I've written about this before, but I have a thing for red dresses. White dresses for that matter too. I seem to amass an army of white dresses every summer. Red dresses are likewise nearly irresistible to me, even when they are painfully similar to other red dresses in my closet. Case in point: this isn't my only red shirtdress. I feel like the other real different between this dress and another I own is the material. In all other significant ways they are identical. I know this, I knew this and yet I still acquired this dress (several months ago) because I couldn't resist. I'm like a red dress version of Jerry Fletcher; red dresses are my veritable Catcher in the Rye. I think it goes back to my love of classic movies and those early influences on my style. Red is always powerful on screen and is used in important scenes to make a statement. It's what Eva Green wears in Casino Royale while revealing her duplicity in Venice. It's the color of the magic slippers that lead to triumph and tragedy in the classic ballet The Red Shoes. It's Red Riding Hood's cape as she wanders through the woods to Grandmother's house. It's the color of Bette Davis when she shocks society in Jezebel. Red is always powerful, even when rendered in a simple wrap or shirtdress. It can look deceptively everyday, but it still packs that punch. I like to draw strength from my clothes; to arm myself in bits of cloth that make me feel more capable, more assured than I feel on my own. Perhaps that's why I find red dresses so irresistible. They seem stronger and bigger than me. Capable of doing the talking so I can sit back in silence. Maybe that's a lot of meaning to put on a simple dress, but then I am a fashion blogger and clothes do have meaning for me. There has to be some reason I can't resist a red dress, no?

Whew, it's been a doozy of a week in these parts. I don't know why but things have been getting to me a bit this weekend; sometimes an innocent molehill does feel like a mountain. Neither mountain nor molehill however is this lovely pumpkin patch. It's still a bit early in the season for pumpkins and these are still ripening on the vine, but after a rather painful morning we decided to cheer ourselves up with a fleeting visit to the pumpkin patch. We already have a half dozen gourds decorating our living room and I'm looking forward to coming back in a couple of weeks and selecting the biggest pumpkin I can carry. Like switching my wardrobe seasonally, I get such a kick out of bringing bits of autumn into our home this time of year. I have a scattering of conkers on our bookshelf, kitschy decor saved from previous years pulled out of storage, and fresh plums and crab apples covering our kitchen counters. A perfect complement to the loads of plaid, cozy knits, and berets I've started wearing on repeat.

Awhile back a stray tabby started showing up at the apple farm. As this is how most of the cats that have cycled through the farm over the years are adopted, they left food out for it, started petting it when it would let them, and eventually named it Tilly. Now Tilly is fully ensconced in the farm; a regular as much as the dog Jack, the Bramley apples, and the starlings that come to the sheds every year. Not too long ago Tilly started to look a bit heavier and stopped wandering quite as far. Before we knew it there was an adorable litter of kittens hiding in one of the sheds. And I do mean hiding as they almost went undiscovered as we scoured all of the sheds, moving boxes and crates trying to find where they might be hiding. Once found, they and Tilly were transitioned into a safer spot and have been steadily growing there into adorableness. Lately, they've started to climb around a bit more and we've been cuddling them every so often. Tilly is a classic tabby but her litter is a real variety pack of cuteness; there's a wee ginger, two very different calicos, and even a little black one with white paws. We borrowed the ginger for a few minutes for these pictures because she (or he, who knows!) was such a perfect match for my new jewelry set from GoodAfterNine. I got the ginger cat set because I love orange, but now that I've been playing with the kittens I kind of want every set and perhaps especially the calico one. The calico kitten has stolen my heart a little, although despite everyone's urgings I am attempting to remain strong and not adopt one for our home! Still they're very hard to resist when they look this sweet and seem to love cuddling in your arms.