{Guest Post} Fabulous Fall

When one of my dearest real life friends – columnist, playwright, and man about town (who’ll happily lead a restaurant of people in a stunning rendition of “I say a little prayer for you” at the drop of a hat) – up and left for Vancouver to live the single life of a gay twenty something, it was hard not being along for the ride. While I may not be able to meet his boyfriends for a while his blog, Rugged Fox, gives a hilarious birds eye view of a prairie boy meeting the big city, the west coast and (hopefully) the boy of his dreams.

Fall is my favourite time of year. As a redhead, the drop in temperature and subsequent lower UV rating equates to a direct rise in high fashion and better skin. Living on the West Coast, where it seems every other person is tanned, buff and shirtless; I cannot tell you how happy I am to start wearing layers again. I might not have a beach body but that does not mean this scrawny 28-inch waist cannot still rock it in a coffee shop. Sex appeal is different for everyone, and mine comes packaged with a once-wrapped scarf, v-neck, and grandé caramel macchiato steaming in my right hand.

As far as my complexion is concerned, I’ve always lived by the philosophy “if it’s good for the face – then it’s good for you.” No longer clogged each morning by SPF 6000, my pores could not agree with me more on that fact. September est très bon pour le visage et le most natural detox a person can find. But trying on a blog post a little less superficial in size, this fall in particular has meant much more to me then just a good photo opportunity.

Having moved off the prairies last June, I spent the summer trying to shed the skin I could not exfoliate in Winnipeg. Thinking this process would be as easy as just switching products, I could have not been anymore wrong. For the prairie boy I left was gin-soaked, well-dressed, and against all his better efforts, could not heal a broken heart. Shaking this off I learned, meant not only a change in scenery, but also a change in life.

And so four panic attacks, two nights not remembering how I got home, and one $1200 VISA bill for a personal-training package-at-the-gym later, I write to you from a new skin. Of course I will always be gin-soaked and well-dressed (survey says this quarter-life crisis never looked so good!) but I am happy to report the reasons behind these fabulous qualities have changed. For future reference let it be known that the gay-male-soul does not do chicken soup, it does gin martinis on the rocks and with extra olives.

Fall is not only a time for fashion and the face, it is also a time for fresh starts and switching back from white to red. So sit back, wrap the blanket around your knees and enjoy this time of year!

Or take a Disney cruise down South and forget everything I just said.