Last night I had a (rare) evening with only my daughter. Peter was out at football and the Lads spend most evenings online upstairs, so she and I were left after the hoisin pork to our own devices.

She’s packing hard for University; clothes, toiletries, a few bits of food she can cadge off us and all her Uni paperwork. We take her back on Thursday, and I am very conscious that, come graduation next year, she may not be home next Autumn but starting her working career in a strange town with new friends to make. Bittersweet, bittersweet. I’m glad to see her achieving adulthood but I will be sad to think that all my children are adults now, and I’ll never have the exalted heights of being the only grown up in the room again.

So we decided that the evening called for San Pellegrino and a rom com. Sarah watches a lot of movies, especially Hallmark or Movies 24, but a night like last night was calling out for comfort: the movie equivalent of a mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows, or of that great, big, soft knitted blanket you keep next to you on the couch to pull over your knees.

We chose You’ve Got Mail. Of course. It’s an absolutely ideal autumn movie, from the opening scenes to the Thanksgiving, it captures the Fall vibe people love so much so well. I actually watched it consciously last night, too: phone away, no book or magazine nearby, just a drink, a daughter and a delightful way to spend two hours. It turns out Sarah knows almost every line of dialogue, which is consoling. I know next year if she should happen to be away from here she can find a home in Kathleen Kelly’s white-shelf-lined apartment, sat on the rose covered couch or snuggled in the daisy-patterned bed watching old movies. Or in the Shop Around the Corner, sat on the floor and revisiting old friends, which is what the books of our childhood are.

And I can enjoy that, too. I have a few regular movies that I visit when times get rough. Not all of them are seasonal, but a few are specifically Autumn. Not all of them are happy romances either, but that, too, is a cathartic experience. There are few things better than a good cry to release frustration or pent up anxiety. You’ve Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally, Nights In Rodanthe, A Few Good Men, Practical Magic, Dead Poets Society. Heck, I even like a good rewatch of Outbreak if I’m feeling ill. An autumn cold will not, I used to believe, result in a town being locked down and families being isolated.

Gilmore Girls is always an Autumn watch for me. I’m due a rewatch soon, as well. Perhaps this autumn, while Sarah works at University and I work in my house I’ll use it as my comfort food of choice. A good coffee and an hour in the company of Lorelei and Rory.

Do you have comfort watch movies you go back to again and again? Which films/series make you relax and leave the world behind?

How to Hygge the British Way is my gift to the world. I don’t get paid for writing it, I’m not in it for the kudos, financial rewards, to become an influencer, work with brands or otherwise make any money from the blog. That’s why there are no ads, and any products I mention and recommend have either been gifted to me or bought by me with my everyday wages or donations from supporters. Every book I review has been bought and read by me, unless stated otherwise.

I do get a couple of pennies each time someone buys from the Amazon links on my page, as an Amazon Affiliate, but otherwise if you’d like to support me, I like to give something back in return. That’s why I write books. It always feels good if you get a book back in return for some money. You can find a full list of my books at my Author’s Page on Amazon, but especially recommended for this time of year are:

Cosy Happy Hygge: Setting up a rhythm to life and rituals to enjoy it to make for a more balanced life that handles waves and storms better. Lent is a season of rituals and resets. The book has small and easy ways to make your life flow with grace and happiness, which lead to more hygge.

Happier: Probably my most personal book, it’s the story of how I used hygge and the little things in life to help boost my happiness. I still go back and reread to remind myself what I need to do to be a happy human. And it’s always the little things.

Is it too early to think ahead? My Christmas books are always available: Have Yourself a Happy Hygge Christmas is a good place to start, on how to make the season cosier, happier. Celebrating a Contagious Christmas was written during covid year, but has useful advice on celebrating when times are hard anyway and Enjoying a Self-Care Christmas is a short e-book on keeping Christmas simpler, easier and better for you, your waistline and your budget. It even includes 25+ suggestions for self-care activities over Christmas, as simple as sipping tea, keeping a list journal or lighting a candle. Bigger is not always better for Christmas.

I’m currently working on two book projects: I have a hankering to rewrite 50 Ways to Hygge the British Way, so it’s not available at the moment, but even dearer to my heart and my next stated aim is to finish and publish my next book, Simple Plus Cosy = Hygge. It will be about homemaking and how the home we create shapes the hygge we have. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of summer/autumn/winter.

If you’d like to support me, but don’t want to buy a book, I have a Paypal.Me account as Hygge Jem. Every little helps, so even a few pence goes towards the books, goods and courses I use and recommend on the site. I’m grateful for every little bit that brings me closer to my dream of full-time writing, and I know I couldn’t still be writing if it weren’t for the support of many readers and friends out there. Thank you all for every little bit of support, emotional, physical and financial, you give me.

If you’ve enjoyed this article, don’t forget to share it or save it so others can enjoy reading, thinking about and living hygge as well.

The photo between post and promotions is by Arno Smit on Unsplash. I wish I had a garden shed like this one! I chose it because I love the colours of the windowframes, the tantalisingly inviting open door and the comfy chair within. Perfect spot for a cup of tea and a good book. And the header today is from You’ve Got Mail, the scene set in Autumn when Kathleen and Joe Fox are managing (somehow) to just avoid each other on their ways to work.