back to what I said in the beginning where I feel
:like God in disguise gave me this little gift of a true, true fall.
:Because right now, October in Colorado, I mean, it's still
:like 80-something degrees.
:I think there was just heat wave that came back.
:Like it wasn't 86 in September the few days we were here.
:It was probably like high 70s.
:But it's been like mid to high 80s lately, and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, please no."
:But in Washington, it was like 50s and like low 60s, and just
:the crisp air was perfect.
:There were colors on the trees.
:We did fun fall things.
:Um, we, my sister also flew back to be with my mom, and so we went to like a
:fall farm and picked apples at the apple orchard and, um, baked pumpkin muffins.
:And I've been making…
:Okay, well, I don't, I wouldn't want to get into it now because I want
:to get into it in my fall favorites, my favorite fall breakfast lately.
:So stay tuned for that.
:We'll get there in a second.
:But it was just a beautiful time soaking in the fall weather in
:Washington, and it made me remember why it's my favorite season.
:I grew up there, and fall there is absolute perfection, um, besides the rain
:which is just, just comes with Washington.
:But surprisingly, while we were there, it was only really, really gloomy
:like one or two days out of like the two weeks that we were there.
:It was actually great weather.
:So that was a little gift.
:And it was so funny because I was, like, obviously super excited about
:all the little fall things, and my sister, she was making fun of me.
:She was like, "Ever since I have known you, you have been, like, so big on fall.
:Like, I don't know anybody else that loves fall more than you."
:And she said that…
:You guys know that Mariah Carey song that comes on in,
:obviously during Christmastime, where it's like, "It's time"?
:Sorry, that was so bad.
:But, um, my sister was like, "Y- when I see fall coming around, I
:hear you saying that in my brain."
:She was like, "You are the Mariah Carey of fall."
:Um, so yeah, that's me.
:I am a lover of fall, which so many people are, so, you know, I'm just
:a basic, I'm just a basic girl.
:But it was just funny to hear her say that, and so we did
:a lot of fun fall things.
:So with that, let's get into the fall favorites of today's episode.
:This is gonna be kind of rapid fire.
:And you can steal my fall favorites.
:Like, if you're like, "I wanna really feel fall-ish.
:I wanna have a cozy fall.
:I wanna have a fun fall.
:I wanna lean into the season and live it out," steal my fall favorites and
:go out and do these things so that you too can have the best fall ever.
:Okay, so I'm just gonna rapid fire these.
:They're really not in any particular order.
:Just as I'm, like, thinking of them, I'm gonna say them.
:So first, I feel like the essence of having a really folly fall is in the
:little details of your every day.
:Because not every day you're gonna go to a pumpkin patch, not every day
:you're gonna go to an apple orchard.
:You know what I mean?
:Like, it's just in your every day.
:So what is part of your every day?
:What you're wearing and what you're eating, and both of those things you
:can incorporate little fall touches to make you feel like you're living
:the most cozy fall season ever
:Some of these things might seem basic to you, and they are, but sometimes
:you just need, like, a little encouragement to actually go do it.
:, So the first one I'll say is sweaters, and for fall you don't need, like,
:really thick, hot, chunky sweaters.
:I feel like sometimes we think of that a lot, like, oh, your big cozy sweater.
:But I feel like in a lot of the country at least still it's not fully cold
:enough yet for a big chunky sweater.
:So I go for, like, a lot of transitional sweaters and materials.
:So it's like this sweater, for example, that I'm wearing right now
:looks very fall, but it's actually really thin and not, like, super
:fuzzy, and so it's not hot at all, and fall is all about layering.
:So I always have, like, a T-shirt or a tank top on under kind of like my
:light transitional sweater so that when I walk outside and it is 79 degrees
:or 86 degrees right now, which I know is not the case everywhere, um,
:but even if it's, like, 65 degrees.
:Like, you don't need, like, a huge chunky sweater, you know?
:So you have your T-shirt or your tank top on underneath your transitional sweater,
:and just get it in, like, fall colors.
:Browns, tans, um, ivory,
:Maybe like a burnt orange type of thing, you know what I mean?
:Or like a mustard yellow.
:I feel like I'm loving like a deep, like golden mustard yellow almost
:Like a dark wine-ish color is very trending right now, and I
:don't really have a sweater that color, but I would love one.
:I think I'm gonna do that color nails though, either
:that or dark chocolate brown.
:Did I already say dark chocolate brown?
:That's also a really trending color, and I'm loving it.
:It's such a good basic and like dark Olive green is also a really great
:kind of fall color that I love.
:And then I feel like food is obviously another big one that you
:encounter on your day-to-day basis.
:And my mom, while I was home in Washington, she kept making fun of me
:because anything I was cooking with, for her had some sort of fall flair to it.
:So I had…
:I made this apple nut medley yogurt bowl that I got online from Everything Kraus.
:These are like the Kraus sisters on Instagram.
:Their handle is Everything Kraus.
:They do, like, non-toxic living.
:I've had them on the podcast before.
:And I saw that they posted a breakfast idea, and it looked so good.
:I tried it.
:I loved it.
:It's now, like, a go-to fall breakfast for me.
:It is so easy.
:You chop up an apple, which by the way, have you guys
:discovered Cosmic apples yet?
:Because I just discovered it while I was in Washington a couple weeks ago.
:When we went to the apple orchard and picked apples, I asked the girl,
:"Where are the Honey Crisp apples?"
:Because those are obviously, like, the best apples.
:And then she was like, "Okay, but have you tried Cosmic Crisp?"
:And maybe you all know about it already, and I'm the last one to figure it
:out, but in case you haven't heard of Cosmic Crisp apples, they're so good.
:And maybe they were that much better just plucked right off the tree, but Go get
:yourself some Cosmic Crisp apples and then come back and tell me what you think.
:So grab a Cosmic Crisp apple or whatever apple of your choice, chop
:it up into little cubes, and then put it on a pan with some nuts.
:So I was really liking doing pecans, but one time we were out of pecans
:at my mom's house, so we did walnuts.
:That's fine too.
:But those are kind of the two I would recommend.
:Um, my preference would be pecans and then sprinkle some pumpkin seeds on top.
:You could if you wanted to get a little crazy and put some like oats
:on it, but you don't have to do that.
:I just did that one time for fun.
:But put it in a little like saucepan on the stove with a little bit of butter and
:some maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg, and then let it simmer and let it soften.
:Let that all kind of like cook all the flavors and the spices meld
:together and let the apples soften, and then you put it over yogurt.
:Now I have been obsessed with the Siggi's yogurt because I'm trying to
:find yogurt that has high protein and lower sugar than the protein count.
:This is just a little nutrition lesson for everybody.
:If the sugar count on your yogurt is higher than the protein count,
:that's like really bad for you.
:That really spikes your blood sugar and it basically cancels out what
:the protein's doing, um, when it comes to blood sugar at least.
:So make sure your sugar is lower than your protein on your yogurt.
:So I have been loving Siggi's.
:There is obviously lower sugar options.
:Like for a long time I was doing the plain Greek yogurt
:and just a little bit of honey.
:But I saw their yogurt cups and they have all these really great flavors.
:They have like coconut and mango passion fruit and vanilla, and I found one a
:couple weeks ago that is vanilla cinnamon.
:How fall is that, you guys?
:Like so fall.
:So I got a bunch of those Siggi's vanilla cinnamon yogurt cups, and you
:just dump the whole thing into a bowl and then scoop on that apple nut medley.
:Oh my gosh, so good, so fall.
:Have that with a little pumpkin spice latte and it doesn't
:get any more fall than that.
:So that breakfast has been a fall, fall, fall, fall, fall favorite.
:Um, oh, I forgot to mention when I was mentioning the outfits and the
:clothes, I recently discovered Aritzia, and this is not a place where you can
:just kind of like shop all the time.
:It's a little bit spendy, but they do have some of my favorite…
:Like my favorite fall sweaters right now are the ones that I got from there.
:Those are the ones I'm reaching for the most.
:They have really great like cashmere wool right now.
:I got a brown one that's off the shoulder that's really great.
:Again, like light sweater.
:I got this one that I'm wearing today that I told you guys about, and then I
:got like a striped one that's really cute.
:Stripes are very in right now as well.
:And it is also cashmere.
:So go check out their sweaters.
:I have no code, no link, no sponsorship, but you know, a girl can dream.
:That would be amazing.
:Um, so anyways, back to the food.
:That fall breakfast, put that on your list.
:Try it out.
:Okay, and then if you really want to get in the kitchen and get baking, my
:favorite baking girl, Broma Bakery, we'll make sure to link this all in the
:show notes, has these apple cinnamon rolls, and I made that for a fall
:brunch in September, and oh my goodness.
:They're so, so, so good.
:I'm still dreaming of them.
:I cannot wait, uh, to remake them.
:Apparently I'm gonna remake them because I just literally haven't
:stopped thinking about them.
:So go make those as well.
:That has been ultimate fall fave
:Music is another one, and I know that people love Noah Kahan, so that's a
:great one to get the fall feels going.
:But also, I have been loving listening to Ella Fitzgerald.
:It is such kind of like a calming, old-timey feel that has a coziness to
:it that I think is perfect for fall.
:So just literally do, like, Ella Fitzgerald radio, or just go to Spotify
:and, like, play her whole thing.
:So cozy.
:Play it while you cook or while you're folding laundry.
:Just, like, incorporating these little things into your everyday moments is
:what gets you excited about the season.
:Another thing that I love to do is doing a fall bucket list.
:I may have talked about this in the past, but I feel like fall and also winter is a
:season where people have, like, all these things they wanna do, and there's so many
:different types of activities that you could do that are related to the seasons.
:And sometimes we just don't get to them, or sometimes we're just overwhelmed
:by, like, all the options that then we just, like, don't do any of them.
:Or sometimes we let life passes by, and it gets so busy, and then you don't
:actually end up doing the intentional things to make this season special.
:So I like doing a fall bucket list and choosing a few things that I
:wanna do in September, October, November, 'cause that's what I
:cater- ga- categorize as fall.
:Um, and I kinda just chip away.
:And Trey and I, a lot of the times, we'll, like, open up our
:calendar and write down, like, which days we're gonna do what thing.
:'Cause if you don't put it in the calendar, it's just not gonna happen.
:So if we say apple orchard, we're gonna be like, "Okay, what weekend
:are we gonna do apple orchard?"
:If I'm gonna do, like, a…
:some sort of pie, like pecan pie.
:I wanna bake a pie.
:Okay, which…
:You know, do we have a, a dinner coming up where we can, like,
:double-dip and be like, "Great, we're already hosting people for dinner.
:Let's make the pie that day."
:You know what I mean?
:Like, actually putting these fun activities into action is what's
:going to make your season special.
:So get out your bucket list and get out your calendar and put them on the calendar
:Fall drinks obviously are an essential.
:I'm not a huge Starbucks girl.
:We got a Breville in November, and our coffee at home honestly is so good.
:Trey is becoming a coffee snob more and more with every passing day,
:which I'm grateful for because it means I get really great coffee.
:I don't really know or care that much about the different things he
:does, but he takes care of that, and so we have great coffee at home.
:So we don't buy a lot of coffee out.
:But while I was in Washington, I went to Starbucks and I'm like,
:"Okay, we're gonna try a fall drink."
:We tried two of them that we really liked.
:Trey got their Pecan Crunch Latte, and I got a Pumpkin Chai.
:That Pumpkin Chai, you guys, was really, really good.
:It's a chai with a pumpkin cold foam.
:Highly recommend.
:And also, you can just do it at home, 'cause we all know those Starbucks
:drinks are absolutely packed with sugar.
:Um, and so you can make a slightly healthier version at home with
:pumpkin puree and heavy cream and a little bit of maple for sweetener.
:So I don't have a recipe for you right now, but I could definitely go find one
:and maybe link it in the show notes.
:But a pumpkin chai, mm, so good.
:Highly recommend.
:And Yeah, just experiment with different fall flavors.
:You've got cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin spice, maple.
:I'm loving also, like, a salted maple latte.
:So many fun things you can do there
:Okay, and then lastly, another part of fall as a Catholic is all
:the incredible feast days that happen around this time of year.
:I feel like we're so lucky to be Catholic, especially when it comes to this time of
:year and there's all these feast days.
:It just makes the season of fall that much more rich.
:So October is full, full, full of feast days.
:You've got St.
:Thérèse of Lisieux, you've got JP II, St.
:Faustina.
:Gosh, and I know that there's so many more.
:Um, even end of September, like, you had the archangels.
:September 15th, you had Our Lady of Sorrows.
:So September, October, and then November, obviously, All
:Saints' Day, All Souls' Day.
:Like, they just packed the fall with really, really amazing feast days.
:So feast day maxing, if you will, the Church is doing that every fall.
:So lean into those.
:That adds to the richness of the season and helps you live out your faith
:and live out the Church's calendar.
:And now, you don't have to pick all of the feast days to do something for,
:because that can be overwhelming as well, but just take a moment to maybe
:learn about the different feast days.
:Which one of those saints really speaks to you?
:Learn about their life, and then do something to celebrate on that feast day
:And like I said earlier, October is the month of the Rosary.
:Y'all know how much I love the Rosary, how powerful of a prayer it is.
:So every fall, I make it my mission to pray the Rosary
:every single day in October.
:In general, that is a practice I'm trying to live out, but it doesn't always happen.
:But in October, I do not miss a day.
:We are praying the Rosary every day.
:We're entrusting all of our cares and worries and all of our
:petitions to Our Lady for her to take it to the feet of our Lord.
:Um, and it just brings the most peace.
:It brings Trey and I together in prayer every night.
:We pray it together before bed, and it just adds a little bit more
:intention to the month of October
:Okay, I lied.
:My last one is going to be home product touches of fall.
:Again, this just leans into my whole thing about how living the season and
:feeling the season is so much more about the little everyday touches than, like,
:the big outing to the pumpkin patch
:So I'm gonna shout out Rocasa Organics, their whole pumpkin
:spice line I am loving right now.
:It actually smells so good.
:I got their pumpkin spice hand soap, and I have it in all my bathrooms,
:and their pumpkin spice lotion, and their pumpkin spice candle.
:All of their stuff is non-toxic, so what a huge win to find pumpkin spice
:scented things that are also non-toxic.
:You don't have to worry about it harming your health or your hormones
:at all, and it's something that you encounter multiple times a day.
:Every time you go in the bathroom, you wash your hands,
:little pumpkin spice smell.
:Your hands are dry, little pumpkin spice lotion.
:You clean the kitchen, turn on your pumpkin candle.
:Um, and it just adds those little touches that make it feel like fall.
:Now, if you live in a place where it is, like, super, super, super freaking hot
:still, my hot tip is to turn your AC on and put it down to, like, 65 degrees,
:and then turn your fireplace on, and then you have an excuse to wear your sweaters.
:And your husband might hate your energy bill, but at least it'll
:feel like fall in your house.
:You know what I mean?
:So that's my tip.
:Those are my fall faves.
:That is my advice for you to have the most cozy fall-y fall.
:If you have other things that you love to do, I wanna hear what they are.
:Drop 'em in my DMs.
:Tell me what you're drinking or what you're wearing or what fall movies
:you're watching or what you feel like makes fall really feel like fall to you.
:I'm so excited to be back, you guys.
:I am gonna be doing episodes every Wednesday as usual.
:If you have suggestions of what you wanna hear in these next
:couple months, send them to my DMs at everbpodcast on Instagram
:And I will check 'em out, and we'll see if I pick your episode
:topic for the upcoming ones
:So good to chat with you guys today.
:Bye-bye.
:We'll see you next week.