Salutations!

For today’s Sunday Morning Serenade, I’m sharing the song I’ve been listening to on repeat all week: “Stay the Night” by Zedd featuring Hayley Williams. Seriously, I’ve been listening to it over and over and, somehow, I’m still not tired of it. I love the line,”Don’t dull the sparkle in your eyes” because I think it’s great advice.

This Week’s Top 5 Things (that make me happy):

1. Autumn. It’s my favorite season and it’s finally here in full swing. There’s a constant chill in the air and I can comfortably wear a blazer all day. There are leaves and pumpkins and apple cider. Lots to love this time of year.
2. Booties. Yes, it’s finally boots weather. This year I’m embracing booties/ankle boots in my wardrobe. Up until now, I’ve owned one pair of gray booties that I’ve only worn a few times. I got two new pairs over the weekend so don’t be surprised if you see them on the blog very often.
3. Clean sheets. Really, there’s nothing better than clean, warm sheets on your bed. Maybe it’s just my imagination but I think I sleep better when the sheets are fresh out of the dryer. Mia really likes them, too, because she curls up right in the middle of the pile before I even have a chance to make the bed.
4. Long walks. At least once a week we try to take the dogs for a long walk around the neighborhood. Not only is it good exercise for them (and us), but it allows Nick and I time to contemplate life choices and have great conversations that we’re sometimes too busy to do during the week.
5. Mexican food. It’s at the top of my list of my favorite foods (second only to Sushi) and we just discovered a new Mexican restaurant that opened up near our house. We had dinner there last night and it was delicious. The gorditas were authentic and the pinto beans were so flavorful. It might be my new favorite place.

Photo of the Week:

Look at this beautiful sky! How could one not love nature?

The Sunday Morning Serenade series is where I present you with music and a list of happy things to help start your week off on a positive note.

So, please stay tuned….

Happy Sunday!

Today’s serenade is “My Favorite Book” by Stars. I think it was this song that gave me the idea to begin this series. My favorite line is, “And to this day, when everything breaks, you are the anchor that holds me. And that is why we’ll always make it.” Not to get all mushy on you, but Nick is my anchor.

I’m going to try to improve my Sunday Morning Serenade series by including a list in each one of 5 things that make me happy.

This week, my list is going to be mostly about school-related things because that’s what’s on my mind. In case you’re unfamiliar, here’s the background: I live in one city and commute about two hours to attend graduate school in another city during the week. On the days I have classes, I stay with family to make the commute a little more bearable. That means I’m only home on the weekends and am away from my husband and dogs during the week. So, keeping that in mind, here are 5 things that make me feel happy:

1. My dogs. Being away from them all week is really hard because they’re the loves of my life. But seeing their wagging tails and getting bombarded with puppy kisses makes coming home the best feeling ever.
2.  Getting good grades. I’ve been out of school for about 6 years and, although I was always a really good student, I was a little worried that it would be hard to get back into the swing of things. Luckily, I was wrong and I’ve been making really good grades so far. It’s a huge relief.
3.  Cooking with Nick. It’s really hard to cook for one person and, considering that I spend a lot of time on campus without microwaves or refrigeration, I eat out a lot. So, as you can probably imagine, getting to cook and sit down at the table with Nick on the weekends is a happy thing.
4. Date nights. Again, I’m gone during the week so I don’t get to see my other NCsquared half as often as I’m used to, which was every day for about 6 years. We’ve started having regular date nights as a way to ensure we get to spend time together and that we can just be near each other. They make me warm and fuzzy.
5. Coffee. I didn’t start drinking coffee until I was about 25 and spent about nine months commuting about an hour to my job. In order to avoid heavy traffic, I would get up early and leave early. I’ve never really been a morning person so I started drinking coffee to wake me up and now I’m hooked. What started out as one cup a day has gradually grown over to 2 or 3 cups each morning. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Sunday Morning Serenade series is where I present you with music and a list of happy things to help start your week off on a positive note.

Cardigan, Blouse Belt, and Trousers: Banana Republic | Bracelet: Old Navy | Shoes: Target

This is another outfit where the majority of the pieces came from one store: Banana Republic. There are two main reasons why I regularly shop there: 1) Nick works there so we get a sweet discount and 2) Most importantly, they carry petite sizes that [almost] always fit me perfectly, meaning I rarely need to get anything hemmed or taken in. When you’re 5’1″ it can be a real chore to find clothes that fit you properly, but Banana Republic really delivers when it comes to us shorties.

Hey, look, more ruffles! I know I said I’m not usually a fan of ruffles, but again, these are fairly subtle and add a little something extra to the blouse. Also, purple is my favorite color, and I love the rich, fall-ness of this cardigan. I would probably wear it every day if I could. When it gets a little colder out, I’ll probably wear a purple scarf with it, too!

What’s your favorite color?

Sweater: Banana Republic | Button-front: Old Navy | Pants: Old Navy |Shoes: Rocket Dog via Zappos | Earrings: Target | Necklace: gift

Classy casual is a thing right? Because this outfit feels classy to me, with the polka dots and pearls, but it’s also pretty casual with the lighter denim. Ohh, I like the sound of that; I should change my blog name to polka dots and pearls! Don’t steal that (and if it already exists, just kidding, I won’t steal it either!)

I’m really feeling these loafers because they’re the perfect combination of cute and comfortable. Too often during the colder months I struggle with what shoes to wear because I want to look put together but I also want warm feet. When my feet are cold, my entire body gets cold. These are the perfect solution.

What makes you feel classy, yet casual?