most wonderful time of the year

I am proud to say that my Halloween decorations were hung last night in preparation for this auspicious day...the first of October! Coop and I are throwing a costume party later this month and I am scheming and dreaming more than usual. Can't wait for the carmel apples, pumpkin carving, scary movies, skeletons, cauldrons, scarecrows, and general mischief. Three cheers for the creepiest season of them all!

*image from vintage halloween flickr group

Farewell, summer. Thanks for being so good to me this year. :)

I have such a soft spot for old photos of couples kissing. Black and white just makes it all seem more romantic somehow. :)

*image from lannadelarosa

Dang. I wish I could sew.
My mom was telling me that when she was younger, she'd simply show her mom a picture of a piece of clothing she liked, and my grandma would whip out a replica within the week. No patterns. I can't sew my way out of a paper bag - with or without patterns - and I'm thinking it's time I learned. :)

*1st & last image from sandritocat, middle image from SewUniqueClassique

Love this elegant little doggie. :)

*Image via automatism, via arthound

escape

C and I did a bad thing. We'd been booking everything for our Labor Day trip to Santa Barbara to help us relax during our grad school application process...Thursday night, however, I got the sudden and intense need to get outta dodge.

So we canceled all of our resos for SB and escaped off to Palm Springs last Friday night. We ended up staying at a little quiet inn with 8 total rooms. All of the rooms were huddled around a sweet private pool, so we jumped in right when we got there - instant relaxation!
We of course did the requisite Ace Hotel thing on Saturday and baked, grooved, and drank in the sun. Sunday we took the scenic route home and spent the rest of the day chillin. I'd say our lil' getaway was a success. :) We want to go back with friends in October just because it's so easy and cheap if you do it right. I simply refuse to accept that summertime is ending!

*1st image by Michelle Woo, 2nd diptych by Sara Yates Photography

Just had to re-post this from Katie's blog - can you believe this is lil' Emma Watson? She's changed so much since the early Harry Potter days, and I've gotta say I love it. Her new haircut is fantastic!