Tastes change as we get older and all that, but the PSL really defines the fall season for me, at least it used to. It signified the chunky sweater weather, the get-out-your-jacket weather, as the leaves turn colour and the air takes on a sweet crispness. It signalled the start of a new school year, my birthday, my sons' birthdays, my wedding anniversary, Thanksgiving, and Halloween, with thoughts of hikes through colourful trails and a tractor ride through a hay field.
Not enjoying the sweetness of the PSL has me questioning who I am as a person. If I don't love everything about the autumn season, am I really Ashleigh Rivers? Can I be someone who partakes in every fall activity but the pumpkin spice latte? Will my authenticity as a "fall baby" be doubted?
I think, to answer these questions, I must look past the glaring offence of my newfound distaste for the drink and look instead at what has replaced it in my life. I have gone from needing a few pumps of flavoured simple syrup and copious amounts of steamed milk to straight up espresso in ten years- a lot of other things have changed in my life in ten years, too. I'm gonna go ahead and give myself grace to change in my coffee preferences-despite the symbolic need for the pumpkin spice latte to reflect my love of autumn. I'm sure I'll find some other thing to signify the end of summer and the arrival of autumn.
What's your favourite fall go-to?
Ashleigh
