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Sometimes life gets so busy that you need a break from, well, life. With the end of a deluge of commitments to craft fairs, neighborhood events, and other such city living happenings that had been on our calendar for several months, we desperately needed a reprieve before diving back into the next lineup. We happily used a gift certificate that I had won and booked a free night at a Hilton in Philadelphia for Sunday night, drove the less than two hours north, and enjoyed two days of whatever we wanted to do.

On Sunday afternoon, we spent some time on South Street at Philadelphia's Magic Gardens. This visionary art environment is a the work of many years by mosaic mural artist Isaiah Zagar. The entire museum has been turned into incredible art and expands into a courtyard and garden space. Every nook and cranny is filled with tile, glass, bottles, mirrors, bicycle frames and wheels, knick-knacks, and even a toilet. His works expand beyond the gardens and into the community where public murals can be found in alleys, wrapping around buildings, and even protruding from fences.

Taking in the mosaic murals and gardens was the perfect way to find some much needed inspiration and helped to clear my head from the hectic bustling of the months before. The Magic Gardens was one of several happy places for us in Philadelphia during our impromptu recharging weekend.

Have you ever visited Philadelphia or the Magic Gardens? Is your city home to a lot public art?

I've officially been bitten by the booties bug. I purchased two pairs last season-- a southwest styled pair from Nine West, and a grayish pair with a hint of mint that I snagged on sale at Wittner in Sydney last September. Australia's end of winter sales, were my beginning of fall fashion luck. And while perusing shoes to add to my wardrobe this fall, I fell in love with the gorgeous wedge pair from Frye that is shown below.

1 // Clarks, 2 // Frye Company, 3 // Nine West, 4 // Sam Edelman, 5 // Aldo

Booties seem to be the perfect alternative to the knee high boot while warm weather still lingers. I love that they can be paired with skinny jeans, leggings, or a dress and that they come in all sorts of styles-- heels, flats, wedges, dressy, or casual. Booties have definitely become a staple in my fall and winter wardrobe. While I like the look of the sleeker styles, my favorites pairs tend to be those with chunky heels and rich colored leathers.

Have you jumped onto the bootie trend? Which types of booties are your favorites?

It will be hard to beat last year's birthday. It was my 30th birthday, and I got to celebrate it in Byron Bay, Australia. So many people dread turning 30, but I was glad for it to arrive. 30 didn't disappoint. It was one of the best years I've had so far, and I'm looking forward to yet another fantastic year ahead.

I'd love to celebrate with you, so I'm extending a special offer for you all, while I take the day off to enjoy my birthday. The coupon code BIRTHDAY20 can be used here on my website or in my Etsy shop to receive 20% off any order.

Thanks for being part of one of the many reasons 30 was such a great year! Here's to hoping 31 will be even more amazing! :)

I am a klutz. I am convinced it has something to do with my tall stature and the fact that it seems everything around me has been made for midgets. Doorways always promise bumps on my head, and tables always induce massive bruises to appear on my knees. And my cards? They usually come about from some ridiculous scenario within my own life. This new klutz card most certainly has a story behind it-- one that is almost too embarrassing to tell, but I suppose I will anyway.

A few weekends ago, we went to our favorite local bar to watch football. Later that evening after the game had ended, I was relaxing in my reading chair with crossed legs. As I sat, I felt some rather tender spots on my legs. After changing into shorts and doing a further inspection, I noticed two large bruises on the outer sides of each of my calves near my knees. The bruises were so large that they had actually caused bumps to form. I panicked and grasped at any sort of explanation as these were insanely serious bruises.

I had been wearing my tightest pair of skinny jeans that day, and depending on how I sat, they sometimes pinched a little around the knees. I was convinced that the skinny jeans were so tight that they had caused the bruises. As I explained my predicament to Andrew, he began laughing at me.

Later that night, as I climbed into bed, I continued to lament about my horrible bruises and how the skinny jeans just must have been too skinny. Andrew, being rather sleepy and tired, had no time for my silly ideas, and prompted me to Google the probability of what I believed had occurred. To my horror, my Google results linked me to a health website that suggested I had blood clots due to jeans that were entirely too tight. Obviously, this had to be true-- Google searches never lie, especially if they have anything to do with your health.

The next morning, the bruises were just as bad, so I vowed not to wear skinny jeans or cross my legs until the bruises went down. By Thursday, I had completely forgotten about the scenario, until that evening. We made our way back to our favorite bar for the Steelers game that night, and I perched myself upon one of their brand new bar stools. I was just about to comment on how much I liked the changes they had made to their tables and stools in the seating area when I felt two sore spots on my outer calves. I looked down and noticed that as I sat with my feet on the rung of the stool, the tapered legs of the stool were rubbing against my calves.

"You won't believe this," I whispered to Andrew, on the verge of hysterics. "Won't believe what?" he responded. "The bar stool! It's the bar stool! The damn bar stool is what bruised my legs!" And then, we crumpled into a pile of laughter over our bar table.

As fall weather has been creeping in, I've been getting the itch to blog more frequently again. I think once the colder air arrives, I start thinking about cozier alternatives to being outdoors. I was pondering over what I should write about while reading blogs this morning, and stumbled across a happy list from Betsy. While reading, I thought that this would be the perfect start to blogging again, and then, low and behold, Betsy had tagged me to write a similar post. She must have been reading my mind. So here we are-- my ten happy things.

1 / Writing and sending snail mail to four people yesterday-- and the Barnum & Bailey stamps that I used.

2 / Sunset walks along the water with Andrew, Lilah, and her tennis ball.

3 / Creative business brainstorms via text with my sister.

4 / The smell of hops that took over our kitchen last night, while prepping our batch of home brew for fermentation round two.

5 / Home canned pasta sauce on spaghetti for dinner. It's like summer in a jar!

6 / Post-season baseball. Specifically, Orioles post-season baseball, and the fact that we have tickets for at least one playoff game.

7 / Open windows in the house all day and all night.

8 / My birthday next week, also known as the first day of autumn.

9 / Indulging in The Roosevelts the night we got our new tv antenna, and then forgetting all over again that we have a tv.

10 / Fells Point in the late morning quiet and sunshine.

 

What are your current happy things? I'd love to read about them in your own blog post or in the comments below!