In junior high, I really loved The X-Files. In junior high, kids were mean, and teased me for loving The X-Files. Not all of the kids, most of them didn't really care, but there were a few that would snicker, and mock the awesome T-shirt my parents bought me for Christmas one year. It hurt, a lot more than it should have, because I am was an overemotional person. It wasn't just my taste in science fiction TV shows, I was soft-spoken around most people, unless I was with my friends, then I was a loud asshole. I had socially-awkward down to a T! 

Eventually, we all made it to high school, where nobody gave a shit what you liked/what you wore/what you did, etc. I was still pretty awkward, and there were a few instances of teasing, but it got better. It got better because I made it better. Somewhere along the way, I developed a defense mechanism, and it is called self-deprecation. I found that by beating people to the punch by lightly making fun of myself first,  threw people off guard. For instance: I remember walking up to a friend as they were talking to a group of people I did not know well. They were discussing The Beatles (like most 9th graders do) and I, I was wearing a black shirt with the members of BSB-more fondly known as The Backstreet Boys-plastered all over the front of it. I remember one girl turning her nose up at my shirt as I joined the group. The first thing I did was mention my shitty taste in pop music, and of course one or two people went "ugh! I HATE that band!", but a few admitted to liking them, and asked what else I liked-The Beatles! Go figure.  I felt like acknowledging the obvious worked for me, and to this day, I still do it. 

It isn't that I am trying to "fish for a compliment", it is usually when I know that something is obvious (at least to me), so I just go ahead and point it out. If I have a giant soup stain on my shirt at work from spilling my lunch? Before my co-worker even asks, I am already explaining how I eat like a toddler. I usually apologize for my shitty voice at karaoke before the song even begins to play. Is this healthy? I have no idea. But I honestly feel like it becomes less of a big deal, if I let every know that I don't think that it is a big deal. 

This dress, this stupid dress! The boat neck style makes it so that I have to either wear a strapless bra with it, or always layer something under/over it. It also has no shape, so it needs to be belted, something I unfortunately did not do for this particular outfit. It is also a little fitted around my bottom half, but really lose on top (hellllooooo pear-shape!), which is not flattering at all. Yet, I still love this dress. Probably because it has a late 60's/early 70's vibe to it, but also because Kyle bought it for me for my birthday last year. Stupid unflattering, but lovable garment!

Moving on, Kyle has been really awesome lately with all of the outfit photos. Normally he grumbles (especially in the winter), but lately He has been really cool with driving around, looking for a nice park, where he will take a bunch of awesome landscape-type photos of trees and shit (I LOVE trees and shit!). Or, he will quickly take a few early morning ones if I bribe him with coffee and a baked good from Red Hook in Ferndale before work. This is a great spot, because there are a few awesome brick walls to choose from, and I get really good coffee afterwards, and Kyle gets to go into work early, which means he gets to leave early. Win-Win! Sadly, we have only been able to grab our stuff and go, as I have had soooooo much to do at work lately, I haven't had the time to sit down for breakfast with Kyle, or the occasional friend, in about two months! Stupid adulthood, ruining breakfast. 

A few Sundays ago, Kyle and I were driving around after getting coffee with Kyle's brother Chris, and his wife Michelle. We ended up in Grosse Point, and after stopping in the Barnes & Noble for a book for Kyle, we headed out for a place to take outfit pics. We wandered through Grosse Point Park, and headed back into Detroit. We came across a bridge that looked cool, and when Kyle went to pull over, we parked by this house. The entire fence was made out of old, some vintage, doors! When we got out of the car, some people who were walking by asked if we lived there, I wish! When we walked around to the little bridge, we realized that it was over one of the canals that lead up to the Detroit river. Imagine coming out of your house, and at the end of your backyard was a little dock on a canal. There were a bunch of guys out on a little boat, sitting around, having some beers on this Sunday, and it just seemed very relaxing. 

Of course it was windy as hell, so my outfit pics are a little crazy, but I still liked how they came out. It was a little awkward when a couple of guys came up on their bikes to take pics of the door-fence. I hate taking pics when people are around, I get all sheepish. They were nice though, and said "hi" to us. 

When we were leaving. the lady who lives next door to the house came out and asked if we had taken any good pics. We mentioned that we thought the doors were cool, and she just laughed and said "Well, that is one way to save on a fence!".  Now Kyle wants to do this to our house. I honestly would not complain, anything is better than the ragged, crappy fence that we have currently. 

\

I think these might just be the last "fall" outfit photos for this year! It has been snowing off-and-on the past two days, flurries mostly, but still. It is kind of awesome seeing the leaves half covered with snow though. I have been sure to instagram all of the #SnowShit, this far. See how clever I am? Just swapping out "fall" for "snow" and I've got an entire new, seasonal hashtag! Yeah, I want to punch myself in the face too. 

Anywho, I made a list this week of all of the people we need to get Christmas presents for, and so far I have bought three things. Two which have not even shipped yet, so I am not sure if they count. I do really love getting all of my friends and loved ones little gifts this time of year, even if it mostly feeds into our consumerist society. Seriously though! You see some cat socks, you know that your friend really does not need them, but you know, that s(he) knows that you thought of them when they were bought. I think that is going to be the plan this year: everyone gets cat socks. Done. 

Although most of the leaves have fallen in my area, there is still a big ass one with bright, yellow leaves in the park across from my house that I hope to take pictures of this weekend. It has been really awesome driving around with Kyle, looking for places to take photos lately. So much better than just standing by our house. I love all of the little extra photos I find when I am editing outfit photos too, Kyle has been sneaking in all sorts of cute shots. Do you think I can convince him to drive around like this in the winter? I might have to bribe him with food. So don't be surprised if you see a bunch of bakeries popping up on this blog. Seriously, the things Kyle will do for a doughnut. 

We are almost at the end of the week, and I am excited for the weekend (who isn't? Aside from those who have to work on weekends, obvs). It has been one month since I bought my gym membership, and I have been going an average of three times per week. Holy hell has it helped wear me out, I have been sleeping like a rock all week. That and melatonin are lifesavers. I have been getting to work on time all week, it is freaking everyone out.

I have another post coming up tomorrow, and I am kicking around some ideas for blog posts for the weeks coming up. So stay tuned :) 

Here are some beautiful red and yellow leaves from a few weeks ago! Kyle and I drove around to look for some fall shit, and came across this tiny park in Ferndale. Most of the leaves have fallen now, due to the crazy winds we had on Friday, but there are a few colorful trees hanging in there. We have one more month of autumn left, and I am going to make the most of it!

We had a very busy Sunday yesterday. It was full of cleaning, organizing, and laundry. My dad came over and put our chair rail up in the living room, so now it is one step closer to looking like a normal room again. I have to paint the actual rail now, as well as clean up the trim, and do a lot of touching up. Guess what I will be doing all next weekend! It will probably still be awhile before the room is ready, as we have a lot of organizing to do, but still.