Scenes of Autumn

I snapped these photos close to a couple of weeks ago, when this part of the world was hazy and cold.  I often forget about the fact that this huge field lies behind my house.  It's a huge tract of land...almost 80 acres, I believe, that has been in my family for generations.  It's been such a part of my life since I was about 5 years old that I often overlook what a beautiful place it is...not to mention how excellent it is for photos!

Every photo above except the first was taken out in the field.  About a half-mile from my house is our beloved little pond.  I found a few old photos from when my great-grandfather had the pond put in, I believe in the 1930's-1940's.  It's terribly sad how low the water-level is in the pond, thanks largely to the unbelievable drought we had this past summer.

It's a magical place when you really think about it.  

xo, A.

P.S.  See my plaid coat?!  It's a dreaaam.

Morning

There's something about morning time that I have always gravitated to.  The light looks so airy and clean and bright, and the freshness of the new day is almost too exciting.  While my body has trouble adjusting to the early hours, my mind bursts with perhaps too many thoughts in the beginning of the day.

One early morning couple of weeks ago, I snuck out to the field by my house and snapped these photographs.  The perfect way to start a long day.

xo, A.

Blue Whale

I have the most odd desire to see as many quirky roadside attractions as I can throughout my lifetime.  I haven't seen too many at this point, unfortunately (except one that wasn't really a roadside attraction, but just a rather unnerving statue of a chimney sweep that looks oddly like The Penguin on 1-35 near Salina, KS).

On Saturday though, my mom and I spent the day on an all-too unplanned mission to see the Blue Whale of Catoosa and venture through part of Route 66.  The Whale was just as darling and quirky as I thought he would be...Route 66, not so much.

We met two charming people in the gift shoppe who chatted with us about a princess from Dubai who had sent a letter to the attraction.  They couldn't get my card to work in their machine, and the man said he wasn't going to let me leave without my souvenirs, which consisted of two postcards and a pin.  I wish I knew more people who are as sweet as they were.

And afterwards, we ventured down Route 66 a ways, only to end up back in Stillwater at our usual thrift stores.  Route 66 between Tulsa and Oklahoma City just isn't as "touristy" as I would like it to be.  Oh, well.

I managed to find some goodies at the thrift, per usual.  A Target t-shirt and The Catcher In The Rye came home with me.  Before we finally ended our day we stopped at a local entertainment store and I replaced the HIM album I lost and finally found Wristcutters: A Love Story.

We had a fabulous, albeit warm, day.

xo, A.

Relaxing

On both Friday evening and Saturday morning, after an awful day at work on Friday, I suggested to my mom that we take an adventure to some of our favorite flea markets and antique stores.  While my mom wasn't entirely up to either trip, it ended up being quite relaxing for both of us.  (Despite the unbearable Oklahoma humidity mixed with the almost-unbearable Oklahoma summertime heat.  Those of you living in this part of the country know just what I'm talking about.)

On Friday evening we ventured into a little flea market here in Glencoe and I walked away with a new set of bed sheets, a pretty teacup, and another one of those fancy, oversized embroidered dresses (anyone know what they're actually called?).  Those fancy dresses are pretty perfect for summer.

And on Saturday we putted to Guthrie in my little car in hopes of finding some wonderful antique treasures.  Guthrie is such a lovely little town...I could spend all day driving around eyeing the fancy homes.  I found a nifty little Minnetonka moccasin keychain in the first booth of the first antique store we went in to.  I didn't know if I wanted to buy it, so we spent the rest of the day venturing in and out of other shoppes before I decided I wanted it and went back to buy it.  Curse my indecisiveness.

The end of the weekend has me wanting to bury my head in my pillow.

xo, A.

Our Trip To Lawrence // What I Wore

Details:

Sweater // Thrifted

Undershirt // Target

Jeans // Thrifted

Shoes // Payless

Purse // Old Navy  

I found this sweater a few weeks ago in a cute little thrift store (you may remember me initially sharing it here), and I had been aching to wear it.  It's a little shorter than I normally like my shirts/sweaters to be, but the print is just too perfect.  I mustn't forget that it's also made from Merino wool, and is incredibly soft and cozy.

I decided the night before we left that it would be the perfect top to wear to Lawrence, and with as chilly as the wind was, I was glad I did.

I must talk about my shoes.  My little mock-moccasins from Payless.  They've quickly become my favorite pair of shoes.  So much so that I ordered a pair in black just before they sold out and disappeared from my life forever.

I feel like moccasins look cute with literally everything.  When I'm getting dressed for work in the early morning, on the rare occasion that I wear slacks (as I hate the way slacks feel and look on me), I always consider pairing these moccasins with them, even though I know they aren't exactly "professional".  (What is professional, anyway?)  However, that's neither here nor there.  Simply put, I love these shoes.

Have a lovely day, friends.

xo, A.

Our Trip To Lawrence // Pt. 2

For part 2 of our trip to Lawrence, I thought I would share our photos from the game and campus.

The game was an absolute blast.  We arrived at Allen Fieldhouse around 4:30pm, and the game started at 7.  It was freezing cold out, but it was incredible standing outside in line with fellow fans decked from head to toe in KU garb. Once inside, I spent perhaps a little too much time oohing and ahhing over everything beheld by my sight, then we found our seats just above the student section.

We stood the whole game.  We yelled, chanted, booed, clapped, taunted, and ended the game with the ever-so inspiring "Rock Chalk Chant".  KU beat Texas Tech with a rather distant victory.  There is nothing in the world quite like college basketball, I believe.

The next day, we woke up early to get a few hours of exploring Lawrence in before heading home.  We stopped for donuts and passed through downtown a bit more, to catch anything we missed before (like two bookstores, 'The Raven' and 'The Dusty Bookshelf').  We drove through local neighborhoods, which held some of the most gorgeous homes I have ever seen.  Then, before we decided to trek back to Oklahoma, I told Sean I just had to see campus one more time.  I wanted to take more photos of it, to capture it just as it was so I could remember it once I was home.  We made circles around the campus, drove down streets we weren't supposed to, stopped in the middle of the road to snap photos, and attracted odd stares.

The campus is beautiful.  The architecture of the buildings is intricate and strikingly old.  The campus itself is very hilly, and I can just imagine myself trudging up those hills in freezing weather trying to make my way to class.  It was quiet, which is perfect for me.

I think know I want to go to school here someday.

xo, A.