in which i am a green monster

When I dreamed this outfit up in my mind the greens of the blazer and shorts were a lot more compatible. Oh, well. I purposefully paired these shoes with the blazer because they both have orange accents (I like sneaky matching like that). I think this sweater is so soft and lovely--I can't believe someone gave it away (the pack rat in me is appalled by some of the things I find in thrift stores)!

(blazer/sweater/shorts/belt: thrifted; shoes: poetic licence)

K and I still haven't gotten around to carving our funny pumpkin, so hopefully we have some time this weekend and find ourselves in the spirit. I am pretty excited for Project Runway tonight, and maybe a little bit of champagne :) We also need to watch some scary movies--I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to the whole horror genre (I like scaring myself less and less as I get older--does that mean I'm getting boring?), so I usually hold out until the actual night of Halloween to load up on terror (when the fear is tempered somewhat by an overdose of chocolate and candy corn). Monsters and bugs aren't a big deal, but mean ghosts and murderers scramble my nerves.

Do you like scary movies?

in which i time travel to november

For some reason this strikes me as more November than October-appropriate, probably because it's so dark. Man, did I go heavy on the scarves this morning :) I was wearing the small one at first, but couldn't make the outfit work with hat, so I threw this large one over it and voilà! Instant match. I kind of liked the way they looked layered together, so I just left the little one hanging.

(turtleneck dress: american apparel; jumper/scarves/belt: thrifted; shoes: lulu*s; hat: tomorrow never knows via etsy)

Oy. Not feeling terribly loquacious today. It's just Wednesday, you know? I've been writing every night for the past four, so maybe I'm tapped out. On the subject of time travel, this autumn season has really made me want to rewatch those old favorites that capture that fall feeling so well (hence, E.T.). Next up has got to be Donnie Darko.

in which brown is so seventies

Okay, so this outfit needs a disclaimer: I did not, in fact, wear this to work. After taking these photos I swapped out the shorts for a more office-appropriate skirt (since wearing what essentially amounts to a bathing costume into my cubicle would raise quite a few eyebrows--it is not yet Halloween, after all). Anyway, I bought this two-piece playsuit on etsy aaaaaages ago, and have never worn it. It definitely fits a little funny (the top is too large, the bottom is too puffy), but I love the concept of it, so I was determined to wear it on the blog (because if you can't wear wacky clothes on your blog, where can you wear them?)--and here it is! I think the brown tones are autumnal enough to work in the colder months (brown is so seventies, I've been loving it like crazy lately), but yeah... not IRL.

(playsuit: etsy; coat: h&m; boots: seychelles; necklace: uo; scarf: vintage)

Wearing this playsuit reminds me of the happy time when I first discovered etsy and spent hours perusing (and purchasing) lovely vintage wares. And then I discovered thrifting and I had a hard time justifying more than $5 spent on any article of clothing (save for the occasional H&M spree). Anyway, I sort of miss etsy. I think I just decided to buy all of my Christmas presents used this year... hooray for recycling!

Speaking of presents, all I want for my birthday this year is a gym membership. I'm not even kidding. Even if it's just for a month or two... I have really been craving some cardio lately, and it's getting too cold and dark to do it outside (funny how I always conveniently NEED to get exercise as soon as the sun sets on the opportunity...)

my brother the wunderkind

I just had to share this rave write-up of my littlest brother in The (BU) Quad (we had no such thing when I graduated in 2007--if that's not an indication of how exponentially the internet has exploded, I don't know what is). He recently finished a sampling EP, and while my enjoyment of hip hop is generally limited to whatever they play on a loop at whichever dance club I happen to stumble into on any given night (aka I don't pay much attention), I totally think this is awesome! (At least one of us Floods is doing something with (his) artistic vision...

Check out the EP and more, HERE!

over the weekend: whitcomb's land of pumpkin

Another really lovely fall weekend is behind me, and I'm happy to report that K and I have an incredibly warty wonder of a pumpkin to carve later this week :)

On Friday night we went on a date to India House (we wanted to eat at Shalimar but parking in Burlington was a nightmare--damn UVM homecoming weekend), where we drank masala tea and gorged ourselves on samosas, curry and naan. Can't be beat. The service was soooooooo slow--we were there for over two hours, which has not been my experience at Indian restaurants in the past--usually they're practically throwing food at us and we're out of there in an instant. It was kind of nice to just sit and relax and drink tea and wait patiently (okay, I wasn't so patient, especially when the samosas took half an hour to come out) for our food. We picked up some Reeses Pieces and settled in at home for an evening of E.T. (I haven't seen it in so long!) and fall cider/Octoberfest beer. The next day I went for a long run (yay me!), watched some girly movies and then did some writing late into the night.

But Sunday was the best! K and I lounged around the house all morning, and then headed out to Whitcomb's Land of Pumpkin, where we picked up a few gourd-geous new friends and spent an hour or so getting lost in the corn maze! It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun tromping through the mud and finding the "checkpoints" to fill in our word scramble card and solve the riddle. My proudest moment came when I found the candy jackpot (I'm a fiend when it comes to sweets)! It was a perfect autumn activity. K took me to a haunted corn maze on our first "official" date, so it was nice to take a little walk down memory lane (or row?) as well (and the hanging skeletons in daylight were a lot less terrifying than the live monsters that nearly gave me a heart attack the first time around).

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a weekend! And now, back in the grind... but next weekend promises to be just as marvelous!

in which i sing the song of chevron

This dress is one of my very favorites, but I struggle with styling it up in new and different ways, since the print pretty much speaks for itself.

(dress: h&m via plato's closet; jacket: uo via goodwill; shoes: seychelles)

Tonight is date night! K and I are going to get some Indian food (best ever) and I am excited :) Last night was so crazy and productive (laundry, pie-baking, hand-washing delicates in the sink...), I can't wait to just sit down and be served. This will hopefully include champagne. It is also technically our four year (!!!!) anniversary. We chose October 13 (a fairly good guess, we obviously weren't paying attention to the date when we originally got together--I only pay attention to dates when I have a regular job), but last year K said he didn't like the number 13. So... October 14 it is. :D (Hmmm I like the sound of October 15 better...)

The light in these photos is totally ridiculous. When I got to my spot it was completely overcast (my favorite for photo-taking), but halfway through the "shoot" the sun was shining like a screaming banshee through the clouds. Not ideal. And now, because it's Friday, I'll leave you with a poem that I like (about the best month ever).

October

O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
To-morrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
To-morrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow,
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know;
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away;
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes' sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes' sake along the wall.

(Robert Frost)