Honey, I'm home!

Or, I should say, "Honeys, I'm home!", as I've sincerely missed each and every one of you while we were off gallivanting, sightseeing, antique & vintage shopping, and having a merry old time on Vancouver Island during the past couple of weeks.

Aside from the fact that it rained so much I almost started to worry that the Island might sink (I joke, but it was pretty darn wet there!), our trip was sublime and even the rain had its charm, beauty and perks, such as ensuring we spent a lot of time seeing indoor sights.

At the moment, as traveling tends to do to folks (especially those like me who are chronically ill), I'm rather knackered and will need a bit of time to recoup from our awesome trip. While I’m getting back into the swing of things,  I'll be packing up and shipping out all the Etsy shop orders that arrived in the last two weeks, unpacking our bags, getting ready for October's many celebrations at our house (including Canadian Thanksgiving, our 10th wedding anniversary, and three family birthdays all next week), and hopping happily back into my usual blogging (and online in general) routine right away
.



{We're back and that means it's time to jump head first into gearing up for all the many fabulous events and holidays that October houses, very much including my favourite holiday of the year: Halloween! Look for lots of exiting new posts pertaining to October 31st, as well as a product review guest post from Tony, highlights from our trips, outfit posts, vintage recipes, and lots more fall time fun here in the coming weeks. Image source.}



Though the damp weather did significantly cut down on the number of outfit shoots were were able to do, thankfully, on those rare sunny - or at least not completely soaking wet - days, we got in a few and I'll be sharing the snaps from them in the coming weeks, along with a post or two highlighting some of my very favourite elements (including the Victoria Vintage Fair and getting a chance to hand feed a group of endlessly adorable harbor seals) of our amazingly fun two week trip to Vancouver Island in the very near future.

I sincerely want to thank each and every one of the fantastic vintage loving ladies who guest posted for me while I was away. If you haven't had a chance to do so yet, I highly encourage you take a few minutes and read through all of the guest posts - on topics ranging from vintage knits to bead mid-century handbags, stylish old school fall fashions to the joys of collecting vintage books – today, as there is no shortage of great ideas, inspiration and informative alike to be gleaned from them.

Likewise, thank you deeply to all those who left comments on various posts and for me on social media throughout our travels. I always adore hearing from, and connecting with you, and really look forward to continuing to do so as we work our way through the last three months of 2014 and (of course) beyond.

Though our trip was very action packed, it was also delightfully relaxing by sheer virtue of the fact that I got a massively needed breather from the heavy stress and work load I've been under the year, as well as a break from my day-to-day routine at home as well.

As a result, I can honestly say that I've returned far more relaxed, with my energy levels somewhat recharged and a fresh, much needed outlook on how to balance work, life, and downtime from here on out. Thus happily proving, as I always find, that travelling is without a doubt one of the most rewarding and important things a person can ever do.

Halloween 2013 edition of Flickr Favourites

{Bewitching ~ ondiraiduveau}

{Candle stix ~ obsequies}

{Halloween pinup ~ ondiraiduveau}

{Happy Halloween! ~ Aqua Owl}

{Marilyn ~ ondiraiduveau}

{Photo-Play Journal October 1920 ~ Captain Geoffrey Spaulding}

{Sophie's first Halloween ~ jimheid}

{Mmmmm...Pumpkin Pancakes! ~ ghostofhalloweenspast}

{Myrna Loy ~ ondiraiduveau}

{Halloween postcard 6 ~ rubylite12}

{All images above are from Flickr. To learn more about a specific image, please click on its title to be taken to its respective Flickr page.}


♥ ♥ ♥

There is something about the final days of October that instill in me the kind of excitement one typically expects to have left behind in childhood. By today, a mere one more "sleep" (as we used to call nights counted down in anticipation of something special when I was a youngster) away from All Hallows Eve, it's all I can do to actually get a single wink of sleep.

I'm giddy with happiness and excitement, fighting the urge to put on my costume now and just sit near the door, bowl brimming with sweet treats in my arms, to hand out to all of the little ghouls and goblins that will come a knocking in two nights time. I both want the 31st to get here dearly, and at the very same time, am trying to preserve every last second of these final, chilly wind kissed October days. For all too soon they'll be over more quickly than you can unwrap a mini chocolate bar or say "hocus pocus".

It's anything but a state secret that I love - nay, massively adore - with a passion that knows no bound - Halloween. I wait for it with great intensity and anticipation each year, celebrating every day of October as an extension of All Hallows Eve itself. These final couple of days though, right before the crispy leaf swirled magic of the day itself is unleashed on the world, is very nearly as wonderful and perfect as Halloween itself.

Today's roundup of Flickr image pays tribute to the spooky, sweet, immeasurable fun of this week, which I know is a firm and beloved favourite of many of you as as well. I hope that - should you need an extra dose of enthusiasm this year, it will help deliver just that your way.

Enjoy these moments of spirited (perhaps in more ways than one!) merriment, these final days of October's glowingly golden sunlight, and the remaining one day of countdown until Halloween itself appears - like the Great Pumpkin rising from the pumpkin patch - once more.

Singing the praises of autumn's return

Autumn, it's very name exudes a sense of the poetic beauty that abounds throughout the season. This is a time of abundance and endings, where a bountiful harvest overlaps with the final days of truly warm sunshine for many in the more northerly parts of the world, and countless crispy, crunchy leaves looking as though they've been cast in lustrous metals tumble down as we tuck our sundresses away once more (or at the very least, partner them with opaque tights).

There is no segment of the year that I adore more than autumn - especially the first few weeks, when golden light and the renewed scent of chimney smoke dance in gracious harmony through the days, as dusk grows ever shorter, grinning pumpkins seem to chase away the last few mosquitos of summer, and a certain almost electric magic fills the air.



{Fall means apple picking (be sure to take a style cue from this cute 1940s gal and wear a darling novelty print dress when you do), pumpkin patch trips, generously sized Thanksgiving feasts, ghost stories told around campfires, wool coats, closed toed shoes, and a bevy of other marvelous things we haven't enjoyed for many a long month. Image source.}



Time realizes that it need not rush so any more, much as there is to be done as September wraps up and October - beloved, dear, gorgeous, thrillingly spooky, October - settles in for what, if one is lucky, may be the last snow-free month of the year. Sometimes snow strikes before the witching hour of All Hallows Eve, but not always, and the "will it, won't it?" aspect always holds its own certain familiar appeal.

We know the year is winding down, the lingering spirit of summer's merriment hangs in the air, but we can already foresee the winter holiday season in the very next thought, too. For now though, Santa and his team of reindeer are a good ways off. There's cornucopias, scarecrows, thick slices of pumpkin pie, Halloween costumes, and Remembrance Day poppies to come first.

No matter what is transpiring in my life at the time, year after year, without fail, I feel a sense of childlike giddiness when autumn returns. I smile, trample playfully through freshly raked piles of leaves, and inhale as much of the fragrant air, which seems to contain notes of cinnamon, dried foliage, and freshly chopped wood in every breath.

Fall is always a busy season at our house, containing as it does everything from Canadian Thanksgiving to our wedding anniversary, Halloween to one week in mid-October with three family birthdays, but I wouldn't have it any other way.



{Though it can be an action packed time for us, autumn always seems to come bearing a profusion serenity, the likes of which summer can rarely match, and this calmer pace suits - and sooths - me just fine. Image source.}



I associate this chapter of year with productivity (gone is the relentlessly sweltering heat of summer that can zap one's energy to the point where just getting through the day from morning to night feels like a significant achievement), good company, decorating, planning, and scrumptious slow cooked meals.

It's never easy to part ways with summer (even if its heat can get on one's a little nerves at times), and I know that as soon as we awaken to the first frost of the season, I'll feel a twinge of longing for the dog days that were upon us just a few weeks ago. Right now though, I'm all about autumn and every last joy, possibility, familiar favourite, new adventure, and caramel filled dessert it contains.

The gorgeous, snow-free side of this season tends to be short, and by November, we might as well roll out the welcome mat for Frosty the Snowman, but right here and now it's just beginning and there are weeks left of mild days and a kaleidoscopic colour palette adorning mother nature to savour.

I hope deeply that this autumn is a beautiful one for each of you. I know that 2013 hasn't been the easiest of years for a lot of people, but perhaps this bronze light covered second to last chapter will prove less problematic and stressful for all of us.

Join me, won't you, in raising a steaming mug of hot apple cider to that hope and the thought of every good and wonderful thing that makes up this resplendently lovely season!