Tomorrow is September 1st.

And I don't know about you, but I am ready.

Not ready for pumpkins everywhere.

Not ready to put on a sweater when it's still 80 degrees outside.

And certainly not ready to skip straight past this beautiful little stretch of late summer.

But I am ready for September.

There's something about this month that has always felt like a second January to me.

Maybe it's all that back-to-school energy we've been talking about.

Maybe it's the fresh notebooks.

Maybe it's watching routines click back into place after the looseness of summer.

Whatever it is, September always makes me want to look around at my life and say:

Okay. What do I want the rest of this year to feel like?

And that is exactly what we're doing at Chez Sweetpea this month.

🍎 September at Chez Sweetpea

Our September theme is Apple Country.

Here in Western North Carolina, September is when the apple orchards start calling.

The roadside stands fill up.

The mountains begin giving us the tiniest hints that they're thinking about changing colors.

The mornings start feeling different.

And suddenly, gathering around a table feels especially good again.

Tomorrow, the September Dinner Kit arrives, and this month's table is inspired by all of that:

Apple Country.

It's cozy without being heavy.

Seasonal without rushing into full-blown fall.

And designed, as always, to help you actually invite people over and enjoy them once they arrive.

🏡 We're Enjoying Our Homes Again

September is also about coming home.

Not redecorating the whole house.

Not buying seventeen bins at the Container Store.

Not creating some impossible fall morning routine that requires waking up before the sun.

Just noticing our homes again.

Resetting the places that got a little neglected over summer.

Cooking something because it sounds good.

Lighting the candle.

Using the good dishes.

Setting the table on a Tuesday.

Hosting ourselves first.

I want us to remember that enjoying your home isn't something you earn after every room is clean and every project is finished.

You can enjoy it right now.

🏈 We're Gathering Again

September also means one very important thing around here:

GAME DAY FOOD.

🥦 Dips.

🍗 Wings.

🐓 Chicken bites.

🧀 Things covered in cheese.

🌮 Things you scoop with chips.

Food that can sit on the counter while everyone wanders back for just one more bite.

I've been working on my Game Day Table: A Sweetpea Hosting Playbook, filled with 32 of my favorite Game Day recipes plus menus, timelines, shortcuts, and all my best tricks for feeding people without spending the entire game in the kitchen.

And you'll be seeing lots of those recipes around here this month.

Because gathering people doesn't always mean a beautifully set dinner table.

Sometimes it means a bowl of dip, a stack of napkins, and everybody yelling at the television.

That counts, too.

✨ And, Finally, We're Getting Ahead.

Now.

There's one more little seed I'm going to start planting this month.

Prepsgiving.

We're not doing Christmas in September.

I promise!

But we are going to start talking about what it might look like to arrive at the holiday season feeling prepared instead of already behind.

Because I want us to actually enjoy the holidays this year.

I want room for people.

Room for dinners.

Room for spontaneous invitations.

Room for traditions.

Room for sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea instead of realizing at 10 PM that you forgot to do seventeen things.

And that requires a little preparation.

On September 21, I'll be opening the email list for Prepsgiving, my October challenge designed to help us get our homes, meals, and hosting lives ready before the holiday season comes barreling through the front door.

I'll tell you more soon.

For now, just know: Future You is going to be very pleased with us.

🌿 September's Assignment

This month, I want us to practice something:

Prepare a little. Enjoy a lot.

That's it.

Prep the chicken so dinner is easier.

Choose your outfits before Monday morning.

Reset the table before you need it.

Invite someone over without making it a production.

Put something useful in the freezer.

Buy the already-fried wings.

Use the pretty platter.

Sit down.

Enjoy your home.

Enjoy your people.

Enjoy this particular little season while we're actually standing in it.

Because September isn't Christmas.

It isn't Thanksgiving.

It isn't even quite fall yet.

It's September.

And I think she deserves to have her own moment.

🤍 This Week's Blessing

May September bring just enough structure to make your days feel easier.

May your home become somewhere you delight in returning to.

May your freezer fill with little gifts for Future You.

May there always be room at your table for one more.

And may we prepare for what's coming without wishing away what's here.

From my table to yours,
​Ashley | Chez Sweetpea