I’m late posting today because I’ve been a busy bee, stitching and tweaking our costumes so they’ll be just right for the wedding we’re attending tomorrow.  I am gleefully excited for the Halloween wedding which is taking place at an art museum.  I wonder what type of outfits and costumes everyone will have…  We were told to wear period costumes and I shall be wearing a Victorian-inspired outfit, while my husband is wearing Colonial attire (he’s actually more excited to wear his costume than I am!).  I promise to take lots of photos of all the spooky and fun festivities tomorrow.

I hope whatever your Halloween plans are tomorrow, you have a delightfully scary time!
xo

{image shown belongs to Jooliree from Flickr}

I haven’t written a Flickr Finds post in quite some time and Mrs. French’s set, “A Thing for Horses” is really beautiful.  I was never one of those “horse girls” growing up… you know the ones that had horse posters and toys, dreamed of taking riding lessons, and was caught up in the story of Black Beauty.  However, I’ve always been drawn to horses, perhaps because my grandfather grew up on a farm where his father broke in horses (among other things) for a living.  I love the calmness and stature of a horse in a field, content to simply roam and graze.  I slow down when I drive past a farm and am the first to point out in exclamation, “Look! Horses!” and wish I could pull over and go talk to them.  I love how their eyes always seem so expressive, and in a way seem to connect with you on an unspoken level of communication.  In these photos, I love how close she gets to the horses; how much their eyes are really the subject of the images rather than the overall animal.

On second thought, maybe I’m really a horse girl after all…

{images shown belong to Mrs. French}

Yesterday I made the ill decision to walk into the newest Anthropologie store that was built a mere 10 minutes from my house.  Bad idea.  Talk about lusting over everything!  However, I did manage to leave without buying anything (but also discovered they have an entire room dedicated to sale merchandise – ha-HA!).  One of the many things I was pining over were the beaded elastic headbands, but I’m dreadfully sorry that I will not spend $40 for a hair accessory for everyday use.  I immediately logged onto Etsy when I got home and found a lovely selection of things there, most which are very much within my budget.

(the Sophia by DanaCastle)

(the Ethel by LiveInStyle)

(the Newbe by SheaBay)

This is why I started this paragraph with the phrase bad idea: now I’m obsessively looking on Etsy until I find my favorite…

{images shown belong to the owners listed above}

Are you one of those people that goes and goes and doesn’t take time for yourself?  Are you like me and constantly tell people how important it is to pamper yourself so you can better serve others, but can’t even follow your own directions?  I’m not sure if it’s perhaps the changing of seasons, but the past 2 months have left me feeling depleted.  I definitely have not been taking time out from each day for myself, always pushing those moments off to the next day to accomplish the things that are truly necessary for my health and my sanity.  “Oh, no time for a walk or a jog,” or, “I can do yoga next week,” or the dreaded, “I’m too tired to make a good, healthy meal… looks like shredded wheat for dinner yet again.”  Today was the first day in a while that I actually set aside time in the morning to visit a dear friend and practice yoga together.  It was a strange release; the poses made my body feel achy and foreign to me… muscles and bones that had become used to the rhythm of a yoga practice knew nothing of what to do or how to hold myself.  I was jittery with an energy that apparently had been stuck in “park” for quite some time, and once it was worked out and released, so was my stress level.  I felt my body speaking volumes to me this morning: you can’t keep putting off, well… yourself.  It does matter to eat more balanced foods, to get that brisk morning walk in before work, or spend time with a dear friend that warms your soul.  You can’t keep chugging along trying to get ahead without taking the time to stop and be still everyday.  Obviously, I am completely aware of these things and yet it’s difficult for me to still accomplish them.  I’m hoping with the entrance of autumn, I’ll be more mindful to make part of the day nurturing for me, so that I don’t get to this place that leaves me so lethargic and washed out all the time.

Have you ever had one of these “time out” moments?  If so, are you able to stay committed to the important things in your life?  How do you balance it all?

{image shown from my day trip to the white mountains set, from two weeks ago}

I have been craving chocolate lately…  chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and now chocolate pudding.  How sad is it that my first thought was of the cardboard box of instant stuff to make it?  Then I realized, of COURSE!  There has to be a real recipe for pudding.  And here it is, via Smitten Kitchen.  And it looks OH SO good.  I don’t have the chocolate yet, but I plan on getting some before work tomorrow.  Yep, I want to make homemade pudding that bad.

Silky Chocolate Pudding (via Smitten Kitchen and adapted from John Scharffenberger, via Wednesday Chef)

{image shown belongs to Smitten Kitchen}

A favorite daily blog of mine is Darling Dexter, maintained by photographer, seamstress, and creative extraordinaire Whitney Deal.  Her recent exploration of sewing has lead her to open her own Etsy shop where she sells her handmade clothing and accessories.  My favorite is hands down the party skirt, which has a great shape and is perfect for twirling (love those little embellished pom-poms too!).  Check out Whitney Deal’s shop to find something extra cute (and if you don’t see your size, convo her and she may be able to whip something up for you).

{images shown belong to Whitney Deal}

I’m always on the lookout for beautiful letterpress work, so I was very glad to be introduced to Alee & Press this morning from 100 Layer Cake.  The studio is run by Amanda Clarno, and you can tell from the photographs that she does wonderful work.  The designs are clean, fresh, and have a little bit of whimsy to them.  Her typography is also thoughtful and refined (something I am a stickler for!).  Alee & Press is another letterpress studio I’ll be keeping my eye on!

{images shown belong to Alee & Press}

These animal vessels from Pretty Random Objects (found via Oh Joy!) are too cute for words.  I think my favorite are the squirrel vases.  These would make such nice holiday gifts for the animal & plant lovers in my life!

{images shown belong to Pretty Random Objects}

The costume planning for the Halloween wedding we’re attending has had some ups and downs.  The biggest ups have been the ideas my husband and I have been coming up with for costumes and seeing lots of great things online… while the biggest downs have been realizing we don’t have much to spend and visiting a costume rental store and seeing how horrible the outfits were (as well as being totally overpriced – come on, $100-200 per person for a rental?  Seriously, now.  I might as well buy the dang thing).  So needless to say, I’ve been going a little overboard with searching online for the perfect (and affordable) pieces for our big night out.  Such as staying up until 3 am with my eyes glazed over, searching endlessly on Etsy and Ebay with the laptop in bed while my husband is sawing logs next to me.  Seriously, when I get an idea in my head it’s hard for me to let go.

I just purchased a vintage dress on Etsy and now I’m looking for something unique to wear in my hair: a feathered fascinator.  Who knows who came up with that term, but I have searched high and low and think I’ve narrowed my choices down to the three.  I would like for the fascinator to be a clip rather than a headband, so I can place it exactly where I’d like it, and I’d like for it to have some color (not just black) although it doesn’t have to be overly vibrant.  I’d also like for it to stick off a little bit off my head and not “hug” my hair too much (I actually already have a feathered headband that does that).  I want it to be just showy enough, but not over-the-top to make me seem like a Las Vegas showgirl.  Something similar to Irene Forsyte from The Forsyte Saga.  These are the three I’m debating on (currently, before I search for more):

(from starzselection)

(from satanica)

(from itsthelittlethingsut)

I am loving all three of these so it’s hard for me to choose one.  Which do you prefer?

{images shown belong to the owners listed above}

Friday was quite an adventure.  We woke up at 4:30 to drive my parents to the airport for their own trip and had decided the night before to just keep on driving, either to the Berkshires or to New Hampshire.  I checked the weather and it was suppose to be slushy (snow and rain mix) in the Berkshires and just cloudy in the White Mountains, so we choose the later.  After the airport, we continued north and saw something I’m definitely not ready to see yet… snow.  We drove in a snowstorm for about an hour or two, until dawn broke and we crossed the border into New Hampshire.  We actually had ice across our front bumper when we parked.  But once we arrived in North Conway, all was well.

We first had breakfast at one of my favorite breakfast spots on the planet, Peaches.  The restaurant is located inside a small cottage, and the interior is quaint and homey, like you’re eating at a friend’s grandmother’s house.  Every table is covered in napkins set underneath a glass tabletop, with the napkins detailing past patron’s glowing reviews (and some illustrations) of their experience to Peaches.  They’re fun to read and to see how far away some people have visited from.  I got the pumpkin pancakes (yum yum) and Jeff got his usual two eggs, toast, sausage and homefries.  Some things just never change.

After breakfast we did a little bit of shopping and browsing, stopping in little stores along downtown North Conway including a favorite of ours, Zeb’s General Store.  After browsing the many aisles of maple syrup, jams & jellies, kitschy moose items and other New Hampshire gifts, we decided on some handmade soap and of course, penny candy.  I even made a furry friend outside the store.  We stopped by another favorite (just to look, not to ride) across the street, the Conway Scenic Railway.  The train station is antique, along with the trains that are still running and operational.  We took a train ride last year during the foliage season and it’s really the nicest way to relax and enjoy colors of a New England autumn.

After spending plenty of time in North Conway, we ventured out into the mountains and into Crawford Notch State Park.  The scenery was amazing: twists and turns through forests peppered with reds, oranges, yellows, and browns, rocky cliffs and mountain peaks in the distances as well as to our sides, and all the while the perfect driving soundtrack (here and here) for such a gorgeous autumn day.  We passed many trail heads and finally choose the trail towards Ripley Falls.  After hiking through a canopy of golden birches, colorful maples and tall pines we came upon Ripley Falls, a 100 foot waterfall.  It was breathtaking and certainly worth the hike (which really wasn’t a difficult one at that).

Our day trip to New Hampshire had the right amount of relaxing in a New England village, as well as being surrounded by expansive and colorful forests and mountains.  All in all it was perfect, except for one thing: it was definitely too short.  Next time we need to go for a week!

{for more of my day trip to the White Mountains photos, check out my Flickr}