fifty shades of fall

Dan and I took a walk through the nearby neighborhoods and happened upon this street completely lined by vibrant red fall leaves.   I love that the color isn't just on the trees, it's completely blanketing the ground as well.  It sort of reminds me of the scene in What Dreams May Come, where the entire environment is a three dimensional painting.  Each little leaf is its own brushstroke.  It's kind of amazing that death can be so beautiful.  Back in college when I took Plant Biology I learned the biological processes which are behind the turning of leaves from their bright green color to all of the crazy amazing fall colors.  Even knowing all that science stuff, it's still quite stunning.  
While we're only just entering fall, back in Anchorage the snow has arrived for good.  Lately I've been kind of sad that Western Washington doesn't have a white winter.  Maybe for a week or two here and there we'll get snow, which will turn into slush and ice after a few days, but nothing like the pure, crunchy goodness of a solid snowy winter.  I think we're planning on going up to Anchorage for Christmas again this year, which would be nice.  I love playing in the snow and how pretty everything is underneath a blanket of white.  It's especially incredible when you wake up to a world covered in hoar frost, and all the trees have become frosty crystalline creatures.  
dress/dear creatures via modcloth :: coat/courtesy of modcloth + diy :: tights/target shoes/courtesy of modcloth :: bag/ona :: photos by Dan
When I first saw the Dear Creatures fall 2012 lookbook, this dress was the one that really caught my eye.  Simple lines, but enough detail to keep the eye moving around.  I think it'll even be nice to wear as a top with a skirt worn over the bottom of it.  Or maybe with a belted cardigan and some boots.  I think it'll also be a nice spring/summer dress as well. I've noticed that most of the dresses from Dear Creatures tend to function well in any season.  I've never been one of those girls who has different wardrobes for each season, so having pieces that work well year round is important to me.

remix archives // birds of a feather

I only just got this dress in March of this year, but it's been styled up at least six times, probably more with the times I wore it and didn't take any photos.  I don't suspect this dress is typically considered versatile, but for some reason I think it's one of the most versatile dresses I own!  It works great in hot weather as a sundress, but it's even more wearable by layering tops, cardigans, and tights for cooler temperatures as well.  Plus, since the print is black and white, it pairs well with almost any color.  I know it'll get tons of wear this fall and winter, so I'll have to come up with some new ways to style it!

autumn litmus

Well, it's here.  These pictures document the last sun I'll see for the next nine months.  Okay, well, I'm being melodramatic, but the forecast for the next week is clouds and rain.  Good ol' Washington.  I can't even remember the last time it rained here. This dress is kind of like my litmus test for the arrival of fall.  It never fails that this dress is one of the first things I throw on once the weather cools down.  It was one of those amazing thrift store finds, and had been placed out of its section after presumably being tried on and found wanting (though I can only imagine it must have been fit related, because who could pass up this little gem!).
A long time ago I remember pinning this home deoderizer thing where you put lemon slices, vanilla extract, and fresh rosemary sprigs in water and let it simmer all day, so last night I tried it and it was great!  So this afternoon I decided to make it a bit more fall-friendly and simmered orange slices, cloves, and cinnamon sticks! Oh man, if you haven't done that, I urge you to do it immediately!  It's the best thing in the world!  I want that thing simmering all day, every day during this fall.  I seriously want someone to come over to our house just so when they open the door, they get slammed in the face with fall-deliciousness.
dress/thrifted :: tights/fred meyer :: socks/forever 21 :: coat/tulle via lulu e. bebe boots/courtesy of modcloth :: photos by Dan
Lately Dan has been wanting to learn more about photography, and though he took a darkroom class last winter, all the settings and such look much different on my DSLR than the Olympus OM-1 he used for his class.  So we've been going on little walks and I've been teaching him what I know while he takes my outfit photos.  It's been fun.  I still love taking my own photos, but sometimes it is nice to do outfit photos while we're out and about when it's not so convenient to haul out a tripod and do them myself.   
I'm definitely going to have to make my camera more rain friendly, though.  Last winter I tried to make a rain cover with a ziplock bag, which worked alright.  I might try to finagle a ziplock cover again this year, or maybe invest in a real camera rain cover.  I've jerry-rigged an umbrella onto my tripod before also, but that always was a bit unstable.  Have you guys ever come up with a great solution for taking photos in the rain?  It's an almost daily occurrence here during the winter months.  I'm trying to prepare myself so I don't use the rain as an excuse not to do outfit photos.  

lovenell giveaway!

Hey everyone! How's everybody's Monday going so far?  Today I'm teaming up with Lovenell to do a sweet giveaway!  One lucky entrant will win $50 to spend at Lovenell!  They've got super affordable prices, so $50 will get you quite a bit!  In fact, you could actually buy both the dress and cardigan shown above for $50, pretty awesome.  I'd love to pair that cardigan and dress, actually, but you all know I'm pretty crazy about pattern mixing. To enter: Leave a comment on this post letting me know what you'd get if you won the $50 gift certificate!  Make sure to also leave me a way to get ahold of you if you're the winner. For extra entries, follow Lovenell on Facebook and/or Twitter.  If you do either or both of these, make sure to come back to this post and leave an additional comment letting me know you've done so for each additional entry, otherwise it won't count! The giveaway will be open for entries until Saturday, October 20th at 9pm PST.
The winner of the Minuet Crochet giveaway is...

Congrats!

Life Lately

I haven't done one of these in two months!  I'm blaming the excitement of autumn's arrival again.  Poor autumn, such a scapegoat.  I'm going to model this Life Lately post after Julie and Danielle's posts...

Reading...
One of my lovely readers sent me her new novella, Menthol Kisses.  I'm slowly plugging away through it, but I'm really liking it!  In the past few years I've read fewer fiction/stories/just for fun type of books, so it's nice to step back into that world of getting to know a character and following them where the story goes.

Watching...
Doctor Who Season 5.  A friend who I worked with at camp last summer got me into Doctor Who and let me borrow all of his DVDs, so whenever I was on a break from supervising high schoolers I would steal away some time to myself watching Doctor Who.  This fall I've gotten Dan into it, so we started from the (Eccleston) beginning and are currently at the beginning of Season 5.  I'm trying to convince Dan that it would be the best thing in the world if for Halloween he was the Doctor and I was the Tardis...

Anticipating...
Moving out of our tiny house.  I've been complaining a lot about this lately, but it sure would be nice to get into somewhere bigger.  I have a 2012 Ikea catalog sitting on our coffee table and it's a dangerous thing to have around.  Just makes me want to move even more!  Trying to be patient and just wait for whatever's suppose to happen.

Working on...
A new e-course, some lovely blog design clients, editing photos, and trying to figure out how to do a hair tutorial video.  Our house is so small (and dark) that making a video inside is nearly impossible... or maybe it is possible, just very difficult.

       
Rediscovering red lipstick // trying on hats + scarves at H&M // ALL of the pumpkin beers Watching the Seahawks win! // crunchy leaves // pumpkin time // winter knit hats spiced amaretto latte from Metronome! DE-lish!  // Dan made blueberry pancakes, mmmm.

Some interesting reads around the web...

 An amazing article on the misconception of online cliques.  I've often heard people make those same statements that she mentions in the first paragraph, and she does a great job talking about it objectively.

 This is not a read, but it is absolutely hilarious.

 I loved Meg's post about giving people shit for reading books like Twilight and 50 Shades.  You go, girl.

 This is just completely heartbreaking.

 I really enjoyed this article on Relevant Magazine's website- You Never Marry the Right Person.  I definitely think we have this misconception that there is the absolute perfect person out there to marry, who will be absolutely perfect for the entirety of the marriage.  When this misconception collides with the reality that every person is constantly growing and changing...

 Female Friends Spend Raucous Night Validating The Living Shit Out Of Each Other- just go read it.  Be prepared to laugh.