Hello Autumn

 Autumn is my favourite season. Summer may have warmer weather and Mr Whippy ice cream but it also has all the disappointment that comes with rainy British beaches and sandy sandwiches. Autumn doesn't try to be anything it's not: you expect rain so prepare for snuggling up with plenty of lattés, but when the sun does burst through the clouds and offer a crisp, clear day, it is wonderful.

I always find autumn refreshing. Leaves may be dying and summer may be ending, but as I head back to uni it feels like everything is only just beginning.

I started this season the way I think I should start every season: by buying one fab, colourful item of clothing that I will enjoy wearing throughout the coming months. This time it was a bright pink plastic mac from Miss Selfridge. Sombre weather doesn't have to mean looking (or feeling) sombre.

Here are some of the nicest things that this year's autumn has involved so far...

 Warm cappuccino froth at Rosie's in Brixton. Dusting of cocoa powder, vintage crockery and a pile of old books to flick through.

 Discovering Chillbox, a new Greek frozen yoghurt shop in Brixton Village.

 Eating a rose cupcake at Primrose Bakery in Covent Garden.

 As I looked around the pretty pink shop I said to my friends, "I want my life to look like this." I then stopped as they both looked at me, "actually, what am I saying? My life DOES look like this."

 Baking the most wonderful chocolate truffle cake. Twice.

 Looking down whilst sitting in a cold grey park and smiling at what I see.

 Sitting in Macaron, a french café opposite Clapham Common, and drinking an apres-swim pot of mint tea whilst writing in my notebook.

 Chocolate Guinness cake at Bea's of Bloomsbury, the tea / cake shop that my coursemates and I headed to after our first lecture.

 Coffee at Gail's, a lovely café and artisan bread shop in Queen's Park (that has other branches across London.

 Coffee was followed by brunch: brioche with poached rhubarb.

Pancakes with a smile.

Libby