Faust Park & Pumpkin Massacres

The other day we took a trip to Faust Park, intending to see the Butterfly House & 1920s carousel. Since we suck at timing, they were both closed when we finally got there, so instead we took a little stroll around the historic village. It was pretty neat to see-- there was an herb garden, lots of flowers, and a little gravel trail leading to all of the houses and buildings. It's supposed to represent what life would have been like in 19th century Missouri, but I got distracted by the scenery and forgot to take pictures of anything else!

Yesterday we finally carved our pumpkins! I do the same thing every year: wait until the last minute, frantically search the internet for free jack-o-lantern patterns, get annoyed that you have to pay for the good ones and finally decide to just freehand something. This year I tried one of those stems-as-the-nose guys because I always thought they look pretty funny and unique. Jeremy's pumpkin was afraid of mine (or maybe he thought a pumpkin massacre was going on?)

Urban Outfitters cardigan & dress
H&M tights & bracelets
Forever 21 oxfords
thrifted vintage bag
Aroha Silhouettes book necklace

Spider Baby

(The title is from one of my favorite spooky-weird-funny-old movies, Spider Baby. If you've never heard of it, Netflix it immediately! It's very strange, and even kind of quirky/cute at times.)

I could be wrong but I don't think I've worn these boots on the blog before, which is a shame because I practically live in them during winter. They seem to be pretty tired of living-- the zipper tab on the left boot broke off ages ago, and recently the same zipper came off track and I had to do some quick repair work. But they're so comfy and warm, there's no way I'm letting these guys fall apart.

Lately I've been so into the Halloween baking spirit! I've made pumpkin muffins (from Trader Joe's mix), vegan pumpkin brownies, and plan on whipping up a batch of pumpkin cookies once we cut our jack-o-lanterns and dry out the seeds. We're going to overdose on pumpkin before November rolls around (but that's the point of October, really).

Forever 21 cardigan
thrifted vintage dress
Target tights
'70s boots: Ebay
vintage flower pin: Etsy
bat pin: NC Farmers Market
spider ring: New Orleans shop

What kind of Halloween/Fall-related things have you guys been up to lately?

PS: Follow me on tumblr! (You know, if you want.)

Autumn in Tower Grove

Obligatory Autumn post!

Yesterday we took the dogs for a walk in Tower Grove Park, and oh dear. We quickly learned that we can either take photos in the park or take both dogs for a walk, definitely not both at once! They were so excited and wanted to meet every dog they saw, and of course George was very interested in this whole squirrel business, and then they had lots of fun playing (loudly!) in the leaves. It was hectic, but really cute and funny. Such is the life with two young dogs.

When I saw this tree I just knew I had found my picture-taking spot. Most of the trees in the park are only just starting to turn, but of course this one was in full-on Autumn mode. After the park, we went off in search of pumpkins because I realized I didn't have any yet!

My newest bow!

Thrifted Gap jacket
Dress c/o Sophistix
Sock Dreams tights
Delias oxford heels
Pumpkin spice bow, knit by me
Weetzie Bat & Georgie Bat

We're here because we're here: 10/10/10

Last weekend we took an impromptu road trip to Chicago to attend Amy Krouse Rosenthal's The Beckoning of Lovely. And it was.. well, lovely.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a performance artist and children's book author who started The Beckoning of Lovely on 8/8/08 at the Bean in Chicago. I first heard about her through John Green's videos, and although I was in Chicago on 8/8/08 (two days before we were to be married at the Harry Potter con!) I wasn't at that first gathering. Last week, my friend told me that he was roadtripping to Chicago for the 10/10/10 event and after watching the videos, I knew I had to go.

The Beckoning of Lovely is a project in which people come together to share a series of moments. It was short and sweet and I'll always remember that night-- it was one of those things that you just have to be a part of at one time or another, one of those important moments that encourages you to have fun and do something good with your life. This video explains it very well:

Everyone wore white t-shirts with our first names on them and we jumped for joy, met new friends, sent a red balloon into the sky, and received letters from the World's Smallest Postal Service (inside, they say: "Make the most of your time here"). And because my friend Quinn had a prominent part in the 8/8/08 gathering (he gives flowers to a stranger on the street), he was told that he would receive flowers on October 10th for the next ten years.

And of course, John Green was there. I've mentioned him many times on the blog and by now I'm sure everyone knows what a big inspiration he is to me, so seeing him in person was a bit surreal. I was too shy to meet him, but it's okay, I'm not very good at meeting people I admire. I tweeted later that he was like the pied piper of nerds, and it was true-- his part in the gathering was to give away orange candy, and it ended with him leading us all out of the park as we were kicked out by an angry little security guard on a segway.

But anyway, enough of that! We took a few pictures, because the light was so perfect at dusk, but keep in mind that this outfit is really more roadtrip-friendly and not outfit-photos-in-Chicago-amazing. Before the gathering we walked around, met one of our favorite vloggers (wheezywaiter!) and got obnoxiously small (and delicious) macchiatos at Intelligentsia.

My "I just met wheezywaiter and embarrassed myself a lot" face.


I'm pretty sure that the Bean is actually a void ship containing an army of Daleks. I just don't understand and it makes me uneasy to look at it. #nerdjokes

Two girls actually recognized the patch on my bag as the logo from The Mighty Boosh! I made that thing years ago and no one ever recognizes it.

<3

Target tank

random department store cardigan
Urban Outfitters scribble skirt & red flats
Forever 21 tights
thrifted bag
red bow, knit by me

You can watch the 10/10/10 gathering in four parts here. The final, professional video should be up in about a month!

Style inspiration: Sally Bowles (& the Cabaret girls)

Polyvore

It's no secret that I love Liza Minnelli and the film Cabaret. Sally Bowles is a huge style icon of mine, and with Halloween coming up I thought I would share some screencaps and outfit ideas and hopefully inspire a few awesome costumes! Thankfully, lots of Sally's favorite pieces can already be found in most vintage lovers closets: fur trimmed coats, berets, tights, scarves, sequins, and lots of blue eyeshadow and red lipstick. She's very fond of green nail polish and lounging around in kimonos. Make sure to wear more than one pair of lashes for that big-eyed Liza look!

Polyvore

If you want something a little more dramatic, then it might be more fun to dress as one of the Cabaret girls (Heidi, Christina, Mouzy, Helga, Betty, und Inged!) For them, you need either a romper or tank/shorts combo, and you must glue lots of sequins on the naughty bits. ;) Pick a hat and throw on some stockings and lots of pancake makeup and you're good to go!

Of course you don't have to wait until Halloween to show the Cabaret love. Just think big lashes, silk, black stockings, red lipstick, vintage fur, strands of beads, sequins, and t-strap heels.

"Doesn't my body drive you wild with desire?"


























Helga (left) and Mouzy (right)-- my favorites!

Happy costuming!

*screencaps by me, feel free to take