Fall is here and I love it!

A little while back I was wearing this outfit:

And I got the following comment from a random guy I passed: “That’s a serious look.  I like it.”

I chose to believe he was referring to my outfit, which was a serious look for a rainy Wednesday on a college campus, and not the look on my face (which was probably very serious, too, as I had a test in an hour and it was just all-around a stressful day).  Here’s the ‘serious look’ without my ‘His Girl Friday’ trench:

That belt is what I imagine a corset would feel like.  It reminds me of a passage from Eight Cousins: ‘ “…The idea of cramping a tender little waist in a stiff band of steel and leather just when it ought to be growing,” said Dr. Alec, surveying the belt with great distaste…’  Oh, what we do for fashion..

The dress and the belt and the boots came from a fall break getaway to Chattanooga with a couple of friends from school, but before that was a family reunion in Knoxville.  Some pictures from a Tennessee weekend:

We stopped at Mayfield on the way for ice cream.

Of course there was frisbee, and cards,

and all manner of silliness.

We slept in a pop-out camper–super fun, once the little third cousins stopped terrorizing us.  (It was also super fun to laugh at the antics of the little third cousins–a whole bunch of little boys who looked alike, full of that little boy bravado.)

The next day the family dropped me off in Chattanooga on the way home.  There was lots of eating, talking, Facebook stalking, walking, and shopping.  Highly anticipated was the fabulous used bookstore, McKay’s (and you know I have a phobia for used books, so for me to say it was fabulous means that it really is).  I’d never been before, but oh-my-gosh, I’m going back, and with a sack or two of books to trade in.  The haul:

Jill’s books (about 50 books total, most of those chapter books are stacks of multiple copies)

Beth’s books (again, just over 50)

And..my books..haha..I thought Jill and Beth were going to push me off the top of Lookout Mountain to get my hardcover copy of Hate that Cat.  We love Sharon Creech.  Who doesn’t love Sharon Creech, right?

They had their chance when we rode the Incline Railway.  The track is at a 72 degree angle.  I don’t know if you know this, but 72 degrees is practically straight up. 

The view from the top.  Pretty fabulous.

Kind of like this weather.  Which reminds me: this cool weather–it’s doing wonderful things to my hair, which is almost, just almost, back to a length I actually like.  By Thanksgiving, baby, when it’s time to see the other half of the Tennessee family.  I’ll have some more frisbee-card-playing-top-of-a-hill pictures for you then, too.  Ah, fall.  Are you here to stay this time?

Points of Interest

• I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing; kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles. ~Audrey Hepburn    Love that.
• My friend Nikki is getting married, and she started a blog!  I’ve kinda been on this wedding kick lately, and I love looking at ideas of what other people are planning.  (Also, Nikki, how is it possible that you’re getting married?!  Weren’t we just in 5th grade last week, reading “Jacob Have I Loved” and writing really melodramatic short stories?)
• If you don’t read Design*Sponge, you are missing out!  I’m filing this away in the wedding category of my brain..And I am almost done with my version of this..pictures soon!
• Things that amuse me about that picture up top: my little sister is barefoot, I am wearing heels, and she’s still taller than me (for those who don’t know me in ‘real life’, I’m 5’8″–not exactly short); one of the spaghetti straps on my (very cute, very cheap) dress snapped in the car and was held up for the entire wedding rehearsal+dinner by a paperclip (in a blazing hot church; the cardi had to go); the woman at the nail place the day before assumed we were sisters, asked which one was older, and did a double take when I said I was–“You??”  yeepp..4 years..
• My sister went to the dermatologist a couple of weeks ago, and they removed a mole on her chest to test (turned out to be pre-cancer cells and they’re going to get the rest of them, so no worries)..so the next day at band practice you could see the bandaid with the tank top she was wearing.  She told one person she had gotten laser heart surgery, another that she’d had to get a rabies shot because her dog bit her, and she told the band student teacher that she’d gotten a tattoo.  He believed her.
• More Design*Sponge love: this entry about Little Women, one of my all-time favorites..Which March sister are you?  When I was younger, I was a Jo/Beth combo, but over the past few years I’ve been growing more like Meg and less like Jo..Need to reread the book and rewatch the movies.  And I would absolutely love for my future house to look like Orchard House (crossed with Meg Ryan’s apartment in “You’ve Got Mail”, with a healthy dash of Kate’s English cottage in “The Holiday”).
• I got my hair cut this morning..it’s short and I’m not sure if I like it, but my dad said that he liked it, which is a major, huge deal and definitely should override my opinion (my haircuts have been..an issue..over the past 21 years..to put it delicately..)
• I am going to go make salsa and granola, and finish sewing the binding on my quilt, and work on my yo-yo pillow, and watch The O.C.

Now, why am I doing this?

Sometimes, I wonder why I am doing this.  Really, aren’t there so many other things I could be doing with my time?  Like, homework, for example?  And it’s not like I’m putting a lot of effort into it; when things get busy, it’s the first thing to go (i.e., this past month).  Then..I get a little reminder in my mailbox..

How beautiful is this scarf!!  Kristina made it for me–isn’t she the greatest?!  That’s right, she is.  Kristina was my very first blog friend, and what a good friend she is.  I don’t want to take this pretty, soft scarf off.  If you’d asked me two hours ago, I would’ve told you that I was ready for spring to come and stay, but now I’m wanting it to get cold again, so that I can wear this beauty!  Thanks, Kristina!!

P.S.  In defense of these dark pictures, I give you the view outside my window while I was taking them (right now, half an hour later, I see blue skies and sunshine, but it was Storming with a capital S a few minutes ago).