We have had the most beautiful couple weeks of fall weather here in Maryland, which is not typical. Normally we will seesaw between hot and humid, cold and rainy and back a few times before just going straight to winter. But this month has been beautiful! And we haven’t even had much rain at all, so the tree foliage is doing that sexy leaf stuff.
Let’s take a look at my October outfits:
Office Style
I had both this rust linen skirt and striped/embroidered cardigan in my “hmmm…” pile, so I decided to pair them together for a workday outfit. I also added in a navy blouse and Mary Janes to round out the look. After wearing it for the full day, I’ve decided that both pieces have earned their place back in my closet.
For the look on the right, I paired this pretty fall-ish patterned dress (very old Anthropologie) with a simple cardigan and those same shoes. Comfortable, professional and it worked out great for a busy workday.
Casual Style
This picture is as close to ‘what did Joules dress like in 1995’ as I’ve gotten in quite a while. The only thing it’s missing is an oversized plaid flannel! I’ve been trying out these men’s jeans and I actually do really like them – mostly because they are so stinking comfortable and have the largest pockets in the land. Paired with my *vintage* Dr Martens (that I bought 30 years ago) and a cool Swifty tee and it was… fine. I mean, it’s not super cute. But comfortable is fine too.
As you can see, I’ve been very much into long, flowy skirts paired with graphic tees. All three of these skirts were thrifted/secondhand, which is where I love to find my 100% cotton stuff. They’ve been paired with stompy boots, cowboy boots, and sandals (for easy toe access for a pedicure) and I love all the combos.
New vs Secondhand Tally
This month, I count 5 items that I purchased retail and 12 items I purchased secondhand.
We have another very small (but mighty) thrift ‘haul’ for this month. With the recent rearranging of my closet to build drawers, I’ve actually done a bit more purging… which makes me very picky when deciding whether to add in any new items.
So, let’s see what made the cut:
Sundance cardigan, $7.99
I saw this cardigan from across the aisle and immediately loved the chunky knit and the variation in the dye color. Upon closer inspection, I was thrilled to see it is super soft and 100% cotton… so basically everything I want in a sweater! It has a size tag of XXL, but I tried it on and it fits like a generous large. I’ve already worn this a few times over t-shirts and I LOVE it so much. Out of curiosity, I checked the Sundance website and it looks like after 35 years in business, they closed up shop in September 2025. Very sad, as they definitely had a Natural Life-type vibe that I love.
5-Drawer Storage Unit, $7.99
I was looking for some storage and came across this beast of a unit for only $7.99! Similar units sell at Target and on Amazon anywhere from $50 – 90, so this was quite the steal. I gave it a wipe down with a bleach wipe when I got home and this will be perfect to organize stuff in our basement. I also picked up a couple smaller plastic storage containers for just $1.99 (not pictured) and they look like they’ve never been used. So if you’re needing to do some organizing, don’t sleep on the thrift store supplies!
Each year, we like to do a little traveling to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Well, this year we celebrated 18 years and decided to do a long weekend in Boston. It was just a 90-minute flight from BWI and by flying in early in the morning and leaving later at night, we enjoyed three full days and two nights in the city.
Here’s what we did:
Day 1: Boston Public Library, Newbury Street, Boston Public Market, North End
Our flight landed around 8am, so we grabbed our backpacks and hopped in an Uber to our hotel, the Boston Marriott Copley Place. When we arrived, I was delighted that the front desk allowed us to check-in to our room so incredibly early! I was prepared to check our bags while we wandered, but to be able to settle in for a bit was great.
We walked to The Friendly Toast, a nearby breakfast diner and enjoyed a giant breakfast. From there, we walked over to the Boston Public Library where I oohed and aaaahhhed as we explored each room.
Next up, we walked to Newbury Street to poke our heads in various stores (we didn’t buy anything, but I did find a scent at Olfactory that I might order in another home kit for my husband). We also stopped in to the ‘smallest Trader Joe’s in the known universe’ and stocked up on some room snacks.
We returned to the room for a while and later we took an Uber to the North End. Once there, we explored the Boston Public Market and then walked over to the North End restaurants. We ended up having some amazing pizzas at Quattro and then walked around to hunt down some cannoli.
We intended to go to Mike’s Pastry, but the line around the block was insane. Instead, we went to Bova’s, waited in a much shorter (and fast moving) line and ordered three different cannoli flavors to take with us. We had a cannoli tasting party back at our room that night – between the classic cannoli with mini chocolate chips, the Nutella cannoli and the chocolate dipped cannoli… the chocolate dipped cannoli won!
Day 2: A Lazy Day, Lobster Rolls + View Boston
We woke up to a rainy day, so we decided to pick up breakfast from the hotel’s Starbucks and retreat back to the room for breakfast in bed while enjoying some HGTV (and videogames on the Switch for the teenager).
At lunchtime, we ventured out to Luke’s Lobster Back Bay for some lobster rolls. We decided to order the Lobster Roll Flight and the Seafood Roll Flight and had our own taste-testing of all the delicious roll choices.
It was still a bit rainy, so back to the hotel room we went to enjoy some more downtime.
While it wasn’t on our original schedule, the hotel gave us two tickets to View Boston at the Prudential Center. Jack wasn’t interested in going, so Travis and I had a little date. It was right across from our hotel and general admission is $32 per person (+ $3 booking fee). I’m going to be honest, we would NOT have paid $70 for the experience… but for free, it was fun.
We waited too long to figure out dinner and everything was booked up to past 9pm, so we ordered take out from the nearby Eataly. I always love their food when we visit NYC and they were just as good at the Boston location. We got two kinds of pizza, a slice of lasagna and three mini cannoli’s… and then had a room picnic. While the mini cannoli’s were delicious, they were not as great as the ones from Bova’s.
Day 3: Boston Open Market, Boston Public Garden, Boston Common
Once again, we picked up breakfast from the hotel’s Starbucks, because getting caffeine into our faces was the right way to start our day. We were nice and lazy around our hotel room until we had to check out at noon.
We checked our bags at the hotel’s bell check and then set out on foot to explore. We first walked through the Copley Place luxury stores and saw everything from Alexander McQueen, Rolex, Burberry, Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Christian Louboutin. The most shocking though was that we watched a woman let her dog poop on the marble floor outside of Fendi, scoop it up with a bag (that she had ready… it was a premeditated turd situation!) and keep walking. I was horrified. THE AUDACITY! Outside of FENDI! Good geez.
Anywhoo, I absolutely did not purchase anything on that floor of the shopping mall. But on the third floor I did find the softest, most perfect oversized Boston sweatshirt in a gorgeous green color that I got for less than the price of a keychain from any of those fancy stores.
From there, off we went. It was a chilly and windy day, but we were mostly bundled up appropriately (especially me in my new sweatshirt…). On our way to the Boston Open Market, we ran into the Boston Book Festival, so I poked my head into a few tents here and there and ended up with a cute free button and some fun stickers.
The Boston Open Market was so great – I loved the variety from the dozens of vendors. I ended up purchasing an adorable little handmade watercolor set and some gorgeous handknit floral gloves. Once again, the gloves went straight on me. So, they were gorgeous AND kept my hands warm immediately.
From there, we went over to the Boston Public Garden to admire the chunky squirrels and then to Boston Common. We wandered into the middle of a peaceful protest and also stopped by the information center, where Travis purchased a Boston knit hat to keep his head a little warmer.
Speaking of warmth, we went by The Thinking Cup, a cute little café with great coffee and pastries. We hung out there for a while and enjoyed all our treats!
At that point, Jack started hinting that he’d really, really, really like another lobster roll before we left… So, we went back over to Luke’s and ordered classic lobster rolls to enjoy as our ‘last Boston meal’ before picking up our backpacks at the hotel and taking an Uber to the airport.
Our three days were a great mix of exploring, eating and lazing around in our room. I enjoyed the few souvenirs I picked up along the way and was surprised at how much we liked the View Boston experience too. A great way to celebrate 18 years of marriage!
