Alie’s favorite season is autumn. Georgia’s least favorite word is autumnal. (“It just sounds so douc … um, pretentious.”) But one thing we both agree on: Fall is the best. We can’t think of a single reason not to like fall, but here are our top-five things about autumn that earns it the Best Damn Season Ever award. Which is not a real award. But it really should be.

Who doesn’t enjoy wearing a blanket? If you just said, “Me. I don’t enjoy wearing a blanket,” take a quick moment to ask yourself what’s wrong with you. Fall affords that perfect crisp chill that necessitates you pulling a big woven snuggle-rug over your head, but it’s not cold enough to have to lug around a bulky jacket. Bonus: You rarely see middle-aged men in Speedos during autumn. We’re lookin’ at you, summer.

Fall is the prime time of year that your life can most resemble the sample photos inside picture frames at the drugstore. Leaves are changing, apples need picking, there are pumpkins and rustic farm tools just sort of lying around. Sip hot cider with someone who loves you — or have it by yourself and be thankful that you don’t have to spend the next few months looking for holiday gifts for someone who snores really loudly. Even if you’re single during fall, if you drive a few miles out of the city to visit a pumpkin patch or an apple orchard, you are experiencing the kind of comfortable old-timey warmth that only rustling leaves and anachronistic hand tools can provide. What we’re saying is: just, like, go to an orchard. They’re awesome.

7 words: pumpkins pumpkins pumpkins pumpkins pumpkins pumpkins pumpkins

We have such a deep love and tight rapport with pumpkins that we just call them ’kins sometimes. Or we’re like, “S’up p-kinz?” And they’re all, “Just chillin’ on this vine, waitin’ to be a damn scrumptious pie.” Or tart. Or savory soup (pictured above). Or delicious roasted side dish. The crown jewel in pumpkin’s autumnal reign might even be the PSL. The Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks is the groundhog of fall. As soon as you spot that thing on the menu, the season has begun. But if you’re not down with paying $5 for a coffee, we recommend taking 6 ounces of your homebrewed coffee and adding 3 tablespoons of half-and-half, a few drops of vanilla extract and a 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Top with whipped cream and repeat as needed.

Sure, we love a barbecue; but schlepping a platter of raw meat outside and then having to run back into the kitchen because you forgot the spatula is a summer bummer. Yet fall brings the wonderful privilege of cooking inside your own home. Of actually using your heating appliances without perishing from heatstroke. Alie’s lovely apartment in Los Angeles doesn’t have air conditioning, which means that from about March to October (L.A.’s “summer”), the girl looks longingly at her antique oven and wishes there were a bird turning golden brown inside it. So as soon as the temperature dips below 90 degrees outside, it’s roasting-stuff season. The days get shorter, the nights get colder, and all of the sudden, the smell of roasting onions and vegetables and rosemary warms your nose and literally warms your home. Your oven is a wondrous space heater that spits out awesome food. So celebrate autumn with the perfect bird recipe, or roast up some of Giada’s herby root veggies.

Fact: Fall is the perfect time of year to experiment with spiking hot beverages. No trips to the store for ice, no watery margaritas ruining your afternoon. You can’t hug a daiquiri, but you can cozy up to one of our ginger tea and mead drinks, our chamomile-whiskey beverage, the Alie & Georgia Hot and Proper spiked Earl Grey tea, our Drunken Donuts coffee with a kick, or — if you’re feeling fully decadent and committed to putting on some winter hibernation insulation — our maple syrup and butter cocktail, the Mrs. B’s Secret.

Admit it: You just fell more in love with fall. We’ll see you out in the orchard.