so thankful

at the end of the day, there are too many things to count for which i am thankful. sitting near the fire in my parent's house, surrounded by those i love, and just taking a moment to reflect on everything is exactly what i believe this day to be about.

i hope everyone had a wonderful day! 

happy thanksgiving!

 

 

the gorgeous leaves that are scattered in the front yard of my parent's house.

 

this year's new dessert - pumpkin cheesecake (recipe to come later)

 

my favorite holiday magazine :)    

(thanks instagram)

happy thanksgiving eve!

holy...this is the first time i have sat down today, minus the time driving around this morning doing errands. we are driving up to the hills tonight for the holiday tomorrow and to spend some much needed down time at home with our families and friends. but that means there is a lot of prepping to do today. my mom and i split the meal making so i have started on my stuffing today as well as preparing the apples for my yummy apple pie and getting my recipe together for my pumpkin cheesecake. in addition cookies needed to be baked as a payment for our friend who is going to house/cat-sit while we are away, which necessitates an entire housecleaning (however this always is a very nice thing to come home too). but i have been the picture of domesticity doing all these things in my apron and cowboy boots....(?) the spastic chores/day thus far may be going to my head...at least the house smells delightful and i am almost all the way packed (need to double check my lists).

in other news, everywhere i look there seems to be the pairing of collared shirts and sweaters. i think i have pinned at least 3 examples and dog-eared 4 magazines where i have seen it. i know this is nothing revolutionary and private schools have been rocking this for years, but it seems a bit more attractive this go-round. i thought i would try it out...

 

whenever i feel iffy on trying something out, i throw on a jacket to make it feel a little more safe

 

   

 

i feel like this sweater is the appropriate shade of "pumpkin" for the holiday

 

new addition to the jewels - the bf bracelet b brought me from her worldly trip <3

gap jacket, thrifted vera way sweater, h&m extra long chambray shirt, target leggings, nicole boots

happy thanksgiving to all! i hope you spend it with those you love!

pinned (in the original sense)

when i was in high school my group of friends and i did all that we could to collect band pins. being from such a small town, when one of your friends was in a band (albeit a hardcore band) you followed them everywhere. everywhere mostly meant to the other county across the river (yep...this is where i grew up) to a local church (again, yep...) that rented out one of those portable rooms that schools use, to the local kids and bands. if one was really dedicated, they followed their local band on roadtrips which consisted of driving a full hour to a "city" to hear them play amongst the bigger "city" bands. and of course the whole time one was scooping up pins as they went.
oy...
i definitely thought i was the epitome of "who-cares" cool in my ripped black tights and heavy eyeliner...
skip ahead to the wiser me (though in 7 years i may be looking back on this thinking "really...?") and though i have long since donated all my band pins to someone else (except a few nostalgic ones), i still love pins.

a couple years ago i decided that they were gonna come back around and not just be for the crowd over age 50. here are a few of my favorites, including my newest edition, the little buffalo that kels was sweet enough to dish out 25 cents for here.

 

this little elephant holds particular sentimental value as it was purchased by my great aunt rachel in her world travels and given to me by my own grandpa and grandma when they discovered my love for elephants. it has been traveling around with me on the oversized lapel of my navy peacoat. <3

load em' up

each year i look forward to the colder seasons when layering on the scarves and lacing up booties a) doesn't earn questionable looks from e, b) doesn't make me sweat while running around, and c) makes it seem more appropriate to be wearing 20 layers. and each season i always look forward to pulling a few select items out of my closet. one is the knitted poncho below. i purchased this baby way back when i lived in santa barbara at easily one of the greatest thrift stores ever (santa barbara = great thrifting no matter what!). it was the pre-snuggy days of old when nothing of the sort was ever uttered and although i abhor the snuggy craze now, then i was wanting what is basically a publicly acceptable form of blanket to wear out. added to the list of favorites is also this particular yellow scarf. it is THE perfect yellow scarf that i had been hunting for, for far too long and it magically appeared under the christmas tree last year, next to these fantastic booties that i had also been drooling over. a year later (and far, far into the future) i see all three of these being cool weather staples!

 

 

boots are indigo by clarks and are insanely comfortable, scarf is petrusse, poncho thrifted

a moment

i'm not quite sure how to describe this past week. in fact, without stopping for a good minute to really think back on whatever happened before monday, i can't remember much. a cloud of sickness loomed over me for most of the time. i came down with one of those colds that seems to travel about your body, picking a new place to infest every morning. on top of that i had a paper due tuesday, a faculty meeting wendnesday, an exam today and the usual amount of reading. it's just been a really long week...

since i survived this far, i decided to award myself with a nice walk on the beach this evening. luckily i brought my camera because the evening was gorgeous and it made up for everything else that happened these past four days. i ended up wet up to my knees and my feet were literally numb by the time i walked home but i also had a giant smile on my face that truly has not yet left. i really needed tonight to just put my mind at ease and remember how lucky i am to live where i live, with the person i live with, to be able to go to school to absorb one of my passions and then go out in the evening to explore one of my others.

obsessive nature

it went from warm days to cold days within a matter of 4 hours. this is completely okay by me. as such, i have become very obsessed with all matters of knitwear and sweaters have been a big portion of that. they are the ideal for the days when it is still gorgeously sunny but too chilly to go without. there seems to be a growing collection of the boxy, cropped version in my dresser and surprisingly they are (mostly) in the color spectrum outside of my go-to's.

 

hot pink/fuschia sweater from h&m, love the elbow patches

 

 

found this particular one at target after some freepeople inspiration 

 

this one is from last year right around this time, again from h&m. huge collar that allows for lots of extra warm 

 

woot woot for being cozy!

double trouble

this is an ideal match for your afternoon tea...or your early morning coffee...or your late morning coffee...or your afternoon snack...or your late night snack...
you get the idea - this is just damn good. it's no revolutionary recipe or anything and most people i know already love/make/eat it but i found a delicious recipe for zucchini bread that i wanted to share.

this bad boy yields 2 loaves - perfect for freezing one (or taking it out of the freezer the very next morning to eat because you already inhaled the first loaf).

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil - NOTE: NO OIL!!! INSTEAD USE APPLESAUCE IN A STRAIGHT SWAP. 1 CUP APPLESAUCE
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini

now go for it!

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

flea market extravaganza!

...today, today was great. today i got to a) spend time with the ever wonderful miss kelsey drew and b) spend said time at the alameda flea market that is held every first sunday of the month. not only was this market my vintage dream but also a photo dream day. i took so many pictures that my cf card refused to take anymore (200+).  here are some the highlights from the day...

first purchase of the day - $3 metal z

 

so many beautiful textiles

 

vintage cameras

 

my favorite clothing booth there!  

 

 

sparkles

 

gorgeous cocktail glasses

 

new jacket :)

 

giant light and totem pole

 

booth full of hardware

 

antique scales were abundant

 

 soft pretzels 7 rows in made us very happy. probably the best soft pretzel i have ever had.

 

guidebooks found by kels - fantastic covers!

 

funky old adding machine

 

this one is for my dad - so many gloves and bats!
"let's go will, hit away"

 

very cool find for kels - vintage army first aid kit tin (thing was heavy!)

 

vintage ornaments! (it was quite the feat to keep myself away from them)

 

boots galore!

 

bbq pork stick = happy me 

 

a booth entirely dedicated to hats

 

vintage and antique photos were everywhere

 

flea market must - dress in clothes that easily allow you to try on other clothes over them. me and a par of 501's that were sadly about two sizes too big

 

pile of hearts

 

fantastic booth that served me up with some christmas presents for a few special people

 

sassy author

 

trunk o' scarves, scarves, scarves

 

spools of dyed thread - there were also blues and greens

 

owls for my b

 

okay, i know that was a lot of photos but remember 200+ and these were just a few of the highlights :)