What to wear....what to wear....

Some days it is hard to decide what to wear to work.

Most days it boils down to black, grey or brown slacks, a blouse or sweater, and a scarf or piece of jewelry.

But then on other days.....

The Inner Cowgirl Princess Librarian comes out.
Every day I have a ball...
and sometimes its fun to dress in a ball gown too!

(Happy Memories of my Houston Hat Net days...and buying this gown brand new for only twenty bucks. Can you say swish? Slam Dunk! I bought it so fast it made heads spin. Every girl should have a poofy pink sequined ball gown don't you think?
And if said girl had to wait until she was fifty before she got one...well, the inner little girl was thrilled to be twirling in a cloud of pink tulle at last!)

Decades

Hart and Missy admire each other's coats amidst the fallen golden leaves...secure in the knowledge that their coat "style" has been "in-style" since the beginning of time.

Sigh.

It must be lovely to be a cat.

On the other hand, the fact that human garment styles keep changing over time has its perks too.

For example: Human clothing can be enjoyed at interesting place such as "Decades".

Vintage (before 1950), Retro (1950-1990s) and Contemporary (the last ten years...) clothing is just plain fun to see. I had been rubbernecking this store front on my way to work (late as always....never time to stop) the past three months. Before that I kept hearing "You ought to go to Decades, you would love it!"

So...on my way home on my short work day last Thursday I made a point of finally going in to the store for a look-see.

I could have spent a couple hours just ogling the vintage costume jewelry...

Deciding which classic diamond broach I liked best....

(FYI: My Dallas based friend Bonita informed me of this little tidbit of good etiquette: if you are wearing a clear colorless jewel, you are wearing a diamond. If the jewel is a genuine diamond, then you say it is a "real" diamond. Thanks to Bonita, I can now say that my diamond jewelry collection is quite extensive!)

And then...swoon...there were the hats!

Hats formed a border all around the shop's ceiling, and there were several large hat displays and hat stands as well.

I had to laugh (and take a picture of course!) at the sign in the mirror over a trunk full of hats!

Obviously this is not a LDS member owned business.

Decades had dresses on display from 1890, 1900, 1920....every decade in fact. I especially was charmed by this dress. Can't you just imagine wearing this dress with your hair in a short gamine hair style, dancing to the music of a band whose members were dressed in tuxedos?

This heavily beaded silk dress is from the 1920's.

Twenty three skiddoo...bring on the spit curls!

Another beautiful silky twenties dress...this one a day dress. Can't you just see this dress breezing long on a shopping jaunt, a little grey tight fitting cloche hat on the head, and cute kid gray shoes, with a french heel and a mary jane strap across the instep?

(The dress was for sale at the unbelievable price of $80. Or at least that was what I was told...)

How about this matching hat and handbag? Can't you see them being worn with a smart fitted leaf green suit and shoes? Think 1950's again. That fabric! I'd love that fabric for drapery too!

(I'm very, very tempted to go back and get this set!)

Hand tooled leather bags galore! Isn't the bag with a leaping deer adorable?

Somebody tell me what one should wear with that tooled deer bag!

Yes...cats certainly do have fantastic timeless wear. No wonder we humans want to borrow their look from time to time. I confess...it was this very coat made me pull over and finally visit the shop. I think the coat is too small for me...I'm not sure...and I'm afraid I would buy it if it would fit!

I took quite a few pictures inside the shop...and only at the end of my visit was I informed that taking pictures was not permitted.

Ooops...my bad...

Pretend you didn't see any of these pictures, OK??? OK!

A Non-Event Event

We promised ourselves that this year we would catch the Aspen groves in their full golden splendor.

And this year....

Rats! Foiled again by a windy storm while I was in San Diego.

But look closely at the picture above.

See a consolation prize amidst the trees?

When you are driving around looking for fall color and suddenly see a whole bunch of cars parked...hit the brakes and grab your camera!

There he was: A bull moose noshing a late afternoon snack down about 5o feet from the two lane road. Boy oh boy did I wish I had a camera with a better zoom feature! Some folks had flown in from Washington State intent on photographing golden aspen, but as the photographer girl in the early picture pointed out....even though the leaves are spent, seeing a moose is a pretty good too.

As we headed down the mountain, there were still a few lingering golden leaves.

The deer were out-and-about, as were hunters.

This time of year I try to remember to have an orange vest with me at all times just to be safe; and hope that the hunters will not mistake me for a deer instead of a "dear".

Yes...a stretch or two of gold was still to be found.

The white trunks that seem to sway and lean towards one another, with dark eye-like forms against the white bark made me feel like I had entered into some enchanted forest tree gathering.

When you add patches of snow...

Another party seems to be occurring.

Next year...for sure...next year we will visit these scenes and dance through showers of gold.

Next year, God willing, I will not stray from Utah in October, and will drive the Aspen Groves/watch the leaf peeper websites/take off work/camp out/whatever it takes/ so I can once again experience and photograph the aspen.

(I have experienced aspen gold in groves but once, years ago in Colorado Springs while visiting BGF Gail the first week in October, on her birthday. Call me greedy...it was too wonderful of an experience to experience but once. Like bluebonnets and tide pools, snorkeling in tropical waters, and England...I want such an experience again and again.)

Commuting while Communing

The drive home each weekday evening is usually beautiful here. The mountains are either spring green, autumn speckled, or frosted white with snow.
As I head home the western sunsets reflect upon the eastern peaks, turning them rich and glowing red gold.

And some days I find myself driving through double rainbows too.

With my camera at hand I quickly snap both sides of the rainbow as I drive ...the first picture shows the right hand side of the bow, while the picture above and below captures the left hand side.

Yes...here I have found a glorious place to live.

Some say Utah is America's best kept secret.

Shhh...don't tell anyone that I've told you!

(I had to tell someone...some secrets are just too good not to share!)