Blue Ridge Parkway

We drove home on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The views were spectacular. As seen here.

Mountain morning

The view from my parents' house in the mountains never, ever gets old. Its beauty is especially, well, beautiful in the fall.

This is what I wore to stay warm, stay comfortable and do a little lovely mountain walking.

My sailboat scarf is a new favorite.

We took a walk around an island surrounded by the New River. My shoes got soggy from the grass. It smelled like fallen leaves. It sounded like falling leaves. It was just absolutely lovely. 

This was my favorite tree from the walk. It looks like a fir tree, but it's not evergreen, it's super orange! Does anyone know what it is? I love it!

Things I've been loving lately...

Things I have been loving lately include but are not limited to: 

Green curry. I made it. It was yum. It had a ton of tofu in it. Tofu is your friend. At least, it's my friend.

Celebrating the birthday of another Sara. (She spells her name without an h. We are friends even though she totally spells her name wrong.) She shared her creme brulee. That's the kind of lady you want to keep around.

Robert went to IKEA and bought a ton of tupperware. He then got rid of all our mismatched tupperware. We now only have matching tupperware in our home. This man brings peace to my life.

My best friend Sherrie sent me a picture postcard of herself and her husband on the Appalachian trail. She's hiking the whole thing. THE WHOLE  THING. That is so much trail! Six months of trail! She is awesome.

I heart fall

Robert and I regularly take a walk through our neighborhood into our small town's downtown and back home. It is an absolutely blissful walk now that fall has arrived in all its splendor.

I love the crunching leaves. I love the cool breezes. I love the COLOR! I love spending time with my fellow.

Halloween decorations are up and adorable. Here I am hanging out in my new green coat with a very skinny, white dude.

Look at those yellow leaves! I think part of the reason I love fall is it's so transitory. It doesn't last. It's here for a sneeze and then it's gone. It's special. It's fleeting.

Hey, check out my heart sweater. It expresses my feelings about fall: Heartfelt love.

That's right, fall. I full-on heart you.

Moon River

Audrey Hepburn singing moon river is my favorite movie moment ever. Ever, ever, ever.

'70s vibe

I'm wearing clogs all the time now. I think I'll remember the fall of '12 as the time I became a teacher, wore clogs a lot, chopped off my hair and regularly listened to Amanda Palmer

The shirt and pants are thrifted. I love these pants! They make me feel very '70s, especially when I pair them with the clogs. The shirt is all loose and draped and comfortable. It's my favorite shirt in the world right now.

See that pattern? So fun. I thrifted this last spring, and I've probably worn it once a week since then. Last night, I wore it to The Melting Pot with Robert's parents and sister and our very best "couple" friends.

We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner and hit The Melting Pot for dessert. The Melting Pot is a fondue place so the evening had a '70s vibe. Clogs: check. Wide-leg jeans: check. Fondue: check. It was pretty groovy. (Pictured above is the "Ying Yang," a delightful dark and white chocolate combo.)

This is a dark picture of all the things you put in that melted chocolate: strawberries, bananas, cheesecake, brownie bits, chocolate marshmallows (who knew such a thing existed?)... the list of sugar-comma inducing items was long.

I drank sambuca from a snifter because, you know, drinking sambuca from a snifter is always a good time. (There are coffee beans in there. Why? Who knows.)

This is a clog-tastic picture of the end of our evening. We drove home from downtown Charlotte (Charlotte: you are so pretty, and therefore I am pretty into you right now) listening to Amanda Palmer and chatting it up. At home, Sunshine attacked us with love because that's what she does. Dogs are the best. They're never like " How dare you stay out so late and then come home empty handed? I like cheesecake too!" Instead, they're always like "Why are you so awesome! You are just SO awesome. And I really, really love your clogs. Super fabulous." At least that's what my dog was like last night.

Loving lately

Things I have been loving lately: 

1) The artist Nikki de Saint Phalle:

Robert and I hit up the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in downtown Charlotte to see a Giacommeti exhibit because I like Giacommeti and his strange, thin statues. The exhibit was great. The exhibit was sad. The exhibit was steeped in existential angst. It made me pensive. But outside the Bechtler was the Fire Bird by Nikki de Saint Phalle, and that Fire Bird, I tell you what, it lifts you up (like a really shiny Whitney Houston song). I love art.

This is a picture from more than a year ago with what is maybe my favorite piece of art ever. That colorful, giant skull had a short visit in Charlotte, but I'll remember it forever.

2) The cold. It's amazing. It's almost like fall is officially here. Part of me had trouble believing the heat of summer could ever be conquered. Really. I was doubtful fall would show up. (In my defense, I wore shorts last February.)

3) "The Bed Song" by Amanda Palmer. It wins. At everything.



4) Drinking hot coffee early in the morning driving in the dark to school listening to "Bust a Move" to get pumped for my day. 

5) Homemade pretzels. Oh. Yes. (By my amateur baker husband.)

Fall!

It's fall! Fall, fall the very best season of all! I love fall so much. I love its weather and holidays and the pumpkin-flavored-ness of things. I also love fall clothes. Sweaters, people! It is time for sweaters!

This Sunday had that awesome in-between weather that allowed for a crazy shorts/sweater combo. I'm living on the edge, I know.

I bought this most-excellent over-sized men's sweater when the weather was warm, and I daydreamed about the day I could wear it. Pictured: dreams becoming a reality.

Here are my second pair of Danskos. They arrived this weekend, and they're pretty awesome. I am all about some comfortable footwear, and I am all about buying said comfortable footwear on eBay for half the price of a new pair.

Hey look! I have bangs! And a sour expression! Cheer up, lady, your bangs are awesome. And so is your over-sized sweater. If you're feeling chilly, just go inside and make yourself some pumpkin-flavored coffee. I promise you'll feel better.

Shortness of hair

Chopped all my hair off on a rainy Saturday, and it was liberating. Now, a week later, I am as in love with this haircut as the day we first met. Today, I took it on a date to the Bechtler Museum of Art and the Sleepy Poet Mall in Charlotte. It was a excellent date indeed. Lighthearted. Breezy. Henry Mancini music was playing in the background.

The dress is thrifted and adored. I've had it for years. The bandanna is Urban Outfitters and perfect for my short 'do. The shoes are Dankso via eBay and kind of my favorite thing ever. Terribly, terribly comfortable. Teacher-tried and teacher-approved! The bag has a bit of a Mary Poppins vibe in its ridiculous largeness, but let me tell you what, I need a big bag! I have a lot of things to carry around including but not limited to notebooks, Luna bars, pens, lipstick, books, a planner... and so on. It's a wild, wild world in there, folks.

Long time, no see

As a first-year teacher, teaching is pretty much all I think about these days. I love my job. I love my smarty-pants kids. But this job is all-consuming! My new goal is for it to not consume all of me. I'm going to attempt to have a "work-life balance," which I hear such lovely things about. And so: Blog Revival! Blog Reboot! Blog 2.0!

These are pictures from two weeks ago. They show my beautiful dog and my large amount of (bunned-up) hair. I have since chopped all my hair off. Stay tuned for pictures! And other posts! Because I'm back, baby!

P.S. Although I have not been posting on here, or commenting anywhere, I have still managed to be an avid, addicted blog reader. Thanks ladies for all your pictures of puppies and knick-knacks and thrifted sartorial gems!