The days are bright but cool, the winds setting in, and suddenly everything apple-, cinnamon- or pumpkin-smelling appeals: fall is here! There are speed bumps here and there, but overall, everything feels purposeful and optimistic. I have plans for stories, projects, meals, trips.
But there’s something different about this fall: I’ve carried the feeling of relaxation from the summer with me into the season, and the usually intense, hyper-driven forward push has mellowed a bit. It’s strange: I feel how little time there is in a lifetime sometimes, but that only means more and more that I want to savor the moments I have. So, I guess that’s what these kind of picture posts are: savoring the bits of life that don’t seem so consequential, but add up to what my heart will hold dear in the future.
Last weekend I went to the Brookfield Zoo. I haven’t been there since I was in grade school, and I had forgotten how massive the place is. It was pretty much the last truly summerlike day of the season, and the place was overrun with kids and families: at one point, I turned around in an exhibition room and felt like I was drowning in a sea of strollers, manned by tired, grumpy parents. I guess it’s a zoo — what else do I expect? I still got to see lots of animals, like the critters above. (Okay, that gorilla? So not a “critter”! He was huuuuuge.)
Yep, I think those turtles were feeling a bit frisky? I didn’t see the dolphin show, but the underwater viewing rooms were so peaceful. I’d love to be surrounded by such a serene bright blue. Then I’d sleep like those adorable parrots!
It made me a bit sad in a way, because most of the animals I love — like wolves, for example — are nocturnal. I wish zoos had nighttime hours every now and then; maybe then the rampant stroller factor would be a bit lessened as well. Who’d be up for a zoo happy hour?
Closer to home, my little apartment is coming together slowly but nicely. My bedroom is right about where I like it: spare, serene but pretty. See?
Lately I’ve been using my extra points at Paperback Swap to collect as many of the L.M. Montgomery books I can get. (I’m re-reading all of the Anne of Green Gables books: so much love!) I’ve burned enough candles so that it feels like I’ve cleared out all the old smells, and now I wake up and I’m not so startled or disoriented about where I am. A home takes awhile to pull together (and…it’s so expensive!) I haven’t quite figured out how to deal with the living room. I can dress and style a bedroom with no problem, but having a living room all of my own feels slightly daunting, mostly because I haven’t gotten all of the furniture for it.
Outside of home decor musings, I’m taking great pleasure at wearing my cool-weather clothes. Scarves! Sweaters! Boots! Coats! All of my favorite sartorial things. I haven’t bought very much for fall so far (most of my money’s gone to house stuff.) What should I get? What have you been getting for the season?
I paged through the fall magazines and nothing has really caught my eye but a peplum top here and there. I did get a pair of bootleg jeans on a kind of whim, though: I was trying on stuff and threw them in the pile as a bit of a “what the heck” type of thing. But when I tried them on, I really liked them. Lately my eye has tired of the skinny jean silhouette, and I like the 70s-ish feel of a nice bootleg. It feels a bit more subversive to wear than it did in, say, 2000 — such are the cycles of fashion, I guess. (I even subtitled the outfit above “fighting the hegemony of skinny jeans”!) I still wear skinny jeans, mostly with my bigger and longer boots, but it’s definitely weird sometimes to wear a bootleg — it skews your other clothing choices when you consider a new silhouette. Lately I like a vibe that’s basically “dressing like a Neil Young song”: kinda worn-in, melancholy yet sunlit in a way. I like faded florals in gamine yet romantic shapes, cozy textures, kind of gentle colors. Everything natural and with a sense of ease. Kind of like life in early fall, right?
Tags: autumn, Brookfield Zoo, fashion
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can you talk about those bracelets? I love the way you’ve layered them! I would definitely be interested in a zoo happy hour, although I feel like it could also be quite spooky. imagine the noises!
thanks, mary!! those bracelets are just both wrap-style bracelets, one from target and one from kohl’s — nothing fancy! i like the wonder woman look, but these are a lot less bulky than cuffs, which is why i dig them!
ha ha, i was joking about zoo happy hours, and the biggest danger would be people getting drunk and deciding it’d be a good idea to make friends with gorillas and lions and bears. it’s not till you see them up close that you realize how crazy massive they are!
xo k.