I don't usually get to wear a costume for Halloween. We never seem to be going to a dress-up party, so instead of a full-on costume I tend to get a bit extra with the theme dressing in October. I mean piling on all my cat pieces including a little mini cat ear beret, why not? Seems very appropriate given the time of year and is a bit costume-y to boot. This outfit started with my new black cat jewelry set from GoodAfterNine and quickly added most of my other cat pieces. Ironically, for someone who doesn't have a cat and prefers dogs in general, I have a lot of cat clothing pieces! I even had a cat sweater I almost wore with this look, but I resisted at the last minute. Cat madness aside, it's a cozy look perfect for this time of year. 
P.S. These pictures are edited with "Birches" from my preset pack.

I had a bit of a mail day yesterday with three packages arriving on my doorstep; one containing these cute new clogs. When I opened my box from Maguba the first thing I saw was their tagline, "playful, sustainable, and handmade." Not all of my wardrobe is sustainable or ethical, but I feel especially good when I can wear and partner with fashion brands that are making an effort to be ethical. Reasonably priced and handmade are further bonuses that you rarely find together! Maguba makes clog boots, slides, and sandals all in a variety of colors and heel heights, but I went for one of the most classic styles in a dark brown suede perfect for autumn strolls. And if you like my clogs head over to my Instagram later today as I'm partnering with Maguba clogs to give away a pair! My new packages were a nice pick-me-up after a bit of a stressful week and less than enjoyable visit to the dentist! It was nice to throw the clogs on immediately and head out to look for some autumn color in the late afternoon. Things are really starting to look seasonal in these parts, although a forecast for mixed weather this weekend might mean our colorful leaves are short-lived! I have my fingers crossed that the wind won't knock all our leaves down and we'll have a long, lingering fall to enjoy. The days are already starting to get quite short, but I'm not ready for winter temperatures and bleak landscapes. 

Every time I wear this coat I get so many questions about where it's from, but like a lot of older pieces in my closet the shop has become a bit irrelevant since it's so old. For the record I got it from Shein, but since that was back in 2014 I somehow doubt it's still in stock! But there are other yellow coats in stores this seasons if you're on the hunt for one yourself (I'll link to my favorite below as well). It's such a cheerful autumn and piece that I love throwing on; so often our winter clothes can be quite dark, but this coat definitely breaks up that standard. It's also always a perfect match to my favorite patch of birch trees. These trees are one of my favorites areas come autumn in the local park near my home--they're such a lovely, unreal shade of yellow! I actually named one of my filters after these trees; Birches is my most yellow-y, golden filter and I edited these pictures with it. I knew they had turned and wanted to take pictures here with my new yellow shoes before it got too cold to go tightless (although in many ways it's already too cold for the bare legs in these parts!). Like these trees I was drawn to these shoes for the color, but Thomas literally hates them! It's hilarious because he almost never weighs in on my fashion choices. Even when I try to get him to help me choose an accessory or what to wear he's completely noncommittal and says something like "both are good." But these shoes he could not get over in the worst way! He'll probably be spared from seeing them again for a few months at least given the current temperatures, but what's your take on the shoes? The shape is very different from anything other pairs I own, but I think they're fun and obviously the most perfect color!
P.S. I'll share some unedited pictures vs final edits in my IG today from this set showing how the Birches preset works. 

I have been really lazy with styling my hair lately! I basically do my overnight curling technique and then brush in the morning and go. If I feel like putting extra effort in I throw on a beret or put my hair in a half up-do and call it day. So lazy! Part of the reason I'm keeping my hair long right now is so that I can do fun hair styles, but I haven't really been doing any. So last Wednesday I basically made myself do something different and came up with these messy fishtail pigtails. I loved how they looked during the day and later in the evening I pinned them up into milkmaid braids when I was doing chores around the house. The style got a lot of positive feedback on Instagram so I thought I'd do a quick tutorial for you showing how to make these braids for yourself. Fishtails are an easy, but intimidating style and can be masted with practice and patience. A great way to do fishtails if you're still learning is to aim for a messy style where your mistakes are less obvious!

Step one: start by dividing your hair into two pigtails and tie off with hair elastics.
Step two: a fishtail braid is a two strand braid. divide your pigtail into two sections.
Step three: take a small piece of hair from the outside of your right section and add it to the left, pull tight.
Step four: take a small piece of hair from the outside of your left section and add to the right, pull tight.
Step five: keep repeating these steps, taking one section of hair from the outside of one side and adding it to the other, pull tight after each added piece until you reach the ends. tie off with a hair elastic. don't worry too much if your pieces are even or perfect because we're going to mess them up later.
Step six: repeat the same two strand braiding method on your other pigtail. tie off with a hair elastic.
Step seven: mess them up! start pancaking your braids and pulling them apart for a fuller, messier look.
That's it! This is one way to wear your fishtail braids. Add a beret, or skip the accessories and go out with your fishtail pigtails. The pancaking in the final step will give your braids a fun and thicker look, although you can also skip this step if you prefer neater, tighter braids.

For style two grab a few bobby pins and pin your braids on top of your head into a milkmaid braid. Start by pinning one side flat and then adding the second side and tucking the ends of your braids underneath. Different from regular milkmaid braids the fishtails give this look a lot of texture and movement.

I'm very excited to share something I've been quietly working on for the last couple of months: my own preset pack. It's called A Harvest Pack and as the name implies it's a fall filter pack; all the pictures are designed to work with fall photographs or to give your photographs an autumnal feel. For me editing is all about what I'm feeling in the moment so this pack really reflects my editing style right now--it's based on the scenes I'm seeing unfold around me in nature and the way I like my photographs to look this time of year. I even used one of my presets (Pumpkin Patch) to edit today's photographs. It's very exciting to start sharing presets I've made with a pack so on theme with my favorite season to photograph and edit for. Autumn is such a gorgeous season and these filters are designed to highlight so many of my favorite elements; there's the Bramley filter with green and red tones like those apples, the Birches preset inspired by the golden leaves of my favorite birch trees, even a Conker filter of light, brown tones like chestnuts. The presets are Lightroom desktop compatible and there are six in total each with a distinct vibe. If you look at my shop page you'll see several examples of the presets in action, all applied to completely unedited pictures. I'll also demonstrate the filters more in my IG stories and be answering questions you might have on the pack in my comments here and in my stories over the next few days. I worked very hard so that the presets are as close to "apply and done" as possible, but ultimately I would advise that you use any preset as a launching place. It's a good place to start your editing process, but a little bit of tweaking will make your photographs "sing" even more. If you'd like to purchase my presets, visit my shop here. If you do purchase A Harvest Pack please use #aharvestpack hashtag on your Instagram photos and I'll share them in my Instagram stories!
P.S. These filters are for Lightroom desktop and I will have mobile presets available soon too!