Nordstom jacket (similar); Old Navy jeans and sweatshirt; Asos hat; Zara necklace (similar); Hunter boots.

It’s been raining here in Northern Michigan for, oh…maybe four days now? Some people may find this depressing or miserable, but THIS GIRL is just happy to be wearing rain boots and layers and hats. I’ve been living in the land of eternal summer for the past 10 years and I have been waiting for Fall, true Fall, since we moved here in June. Which is probably why we’ve been having crazy Indian summer weather, where I had to dig out the summer clothes I prematurely packed away a month ago. My bad. 

Also, if you see me on a daily basis you would know that I wore the above outfit in different variations since last Thursday. Rain plus no outfit photo’s equals pure laziness on my part. I’m not sad about it. I love how this jacket has a fleece lining and makes everything instantly cooler. I plan on pairing it with everything this season, from dresses to jeans and everything in between. I purchased the sweatshirt from Old Navy last week for $10 and it is a great, lightweight top. Cozy enough to laze around in and I LOVE pairing it with a statement necklace. I sized up to make it slouchy and more comfortable. I have plans on wearing it with my faux leather skirt from Target and the most amazing, fleece lined tights. And rain boots…do I even need to explain? I can think of a thousand ways to wear these and love how Naomi from Love, Taza paired hers with a midi skirt. 

On another note, I was sitting on my front porch yesterday afternoon watching the kids ride their bikes in the driveway. We have two, massive trees in our front yard that are dropping their leaves like crazy. Our yard looks like a sea of orange, red and gold, there are literally heaps of leaves laying everywhere. The one thing that strikes me, after all these years of being Fall-less is the smell. The smell reminds me of my four years of college at Keene State and all of my childhood. Crisp air and freshly fallen leaves and the thrill of this season. Can I even define it? It’s nostalgia pure and simple and watching my kids play amongst it all in their jackets and hats and boots makes me happy in a way that I can’t explain. 

And another note! The other night we went out to dinner (Friday is family night in our house) and brought the kids out to a restaurant that we had eaten in eight years ago when we flew into Traverse City for a wedding. It ended up being the same weekend as our first anniversary and because of that this town holds special memories for us. It was sort of wonderful to return to that same place and eat with our kids. The last time we had been there they were still three and four years away from being born and honestly, I don’t remember life without them. But I DO remember that anniversary weekend and now our ninth one is coming up this week and I’m feeling pretty grateful to live this life here, with my family.