The Last Days Of Summer

The golden hills of California

This Summer has passed by so quickly, it seems that I blinked and now Autumn is just around the corner. I love Autumn - the moody weather, the burnt ochre and crunchy rust colored leaves underfoot, the cozy wool knits and seamed stockings! I love it all. I love the earthy taste of pumpkin (although I will be making my own PSL's, thank you very much!), and I will relish the return of hearty stews soaked up with crusty pieces of peasant bread and hot cups of peppermint tea before bedtime. 

Summer. 

This Summer wasn't particularly eventful - we didn't go on vacation because we made a trip earlier this year to the Bear's motherland. One of my favorite activities (year-round) is hiking. I am an avid outdoorswoman. I get nearly all of my exercise by hiking. I truly do not believe that we were made to exercise in a little cement box, suffocated by the stifling smell of perspiring bodies. I just can't do it. One of my favorite things to is to buy a rustic loaf of bread and layer charcuterie, red onion, fresh basil, cheese, and peperoncini to create a hearty lunch, pack a bottle of water (I use recycled glass bottles, no plastic), put on sunscreen, and head out into the gilded hills for a few hours. I usually do a six mile loop, half of which is uphill, so it really makes you work for your lunch! There are few things that are as satisfying as enjoying a meal out in the silence of nature. The fresh air, the sun, the birds singing...it is just magical. My personality needs a LOT of quiet time and solitude, so getting away from bustling city life is of the utmost importance to me. Often times I daydream of what it would be like to live alone in the woods, or to ride horseback through the hills and camp under the stars at night as my ancestors did. I've always been a country girl at heart. When I was a young girl I would come home at night with sap in my hair from climbing the top of pine trees all day. I could dive deeper into the lake than all of the neighbor boys, and once retrieved a huge rock from the bottom just to prove it. One time, when visiting a small village in Albania, I hopped onto a strange black horse and galloped, bareback, down the dirt road following Lake Prespa, just hanging on to its glossy dark mane and praying that I wouldn't fall off. I am often struck by the sting of nostalgia for those times. At least, for now, I can enjoy the languishing last days of summer.

1950's pale mint cotton dress with the sweetest bright white daisies! Shoes by B.A.I.T

Wild sunflowers

Triple digit heat - hence the soft makeup!

Gingham always reminds me of picnic tablecloths!

Chipped cherry-red nail polish and a nice cold beer

Summer fruits!

A bevy of blueberries

Smoothies for those hot summer nights

Comrade Von Pussycat