Good {Sleepy} Friday

Hello friends! I'm not quite top notch this morning as I spent a few hours like this (above) last night, sleeping on the floor next to the fireplace with little E. You see, our power went out at 9pm-ish and so we had a few boys moving around throughout the night, trying to get comfortable without their night lights and fans humming. Elliot did well for the first 30 minutes but soon after that he woke up FULLY and prepared to have some fun! The sweetest part is that he was obviously very chuffed by the whole thing (up in the middle of the night, hanging with mom and dad by the fire) and couldn't give us enough kisses. Literally kissed us over and over as we pretended to sleep next to him. Haha. Sweet little man. 

We eventually put him back in his crib 2 hours later, hoping the power would be fixed soon after, and he did fall asleep eventually. But then Monty and Parker joined us not too long after and we had a family sleepover in mom and dad's room. So musical beds all night long.

Power is on now ... 12 hours later. And my head is throbbing. :)

Keeping Cozy

Feeling cozy today in my comfy sweater and boots, the perfect ensemble for a day up north I think. For such a day we'd take a long, dreamy drive with endless stretches of brilliant color dancing alongside the road as we flew by. And we'd stop for breakfast at my favorite inn (decorated to the brim in all things autumn), where I'd indulge in cherry stuffed french toast. Then we'd likely buy a too-pretty-to-eat pie to bring home to enjoy with coffee later. And let's not forget a few moments by the water's edge just to take in that magnificent view. Plus oodles of photos of it all.

Fall is such a magical time.

{sweater - Besselli (GB), shirt - H&M, jeans - Forever 21, boots - T J Maxx, heart locket - antique market}

Monster Bash

Little E's 2nd birthday is just around the corner and in honor of the spooky month, we'll be celebrating with a "happy" monster bash. :) 

Here are a few festive goodies that have my wheels turning ...

{Candy corn cheesecake mousse - found here}

{Monster marshmellow pops with googley eyes - found here}

{dragon tails with a tutorial for the crafty mom! - pinned here}

Will post party pics so you can see how our monster bash turned out. 

A Photo Shoot {the Romatowski family}

I had the pleasure of photographing the Romatowski family over the weekend, and though the rain sprinkled on us every so often, we still had much fun capturing snapshots of this precious time in their lives. 

Here are a few of my favorites.

Thanks so much to Christina for allowing me the pleasure of working with your family!

If you'd like any info on a photo session for you or your family, send me an email at kirstyloug@gmail.com. I'd love to work with you!

Wet Leopard

The rain has been constant for the last two days but it wasn't going to keep me from a few outfit shots! I've not spent much time in Old Navy in the past, gosh, 3 years perhaps. But when I popped in for a look at the Halloween costumes last weekend I noticed a few other things that were really quite sweet. My favorites were the "silk" button up blouses, absolute copies of my lovely J Crew versions but for only $20 (usually $29)! Couldn't pass that up, so I picked out a leopard and a deep green and here's my #1.

Bit of a wet rabbit at this point but at least you can see some of the details. Not bad huh? I've also been taken with wearing tiny gold bands on a couple of fingers (the idea actually came from Kristen Wiig's pretty rings in Bridesmaids}. I have a cluster of leafy rings from Banana that I separated to try that effect and wore the second one on the other side of the knuckle, something else I've seen on a couple of my favorite blogs. I liked it, though in this photo it looks as if the ring has become a tourniquet! Not so friends, not so.

{jacket - Lauren Conrad for Kohls, blouse - Old Navy, skirt - Express, shoes - Target, rings - Banana Republic}

Crafty Moments {Can't Wait to Try}

With September almost behind us (where did it go?) and the real goodness of autumn knocking at our doors, I thought I'd take on a little project for my seasonal frame (how it looked last fall - here, this spring - here). This time I'm itching to make my own set of fall leaves to cluster inside and/or around the frame and I think it's the perfect time to use pages out of books. What a romantic way to decorate! I found this picture and was inspired to get going.

{here}

Pretty amazing, isn't it? And easy enough ... don't even think I need a tutorial (but we'll see). And then I saw these simple and sweet felt leaves, a cute addition to a random book shelf here and there. 

{here}

Now just to find the time! Will post pics when I'm done so we can see if the results were as pretty as they are here. Happy Sunday!

Moody Plum

I've had these plum skinnies for a few years now and they continue to be a favorite, slightly fancier trouser at the onset of a chilly season. They're fun to experiment with, playing around with wearing them on both casual days and dressier evenings. Definitely loving colorful bottoms though I've not ventured further than burgundy and plum in the color wheel. But red is piquing my interest and Old Navy is obliging! Think my sister is going to give them a try so we'll have to take some pics of what she comes up with. :)

{blazer & flats - Gap, t - Target, pants & ring - H&M, necklace - J Crew}

Cut a few hydrangeas from our waning garden and popped them into mason jars for a little added pretty in the dining room.

Stripes for Fall

 I know that stripes tend to be a nautical spring-summer favorite but my sisters and I all managed to wear similar stripe-y tees this week and agree that we still love this classic print for fall.

{top - Gap, pants - Zara, boots - Sam Edelman, purse - Anthropologie, watch - grandfather}

I recently removed the summer green leaves from our tree decal and added a few colorful leaves instead (left over from an art project). The small start to a bit of autumn decorating, I think. Though our leaves are sparse, I think it turned out fairly well. Think I'll pick up another package to add a few more though.  

Long, Flowy, Stunning!

I've felt completely swamped this week and so have not made it this way as frequently. Sorry about that! My washing machine is dead as a doornail and I've been running to and from my mom's house to do laundry (keep in mind that there's at least 1 load daily over here!). And my little sister has been here visiting so we've spent every available second with her, including later nights which I'm obviously not cool enough to keep up with. And finally, my dance classes are back in full swing and already I am listening to Christmas music, deciding on dances, and browsing through mags of costumes. Yes, it's true, I'm singing "tra la la la la" already. 

But for now, I'm taking a blissful few moments to sigh over these magnificent dresses. They're just so dreamy. 

{Tory Burch}

{Diane Von Furstenberg}

{Rachel Zoe}

If you'd like to see more of what inspires me daily simply click on "My inspiration boards" in the left sidebar or visit my Pinterest here! 

Warm Chocolate

Sported all sorts of chocolate-y hues yesterday and did my fair share of consuming them too (though in the form of a crazy awesome fudge-y homemade ice cream - thanks Lisa!). 

{vest - Forever 21, dress - SA, socks - Free People, boots - J C Penney}