happy fall, y'all!

Fall is hands-down, 100%, without a doubt my favorite season.
Instead of visions of sugarplums dancing in my head, I have visions of leaves crunching under my feet, steam rising from hot coffee cups, thick knit infinity scarves, and scrunched boot socks.

In honor of the first day of Fall, I wanted to share some of my favorite things that really, truly read "FALL" to me. I. Am. So. Excited.

                      

This list of Fall dinner party menus | Martha Stewart
This perfectly Fall nail color | Essie
These leaf place cards | Once Wed

This buffalo check flannel shirt | Gap
These pumpkin cookies | em + the city.
This list of New England Fall foliage road trips | Travel Channel

These leopard-print booties | Sole Society
This list of great Fall cookbooks | Joy the Baker
This Dallas-area apple orchard! | Henrietta Creek Orchard

And in no particular order, things on my Fall bucket list:
-attend an Aggie football game with my silly Aggie fiance
-go apple-picking
-make my "famous" white chicken chili
-roast pumpkin seeds
-make apple butter
-visit a pumpkin patch
-carve a jack-o-lantern
-make a thanksgiving tree
-bake sweet potato bread, apple pie, pumpkin cookies, etc

It's Fall, y'all! What's on your bucket list??
-e.

these boots were made for walking.

This will sort of be a silly post, but I'm okay with that.

3 or 4 years ago, I bought a pair of faux-suede boots from Forever 21 for $12. Had I known how attached I'd be to them, I would've bought out the whole stock. I have seriously considered taking them to a shoemaker to see if they could either a) salvage my poor, defeated boots, or b) make me another custom pair.
I finally found another pair from Nine West that was comparable and would serve as the most decent replacement for the shoes I'd come to love.

So. On Tuesday, I went to the State Fair with my old boots and we had our last day together.
This is that day in photos. (Also, go to the State Fair! It's such a blasty.)

 My boots and I hung out at home for a while.

Then we met up with Peter and took the train to Fair Park.

 We said "hey" to Big Tex and paid homage to the old one.

 We ate our weight in fried food. No regrets. This is a fried spinach dip bite. Yum.

 On the left is the fried Cuban which won Best Taste this year. On the right is a fried king ranch casserole. It was maybe my favorite.

My boots and I went to the auto show at Peter's request.

Then we rode a nausea-inducing ride at my request. (Or maybe the nausea was just the fried food..?)

Fried millionaire pie. This dish lasted about 2 minutes before it was devoured.

 We rode the tallest Ferris wheel in North America (!!!), The Texas Star. It was a nice way to relax with full bellies.

We accidentally collected rocks.

We ate more fried food! You can't go to the fair and NOT get a Fletcher's corny dog.

It was a fabulous day full of firsts and lasts.

And now I am forcing myself to throw away my holey, stained, delightful boots.

Have you ever had an article of clothing you could hardly bear to part with?

Happy Friday, ya'll!

-e.

things I love - ring it on.

I've been obsessed with rings lately and am coveting several on Etsy (where else??).

I like the thin and feminine ones.
I like the big and geometrical ones.
I like gaudy ones reserved for cocktail parties.
Gimme.

Need I remind you that my birthday is in June?
Aaaaanyway. Check 'em out. Buy your favorite blogger some bling.

Quartz Ring - FIVEANDTWOshop

Faceted Pear Ring - gemagenta

Amethyst Gold Ring - illuminancejewelry

Geometrical Ring - osnatharnoy

 

Chevron Knuckle Rings - handmadebyninarae

Stackable Teardrop Rings - WerkstattNYC

Emerald Slice Ring - tinyarmour

Gold Druzy Ring - RachelPfefferDesigns

 

Tiny Initial Ring - nestedyellow

What are your favorite Etsy shops?

I could spend hours on that site. Sheesh.

-e.

 

30 before 30 - fashion show

So I've been thinking about this...and I think we've finally reached that point in our relationship where I feel comfortable telling you...

....about my 30 Before 30.
I don't remember when or where I got the idea for this, I just know that when I heard about it, I knew I had to do it. And I'm so glad I did! I have been more adventurous, risk-taking, and exciting in the past two years than I ever have been.

I'll start with the ones I've already done (complete with picture proof, if applicable):
1. Go skiing. Terrible. There is no picture proof of this. World's Most Nonathletic Person, right here.
2. To go Las Vegas. AWESOME.

3. Buy a new car. My Jeep Patriot that Peter so lovingly calls "The Greatriot".
4. Go to a music festival. Also awesome; I went to Kanrocksas.
5. Sing karaoke in public. Thank GOD there is no proof of this, hahaha.
6. Go to New Orleans. Went by myself, loved it, yes.

7. Buy something designer. This Marc Jacobs bag.
8. Skydive!!! My favorite from the list so far. I hiiiiiighly recommend.

9. Shoot a gun. There was an accompanying picture, but it was not cute. So. No proof.
10. Go bungee jumping. This and skiing are tied in terms of which was more painful.
11. Get LASIK. I have robot eyes now (and terrible night vision).
12. Run a 5K. It should really say "run" because, well, we don't need to discuss my time. Just know that some of the obese people on The Biggest Loser got better times than I did...

And my newest addition:
13. Go to a fashion show!
A few weeks ago, my Aunt Lisa bought me a plane ticket to Denver to meet our favorite Project Runway contestant, Mondo. We got VIP tickets to bump elbows at a charity event with him and a few other PR stars. It was so silly and fun and at the end of the night, there was a fashion show!

 

From left: Mondo, Peach Carr, and Michael Costello. The Project Runway contestants and judges of the Denver School of the Arts runway show. The students were challenged to use only upcycled materials from Goodwill to create their garments. It was really cool! Afterwards, they had up-and-coming designers show off their collections, made using the same "upcycled" concepts.

 And now for the rest of the list. The items I haven't completed, but hope to soon! (Or, rather, within the next 5 years.)
14. Go white water rafting.
15. Go snorkeling
16. Attend a film festival. My dad and I saw Liberal Arts at DIFF last year, but I don't particularly count it, because we only saw the one film. I'm hoping for Sundance someday.
17. Get "good enough" at photography. This is all subjective, I suppose.
18. Take a cooking class. Central Market offers some really great ones.
19. Grow a successful vegetable garden.
20. Pay for a stranger's meal.
21. Make pottery with my own hands on a wheel.
22. Get a secret posted on Postsecret.
23. Stop chewing nails. Hah.
24. Be hypnotized (to stop chewing nails...?)
25. Go to Disneyworld/The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
26. Go on a cruise!
27. Travel to more of Europe.
28. Ride in a hot air balloon.
29. Join a book club.
30. Go paintballing.

If you can make any of these happen for me, I will love you forever.
What's on your bucket list?? I wanna know!

-e.