thoughts | the last weekend of autumn

This weekend...

In my corner of the world, the middle of October signals the end of autumn and as the last leaf falls there falls with it our only hope of warmer temperatures and we brace ourselves for the return of the polar bears.  Or winter.  

We had an exceptionally stunning autumn this year.  Our town managed to make a "Top 10 Fall Color" list and brought with it, hoards of people.  The usual "summering" crowd made another appearance and our streets were once again crowded with tourists in white socks and hiking boots. And Land Rovers (one simply can't enjoy adventuring without a proper luxury SUV!).  But that was early October.  Once we passed the peak, everyone went home and our little town was quiet again.  We were just about to settle in for a long winters nap and then then the weather changed.  This past weekend was a complete bonus.  Gorgeous temperatures in the 70s, sunshine, and just enough color left on the trees to make the everything glow!

I woke up early-ish and was about to grab some coffee when I heard a knock at the door.  Hang on, let me back up...  I first got out of bed because Cal was convinced that he heard a strange noise in the garage and I quote "Probably a mouse banging on the door with a hammer".  Probably not.  Anyway, looked around for a sparkly princess shoe to use as a weapon and when I couldn't find one, I bravely opened the door.  It was nothing.  No mouse, no hammer, no anything.

Imaginative little children.

So anyway, the real knock at the door was our sweet friend (Hi Anna!) who was supposed to meet my sister Mim for a morning of trail riding.  Mim had disappeared into thin air and I was like "Hey! I'm sure she'll be right back, do you want some coffee?"  Heeheehee!  Anything to distract from the fact that I had just answered the door in my pajamas.

After all of that excitement, I was totally awake, and it was Saturday.  And I get cabin fever very easily and once I opened the front door and felt that wonderful breeze, I decided that staying in was not an option.  And also, an early morning meander through downtown sounded quite lovely, sort of like a modern day Audrey Hepburn, only with a gluten free bagel instead of a croissant and jeans instead of a black evening gown.  I also decided that putting my makeup on was a good idea.  At this phase in my life, I can't be too prepared to bump into a handsome stranger. 

Driving down the hill into downtown was breathtaking.  The lake was dark blue and sparkling.  Almost all of the piers have been taken out by now and stacked on the shore, but the few boat owners who were late to pull their boats out of the water were smugly zipping around the bays.  Our little library, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's protege, was beautifully framed by a few bright trees.  I walked over to the bagel shop and ordered a gluten free bagel (extra crispy) with blueberry cream cheese, because I'm fancy like that, and then remembered that the latest Southern Living mag was out and due to our recent move and the fact that I've had the mail forwarded so many times that it throws everything off for a few days or more, it might maybe be in my mailbox!  I meandered over to the post office, overcome with joy because I love living in town (so much!).

No date with destiny at the post office, but my magazine was in my little box, one tall in a grande cup americano with cream later, I was sitting on the patio at Starbucks reading my magazine and trying to figure out how to make all of this last.  The coffee, the smell of the leaves, the EVERYTHING.  I was feeling very nostalgic about life until I was brought back down to earth with plans to meet my friend Sophia for a little leisurely shopping action.  

I don't want to brag, but we're pretty much professional thrift store shoppers (Brooke can be included in this club as well, she just wasn't feeling it this weekend).  Give us a few hours and we'll locate every designer brand in the place, along with vintage clothing and Anthropologie-worthy housewares.  I tried on the most fabulous 1980's party dress, I'm not sure why, but some 80's clothing suits me a little too well.  Maybe it's the jewel tones or the slightly over sized scale.  Maybe its because I'm 92 at heart...  Anyway, I put it back on the rack.  Just couldn't see it fitting into the dress code for any upcoming parties or weddings (black velvet sweetheart necklines top, emerald green satin full skirt and orchid purple sash.  WITH BOW!).  Not feeling it?  That's okay, neither was anyone else.

Friends of ours hosted dinner for the church ladies later that night.  I had every intention of leaving in time to get some packing done before bed, but then we got talking and laughing about important girly topics and the next thing I knew it was 11pm.  Which is the equivalent of 3am for this morning person.  Hey!  I'm not one to break up some good fellowship!

Well that was long enough.  Sometimes I have a lot of words to say, which is why it's taken me approximately 9 paragraphs to tell you what I did on an uneventful Saturday in October.

How was your weekend?  Any plans for this upcoming weekend?

quotable | little tiny baby ones

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm rooming with a 7 year old little girl for the next year.  

I'm rooming with a 7 year old.

Little girl.

Let's just let that sink in for a minute.

Okay.

So, aside from the pink things everywhere (oh wait, that my stuff, I mean the "extra" pink things), the fabulous Holly Golightly eye mask that she will NOT sleep without every night, and the turtles that I feel are TAKING OVER my life (she loves turtles.  Y'all, I will never understand.)  Aside from all of that, it hasn't been too bad.  Just don't ask what she thinks.  Miss Grace will undoubtedly tell you that I'm the meanest sister in the whole world and keep her up at night because I wont stop talking.  

"Don't listen to that man behind the curtain!!!"

It's been great.  I really love her crazy little personality.  The other morning, she woke up giggling and I was a bit concerned (Did you hit your head, Grace? Again?), then she told me.

About her wonderful dream.  

Unfortunately it was a dream and not real life.  Real life was oatmeal, not cinnamon rolls.

doings | gone with the wind turns seventy five

Did y'all hear the news?

Gone with the Wind had it's 75th birthday.  It's been a full 75 years since we first watched Miss Scarlett flirt with those Tarletan twins at the 12 Oaks barbecue.  75 years from the moment we cried as Atlanta burned and were convinced that tomorrow would be a new day.

And by "we", I mean, not me.  I was sadly not around for the original theater release, although my siblings might disagree with me.  They've taken to calling me "grandma" lately.  Which makes sense because I'm 92 at heart.  I was once told, by a man who recently celebrated his 99th birthday, that "you're only as old as you feel in your heart".  Bob Hope told him that.  I love Bob Hope and I do believe that 92 would be about as accurate age for me as you could guess.

Anyway, back to Miss Scarlett.

For two nights only, select theaters put this movie back on the big screen.  It was amazing to see how the quality stood up to modern movies.  After all of these years, its still a pleasure to watch the beautifully filmed scenes play out as the superb actors do their thing.  It's a timeless story of how people react when faced with difficult situations.  And one of my favorites.

I've read that most Southern women identify with either Scarlett or Melanie.  Which is funny to me, but also true.  It's not a happy book by any means, I read it cover to cover in about two weeks last winter.  All 732 pages, it was too cold outside to do anything else.  I just read and dreamed about warmer weather.  And got so very wrapped up in the drama.  Scarlett herself is a fascinating study, I just wanted so badly for her to break down, to be human, to show a bit of warmth.  But she never does.  She is so brave, but her bravery boils down to nothing but selfishness.  All of the characters really are fascinating really, sweet Melanie, wimpy Ashley,  shocking Rhett.  We all have our favorites.  My Mimi says that they are representative of the four main temperaments, which is probably another post for another day.

Tell me, did you get the chance to see this is the theater?  Have you read the book?

photographed | my people | summer 2014

These are my people.  All nine of them.  And I love them.

It amazes me to look at them to see the variation of our genes.  Our theme this year was "bohemian family band", hilarious when you understand that we are neither bohemian or musicians.  I gave the kids a color scheme and generously offered that they could bring along any props that made their hearts go pitterpat.  We had an Indian headdress, various stringed instrument including a uke, coonskin cap, a coffee grinder, and Rosemary the turtle. 

Daniel tripping over a clump of clover...

It's Abbe Crocket and her glam sidekicks.

Do-Re-Mi and all of that...

Oh my heart.

The preppy Christmas card shot.

 The lighting was perfect that evening, we headed out to the our new house site and tramped through the fields.  Kathryn Grace (of course!) photographed us and we had a great time.  I like to throw crazy ideas for photo shoots at her and she always shows up with so much enthusiasm and then proceeds to capture the EXACT photo I had in mind!  I love it!

For more photos, click over here...

Kathryn Grace Photography | Powers Kids 2014