it's all just a bunch of hocus pocus...

one of my favorite halloween movies of all time. i always wanted to be the naughty witch. the blonde one who loved boys.

garden of magic...

today i am grateful for...

celebrating a gloomy halloween morning at green-wood cemetery with chelsea rose cook and haylie bird waring. i can't think of any better way to jump start the day. haylie actually introduced this cemetery to me in the summer, and i had been waiting to go back ever since. i kept wishing we would see the ghost of a little girl. in savannah i always wanted a young child to haunt our creaky three-story house. alas, i never got my wish.

the light was eerie. thick grey clouds loomed above, threatening to open up on us. and the whole graveyard was awash in a hazy film. but every once in a while, the sun would pierce through the trees.

the girls came prepared with broken in lace-up leather boots, beat up leather backbacks, and crawly spider brooches.i did not get the memo and came in my lynn yaeger costume...

...but really i just looked like a triplet of belleville or winifred sanderson. oh well.

pretty girls make graves.

we saw plenty of bewitching headstones and tombs.

and a dead birdie. rest in peace mildred. you were a very good bird.

and i learned how to use the timer on my camera.

and we released my squash in the lily pond, and i made a halloween wish.

and as i left the woods, i realized i was being followed...

my wish came true. i've always wanted to be haunted by a little girl ghost. i guess it's true what they say...
be careful what you wish for...

hey punkin...

today i am grateful for...

counting down the minutes til halloween. our store is dressing up as favorite fashion editors, so i am going as my homegirl lynn yaeger. i adore her. she is too stinkin' cute, and i think i can swing this one pretty easily. maybe she will pop by the store so we can take photos together...

here are some gratuitous pumpkin pin-ups to tide you over...

but, more importantly, what are y'all dressing up as?

hi! my name is ginnybranch stelling, and i love fall!

i love fall. i really do. i love fall.

today i am grateful for...

1. finding glitter in my pillowcases and on my husband's flannel shirt... remnants from a glittery halloween party at john gardner's new home!

2. collecting fall leaves to stuff between the pages of my flower press.

3. a lonely oil painting i rescued from the garbage man.

4. a family of apples. momma apple, poppa apple, and baby apple.

5. lavender and rose "happy fall" tea from chelsea rose cook.

so how is everyone spending their fall? somewhere, i hope it involves a little glitter...

there must be rain to have a rainbow...

today i am grateful for...

the citizens band. tonight chelsea cook, mandy, and i schlepped in the rain to the henry street settlement to see this traveling troupe of vaudevillian, bawdy, naughty, flappery, gypsy, victorian, glittery, magical, ethereal jewels. i'm not just using my favorite adjectives liberally and sensationally... they really are all those wonderful things. us girls kept bouncing in our seats and nudging eachother throughout the entire show. i had goosebumps. i giggled. i teared up. i swooned a thousand times over. the show, "debt rattle" was set in a 1930s post-depression dance contest reminiscent of the film "they shoot the horses, don't they?"( and alexander mcqueen's spring 2004 runway collection) with a touch of the "red shoes". the costumes alone set my world on fire... glittery headpieces, 30s frizzy bobs, dark eyes and sparkly eyeliner, and lots and lots of sequins, silk and chiffon, and loads of frilly lingerie.

and the pipes on the actors... holy smokes. karen elson and zoe kravitz made me cry. sirens. every. last. one. karen's song was this somber, bewitching ballad and zoe sang this bittersweet, gentle lullaby. i wasn't even expecting it. their voices blew me away.

and miss sarah sophie flicker... sigh. she is my muse. i think she and karen elson always manifest in some way or another in my girlie drawings.

and not to be too fangirly, but the audience happened to be an all-star cast as well. kate lanphear. erin fetherston. heather marks. agyness deyn. pretty much all my girl crushes minus claire danes and lara stone. if i wasn't so dang old, too old to be still this excited, i would have pulled a vintage ginnybranch stelling move and been really awkward and chatted them up, blushing the whole time. thankfully, at 25, i have some self-restraint. some.

so, if anyone has the chance to see the citizens band perform, go. i might just have to quit my day job and be a citizens band-aid... just kidding. maybe.

little apples on a hillside...

important fact about me...

i'm not good at following directions. giving directions. or having a sense of direction. good rule of thumb, never let me be in charge of figuring out the logistics of an adventure. so when i decided to plan our apple pickin' adventure, someone should have relieved me of the role of troop leader.

two hours later, after a subway, two trains, a bus, and a cab, we( lauren, eddie, and i) all landed at the darling country store at soons orchard, only to be told...

apple pickin' is only on the weekends.

"is it hard to get here from the city?" one well-meaning shop gal asked.

i wanted to cry. and kick myself in the pants. and the shins. with apple season ending the up-coming weekend, i was doomed to go yet another year without.

but fortune somehow smiled upon us, and sharon, the apple farm boss lady, did something truly wonderful...

she let us pick apples.

and oh how we picked...

and picked...

and picked...

the day was warm and the country 'scape was spotted with leaves changing.

lauren and i giggled and acted fools.

ed practiced his apple juggling.

and we smooched a whole bunch.

and i tried my best sweet-talking to score some wooden apple crates (to no avail)...

we each took home 20 pounds of apples( lady jean, golden delicious, cortland, jonagold and fuji).

on the train ride back we shared apple doughnuts and nursed a giant thermos of spicy apple cider. it was a perfect fall day and i can't wait to go again next year. back to the soons orchard and farm. where they take care of foolish city folks who don't read the fine print. and have the best apples i have ever tasted.

now i just need to test out some of miss jc's apple recipes...yum! and i might have to buy this, thanks to her recommendation!

shake it...

today i am grateful for...

my "happy fall" present to myself arriving in the mail... just in time for some upstate new york shenanigans and tom foolery! thank you fuji instax for reviving the instant photo. and thanks urban outfitters for all your efforts with the impossible project. i love my new toy.

p.s i have more adventures in apple land to share... 'til next time...

as promised...

today i am grateful for...

visiting brook farm general store with my sweet husband. it is such a lovely store run by an equally lovely couple. their mini beagle mascot/ greeter, nutmeg, made our hearts melt in a puddle on the floor. i could have spent an entire paycheck in there, easily, but modestly walked away with some white latte bowls and vintage spoons. i batted my eyelashes at my husband over the mattress ticking duvet cover... to nooooo avail. and i had to back away from their collection of vintage enamelware, porcelain egg cups, and antique glass water coolers. afterwards we peeped marlow and sons for a coffee and some farm apples. it was a perfect day off.