Happy Autumn!

Original photo by Andreas Levers

Today marks the first official day of autumn - hooray! I'm normally sad to see summer go, but this summer has been so full of adventures that I'm fully ready to welcome the golden afternoons of fall (although I'm not too thrilled about the frosty mornings...)

Bring on the sweaters, corn mazes, vibrant leaves and everything pumpkin!

Late Summer Sunsets

This weekend Christopher and I were complete bums. Saturday was a fairly overcast day and we had no problem sleeping in past ten (or was it eleven?) only to wake up and lounge around on the couch with lingering cups of coffee and slices of peanut butter toast. We ventured out of the house around six for Chinese takeout, and promptly returned home for an evening of Netflix. With as busy as our weekends have been lately, it was so nice to do absolutely nothing at all.

We were hit pretty hard with a heavy thunderstorm that came in waves throughout the evening (fortunately the tornado southeast of us didn't travel to us as expected.) It eventually passed as the day drew to an end, and around nine a peculiar yellow-orange light crept through our windows and drew us to the waterlogged world outside.

The sky was on fire.

 The longer we're married, the more similar we become... we're even starting to make the same faces. 

The brilliance only lasted about ten minutes before it faded into a softer sunset with a purple-gray haze streaked with pink. We just stood on the dock, taking it all in. It was probably the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen, in all honesty. 

As beautiful as it was, it made me a little sad. This gorgeous sunset reminded me that summer was fading... the days are growing shorter and the air has a little more of an edge in the evenings. Fall is drawing close. Sometimes I wish summer could last forever, but then I suppose it wouldn't be as special.

Inspiration: Mustard Yellow

Let's talk mustard. I absolutely love it (the color, specifically, although the condiment is pretty great, too.) It pops up in my design work all the time and it's all over my home and my closet. I'm not exactly sure when I started loving mustard yellow, but it's probably been a good six or seven years. In college I would go on shopping trips with my bff Arissa in search of the perfect mustard cardigan/bag/shoes/what have you. That's real life.

A few days ago I tried on a pair of skinny mustard crops over my lunch break. I equally loved and feared of them. As much as I love mustard, I'm still questioning the whole colored pants trend. I love wearing color and interesting pieces, but I usually play it pretty safe when it comes to fashion in general. Yellow pants are not safe... but they are awesome. In hopes of gathering the courage to buy the pants, I've gathered up some mustard outfits from the interwebs as inspiration. 

Clockwise from top: 1. A breezy mustard skirt like this one seems perfect for summer.  2. I don't think I could ever pull off this look, but these mustard ankle pants are downright classy and they're so dreamy paired with that minty top.  3. I think I'm going to write an entire post about Moonrise Kingdom because I loved it. Seriously. The main character, Suzy, was quirky and adorable and had a great 1960s wardrobe. I particularly loved this mini dress.  4. This velvety yellow headband has been on my wish list for a while now. I love the way mustard looks with dark hair.

L: The minute Abby pinned this photo from Girl and Closet, I was obsessed with this skirt. I actually found it at F21 on clearance, but it had a major snag running across the fabric. I think I'm going to bust out the sewing machine and make my own.  R: Suzannah's yellow crops are pretty similar to the pair I tried on and she totally rocks them. And who knew red pairs so well with mustard?

The more I think about it, mustard would probably be the easiest way to break into the colored pants trend... they're kind of like khaki pants on LSD, right? Neutral enough to pair with some color, although I'd probably start it off easy with gray/white/navy... playing it safe, you know me. Everyone on Instagram pretty much peer-pressured me into buying the pants (hey, thanks guys!) ... but at $50 I'm definitely going to wait for them to go on sale. Do you own any colored pants?

Summery New York Prints

 

Totally design-crushing on these New York themed prints from husband and wife design team Eight Hour Day. Lately I've been really inspired by mid-century modern design, and the limited color palette is so summery and fun.

Farewell, Fall

I think life got the best of me last week. Chris and I are still trying to work out the some-jerk-stole-$800-from-our-account debacle... we've been waiting a week now for legal paperwork (and my new debit card) to arrive in the mail from the bank. Oddly enough, Chris noticed this morning that the money had been returned to our account. Hooray! -- but this leaves me confused... is everything settled? Do we still need to fill out the paperwork? Has the bank decided to return our money regardless? Who knows.

To top it off, today was nothing but cold, gray, and rainy. As excited as I am for the holidays, I'm sad that fall is coming to a close. It always feels like such a short-lived season. I've rounded up some cozy fall images to help boost my spirits and give autumn a proper goodbye until next year.

Untitled, by fifty-six on flickr

Photo by John Allen via Frolic

Photo by Elias Carlson via design work life

Bittersweet wreath, Amy Merrick for Design*Sponge

Photo by Alice Gao via Live & Enliven

Photo by Eylul Aslan via Abby

Miss Joan headband, $12

Orange Spice Pumpkin Muffins from Good Life Eats

Adorable engagement session by Shannen Norman via Green Wedding Shoes

Yellow Week!

This week is Yellow Week over at Oh, Hello Friend, which is perfect therapy for the slightly overcast Midwestern mornings we've been having lately. I do love yellow, but I'm pretty particular about the varying shades (Mustard? Of course. Buttercream? Of course not.)

Danni has done a great job rounding up inspiring bits featuring the sunny hue and is even hosting an amazing yellow giveaway. Yesterday she featured a few color combo inspiration boards featuring yellow paired with other colors. A few of my favorites...

Yellow and pink is borderline prissy in my opinion, but it reminds me of pink lemonade and sunburned skin, and then I'm okay with the combo. I like it paired with gray, which adds a little more sophistication. And how great is that yellow bag skirt from J.Crew? I want.

Yellow and seafoam isn't really a combo I've seen too much of in the design world lately, but I love how fresh it looks. Used in the wrong hands, this could be a bit much (1980s fashion, I'm looking at you...) but the lighter shades are crisp and refreshing. I wonder if that cake tastes as amazing as it looks...

Yellow and brown is another combo I wouldn't necessarily think to use, but the two create instant vintage warmth. This duo is probably my new favorite and makes me excited for fall. Images of crisp leaves, honey, dappled afternoon light and golden chocolate chip cookies come to mind.

Speaking of fall, I've finally embraced the cooling weather (as much as I've fought it.) It is my favorite season, after all. This is probably the last week of sunny weather in the seventies here in Michigan, so it's the perfect time to bid summer adieu and welcome autumn. Onward to cardigans, pumpkins, turning leaves and cider.

All color inspiration boards from Oh, Hello Friend.