Autumn thoughts and inspiration

Today is a little bit like Saturday, because I have off Monday...so the weekend is extra long and extra wonderful! Yesterday was a good day. Hank and I went out and did something we've been talking about for years...we bought a new bed! I can't even explain how happy I am to have graduated from our full sized bed to a king-sized, monster-sized, HUGE bed! We've been sleeping on the same mattress I've had since college, mainly because we've always rented and lived in smaller, historic houses and didn't care too much about it. But now since the bedroom in the new house is really large so we can finally make the upgrade! It's way overdue and much-needed. And happily, now this bed can go into one of our guest rooms to accommodate our friends and family when they come and visit. The new mattress set gets delivered on Monday, and I'm not even sure if it will fit in our current place (we won't move for a few more weeks), so we may end up having to sleep in the living room on the huge bed for the time being. That will be super awkward if anyone happens to stop by (imagine a UPS delivery coming to the door and seeing a huge bed in our living room behind me as I sign for a package- very Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, minus the four old people!), but I know we can make it work!

I have been feeling so inspired by fall lately. I'm not sure what it is, but as soon as September hits there's this feeling in the air that starts to seep into everything around me. It makes me feel happier, definitely more excited, and gives me the urge to really have a fresh outlook on life. I'm not sure if it stems from the ingrained idea of fall equaling a new school year, or the end of the summer and the start of that new year, but it definitely exudes that fresh and new feeling. I want to become more organized, update my wardrobe, and be more positive. Maybe it's the feeling people when springtime hits, but I get it right around this time of the year.

Some of my most favorite memories come from the fall. My family and I would always go apple picking at a local orchard, and end our early morning eating fluffy, freshly made cinnamon doughnuts from the farm's bakery, washing it down with the most delicious, crisp hot apple cider you'll ever taste. We'd tote our apples home, and my mom would make all sorts of delicious treats, namely apple pie, and the smell of autumn would fill every corner of our East Coast home. We'd also always take a trip to the pumpkin farm, taking a tractor ride through the brown and gold hills, sitting on bales of hay while we oohed and ahhed over the beautiful countryside. We'd weave in and out of the rows, finding the very best, roundest pumpkin to take home and carve. Once home we'd scoop out the juicy insides of our pick, and then my parents would roast the seeds in the oven so we could snack on them as we carved and designed our Halloween decorations. We'd construct scarecrows to put in the front yard, make huge leaf piles to jump in, and stretch decorative cobwebs over every inch of our living room windows. Everything about this time of the year takes me back to being a child, and it's funny that I still get those same feelings I did when I was so young.

Hank and I are lucky enough to live in a place that experiences all four seasons in a beautiful way. The leaves up here in the mountains turn vibrant colors, the chill in the air makes your cheeks rosy, and you can smell all of the delicious seasonal goodies baking as you walk past the many local coffee shops downtown. Fall is my favorite times of the year here, and I love having our friends come up and visit for the weekend so we can enjoy the scenery and weather together. I'm also more than excited for Henry to experience all of these exciting sensations, and make so many memories for him over the years! I get so happy just thinking about pushing my one-year old son in his stroller next fall, all around the square and through our beautiful town.








Plus, fall clothing is the best. This year it's a little different for me because I'll be pregnant all the way through November so I'm missing my favorite time of the year to shop, and also my favorite time to wear new clothing! If I was to do some fall shopping (and I'm sure I still will to tide me through the holidays once I get back to my normal size), I would be looking for a few particular things for this year, including a lot of chunky knits, layering pieces, short corduroy/wool/plaid skirts, thick tights/knee socks for layering, jewel toned flats, lots of mustard yellow, red-orange, and gray, great fresh prints, and sturdy boots. I've found inspiration in a lot of different shops online, so I've put together some of my favorite looks and items from some of my favorite stores, from all price ranges, to share with all of you! These are definitely all images of "fall inspiration" to me, and I hope you find something that makes you feel happy among these lovely images!

J. Crew


Orla Kiely (my favorite designer in the whole world)




Forever 21

Modcloth

Anthropologie


Wherever you live, I hope you get to experience a bit of fall in your neck of the woods! One of my sister and my goals is to take a family trip to Salem, Massachusetts during Halloween. I'm more than a little obsessed with history, and one of the most interesting periods in time to me is the Salem Witch Trials. The Crucible is one of my favorite plays in the whole world. We've all been to Salem together already, but last time we were there Lauren and I promised each other we would go back during the fall one year to really enjoy it. Trust me, there's NOTHING like a New England Autumn.

I hope all of you have the most perfect Sunday, and continue that happiness over the rest of the long weekend!

Happy Autumn!

Soundtrack to happy

We all have those songs in our lives, the songs that when we hear them, they take us back to a really wonderful, happy time. Music is powerful. Some of my most vivid memories are attached to different songs, and different times of my life can be recollected when I hear certain albums. Recently I was driving in the car, listening to my ipod on shuffle, when a particular song came on that I hadn't heard in some time, "Everything Must Go" by the Weakerthans. Immediately I was brought back to 2004, and waking up at Hank's house, that song being the alarm tone on his phone every morning. Hearing it made me feel like I was right there, waiting for the leaves to turn orange and red and yellow up in Prescott, laying together for hours, being young, and getting to know everything about one another in a time that really was the very beginning of us. This song reminds me of Hank, it reminds me of the fall, and it reminds me of the two or three days I would spend with him at a time, as we ventured into long-distance relationship territory during that autumn. When I hear it I feel inspired, I feel so very alive, and it truly makes my heart skip a small beat to think about what a wonderful, naive, and blissful time that was. Young love.



Almost exactly a year later we moved in together to our first place, and August fell away on the calendar as September arrived with an autumn chill. We celebrated our first anniversary, one year together during that month. Unfortunately I was incredibly sick, to point of not being able to leave the house and go on the romantic date Hank had planned for us to celebrate the occasion. I was stuffy, my stomach hurt, and I was experiencing the tail-end of a bad flu. I remember feeling beyond disappointed and let down. This wonderful man, who I'd spent the last year of my life falling in love with, had tried to plan this beautiful evening, and all I could do was sit on the couch in my pajamas and try to muster up the strength to do just about anything. I was so sad, and as the night progressed I only became sadder. It must have been 11 o'clock pm when Hank suddenly got up from our little nest and plugged in his ipod. All of a sudden Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender" came on the speakers, and Hank reached for my hand. There, in our 1905 shoebox of an apartment, the streetlight illuminating us through the window while the wood floors creaked beneath our feet, we had our first dance to that beautiful song, to celebrate a most wonderful year. Three years later I'd hear that song again, when we shared our next "first" dance at our wedding. To this day, no matter how many time I hear it played, I still get the chills thinking back to all of the memories tied to it.



Do you have any "special" songs that remind you of a wonderful time? If you're inspired, post about it on your blog, and share the link here, or just add a comment telling us what song strikes a chord in your heart. I'd love to know!

Love,
Danielle