cowboy boots and rotten punkins

Happy Halloween weekend, everyone! I'm beyond excited to dress up (as a zombie!), eat tons of candy and other various junk foods, spend some time with my fam, and go trick or treating with my niece and nephew for the very first time.

On a side note, I added a few items to the SALE section of the shop. There are a few gems, so go have a look see!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

etsy update: my favorites

I'm updating my greatly neglected shop today... here a few of my faves, with more to come!

(this dress is missing two buttons at the top, but it was too perfect not to list!!)

Later today I will also be posting some DIYs I've been working on lately... come back and check it out!

good things

Tuesdays will now be a day for acknowledging three good things in my life. I actually got the idea from Between Laundry Days, who wrote a post about how her boyfriend makes her think of three good things in her life when she's feeling down on herself. I'm not feeling down today, but I think that sometimes the best time to realize the good things in life is when everything is going well. Here are my three good things for today:

1. Everything I've learned from substitute teaching... patience, compassion, understanding... I'm pretty positive those kids teach me more than I could ever teach them.

2. McCafe iced coffees... cheap and tasty! Need I say more?

3. This AMAZING fall weather my little town is experiencing... great temps and the prettiest colors a girl could ask for.

What about you guys? What are your three good things?

attempts

About four years ago or so, my mom taught herself to crochet, and then she taught my sister and I. My mom and my sister seemed to take to it very well... they made scarves and my sister even made blankets, which turned out amazing. I, on the other hand, lost my patience for it pretty quickly. I think there are probably still a few half-made scarves lying around my mom's house...

Anywho, I've decided that my patience has grown since I was 20, and I'm going to try my hand at the whole crocheting business again. These pretty little things are my (ambitious) inspiration.

blue fingerless gloves

If you've never tried fingerless gloves before, you most definitely should... just layer a pair of those cheapo finger-ful gloves under them.

gray cowl neck scarf

I think I've talked about cowl neck scarves before... I may have an obsession...

bubble beret

This hat is gorgeous! and not your typical winter beret, what with the quirky bubble detailing.

Are any of you ladies crocheters? Knitters? What have you successfully... or not so successfully made? I want to know!!

the thrifting gods

I know I've heard this from other thrifters, but there seems to be some sort of higher power at work when it comes to finding specific items while thrifting. I always have a list of things I would love to have, but don't want to pay full price for, and I often scour thrift stores for the cheaper versions. Sometimes I find them, sometimes I don't. However, it seems like more often than not, I end up finding exactly what I've been pining over.

I've been soooo wild over sweater vests lately (don't ask me why, I have no clue), and I not only found a simple gray wool one, but also a pretty pastel patterned one. I love them both equally and I can't wait to pair them up with jeans and button up oxfords or dresses and boots!

Speaking of boots, I had also been trying to find a new (old) pair to add to my ever growing collection. I've got every sort of boot... slouchy, ankle, high heeled, flat, tan, gray, worn in, you name it (some may say I have a boot obsession)... but what I really wanted was a more refined pair..... BINGO! And at 9 bucks, how could I say no?

It's finds like these that make me so happy to be a thrifter at heart! Has anyone else been blessed by the thrifting gods lately?

pineapple mint vintage giveaway

Pineapple Mint Vintage is hosting a giveaway on her blog, and she has the coolest tooled leather bag up for grabs, as well as a $25 gift certificate to her shop. Head on over and enter, and check out her Etsy shop if you already haven't... she has loads of great vintage items, such as this wool and mohair sweater in the prettiest shades of blue, these A-MAZING lace up boots, and this classic tweed blazer.

5 months

It is 5 months to the day til' Z and I get married, and I just so happened to find this really cool Guest Box today while browsing Etsy. I had been trying to think of a different way of doing a guest book than the typical book, and this whole box idea by Cut the Cake Designs is amazing.

It's such a simple way of doing it, but the box is pretty and so are the cards, and it might make a neat little thing to sit out in our home, so that we can look at the messages any time we want. I really think I may purchase it closer to the wedding. Have a look!

On a completely un-wedding related note, I love this fringe necklace by Norwegian Wood.

punkin' patch

On Saturday, Z and I made our yearly Fall trip to our local pumpkin patch/apple orchard. It was the perfect weather... crisp and a tad bit chilly, and we (over) indulged in all the great things the orchard offers; i.e. apple cider, apple donuts, bags of apples, locally grown popcorn, pumpkins to carve, aaand even caramel apples on a stick with sprinkles. Needless to say, we had a great day. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Decorative pumpkins that looked super cool

This is my "Don't take my picture, please" face, but here you can see where they make their apple donuts... fresh, and hot and covered in cinnamon & sugar... and oh. so. good.

After much searching (on my part- Z found his monstrous pumpkin right away), we both found our favorites!

Apple orchard and hayride

The hay pyramid... I wasn't brave enough to climb it!

I hope everyone has been able to make it to a pumpkin patch/ apple orchard this Fall... it's so much fun, and the perfect way to enjoy the pretty weather!

favorites

I have a slight obsession with pushing the Etsy Favorites button. Anything and everything that strikes my fancy gets an immediate add to that list... I have no shame in the length of that list. I figured I might as well share them... they are all so fantastic they deserve to be shown! Here are just a few (a very small few):

guest book fingerprint tree

green apple bow tie (with polka dots!)

mini wool felt autumn posies

button up scarf

lovebirds

This Circle Lovebird necklace by Figs and Ginger is quite possibly the sweetest thing I've seen recently... I'm typically not a big fan of silver, but this necklace takes the cake. I think it would be the perfect gift for a newly married friend (*hint*hint* mom... or Z) ... they even have some with little families of birds! Bonus points: The silver used to make the necklace is 50% reclaimed... so it's sweet AND savvy.

Found via Jen Loves Kev

october FREE SHIPPING sale!

October is, in my opinion, the very best month. Here is what warrants October so great:

1. Pumpkin patch picking

2. Apple picking

3. Pumpkin carving

4. Being able to wear scarves and boots and layers, oh my!

5. Drinking hot beverages is made bearable by the cooler temps (I'm especially thinking of apple cider here!)

6. HALLOWEEN! (this deserves it's own parts)

a. Dressing up is SO FUN.

b. All the candy I could possibly imagine is now available everywhere.

c. Cute kids in cute costumes!

d. Animals in costumes... think dogs in hot dog costumes and kitties in fairy costumes.

Although my list is fairly long, I have one more to add, which is an October Sale! I love sales, and so I've decided to have one for the shop during the month of October.

*****Buy up to any 2 items in the shop and receive FREE SHIPPING!*****

Get em' while they're hot ladies, because the vintage is here, and it's pretty darn cute!

etsy shop update

I'm in the midst of a fairly large shop update... here are a few of my favorites. (I tried styling some of the clothing on a live model this time, i.e me, just to see how it worked out for the shop... it wasn't awful taking my own pictures, but I'm fairly certain that my neighbors now think I'm a complete weirdo.)