Weekend Links

a little shark on the loose at our library's Halloween party last week

Happy Saturday morning! This weekend should be a good one full of friends and family. On the agenda: a baby shower, visiting my sister and Abe's brand new home, and hopefully a stop at our favorite vegan restaurant.

I have been loving seeing all of your Halloween posts, and thank you guys for humoring me as I posted about 10-too-many (okay maybe 15) photos in my own post. Oh well! It's for the sake of posterity right?

Wishing all of you a wonderful time this weekend!

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First up, have you checked out LuLu*s new site?  LuLu*s has been a sponsor of mine in the past and I love love love so many of the items on their site. I'll be posting some family photos next week and in them I'm wearing my favorite sweater from there. I've always enjoyed shopping on their site, but the new version makes navigation a million times easier and they're offering some awesome new things too, like free returns. Check it out and let me know if you find something you like! Here are some of my picks: this party perfect dress and these sweet and simple flats.

Looking for a way to get creative this holiday season? The Craft Pack (made up of three talented people, including my friend Susan!) has created an e-book called A Hip Handmade Holiday, teaching you how to make gifts for everyone in your family for under $10. And best of all, the book itself is $10. Awesome.

And some more links:

5 excuses that keep you unhealthy. 

Simple and so true.

Loving this Etsy shop! So many little treasures.

There is just something about November.

One of my most favorite blogs. Ever!

Have you checked out the Just Lovely blog yet? So many pretty things and inspiration. 

The Nature Walk Project: One Year Later. 

One thing I wish I could tell my younger self. I sure love that Gretchen Rubin.

And speaking of Gretchen Rubin, she interviewed another one of my favorite authors Cheryl Strayed. Good stuff!

Mayor Bloomberg endorses Obama - an interesting read.

Fairy-tales for 20-somethings.

I always enjoy Sara's posts, and this "reality check" was a good one.

Pushing Daisies in the theater?! Even this shred of hope makes me so happy.

Pretty Moms, pretty threads! Love this inspiring look at the ladies behind my new favorite blog.

Super sweet of Babble to include this "Flashback Friday" pic of Henry in their round up of 50 Favorite Halloween pics.

Obsessed with this pinboard calendar from Pinhole Press.

Sponsor love, Etsy edition: Mary Mary Handmade and Feathers and Sinew.

California on film...

And finally some "vintage" Sometimes Sweet:

Tips for new bloggers
Sweet 16: A Letter to My Younger Self
Mirror, Mirror: A Post About Self-Acceptance

xoxo

Our Halloween

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." -L.M. Montgomery

October is one of my favorite months, and Halloween in our town is always a big affair. We have events leading up to the big day all month, which I love. And this year was the best yet! It was Henry's 2nd Halloween and it was awesome to watch him get so excited over just about everything. I think my heart melted into a big puddle about a million times watching him say "trick or treat!" while he held out that orange pumpkin.

Henry and I went to CrossFit in the morning, then came home so he could take a long afternoon nap to gear up for our evening. We headed out around 4pm to beat the rush of older kids and I'm glad, because as we finished up around 5:30 it got insanely crowded. Afterward we stopped by both sets of local grandparents and then headed home to put a super sleepy little guy to bed.

I absolutely loved Hank and Henry's costumes! Silly me planned on being a waitress of some sort to go along with the guys but I didn't get a good costume together so instead I was a last-minute sailor. Mark my words, next year we will have a much better 3-person get up! We trick-or-treated with Veronica and her family and little Max was a Grill Master and Trevor wore Hank's hot dog costume from last year to go along with our Dad/son food/chef theme. Veronica was a last-minute devil, so we were both the odd ones out but didn't mind too much! 

We walked up and down the streets, which are closed off from 4pm until the evening, trick-or-treating and running into tons of friends. It was really a wonderful night and reminded me yet again how much I love living in a small town...and more specifically, this one. I feel very lucky to be surrounded by so much beauty, and so much excitement over holidays. It's pretty awesome.

I hope all of you had a happy, happy Halloween too. It's hard to believe it's November!