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With fall comes chilly temperatures and with chilly temperatures comes cold feet. And there is nothing that helps keep my legs and toes more roasty toasty than a pair of boots. Plus, boots are the perfect addition to a fall outfit. So despite having two pairs of boots in the closet at the moment, I've been looking for yet another pair. Boots are expensive, but completely worth it at the same time. After browsing on Pinterest, these are some of the boots I absolutely love right now. Click on the photos to take you to my pins-- hopefully that'll help link you up to these beauties, but it's tough finding the whereabouts of some of this stuff!






I have to say, I absolutely love the look of the chunky knee high socks on those last two. And of course I had to find a few sweet pairs of socks for you as well.

via SmartWool

via Free People

Are you a boots person like I am? What is your favorite fall fashion element?

It's been a rough month for me to be quite honest. As I wrote about earlier this month, October 7th would have been my grandfather's birthday. He passed away a year ago on the 20th. Every year, my mom, who owns an artisan bakery, has a huge feast in which she invites her regular customers, family, and friends to enjoy many of the foods that she serves throughout the year. It is her big thank you to all that are somehow involved in her business. I've been meaning to go home for her feast for some time and felt that this year would be the year, especially since this year's was in honor of my grandfather and many of my extended family members would be there.

However, I was not so lucky. Months in advance, I began searching for a plane ticket to South Bend, the closest airport. A ticket normally costing $250-$350 was now $783. I checked airfare prices the following week in hopes they would be different. $849. The next. $972. And finally several weeks before. $1443. I could have flown to Paris for half that price. Or to Sydney for only $500 more! Why were these tickets so expensive, you might ask? Well, it's called an old college football tradition-- one single game that is quite a huge deal: Notre Dame vs. USC.

Growing up near South Bend, I was always exposed to the ridiculous nature of Notre Dame football-- 2 hour waits to eat dinner at a restaurant on home game weekends, bad traffic in South Bend, trying to do fall clothes shopping in a mad house mall, friends not being able to book hotels for their visits to town, annoying tourists in a quaint little town. And now this football game was ruining my plans to be with my family.

Needless to say, I've been in a funk this weekend and needed to find a way out. So I did the one thing that I knew would at least sort of help and I made myself busy. So busy, in fact, that I did all of this in one afternoon:






Yes, I realize that I may be crazy when it comes to the Valentine's Day themed cards, but I had to get the ideas on paper before I forgot them. After a long, productive day we took a long walk across Patterson Park to Yellow Dog Tavern for dinner. It was a nice ending the day in cool, crisp air and enjoying dinner in a cozy pub. It wasn't my mom's feast, but it was certainly a fantastic way to end the day.

I've been working very hard to get out of the graphic design based cards recently and restock my shop with some more one of a kind paper cut designs. Honestly, the paper cut cards are my biggest challenge as I find it difficult to come up with fresh ideas other than layering coordinating colors of paper. I am trying to work my way through my built up stash of paper-- it is somewhat overwhelming to be honest. So I stuck with a stack of solids and two patterned stacks yesterday. After much hemming and hawing, I finally made these cards.





The first set seems to bright and colorful which I really enjoy, especially with the matching orange envelopes. I had high expectations for the second set, but after making it I realized that these were some seriously manly cards. Andrew's dad has ordered stationery from me in the past and suggested I make some cards that catered more to the male customer. I struggled with coming up with more masculine designs upon request, but now by accident I don't think these cards could be any manlier! So those green ones are for all you manly men out there!

My grandfather has been on my mind a lot lately. Understandably so as today would have been his birthday. He passed away on the 20th of October last year. I was lucky to have been able to spend a lot of time with him growing up, and it was always a priority for me to spend time with both him and my grandmother every time I returned home to Indiana.

He was a serious man, but at the same time told jokes that made him laugh so hard he could barely breath. He was a religious man that served as a Mennonite pastor in many capacities, but at the same time was able to accept even the things he may not have agreed with. He was studious, and I don't think there was a time that I could ever remember him without a book nearby.

He was quite the storyteller. We'd enjoy a long meal on a Sunday afternoon while he told us stories of various events in his life. During the Christmas season we'd gather around the piano and sing Christmas carols in four part harmony, his deep bass voice booming. And on New Year's Eve he'd be the first standing at the dinner table during our traditional fondue dinner so that he could scrape the last of the cheese from the bottom of the pot.

When I was a child, he and my grandmother would take me to South Haven, Michigan where we'd stroll the beach on Lake Michigan picking out colorful stones and the occasional piece of sea glass. We'd go hiking in the woods at the camp across from my grandparents' house. He kept me entertained with a simple game, trapping me between his legs until I could free myself with the "magic button" somewhere on his knee. We'd roast hot dogs and marshmallows on a huge brush bonfire in their large yard.

As I grew older, he was proud of my endeavors at Syracuse University, inquisitive about my adventures in Australia, and always happy to hear about my triumphs and challenges in the Baltimore City classroom. He always questioned me with the best of intentions to push me to learn even more.

My grandfather was quite the amazing man and not a day goes by that I don't think of him. He is greatly missed. Happy birthday Grandpa!

All I need is a relaxing weekend and the creative juices start flowing. Not one, but two new stationery designs and that's quite the record for me! And I am completely obsessed with them. New faves! Check them out.





What do you think? The aqua and orange ones are my favorite of the two, but why is that surprising considering my obsession with aqua.