Here's lookin at me kid

Wardrobe Wednesday

Nothing beats the warmth of a cozy scarf on a chilly day.  But really, I'm not much of an accessorize-with-scarves kinda girl.  I bought this ruffled yellow and brown striped scarf at Lenny & Me in Chicago (one of my favorite vintage clothing shops) last year, but it looked so wimpy and sad each time I attempted to work it into an outfit.  So I haven't worn it since.  Then, it dawned on me.  Pair it with another scarf!  So I did.  And here we have it.  Layered scarves.

I found this early 90s floral denim shift dress at The Salvation Army last week.  I put a yellow belt on, only because I wanted my scarf to make more sense.  But to be honest, after I took these pictures, I decided I liked the dress better without a belt cinching it.  Sometimes baggy and comfy is just the way to go. (I guess I kind of preach that a lot here, don't I?)

I live a block away from a park called Dogwood Park, and there are so many lovely trees to shield you from the neighborhood beyond.  Not that my neighborhood isn't cute.  It's a lovely little 1920s bungalow, 4-square house, and gambrel Dutch Colonial kind of neighborhood right next to the historic Hoover Company.  But the park is so lovely for photos.

Phil has been taking most of my wardrobe pictures lately.  I know a lot of you ask if I use a tripod.  The answer is, sometimes yes.  Last week's photos were taken with my tripod.  But usually the park pictures are taken by Phil.  He has gotten quite good with the camera!  Although, usually I take a photo first, show him the screen, and say "Take it like this, only put me there..." and point to where I will be standing.  He's a good study.  And it saves me a lot of time running to a fro while the self timer ticks away impatiently.

Just a little reminder, if you haven't commented on Tiffany's ring giveaway, be sure to do so!  It's a lovely giveaway, and I will be randomly choosing a winner this evening.

Blog transformations and inspirations

The internet is such a place of inspiration for me, as I'm sure it is for you.  When I began this blog, it was meant to be a place to share my scrapbooking projects and bits of my life.  It's transformed through the past two years into something more.  I used to make a conscious decision not to share inspiration or images that didn't come from my own brain or my own hands.  But lately, I've been wanting to share more.  My new vision for this blog is to share parts of my own life as well as things that pour inspiration into it.  That could be anything from home interiors or scrapbooking, to fashion or crafting, or to photography or art.

So the question I come to is this... What do you want to see when you come to visit this blog?  What inspires you the most?

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Spit Spot

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!  This Halloween was perhaps the most fun yet.  I bonfired and traipsed about Kent (which was absolutely flooded with elaborately appointed costumes and fabulous creatures) with my friends, and once again didn't shut my eyes until 6 a.m.  Halloweens here are epic.

(Phil took these photos before we went out.)

Part of the fun was that every one of the 30,000 people we passed in the streets seemed terribly excited to see me.  They would call out after me (like I was a friend from their past, which I guess I kinda was...), take pictures with me, and ask me to sing Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.  It was seriously fun and I felt like I was a real life character at Disney world.

When I told my brother I was going to be Mary Poppins for Halloween, he said, "Oh?  What are you going to do, just wear what you normally wear?"  And actually, the costume was created with items from my own wardrobe, save the hat, which was a straw hat found at a vintage clothing shop (that I decorated with silk flowers and pop dots).  I know I'm missing my umbrella and carpet bag, but I would have had to go out and buy them, and so I decided it would be a waste of money to buy something that would be a burden to lug around the entire night.  It's okay, because I still managed to snag a best costume trophy at one of the parties.  No joke.  There is a five inch plastic trophy sitting on my mantle right now.  Ha!

So did you dress up as anything for Halloween?  Do you have any pictures?  I'd love to see them!  I was seriously inspired by everyone's costumes that I saw- I'm already planning next year's character!

Have a haunted weekend

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An October Day

In celebration of the season, Phil and I went on a pumpkin picking outing at a local farm/winery. It was divinely chilly and wonderfully orange that day. I sort of wish I had bought some mums, even though I'm not particularly found of mums. But now that I think about it, they would look lovely on the front porch as we pass out sugar to the visiting trick or treaters.

After we left the farm, I asked every so nicely if Phil would stop to take some photos with me. He laughed and agreed. You see, I've been dying to take some photos at this old abandoned Italianate home that I often see on my driving route.  This time of year seemed like the perfect chance to take photos at the old haunted house.

I know, the pictures don't exactly look scary (and the house isn't really haunted...).  But to be honest, I'm not much into spooks.  My family never really did anything dark for Halloween, so I never dressed up as a witch or a ghost.  It was more like a puppy one year and a little mouse the next.  I have this year's costume all together in my mind, but I hate to jinx it by telling you, because I haven't exactly found everything I need just yet!  (I know, I know... but you really ought to know that I'm the queen of procrastination.)  What are you going to do for Halloween?

Thursdays in Kent

We laid in the streets which were covered in leaves and never shut our eyes until 6 am.

Dr. Sketchy

Last week, Becky asked me if I would like to come to the Dr. Sketchy event going on at the Akron Art Museum to take some photographs. The event was really inspiring! The place was filled with interesting strangers, there was a great band performing, and the Dr. Sketchy event was well attended.

Here's Becky!  (She's the one wearing the hat below.)

As much as I talk about moving to Chicago, I really do love Akron and could be very happy staying here. In the past 10 years, the city has changed for the better. There's an acclectic mix of people, a love of the arts, a great music scene, fun nightlife, and beautiful homes. Not to mention killer thrift stores.

Sometimes I can be terribly shy when I'm the only person I know in a room full of strangers, but I would love to go to the next Dr. Sketchy event, and this time I'll bring my sketch pad.

Coziness galore

So, we finally got the quilt on the bed and last week I bought a space heater. I think we're all set for the cold nights ahead! I'm actually looking forward to snuggling up with husband on evenings when darkness comes earlier than we remembered.

I think we all know the worst part of the whole coziness thing is getting out of bed in the morning. That's what the space heater is for, I guess. But golly, sometimes I think I could just stay in bed forever.

Wardrobe Surprise

I know they say variety is the spice of life. But sometimes it's nice to just overdose on one thing. And on rainy days, yellow is just the thing.

The funniest part of this outfit is that it didn't occur to me until well into my day that I looked like a yellow monster. When I woke up, I picked out a floral summer dress and put a black and white pinstripe ascot blouse underneath. Then, since all of my black tights were dirty, I pulled on a pair of yellow ones. I grabbed a coat on the way out, and picked up my book bag from the trunk of my car. And then, later on in the day, I caught my reflection in a raindrop covered window and smiled. I looked like Big Bird!

I kind of like happy little accidents like these. Especially on a rainy day.

Possibly my favorite Fall activity.

Last weekend I went to visit Fallingwater with some of my friends from school.  We only live about 3 hours away, so it was a great destination for a day trip.

Fallingwater, the former vacation home of the Kaufman family, is one of the most famous homes in America.  It was designed in the 1930s by Frank Lloyd Wright, arguably the most influential architect of the 20th Century.  In fact, Fallingwater was voted to be the best all time work in American architecture.  None of the pictures I have found can do this home justice.  You really just have to experience it.   According to Time Magazine, Fallingwater is one of the top 20 places to visit before you die.  And I must agree.  It was a wonderful experience and I will probably go back someday.

Going with people who appreciate architecture and the beauty of nature really enhanced the trip for me.  I just want to go back and do the day all over again.  Just because.

On the way back, we decided to do some exploring in Pittsburgh.  For about two hours.  It was great fun, and we all were seriously drunk on life.  I'm talking about a whole two hours of laughing.  Fabulous.  I'm ready to do it all over again next weekend!