Mad Hatter

I love hats. Really, really, really love them. Any size, shape, colour, or kind, I love them all. I own quite few, some vintage some not. The hats that I wear most often are knit caps or berets. I would love to wear my other ones more often but I have a little problem: I'm pretty convinced I will look like a dope. I'm pretty sure this is all in my head, but still. I just feel very obtrusive when I wear hats other than my berets or knit caps. Besides that I don't think they fit into my life very well. I sit in an office from 9-5 everyday and I don't know, I just feel like wearing a really beautiful vintage hat in a stuffy old office is just unfair to the hat. Hats should be admired, they should frolic in the sunshine, or the rain, or the wind, or the snow. They should not be stuck in an office. So the times I have worn my hats to work, I end up taking them off, shoving them under my desk and the reviving them when I go outside- which is when I leave work usually.

So here I am, a closet hat wearer, with a million and three hats, that sit in my room untouched, unseen, and unused. Does anyone else feel this same way or am I just being an idiot? I just keep thinking that I'm going to stick out like a sore thumb (I hate that phrase) wearing a little hat all day. It's really sad too because whenever I am in thrift stores, or antique stores and I see hats, I try them ALL on. Yes, all of them. But I never buy them, no matter how much I love them, because I know I won't wear them.

So long story short I have decided to get over my fear of wearing hats in public and just wear them. We'll see how well this goes.

On related notes, I am currently making a "hat" of sorts for my Hallowe'en costume. I still need to to go the craft store and see if I can find some flowers (do you have any idea how hard black roses are to track down two days before Hallowe'en?). And I'm still experimenting with shapes for said hat. So far we've got a Purtian's cap, and what is approaching looking like a Viking Longship.

On another related note about things I have no quams about putting in my hair, I just ordered these from the ever so lovely Maria's Etsy shop. She still has two more available, if you are interested. I can't wait for mine to arrive!

MISSING: CAMERA CHARGER CHORD REWARD IF FOUND

My very well meaning brother managed to misplace the chord to my camera's battery charger. SO I am currently without camera, and have been since Sunday night. Tomorrow the house get's turned upside down because I have to have it: HALLOWE'EN IS HERE!

Hallowe'en is my favourite Holiday, closely followed by Christmas, then Thanksgiving, then St. Patrick's Day (I look good in green). The last few years have been incredibly uneventful, but this year my sister, brother-in-law, Jessica, and her boyfriend Ben are actually doing something. What we are doing has yet to really be determined, but it will probably involve going out to dinner in our costumes. I am incredibly excited for mine this year! I can't wait to show it to you all!!

So what have I done this week? Well it's been an incredibly eventful week. Here are the bullet points that will hopefully make it short:

• My parents, Bri and Michael were going to see U2 in Pasadena on Sunday at the Rose Bowl. I was taking the kids to San Diego for the day. All the previous week we had nothing but multiple car troubles. On the way to San Diego my tire went flat. That was the spare tire from Monday when we got a flat. There is a really long and slightly amusing story about a douchebag towtruck driver, my life flashing before my eyes, and my having a mental breakdown in the parking lot of a weinerschnitzel, but I'll spare you.
• we ended up fixing the tire and driving home after my dad drove from Ontario to where were were which was outside of Temecula (at least 40-50 miles), and I cried the whole way home.
• My dad was whining about going to the concert and being out late so he let me have his ticket and I got to see U2 and ended up on the Youtube live feed of it (well my arm and camera strap did (it's at 1 hour and 33 mins by the way)). It was amazing and epic and I took 532 pictures, then my battery died.
• after the concert I found I had a toothache. The toothache kept me up ALL NIGHT LONG. I got one hour of sleep which was on the way to the concert.
• The next morning I couldn't do anything, my tooth hurt so bad. So I made an appointment to go to the dentist. The first time I've been since I was six. In order to go to the dentist, I had to have a valid state issued ID. My license is expired.
• I had to go to the DMV, with a toothache, and on the same day I had to go to the Dentist.
• I'm pretty sure I look like a four year old wannabe Kurt Cobain in my new DL picture
• Once at the dentist, with my temporary license paper, I was told my old license would have been fine.
• I learned I have a mutant tooth. I have naturally perfectly straight teeth, save one near the back of my mouth, which is slightly off kilter. Actually it is perfectly straight it just came in completely twisted around, so the back of my tooth is actually the front.
• The dentist tried to con me out of $4000
• I have turned into my mother and have no trust in the medical community. I am now seeking Wholistic dentistry opinion, and self medicating myself, which has worked wonders.
• Neem Seed Oil tastes like poo. I don't eat poo, but if I did, it would take like Neem Seed Oil.
• Clove oil is my new best friend. It cures everything.
• Since Monday I have become an utter health nut. I refuse to eat, or buy anything that has been processed, and is full of chemicals. I am now officially nutty.
• I wrote an upbeat and depressing song.
• I bought real Milk glass at Goodwill for mere pennies.

I have a ton to show you all, but no Camera! So instead I will leave you with some of the best pictures I got on Sunday. Have a wonderful week, and send all your camera cord finding positive thinking my way!

This picture was a total accident! I was actually really mad at first at this guy, because Bono was right where his hands are, but as soon as I saw it I fell in love! Thanks Guy who put his hand heart up!

Summertime

It's so hot today. We had a couple of really nice cool-ish days, but today it was 92 and hot, hot, hot! I have packed away most of my summer clothes save a few cotton dresses for weeks like this where the weather suddenly had an identity crisis. Being that it's basically still summer, I thought I'd show some ideas that are floating around in my head to make for next summer. Being that this was (is?) my last summer in California, I am trying to whittle my wardrobe down to Portland weather appropriate items. Of course with my luck Portland will probably have another hot summer like they did this year, but my fingers are crossed.

I also wanted to show you one of my favourite websites, which I can't believe I haven't posted before. It's quite a good resource for anyone who loves vintage/sewing/vintage sewing.

All images are from The Vintage Sewing Patterns Wiki which like I said, is a really great resource. I should say that the website is a little confusing at first (at least I was confused), but it gets better once you sort it out. I like to look through here for inspiration, and to better acquaint myself with vintage patterns. There is also a wealth of hair inspiration, which I am totally in love with right now. So Enjoy!

1. How cute is this! The ruffles are just adorable! 2. I love the shape of this one. 3. I really want to get a bunch of jumpers I could wear with or without a blouse. 3. The details here are just charming!

1. I think I'd want this dress in every colour. It just seems like a really cute, basic dress. 2. This isn't something I would normally like, but there is something about the drop waist and pleats that make this really charming. I think it reminds me of a tennis dress. 3. This is actually a blouse and skirt, but I love how versatile it is. Making them both out of the same fabric makes a dress, while you could still mix it all up. 4. I'm envisioning this in white eyelet, floral, plaid, gingham...

1. I love how basic this is, but still has details that are interesting. 2. If everything I owned had a Peter Pan Collar, I would be a very happy girl. I do not like the other version. It looks like her boobs have ventilation flaps? 3. This would be a great summer-into-autumn outfit, as well as being incredibly versatile. 4. Love. Love. Love. Love. So much love. I love both views. My life goal is to find this pattern.

1. This would be a great everyday kind of outfit. I love everything about them both. 2. Again a great summer-into-autumn outfit. 3. I love the versatility and the waistband is adorable! 4. I've always wanted to take a vintage slip pattern and make it into a day dress. They're often pretty enough to be seen.

This is my favourite set. 1. The floral view is my favourite. 2. This would be a great year-round piece. Also the blonde reminds me of Sleeping Beauty. 3. I love the green's sleeves. 4. I actually prefer the long sleeve version but I think that's because of the fabric choice! I love the two-tone though.

This week (so far) in pictures

I probably shan't be around much this week. I have a super-secret-not-so-secret-I'm-just-choosing-to-make-it-a-secret project in the works right now, and so far it's been highly productive/helpful/my hands look bigger (I have the hands of a four year old, when I do something that I'm proud of my hands look bigger, it's a weird mental thing). I also have two re-fashion projects, and am going to begin my halloween costume. Yeah Halloween is next weekend, and I'm just starting this. But I only found out yesterday that we are actually doing something. Should be interesting. How's your week?

A blog full of fluff

It is hot. So hot that it's gotten ridiculous. Overnight it went from 60 to 93. We will be having this heat spell for about two weeks... I am annoyed with this.

Not much to say. Good morning, decent day, Good musical progress, excited for Monday (I'm seeing the closing Decemberists Show and yes I saw the opening show in LA and I'm seeing the closing show in LA but this one has animation and I'm flipping excited!), bought a new CD that I am super excited for it's arrival, wrote a song about a dead girl and her ghost (don't ask), *might* be seeing U2 next Sunday if my old fogey dad caves, built up new callouses, was given some very nice compliments on my vast and varied musical background (nice to know my inability to stick to one thing has paid off in a way), saw old friends that I miss, and overall, just a good day.

About the dead girl song: I have no idea where it came from. I was playing my guitar moving around different cords and suddenly this song was born. The words literally flew off my tongue and I fell in love with it. It is a story song about a girl who is murdered and then her ghost haunts her murderers until they kill themselves...

...

I think my subconscious is a goth, and my id is in denial.

I am in the mood to travel. By car, by boat, by plane, by train, hell I'd walk. I'm just itching to go somewhere and see something new, or even something old that I haven't seen in a while. Places that are especially attractive right now: anywhere with rain, anywhere it is cold, anywhere I can wear tights, anywhere with forrests, anywhere with deers, and a cold beach. Sounds very good.

Yesterday's little photo shoot got my creative juices flowing big time. I'm bursting with all sorts of ideas and plans. Now I just need to figure out when I'm going to accomplish all of this.

I am making a dress this weekend (even if it kills me) to wear on Monday. This is the inspiration:

It's gonna be great. Even if it kills me.

What have you got in store for this weekend?

A Visit to the Past

I could say this is a statement. I could write up something about consumerism and waste, and whatnot. But that's not what this is.

Yesterday, after a so-so week, I decided that I was going to do something different. So I went and re-visited my childhood. Well sort of. I went to one of our old houses. We lived with my grandparents from the time I was four until I was almost eleven. They lived not too far from where we live now on a big property. My grandpa was the pastor of a church that lad a good two or three acres behind it and the parsonage down below it. This is where we lived.

I've talked before about how much I loved growing up in this scenery. It wasn't ever particularly beautiful, but it was and is to me. I have man many good and cherished memories from living there (as well as many, many bad ones, but that is a post for another day). I liked having basically a wilderness to play in. Granted I'd have liked one with more trees and maybe some water or sorts, and less dirt for that matter, but all the same I really did love it. So today I drove back. It is literally a five minute drive from my house. The first few shots are from the actual Church property. These rocks were my safe haven. Bad days, fights, childhood dramatics, adult dramatics that I didn't understand, were all healed here. Everyday that we lived there I would go out to them climb up to the top and lay down on my "bed" and watch the stars. Once we moved, we still spent every holiday here and so each holiday I spent a good portion of the night out on these things, dreaming of the future. I'd like to think that those rocks would be happy with the way my life has turned out, and excited for my new horizons.

(^ favourite)

Across the street from our house was an orange grove. It's one of the larger orange groves in Riverside, taking over miles (at least a good six or seven). Every year in the spring the orange blossoms would bloom and the air would be fragrant and sweet. My dad is allergic to oranges. It was actually pretty funny to see him hold his nose as he walked outside, at least to six year old Ashley. Down the road from the orange grove was a field. My dad once told me they held satanist meetings there, but I'm pretty sure he only told me that to keep me from wandering off by my self (something I have been known for my whole life). I always really loved this field. There has always been a gloomy, romantic nostalgia to it (those are the grown up words. The kid words are "creepy and cool"). It's always haunted me in a good way. Going back today I think I know why. It seems like it's frozen in time. even though I know that it changes, and has infact changed, it seems like it's a different world from the busyness of the nearby streets. I would ride my bike in this place or walk down there and just wander. This is the field in which the game of "Russian Peasant Girl" was born. I seriously think I spent more time playing that game than anything else.

As much as I believe in recycling, and keeping things clean, and strictly no littering, there is a part of me that loves the abandoned junk left here. It congers up all sorts of images of Pioneers carrying all their worldly possession, and leaving behind what they cannot carry. Not that I equate televisions and mattresses to anything a Pioneer would have left behind, but there is still something romantically macabre about it. Beyond all that I just like old things. I like broken things, and I like things that everyone else forgot. I think that's something all people who love vintage or antique things feel. There is somehow life amid the decay (which would be an awesome emo band name). The bed frame is my favourite of the things there. I wish I'd gotten closer to it. Frankly I'd like to take it and give it a new life, but my childhood fear of snakes won.

I don't mean for all this to sound sappy or nostalgic. It just found it all really beautiful and I loved the way these photos came out. There are more (plus the un-edited ones) on my Flikr here. I'm trying to develop my photography abilities, so any input is much welcomed!

Sparkles

Collar- Vintage

Cameo- Family Heirloom

Sweater- Thrifted

Skirt- Thrifted

Stockings- Target

Shoes- Payless

Today is one of those days when I wish I had someone who would bring me my frozen yogurt, and a coffee to work and laugh at my froggy voice and say that my hair doesn't look wonky, and not to worry because my head is not going to explode despite what my head is telling me, and just tell me a joke, or funny story to make me laugh. That's what today was.

And then Jessica came to work carrying in these:

I didn't get Froyo and coffee, but I got Edward Cullen. Not a bad trade. And a little sparkle was added to my day. No joke, they sparkle. They also taste like really gross children's vitamins, but it's the thought that counts right? And today is perfect Cullen weather too.

Monday Inspiration #24: Drip, drop.

If you have known me for more than ten seconds, you know that I have a deep passionate love of rain. I know that there are many people out there who like rain, and what I'm about to say is going to sound horribly cocky, and arrogant, but I really do think I enjoy it more than almost anyone else (that I know at least). In California we get about 9 inches or rain a year. This is depressing. When I went to the UK and Ireland we had five sunny days during our 21 day trip, and I could not have been happier. I really, really, really, really, really love rain. I mean, like, alot. I can honestly say that I would not be sad if it rained for days on end. I love it! I always have. As a little girl my favourite days were rainy ones and spent them all outside, in my boots and rain coat, playing and smiling. For a more detailed post all about rain go here, but for length reasons I shan't repeat all the things I love about the rain now.

The last couple of days a storm has been coming in from the coast of Mexico, and I have been waiting with bated breath. Each morning I wake up to dark, gloomy, looming clouds that disappear by noon. But today is supposed to be the day. It's supposed to rain today, tomorrow and the next day. Here's hoping. But The point of all this, is that I find that I feel far more inspired when it rains. I enjoy the outdoors more (because it's not suffocatingly hot), I enjoy the indoors more. I want to hike and sew, and make and sing. I want to bake, and cook, and read by the fireplace. I'm a cold weather kinda gal, but I'd rather it be rainy and cold, than clear and cold.

I know alot of people find the rain oppressive (which is how I feel with heat), and dark and gloomy, but I've always liked the gloom. I find rain liberating, and frankly I've always liked dark and gloomy things, Grey is my third favourite colour.

Of all the wonderful things about rain, there is one thing I love more than anything. This one thing is something I highly recommend you do next time it rains wherever you are. Put on some boots, grab a warm jacket, Put a smile on your face, and go joyously jump into a giant puddle of water. Each puddle has one good jump, so make it worth it. Then stand in the puddle you've just jumped in, and smile at all the good things about rain. I guarantee it will brighten your day.

On a side note, I have come down with a rather annoying cold that has manifested itself in a sore throat. The silver lining of all this is that I am breaking out my scarves (all 20 of them) and drinking copious amounts of peppermint tea with raw honey cough syrup. Oh and soup. I'm eating soup. I love the rain.

Do you like the rain? What do you like most?

Candid and Honest

Sometimes I wish I could write things on this blog and not worry about who will read it. I'd like to somewhat vent about certain things that I really want to vent, and have someone say they care. I'm not trying to whine or moan, but it would be nice if I could be honest about the way I feel about certain things. It would be nice if I could show how certain things really effect me, and how much they bother me. It would be nice if I could say all this and just be candid, with no passing judgement, and without being called over-sensitive, or being told that I am being defensive. I am only ever defensive when I need to be, so maybe that should be taken as a clue.

I'm tired of being made fun of for things I like about myself. I am weird. I always have been. That isn't going to change. I like weird clothes, and silly things, and am a Grandma. I like to take pictures of myself and post them on the Internet. I like to blog. Blogging is one of the biggest contributing factors to my liking who I am. I like that I have this pastime, I like that I can see the lives of other people who like the same things I do, and I like to look at clothes. I like that blogging has been a way for me to not only grow up, but also to learn to like myself. I like that. Just because it is silly to someone else doesn't mean it's silly to me. There are alot of things that other's do that are silly, that I have never, ever made fun of, because ya'know what? It makes those people happy. Blogging makes me happy. Being ridiculous makes me happy. I'm not going to change that, because I like it. I like being a directions Nazi, I like that I'm a human compass. Get over it, I'm not going to stop talking about it. There are plenty of people I know who talk about their quirks that they like, that I find really annoying, but do I comment? No, because it makes them happy. I'm tired of being the flawed one. We're all flawed. Get over my flaws or I will start point out yours. And no I'm not being defensive. I'm giving you a taste of your own medicine. Doesn't feel too good does it? No I'm not better than you, and I don't think I am, so stop thinking you're better than me. You're not. We all suck. We all have issues. Yours are not more important than mine, and mine are not more important than yours. On that subject, y'know it would be nice if maybe someone asked me about my problems. Maybe I need to talk. Maybe I need to be given an honest to goodness pep talk, full of sincerity and love. Maybe I just need to be asked what's wrong, or y'know have someone show interest in my life. Yeah that would be nice. I'm not saying all the time, but on occasion it would be nice. Maybe I need to cry and get things off my chest, and have a freak out, and maybe I don't want to volunteer all that, maybe I want a shoulder. Maybe I have dreams too. Maybe I want someone to ask about them, or show an interest, or just start a conversation. Maybe I don't always want to be the one to talk. Maybe I just need a reminder that someone out there gives a crap about me, and maybe even two. Maybe I want to sigh and release all the stress and worry I have. Maybe.

I'd like it if the things I don't like about me weren't shoved in my face all the time. I am trying to change, and the change may be slow, but it is happening. I'd like it if the things other's don't like about me weren't thrown in my face all the time. Do I throw the things I don't like about you in your face? No I don't, so please return the favour. I'd like it if maybe, just maybe ya'll could have an ounce of faith in me, that I am not going to screw it all up, because let's be honest my screw-ups haven't been all that horrible, and very few of them were done in the presence of you. I'm not going to crash a car, or get in an accident, or run over a hobo. I'd like it if you minded your own business.

I don't deserve to be in a shitty situation. So I'm not going to be anymore. Now I've said it. I've said all that I want to say, and I'm not going to say anything else about this. If you choose to ignore this then you run the risk of being annoyed with me, and that is your right, and I don't care. I've said my piece and I'm done. I'm not going to put up with being talked down. I've got alot going for me, and I know it, I don't need anyone to put me down, and make me doubt myself. Sure maybe my allowing you to make me feel lesser is my own flaw to overcome, but you are no help.

And that is the honest to goodness truth.

On Focus

Click to enlarge

Sweater- Target

Blouse- H&M

Skirt- Thrifted

Tights- Target

Shoes- Old dance shoes

On Monday I wrote out a list of small easily achievable goals for me for the month and plastered them to my closet door. One such goal was to make time to work out more. Working full time has really thrown off my balance of figuring out what is my time versus the time for getting things done that need to be done. So in order to find the balance and figure out a way to really maximize my time I wrote a list of things that were important to me, not to my well being per se, but that were important to me. Things like my music, sewing, working out/walking, getting dressed in the morning, being creative, and whatnot. These are the things that make me happy. Then I listed all the things that I have to do to survive, like spend eight hours at work each day, do laundry, fix food, shower, clean, that sort of things.

Well long story short I decided I had to start getting up earlier and going to bed at a specific time each night. So I am up at 6am, and in bed by 11pm. I also begin and end my day with a walk. I have a 20 min walk that goes around my neighbourhood and each morning and night I walk it. Well needless to say the getting up at six has been a huge challenge. I like my sleep, and I like to huddle under my blankets on cold mornings. The mornings have been cold but I have to get myself up and get my blood pumping. Day one I thought i was going to die. It was so cold, I had to break out some mittens (I'm not complaining), and breathing in the morning air was like being stabbed in the lung several times over. Night one, was better, but I found that I was exhausted, and just wanted to turn back by about the second block I'd walked. But I trudged on. Day two was a little better as it wasn't quite as cold and I took the time to jog in place and get some blood pumping. That night I was still tired but did much better. Then came day three. On day three I woke up before my alarm and hopped out of bed. I threw on my work out clothes and walked. I was excited for this. I know.

Well today is day five and I have found out the following:

• I like having the mornings to myself to prepare for the day ahead
• I now look forward to each day as a thing filled with possibility
• I'm far more efficient at work
• I'm actually less groggy
• It has become something important to me, and I actually look forward to it each morning and night
• I am happier throughout the day and am less irritated by irritations
• I always eat a healthy breakfast
• I feel like my life is far more organized

So I am very happy with the results of this, however I am at the point where I could suddenly drop it, which I don't want to, so I've got to push myself the next few days. I really want this to be a habit I stick with forever.

Of course there are other things that i am trying to sort out as well, but I'm trying hard not to focus on too much. I think what I'm going to do it focus on one thing per week. This week was getting up earlier and walking, next week we'll shoot for something else, building on the other improvements. One other thing I did this week was limit my TV watching only to the shows I really, really enjoy, and only about two -three hours all week, as well as turning my computer off after 7:30. No computer time for me between 7:30pm-9:00am. This has been monumentally helpful in keeping me focused on my goals, and not on what the interweb world is doing. As much as I love poking my nose into your wonderful lives, sometimes I think I forget to live my own wonderful life.

So all in all it's been a really good week! I'm excited for the weekend (Berry picking and a girls day out (which is unfortunately to LA, but I'll survive) and maybe even Disneyland!) and for next week, oh and I started up voices lessons again which will give me the kick in the pants to actually write some music!

How was your week? How do you stay focused on your goals?

A Riverside PSA- Meth Capitol of the Nation

I apologize for any language, but hey this is Riverside...

Welcome to Riverside. By the way, I work a block away from all these places, except the orange grove, which is up by my house... Good times (The white building with the columns is the Historic court house around the corner from us)

On Clouds

Sometimes I pretend I am a poet. This is what happens.

Sometimes I lay and watch the clouds
as they float on by
and I am taken by how much clouds are like life.
Their shape changes as the wind blows,
but sometimes, sometimes they stay.
They seem stuck in the sky, unable to move, to feel, to do anything, but stay.

I wonder if they ever feel frustration?

Can clouds feel? Can a cloud hope for wind to blow it's way?
Do the clouds even want to move?
Do they even care?

Sometimes as I lay, the clouds grow dark,
full of rain, and hail, lightning and thunder.
They seem full of anger and fear, but is that what it is?
Are the clouds sad when it rains?
Or do the cry from joy knowing their leak will grant us blessings?
Without their tears we would have no flowers, no trees, no plants.

Without their tears we would have no life.

Their tears soothe a hot cheek, and wash away our anxiety.
We need them to live, no matter the unpleasantness,
and new clouds always come.

Sometimes when I lay I see a funny shape.
Is it a boot, or a fish? Or is it both?
I tilt my head and it takes on new life, a new shape, a new meaning.
But only when I look for it, do I see something new.
Can I look at life this way? Can I change my vantage point
to see what else is there?

Is there anything else there?

Of course there is, there always is.
But until I watched the clouds I could not see
that to find true beauty sometimes we have to tilt our head.

Clouds come in all seasons, they change, they evolve.
They never are, what they were before,
never see the same thing twice.
So clouds are like life:
Beautiful, confusing, sad, happy, strange, changing,
scary, joyous, weird, ugly, hot, cold, gloomy, tired, awake, living.

They live.

And so do we if we choose to.
So in this life I will live,
I will be like a cloud.

I wrote this, this morning as I huddled in my blankets before my 6am walk. I have no idea where it all came from, and it probably is a jumbled mess, but I kind of liked it.

It is beautifully overcast today and I'm crossing my fingers that it rains. Wish me luck!

A bity bit of a favour from you

Okay so my brain is currently in a million different locations. I have so many ideas and projects and things swimming around my head, and I'm not even sure where to begin! But in a very good way! I've got things to set in order and projects to finish and I am delighted with it! Tonight I plan on sorting through all the things I want to do over the next few months (plus it's time to re-budget), and this hear blog is apart of all that. So here is my question for you (the three of you who read this):

What would you like to see here? What's working, what's not? I've never intended this blog to be a "subject" blog. It's my blog, so I'll rant, and rave and talk about rain too much, but is there anything you would like to see more of? Anything you'd like to see less of (and if you say my emotional posts on life, love, and other mysteries I will punch you. That's just not gonna happen. Take it or leave it, it's all apart of my wonderful packaging.)? I would greatly appreciate your input.

In random tidbits of my life news, today I saw a crazy man yelling at the air while standing on a bridge, and no he was not wearing a blue tooth, and it made me smile. Also yesterday it decided to be Fall. It has been chilly, and windy, and there were even some teasing rain clouds yesterday. It would be nice if it would actually rain, but it's all about baby steps here. So Bozo in the office has turned on the heat, even though it's not cold enough for heaters yet, which is annoying.

We went to Ikea yesterday and I bought wooden hangers. I've been slowly trying to switch over from platic to wooden hangers, but those bad boys are pricey! So Ikea had an eight pack for 5 bucks. so I bought four packs. I'm gonna need another four I think... I find this to be incredibly sad and pathetic but there is a part of me that is kinda proud of this as well.

Oh and I finally joined Wardrobe_Remix. I'm still a bit wary of it, because I don't actually consider myself to be someone with great style, but I figure this gives me a reason to force myself to get dressed everyday.

Okay, now I'll shut up about Fall.

Cardigan- Costco (I know!), Blouse- Goodwill, Skirt- rummage sale and altered Bitten dress, 40's wedges- Riverside Hospice Thrift.

I know that sometimes, some people think I over romanticise things. Like rain, and cold, and fall, and lace. They think I do this just to stand out, to make myself seem quirkier and to draw attention. But this is not the case. I really am this weird, and I really do get swept up in the romance of things. So this morning when I woke up freezing cold, I smiled. Fall is coming. it is slowly creeping it's way here. Soon the leaves will turn, and there will be cinnamon in the air. It makes me smile, fills me with a sort of calmness that Summer could never bring. The days of good hair days are upon us, and things will start to change and it will be wonderful.

This seasonal transition is really weird. The nights are getting colder (finally), and the days are even cooling down (I say despite the forecast of 91 today), but we're still in this sort of limbo between hot and cold. I have to bring a sweater, but tights are still too hot. Weird huh? This weekend is supposed to be in the 70's for us and I am looking forward to it with giddy delight. My favourite thing about cold weather is the way my nose feels when it gets cold. My nose turns red, and the wind bites at it and I just love it. Goodness I love this time of year!

My weekend plans are very boring, and full of those lovely Fall-ish home things. I'm going to clean and cook, and sew and crochet (something I haven't done all year). My mom and I went to Joann's the other night and I bought two wool yarns for scarves. One is this absolutely beautiful cross between avocado green and sage/moss green, the other is a deep ruby crimson red. I'm very excited to start working on them! I also plan on reading while curled up in a blanket with a cup of coffee, while listening to some Fall-ish music, and learning how to knit. The next couple of months are going to be incredibly busy and I can't wait! Day trips to LA (the good part is that I get to see Sarah and Charissa, not LA), Pilgrim's Place, Oak Glen, Camping Trip, Mary Poppins, Thanksgiving, My dad's birthday which might end in a surprise party, Halloween... Is there anything more wonderful than Fall?

What are your weekend plans? What are you most looking forward to this season?

Buy some cookies and we can go back to my place.

Baret- Magpie Vintage Portland, Or., Earrings-World Market

Dress- Local Cheapster Boutique, Socks- Target, Shoes- Target.

Yesterday after I left for work I realized I looked like a naughty Girl Scout. All day I was sure some slime ball was gonna ask me to show him my goods in the back room....

I got nearly no sleep last night due to Grace's sudden breakdown over the loss of Bri. She keeps crying for Bri to come back and live with us forever, and now has began begging me not to ever move. She's also incredibly clingy and slept with me last night. Well she laid in my bed an occasionally slept, but mostly cried and threw her arms around my neck threatening to move with me... The poor girl just doesn't understand this all.

Oh! Yesterday Jess and I were at the Bankruptcy Court and we got evacuated because they decided to do a fire/emergency/bomb drill in the middle of the day. It was annoying and I was even more annoyed when I found out it was just a drill. If you're going to empty out a very busy government building, at least have the decency to have a real emergency.

I think fall my actually be coming. It has been much cooler the last couple of days (even though today it was a very windy 90). The wind has picked up, which means it's almost time for Second Santa Ana Winds Season. See in California the seasons go like this: Storm Watch Season, First Santa Ana Winds Season, Fire Season, and Second Santa Ana Wind Season. By December we should be up to Storm Watch Season.