September Wishlist

I still can't believe it's almost October. The weather got weird again, and it just doesn't feel like fall yet. Some of the leaves have started to change, though, which is nice. I am a nerd and anxiously await the foliage reports that are posted twice a week on the Foliage Network website. It's a good way to determine when to travel to different places!

Fall is full of staples such as flannel, boots, and cozy patterned sweaters, and I love them all. Here are some of the items I am lusting after this month!

1//2//3//4//5//6//7

If there's one color that screams autumn to me, it's burnt orange/rust. It's probably my favorite color to wear in the fall, and I love the rust BooHoo dress with the floral print. I would love to pair it with a chunky sweater, tights, and booties in neutral colors or even add in some deep blue hues. I also love flannel in the fall, and I love when I find some flannel dresses that are a nice shape because flannel shirts usually just don't work on me. Either the chest is too tight or the waist is too big...or both. The blue flannel dress from Mata Traders is a great shape and length and the red flannel dress from ModCloth would be a very versatile piece. I love the collar on it! It would be great for layering.

I am really in love with the yellow patterned poncho sweater from SheInside. It would be perfect for the fall, and I think I would wear it very often! I love ponchos, and I love that this one actually has sleeves and seems a little more structured and fitted than ponchos usually are. I have one sweater poncho from H&M that I love, and I wish I could find more like it.

The two leaf necklace from Loopsway is really cute, and a great accessory for the fall. I also LOVE the Double double, toil and trouble crop top from Hot Topic because it's both Harry Potter and Halloween related. A perfect combination. :)

Scarecrow

It is finally starting to feel like fall! THANK GOD. I was really getting fed up with 90 degree days and awful humidity. Plus the corn mazes all over the state are now starting to open and all the fairs have begun, and those are always signs that fall is here.













I already went apple picking, though it was pretty hot when we went. It felt a little wrong to pick apples in the heat, but at least it's been cooler since then. Also, if you're wondering why the title of this post is Scarecrow, it's because that's what I felt like wearing this outfit in a cornfield.













So many exciting things have happened lately, and I'm pretty sure I haven't really talked about them because I'm pretty behind and scarce still on the posts. Now that this disgusting summer is coming to an end, I will likely feel more inspired and want to go outside in the cooler weather to take pictures. Fall is my favorite time for outfits. I am already planning for both fall and Halloween-inspired outfits. A trip to Salem is planned for October, so I am really excited to plan outfits for that. I actually think the hardest part will be deciding on lipstick colors. These are the tough decisions in life, right?















Anyway....back to the news in my life. First up: I was recently offered my dream job and I instantly accepted. I am ECSTATIC about this. It is at the library that I interned at and have wanted to work at for a couple of years, now. This is actually the third time I have interviewed there. Third time's a charm, as they say. I started on Monday and my first week went very well. I am so psyched! Plus...I am a reference and teen librarian which is what I always wanted. It's the dream job, guys. Not to mention it's a lot closer to my apartment and it pays more. YAY!















Second: I am now officially a cat mom. A friend of mine's girlfriend's cat had kittens and I went over their place to play with them about a month or so ago. There were four (I think): an all grey, a grey with a tiny bit of white, an all black (might've had some white on him/her), and a striped one. Anyway...I fell in love with the striped one. He was the only patterned one and he was so adorable. And he was a boy, which I wanted. He wasn't claimed by anyone yet, so I claimed him. He was ready to come home around the 11th. I thought that I would get him on the 11th, but Chris surprised me by bringing him over a couple of days earlier. His name is Poe, and he's mischievous and spastic and very cute. He is a tabby cat, and after reading up on it I found that he is what they call a mackerel tabby. He has the M on his forehead, stripes, and then spots on his tummy. He's grey with lighter tan colors on his chest, stomach, and around his eyes. Don't worry, I already took a ton of pictures and will share them soon. If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably already seen a couple of him.













That's pretty much all the major news. In other trivial news, I was having a hard time deciding what to be for Halloween. The ideas that were floating around my head were Egyptian, Wonder Woman, and Britney Spears from her VMA performance of I'm A Slave For You where she had the snake. I know that sounds pretty specific, but I always loved that song and the outfit she wore. Back when it happened, it was the coolest thing ever. I would've had to make everything, though, which is a little too much for me right now. I decided to go with Egyptian. There weren't too many costumes that I liked, but the one that I chose ended up working out pretty well. I just ordered a wig to go with it, so hopefully that works out too. I think I'm the most excited to do the makeup for it.

Dress: Forever 21//Shoes: H&M//Hat: Forever 21//Necklace: c/o Loopsway//Sunglasses: Coney Island//Lipstick: Colourpop

It's almost October, and I feel like even though I've been counting down the days, it's really snuck up on me. It was a weird summer to fall transition where it seemed to happy pretty quickly. I can't wait to watch Hocus Pocus and watch the leaves change colors. I have some fall drives planned, and I can't wait to explore in my favorite season! :)

Literary Lust: Books From My To-Read List

If it's not obvious by now, then let me just say: I love books! I have always loved them. I used to get so excited when my dad would take me to Barnes and Noble every weekend when I was little to pick out a new Babysitter's Club book, or whatever series I was reading at the moment. My mom used to take me to the library when I was really little, too. I remember we used to check out these Word Bird books and I loved going through them all.

Now that I'm a librarian, I am constantly surrounded by books and I get to see all the new books come in, so I am always adding to my list of books to read. I love to discuss books, so I thought I'd start writing more about it here! I am thinking I will share books that I want to read, and maybe books that I've read and what I thought of them. I always say that I was destined to be a librarian ever since I was little because I used to line up all my stuffed animals and read books aloud to them. I pretty much had storytime with my stuffed animals. Twenty years later, and here I am having been a children's librarian doing lots and lots of storytimes! Destiny.

Anyway, here are some picks from my to-read list:

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

*

Alright, so this has been a much talked about book the last few months. There's a huge waiting list for it, and that's been so for a while now. I am definitely intrigued by it. It seems like it has a Gone Girl feel to it, though I've yet to read that one either. I have heard people rave about this book, and I've heard people say they didn't like it, but I always like to judge for myself when it comes to things like books and movies.

Finding Jake by Bryan Reardon

*

This book came out this year, but I haven't heard too many people asking for it. When someone did ask for it, I looked it up and it sounded interesting. It's got a psychological aspect to it, which I enjoy. It's basically the story of a school shooting, told from the point of view of the father of a boy who is unaccounted for after the shooting occurs. Is he a victim? Is he the shooter? That's what you want to know as the reader, I suppose.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson

*

This is an older book (it came out in 2003), but I only came across it pretty recently. It takes place at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and is the story of an architect in charge of the fair and a serial killer who poses as a doctor and lured attendants of the fair to their deaths. I believe they are separate stories that possibly intermingle eventually, but I'm not entirely sure. That's just how it seems. I like stories about serial killers and psychological thrillers in general, so it caught my interest.

What's on your to-read list? Have you read any of these books? Feel free to leave comments and discuss. :)

*All pictures from Amazon.

Down To Coney Island

A couple of weekends ago, Chris, Ashley, and I took a day trip to Coney Island. It was the first time going there for all of us, so we were pretty pumped! It was also the first time I took the subway, which I know probably seems weird. My parents never took it when we went when I was younger and I haven't really gone too much later in life, so I've never taken it. It took about an hour from 42nd Street to get down to Coney Island, so it wasn't bad.













We could see the rides and whatnot from the subway as we pulled into the station. When we got off the subway, we walked down to the boardwalk to see everything it had to offer.









On the boardwalk, as you can probably guess, are mostly shops and restaurants. There's also the rides, including the giant ferris wheel, some rollercoasters, and carnival games. Of course, the beach is right there too. I got some new sunglasses and instantly switched out the ones I was wearing with the ones in these pictures because I loved them so much. We also tried on some giant hats and I wholeheartedly regret not buying one.























We explored all the nooks and crannies around the rides. There was this cool spooky haunted house section, as well as lots of cool wall art. Everything was colorful and awesome.













After walking around the boardwalk a bit, we decided to stop and eat lunch. We chose this place called Tom's Restaurant which was like a little diner on the boardwalk. I had a roast beef wrap that was pretty good. It was a good place to get out of the sun for a bit since they had indoor seating, though they also have a little patio and rooftop bar. We took some outfit pictures on the boardwalk beforehand, too. I wanted to wear something somewhat theme-like. Something not super weird, but still a little bold and fun. I decided on this deep red and black striped dress. It reminded me of some sort of carny ring leader type of outfit.













After we ate, we headed over to what is called Art Walk. One of the shop owners (the one who I bought my sunglasses from!) suggested we check it out. It is this gated in section that has lots of different walls that kind of look like billboards and each one is painted by a different artist. It was really awesome! It was also funny because as I was posing in front of one of the pieces, these two guys decided to get in on the photoshoot. Such natural models.













I loved all the colorful patterned ones the most, but I think this criss-crossed, drippy one was my favorite.

Dress: Forever 21//Shoes: H&M//Sunglasses: Lola Star Souvenir Boutiques//Lipstick: Colourpop Ultra Matte in LAX

I also really liked the black and white patterned one. It had such a cool effect.













There were lots of other cool ones too, but another one that I thought was awesome was the giant boombox. I got really excited when I saw it. Of course, Chris and I had to pose in a sort of B-boy stance in front of it.















After the Art Walk (we spent a good amount of time hanging out in this area), we decided to head back to the city. We decided to check out this amazing bookstore that I had heard about. Actually, a book I read in my Young Adult Literature class called Dash & Lily's Book of Dares somewhat took place in this store. When I realized it was actually a real store in the city, I knew I had to go there. They sell both used and new books, as well as a ton of awesome book-related gifts. I ended up getting a mug that I love that has a bunch of shelves of books on it and written in small letters on the bottom of the back it says "lost in the stacks". Perfect for a librarian. :)





After we tortured Chris by spending hours in this store, we headed to the Nintendo store near 30 Rock (Good God, Lemon) which is where he really wanted to go. I couldn't stop humming the 30 Rock theme while walking around there, by the way. By the time we were done there, it was into the evening and we decided it was time to head back to the train station and go home. We had a fun day of exploring, and I'm glad that I finally made it out to Coney Island. Definitely something to cross off the bucket list!