Depending on how you think of it, cozy, spooky season could’ve started LAST month.

Augtober. 

For some of us in southern Indiana, the last few weeks of summer are all about soaking in the warm rays of the sun. Skin still glistening in body oil to get that rich golden kiss. 

And for some of us, we’ve already hung up the vibrant orange and red wreaths in our fuzzy socks and long oversized cardigan.

We’re waiting for our partners to surprise us with the boo baskets, the surprise fluffy blankets and gift cards to grab our favorite pumpkin spice latte or apple cider. 

Apple orchards, fall festivals, read at least one spooky book, rewatch Gilmore Girls, make a simmer pot…

We have the same fall list every year, filled with all of our favorite activities with all of our favorite people.

This year I challenge you to think outside the box, try to discover a new way to celebrate the settling breeze in the air and the changing of the leaves. 

Throw something in your agenda that is simply just for you. It doesn’t require aligning schedules with your group of friends, hoping places are still open after school and sports let out. Making sure everyone is dressed warm enough, snacks and diaper bags are packed, phone is charged to get all the photos. 

Those are all sweet things, and they show that you are doing your best to make fall memorable and precious for the ones you love.

But what about you? What about your precious, warm, cozy, fall season?

I am dropping a permission slip in your boo basket. 

Yes, if you were looking for an excuse, in writing you have my permission to lean into all the fall vibes with a cozy boudoir session.

The Favored Oversized Sweater

I know you’ve been waiting to break out your favorite giant sweater. The one with the sleeves too long, the one that falls off the shoulder. The one you wear when curling up around a new romantasy book. 

Having a cozy boudoir session comes with zero expectations.

If it’s not your preference, you don’t need to worry with all of the buckles, lace and tight clothes, trying to tame your baby hairs, or attempting four times to even out the winged eye liner. 

Take that long loved cozy sweater, your messy bun and chapstick to the studio. 

I will handle the rest, the moody lighting, music, the warm vibes. 

This low expectation, minimal effort boudoir session looks the best when you look just like yourself. Warm and soft and completely at home in your own skin.

You can bring things with you from your “things to do this fall” list and check them off right in the studio. Bring your favorite mug of hot cider, or your new book, and we can use them to tell a story behind the camera. 

It doesn’t have to be “the boudoir session OR time with my favorite book” it’s the “the boudoir session AND.” 

Slow Down and Sip the Cider

Maybe for you, after the fall arrives, the chaos ensews. 

You plan to host Thanksgiving, or at least go all out with your passing dishes. 

Maybe you start buying Christmas wrapping paper in September. You’ve already planned your schedule all the way out for Black Friday, you’ve memorized your children’s wishlist down to the misspelled words, and you plan to fill every stocking including your own. 

Maybe every child has opposing school schedules, band concerts or sports practices and they need rides to all of the things. 

Slow down queen. 

Allow yourself the space to enjoy the seasons as they come. 

I realize that I am asking you for one more hour of your time. 

But I am flipping the script, I am asking for one hour FOR  YOU, before you devote the rest of your hours to everyone else.

Booking a self care session, a morning, or afternoon, maybe an evening, all to yourself to reconnect with what brings you joy. 

I see you booky girl, spooky girl, cozy girl. 

You deserve to celebrate and be celebrated, to make your favorite time of year joyous and memorable!

To treat yourself to the pumpkin spice, the cozy sweaters, blankets, fuzzy socks, the ghostie coffee mugs, and most definitely the photos that capture you being comfortable in your own skin.

Minimal Effort is Key

I’m sure we all wish we can just snap our fingers and suddenly we jump out of bed like the calm collected housewife in a rom com who “just woke up this way.” Full faced “no make up” look, hair that lies just right, the cute pajamas tailored exactly for their body. 

In reality we know that “no make up” look actually takes an hour, messy buns hide 60 Bobby pins, and our pajamas feel frumpy. 

BUT. Boudoir is an art. The art of using what you have to create.

You don’t need a glam squad. You don’t need a hair appointment three weeks out or a new clothes haul you had to order and return twice, or even a last minute nail appointment. You can do those things if you want, and I am TOTALLY here for it. It would be WONDERFUL for you to go all out and spoil yourself. 

But if you feel a list of get ready items is going to overwhelm you, just show up how you are.

All you need is the sweater already hanging in your closet. You need the fuzzy socks you reach for the second it drops below 60 degrees. You need five minutes with chapstick and whatever your hair decides to do that day.

That’s the whole secret. Minimal effort, maximum you.

A Love Letter to the Season of Slowing Down

There’s a reason fall feels different than every other season. Summer asks so much of you. Go out, always be doing something. 

Winter asks you to survive it. 

Spring asks you to clean and purge everything you own.

Fall is the season that gives you permission to slow down before it asks anything of you. The light gets softer. The air gets quieter. The leaves slowly twirl in the air on the way to the ground. Everyone starts talking about candles and blankets and staying in, and for once, staying in isn’t something you have to apologize for.

That’s exactly the vibe a cozy boudoir session is built around. It’s not about performing for a camera. It’s not about looking like someone else’s idea of sexy. It’s about capturing yourself the way you actually feel this time of year: soft, warm, unhurried, wrapped up in a blanket and glowing from the inside out.

Why This Is the Season to Finally Book It

Every year there’s a reason to wait. Work is busy. The kids have a schedule. You want to lose a few pounds first, or grow your hair out first, or wait until you feel “ready,” whatever that means.

I think we could all make a long list filled with excuses or reasons to hold back, to keep pushing away our time to say yes.

Here’s the truth: cozy season doesn’t wait for ready. The leaves turn whether you’ve lost the five pounds or not. The pumpkin patch photos happen whether your roots are touched up or not. The only difference between the woman who books the session and the woman who keeps meaning to is that one of them finally said yes to herself.

You know that saying about putting on your oxygen mask in a crisis before giving it to another person, so that you think clearer and can show up better and ready to help someone else? That’s exactly what I am trying to help you realize. I think for many of us, we get stuck in the cycle of annual self care. Because we are waiting on permission from other things, jobs, motherhood demands. Working women are waiting for their yearly vacation days, mothers are waiting for mothers day, stay at home girlies are waiting for their annual balayage touch up. We need to start giving ourselves a few more of these special moments throughout the year. We need to learn how to give permission to ourselves to change the cycle. 

We tell all of our girlfriends, mothers and daughters to take care of themselves, treat themselves every now and then. Evaluate you, do you listen to your own advice?

I know I need to take my own advice more often!

We are the absolute best versions of ourselves when we have alone time every now and then. Or a great snack and a long nap. Or the space to finally finish a movie or an entire book. I think some women get stuck on a once a year idea of self care. So let this be the year. Let the sweater weather be your sign. Let the permission slip in your hand be the last thing standing between you and an hour that belongs entirely to you.

Grab your favorite mug, wear the sweater that’s basically a second skin at this point, and let’s make something warm and honest and completely, unmistakably you.

Your cozy season is waiting. So am I.

Xoxo,
Allison

yes please | book now — I cannot wait to be your hype woman.

And if you’re not quite ready to book but want to dip your toe in, come hang out with us in the Facebook group. It’s full of women on the exact same journey as you. 💛