Okay, so these pictures may be a tad late, but I'm pretty sure I can get away with some quality pumpkin related photos up until Thanksgiving. So, here we are just under the wire!

Last month, while I was on fall break, my family and I ventured a couple miles outside of our home town and experienced a local pumpkin patch. It was filled with tons of people, tons to do, and most importantly, tons of pumpkins in every shape and size! Jack and I had the absolute best time.



Happy Monday!

A few weeks ago, after a little tutorial, I gave my five year old brother Jack my DSLR camera and told him to shoot whatever he wanted. These are the results:

Okay, so who else feels totally thrown off by the holiday Monday? Oh, just me? Cool.

Either way, I can't believe it's already Wednesday. This week has flown by faster than what I've known what to do with myself. Yesterday, I mentioned that Jack and I did a little 'adventuring' while I visited home. Well, one of our first adventures was to the horse track on Saturday, but unfortunately I didn't get to snap any pictures and our second adventure was to the park (you may have caught my insta)! It was so nice and sunny Sunday afternoon that the park sounded like the perfect place to be.

So, we went to our local park...and so did about 2724740937371302989 other people. Who could blame them though, right? The park is near the community pond where we like to go fishing during the summer and has a nice track to walk around and plenty of open space in which to play. Jack made use of the jungle gym and slid down the twisty slide too many times to count (giggling with joy each and every time). He was paralyzed by the monkey bars and delighted over the spinning chair. He climbed back up the slid with all the success of a big kid. He patiently observed other kids, careful not to slide into or bump into anyone. I had a proud big sister moment, as he waited patiently for smaller (and some larger kids) to take their sometimes very slow turns. Jack was also fascinated when someone brought their large dog to the park. He kindly asked to pet the dog and they quickly became fast friends.

On the trail we walked, Jack quickly scouted out "clues" and hid behind trees only to pop out and pretend to be a monster. He mastered our old point and shoot camera, documenting his own set of adventures along the way as well. I could not get him to stop taking pictures, except for when he was playing. Maybe we have a future photographer on our hands?

Overall, this day was a success. We played hard and someone proceeded to come home and take a three hour nap afterwards, but I won't say who.

What little adventures have you been up to? Tell me about it!

So, I went home this past (long) weekend. Yep. I made it at college for four whole days before hauling myself back home to see my favorite person ever (aka Jack). While I was home we took some photos, as per usual. We didn't really have a theme, but the neutrals won out. Neutrals are all I can seem to find myself in these days. Long gone are the deep jewel-toned hues of fall and too far away are the bright neons of summer, so for now I'm just embracing neutrals and simple wardrobe staples. In a way, it's sort of refreshing.

Loose, piko-like blouses are perfect for the in between weather. They transition easily, can be layered upon or underneath and can look flattering on just about every shape. I'm loving this forest green hue. Also, I'm loving cuffed jeans and booties. I had my eye on a similar pair that were $100+, but managed to find these at about a third of the cost. Total score! Also, this look called for simple/natural make-up and what I like to call my second day lion mane hair. It kind of just does it's own thing in any direction it feels like. Haha.

The weather was abnormally nice this weekend and we enjoyed lots of time together doing a variety of things. In tomorrow's post I hope I can highlight some of those little adventures! Until then, here our outfit details:

I know that it's been a little quiet on my corner of the internet, but that's only because I've been trying to make amazing things happen! I've been working a little bit each day on my portfolio website in hopes that the first draft will be up and running soon (like any minute now). Though there will still be much adding, expanding, and tweaking done to the whole website over the next month or two, I'm so excited to just be publishing the site and making it functional after lots of dreaming and frustrating trial and error.

While I was thinking about websites, I also went ahead and bit the bullet and purchased the URL dearielovie.com! HOLY EXCITEMENT! That means that hopefully soon, I will be upgrading to a independently hosted Word Press blog with a new look. I know that with the new year a lot of bloggers have made their move at changing URLs, names, looks or creative spaces altogether. I get the general sense that many have outgrown their current blog and just want to start over (been there, done that!). I've heard that a lot of people just 'feel done' with their current name/space which got me really thinking about the name 'Dearie Lovie' and my creative space here on the web. Am I done with it? Should I feel done with it? I've been blogging here at Dearie Lovie for about three years now, so I felt that these were valid things to consider before making the jump to a word press blog and buying the domain name. After much consideration, I've decided that I'm not done with Dearie Lovie. This space still feels like me. It still feels like an accurate and comfortable space for me to blog in and I am so thrilled to continue on. I want my portfolio to be an accurate representation of my professional self and DL to be the accurate representation of my personal self and hopefully there will be overlap in between the two aesthetics once the final products are complete. So, needless to say, I have such high hopes for Dearie Lovie in the next few weeks/months.

Here's some more exciting things that are going on right now:

• I've decided to rejoin Moorea in her 52 Lists project (let me know if you're joining in on the fun too!) 
• I submitted this story intro to Rookie Mag (fingers crossed it gets somewhere, but even if it doesn't I feel great that I put myself out there and submitted work...I'm doing great by my New Year's Resolutions thus far) 
• I applied for a job up in my college town on a whim (fingers crossed?)
• I applied for a College Ambassador position at Crystal Bridges (FINGERS CROSSED!)
• Also, I'm seriously considering a doing a 1-3 day juice cleanse to reset my body after eating like there's no tomorrow over this holiday break (any experiences/recommendations?)

So, we're back...and it's December. What the- ?

Thanksgiving break was a total blur. It's like time exists in an alternate universe when you're spending time at home. Also, the phrase "time flies when you're not crying because you're drowning in finals work having fun" has never taken on such meaning. Thanksgiving break wasn't the end all, be all - but it was a much needed break. I got to sleep weird hours and watch too much TV. I got to read and watch Catching Fire for the second time. I got to eat and eat and eat while not worrying a stitch about schoolwork. Best of all, I got to spend time with my family (+ snap these silly pictures with Jack).

So, while I attempt to gather my wits about me and adjust to the fact that it's December, here are a few links I'm loving from around the web:

• I got Kara's Click Your Life class 40% off during her Cyber Monday sale for $5.10. I'm hoping it will inspire me to take better pictures this holiday season and into the new year. (p.s. You can get it now for only $8.50. That's pretty SWEET.)
• This post about friendships ending that Carly shared on her blog is the possibly the best and most relevant post I've read recently. I can relate on so many levels.
• I'm pining away for one of these lovely banners in Secret Holiday & Co's etsy shop. I especially love "It's Okay."
• Also, while we're at it, you can throw the Destination Scarf from Moorea Seal on my list of wants too. 
•  And finally, this blog is one of my new favorites

Happy days!
xoxo

It may seem like I'm fall/pumpkin obsessed nowadays given the last couple of posts, but I promise we're not going too crazy over here in the pumpkin department. I got to come home for fall break Thursday evening. We spent Friday not doing too much of anything and instead chose to venture out to a local pumpkin patch on Saturday. It's not the normal patch we like to frequent around this time of year, but this one was a nice and close alternative. There was plenty to keep us busy!

There were hayrides and an interactive corn maze. There were hay bales to climb and a full barn of animals to be admired and pet. There were also plenty kid related activities and a plethora of opportunities to get our pictures taken in those cheesy cut out boards.

Jack took his careful time selecting the perfect pumpkin. Eventually we settled on a nice medium sized, round pumpkin and two small white pumpkins. I'm a sucker for the white ones, I think they're so pretty and glamorous. Weird, I know. Luckily, all the pumpkins were half off the day we went and we managed to get all that plus a bag of popcorn for $5. Such a steal! It was a gorgeous fall day to go, warm but just cool enough to need an extra layer. The sun was shining and the sky was extra clear. We honestly couldn't have picked a more awesome day.

Upon arriving back home, Jack added our new pumpkins to the ever growing collection on the front porch. We're up to 7 pumpkins (5 of them being small - don't worry!) on the porch and Jack could not be more thrilled. All he seems to have on the brain is Halloween and fall in general. This time of year is extra special because of him! Here's to another being marked off the fall to-do list!

Have you been up to any pumpkin/fall related shenanigans lately? Tell me about them!