Carrie Saum

Soothing warmth from the inside out to help ease your aches and pains, help you rest, and stop coughing.

The truthiest truth, though, is food is expensive. It costs a pretty penny to feed yourself well, with conviction, ethical sourcing, and quality ingredients. It’s OK if you are privileged enough to be able to eat a certain way — there is NO SHAME in that. But please. be careful not to shame those who are unable to eat according to YOUR convictions.

In an age where we are isolated but still technologically connected, this is important. It’s okay to be alone. It’s okay to be unoccupied.

This is the season where we Pumpkin Spice ALL the things. Pumpkin spice lattes? Check. Pumpkin spice chocolate? Check. Muffins, cake, cookies, scones, sodas, and Cheerios? CHECK. If scientists could figure out how to pumpkin spice newborn babies and puppies, I'm sure they would because we are crazy about All Things Pumpkin Spice.

Stuffing things is the best. I mean it. Can you think of ONE THING that is stuffed that you hate?

I LOVE brunch. I love brunch more than I love most humans/animals/home renovation shows. It will come as no surprise when I tell you that I revere brunch like many people revere Lady Gaga and The Big Lebowski and Christmas. Brunch is a Big Deal for me — I take it seriously.

Corn is one of those things that people needlessly complicate. It's an ancient food that has been part of our food chain for hundreds (thousands) of years.

Gather anything orange, brown, olive green, harvest yellow, and dead. Dead leaves, dead flowers, dead hopes and dreams, and arrange them artistically on your front doorstep.

I've been taking some time this summer to focus on self-care.

We celebrated our six-week date-a-versary on Lance's birthday. All he wanted was to binge-watch Scrubs and cuddle and eat cake in bed. If there was any question that he was my soulmate before that moment, it was laid to rest. We stayed in bed, watched TV, and ate cake. It was pretty magical, if I'm honest.