Well looks like October/autumn finally got it's act together. We had us a good old fashioned rain storm yesterday complete with gusts of wind carrying bunches of leaves. For the record I don't think there's any sight more dreamy than raining leaves... It's cold too, especially in the mornings, and it's nice to not sweat in a sweater for once. I'm thinking this Target wrap sweater is going to be a mainstay for sure. I love a simple easy outfit and this one is really just four pieces and I'm out the door!
So yay for autumn and yay for sweater weather, finally!
I can hear the rain pounding on the roof over the croon of Billie Holiday on the record player. Birdie is down for a nap and the house is as quite as it will be for the next hour or so. We did a deep clean yesterday and I'm relishing the shine of the floors and the empty sink, the fluffy towels all nicely folded away. I have candles burning in every room since it was be a shame to ruin this moody light that's sneaking its way through the orange and yellow leaves and into our windows. And I'm sitting here thinking about this weekend and how wonderful it was. Papa bear and I got to get away for a night for the first time in ten months thanks to our parents. It was exactly what we both needed. Time to talk, time to breathe, time to think and time to recharge. Things are definitely looking up and I have a lot of hope for this week. I made a nice big pot of coffee this morning and it kind of made me feel like superwoman (I'll report later on how that how thing panned out... fingers crossed!!).
Last weekend we kind of, if at all possible, overloaded on the "autumn activities." In addition to apple picking on Friday we went to a pumpkin patch on Saturday. We went mainly for their wagons that Birdie is absolutely obsessed with. Folks we are officially in the market for a classic Radio Flyer! And don't you think pumpkins are just the most handsome things to have ever grown out of the ground?! I could fill my whole house with them and I must admit I'm already well on my way - they are gracing our fireplace mantle and I've got a few on the dining room table too. Now I just need a good dozen more...
These photos sure did lift my mood. The weekend was fantastic but this week has been tough. I'm thoroughly disappointed with what has been going on with our government. I'm disappointed that certain individuals in our government are letting so many of the people that voted them in down, especially low income mothers and their babies. My heart aches for family and friends that have suffered losses or tragic events this week. Weeks like this leave me with a lot of questions and very few answers.
Perhaps this weekend will bring some answers, hope and peace not just to myself but to all those around me as well.
Can I just say something? Our generation gets a lot of flack - lazy, selfish, entitled, bla, bla, bla... Well I think they're all just wrong. I have been so inspired by my generation, recently especially. You are my graduating class, my friends, my family and my inspiration. I have come across so many stories of resilience, dream-chasing, never ending faith and blooming. Back when I started blogging and was a freshly minted college grad we all got thrown in this ocean called life and told to swim. We were told to do "what our parents did" to work hard and on the other side would be waiting a beautiful two story home complete with new appliances and two lovely cars. We would move up the "ladder" and we would eventually start a family. Except that very same year all those dreams came crashing down. And what did we learn? What did we do?
We learned that we don't want that "dream house" anyway. We learned that family is what matters most and most of us starting working on one not because our wallets told us we could have one but because our hearts yearned for one. We lost jobs and learned to hustle and by way of that hustle learned what it is that truly makes us happy in the first place. We learned that a college education doesn't guarantee a cushy job and it's going to take a whole lot more than we were told to achieve our dreams. And somewhere along that path our dreams changed too. We learned that we don't need a lot of stuff and that that Ikea dresser you and your partner put together holds a lot more memories than one that would have been delivered via a "white glove" service straight to your door. We got crafty and thrifty and humbled.
I also don't see a lot of complaining. Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong places but from where I sit I see a lot of gratitude. I see happiness. I see joy. I see us smiling through the crappy days and reaching out to give a hug or get a hug. I see us united in this struggle and I see striving for happiness every day not just the good days. I suppose we're probably even a little scared to complain because we're so used to being berated all the time for the laziness, entitlement, etc...
And so we work quietly. We don't expect accolades, we just hope that next month is better than the last. We hope that one day this will all pay off. We also don't wait for that rainbow on the other side, we paint one today.
I suppose this is just my love letter to all of you out there. I am just so proud of us. Proud of us for the humble dreams we've dreamed up for ourselves and our families. Proud of the way we go about reaching them and proud of us for trying, trying and trying again. We may not be our parents, we may not have what they had but I think most of us have learned by now that we never wanted that anyway.
I'm so proud of all of your small business, magazines, shops, books, families, blogs, paintings and photographs! Keep at it!! And remember we're in this together so lets never forget to reach out a helping hand the way someone once reached out to us.
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