“O love, turn from the changing sea and gaze,
Down these grey slopes, upon the year grown old,
A-dying ‘mid the autumn-scented haze…
― October, by William Morris

It’s October! Time to break out the cashmere and boots!

Okay, it may be my favorite time of year, but we still need to salute the good things of the month just gone, so here’s a short list of things that brought me joy in September.

MakeupRehab Reddit
I discovered this subreddit a while ago, but have only really got involved in in over the past couple of months. It’s a community for people who love all things beauty but may have lost control of their spending habits, fallen for the marketing hype on sub par products, and generally want to be smarter consumers. It’s a fun platform for talking about budgeting and critical consumerism, all through the lens of blush and eye shadow, and all based on mutual information and encouragement. Of course I loved it! A real focus is not shopping for shopping’s sake, which I gravitated to immediately. As a self described beauty junkie (you know how many lipsticks I own…) I’ve been thinking a lot about my beauty consumer ever since my Style Month project–which as you may remember, included a week dedicated to makeup and my bathroom shelf. Well, I’m still a beauty junkie, but reading and participating this subreddit has helped inspire a number of style goals and personal challenges, and encouraged me to use what I own in smarter and more proactive ways. My use-it-up challenge was inspired by a post I read here and I’m on track to deliver a positive report come Halloween! My year of “less but better” rolls on.

Cargo Blush, in Tonga
Speaking of makeup! After using my Cargo blush in Tonga exclusively for weeks, I got the thrill of hitting pan on it–something I haven’t done on a powder makeup product in a long time. So satisfying.

Vintage shopping
An evergreen topic, but this month I finally found something I’ve been looking for for nearly two years: a vintage military style jacket that made me look like I was on a campaign to invade Russia in the 19th century. I found it, and I found it in a deep green. My Cossack Pirate came through yet again!

The First White President, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
This already made it into a weekly favorites, but I’m signal boosting again because this longform essay has had me in its grip ever since I read it. As mentioned, I’m one of those ignorant fools who honestly believed we as a country had made more progress on race than it’s being revealed we have. This POV was utterly down to privilege I didn’t understand or realize I possessed and ignorance of the lives and lived realities of my countrymen. Shame on me, and shame on lots of us.

Travel
Jeff and I have been married for the better part of a decade, but have taken almost no holidays that involve just the two of us. Normally we travel with or to see family, occasionally we travel (with great pleasure!) with friends, but almost never alone. Seeing family is of course wonderful, but family can come with unique stresses that mean that visits aren’t always relaxing, and we live very far away from our mutual clans which means that’s seeing them usually involves an exhausting, multi-timezone slog that also diminishes rest and recharging. When we are with friends, we tend to want to milk enjoyment out of everything and so throw ourselves into food, fun, and exploration. Traveling alone meant that we were able to do only what we enjoyed and wanted to do, at the pace we wished. It was glorious. We’re already planning our next trip.