Boots and Blazer Weather At Last

{Black crew neck sweater (not seen): H&M; White T (not seen): Target; Black "linen" blazer: Forever 21; Black ponte jodphurs: Target; Gray sequin scarf: J.Crew; Black "Billie" short riding boots with buckle: J.Crew; Green studded doctor's satchel: Aldo}
Every year, I tap all fingers and toes with barely-contained impatience as I wait for the last of the summer fruit-flies to die off, the humidty to burn itself out, and the crisp weather of New England fall to begin. It's been unseasonably cold all weekend and I'm loving it. We're getting our house painted (it used to be an ambiguous shade that was all too reminiscent of urine), enjoying a slow pace, and cuddling with the puppy. I can't wait to buy tons of apple and pumpkin candles and get a fire going. Nothing, in my mind, compares to autumn 'round here. To warm up on Friday night, we headed out for Korean spicy sea-food hot-pot - I got a killer hankering for it after one of my precocious, adorable 7th graders was talking about it. (Picture a tiny, bespectacled, preppily garbed African-American boy with the face of a seventy-year-old history professor whose blinding ambition is to become Hartford's Anthony Bourdain.) I was thrilled to bundle up in some light layers, especially my new J.Crew boots, and do the equestrian thing. The pants are one of my favorite scores - thick, structured ponte leggings with a seam that dresses them up and no camel toe! I have an almost irrational fear of camel-toe. These were only $20.00, and I have a feeling I'm going to live in them during brisk weather. (I also scored a khaki pair this summer on clearance for $5.00!) The boots, aka my biggest buy for the season, were scouted out by my BFF Liz. I'd been searching for the perfect riding boots (rugged yet feminine, simple but striking, last-forever quality, reasonable price, professional enough for work) for about six years and nothing was just right until these. The shorter height and beautiful cut makes them amazing and comfortable to teach in, the leather is gorgeous, and they go with everything from dresses and tights to beat-up jeans to flouncy skirts. I imagine they will just get cooler as they scuffed-up and broken-in. I have some paperwork to take care of tonight, but overall it's been the perfect, cozy kick-off weekend for fall. Here are some moments that kept me smiling:

{Two-tone Burberry men's watch; heavy chain from a Big Buddha handbag worn doubled around wrist as a massive, vintage-nautical-inspired bracelet}

{Immensely satisfying magazine pile to be devoured with the window open, a thick blanket and slippers on, and a candle burning - includes one of the best September InStyles I have ever seen!}

I try to manage the number of notebooks and journals I compulsively keep, but these are currently in my essential rotation: a red student notebook (traded by an 8th grader who needed a composition book, hence the awesome name "Jerome Drackett" stenciled on the front) for work and inspiring ideas in general; a red brocade journal from China for To-Do lists; a sky-blue mini-Moleskine for fashion/style notes; my vintage mustard sketchbook from Indonesia; butterfly journal for fiction jottings, and brown leather Tumi planner. Lilu, as you can see, is totally unimpressed by my neurotic assortment, and wonders why I wouldn't rather chase a ball with her. The scale of the items around her demonstrates her diminuitive size, but shh, she thinks she's quite the respectable presence.

----xoxo