Because Honestly... THIS is New York in the Fall.

// My view from Belvedere Castle in Central Park. //

Central Park. In the Fall.

I don't mean to brag. I really don't. But I do mean to be shamelessly thankful. I AM SO THANKFUL TO BE LIVING IN NEW YORK CITY. I can't say it enough. I can't stop thinking it. Every single day I wake up, so thankful to be living in this vibrant, pulsing metropolis. Even when I see the rats saunter around the subway tracks. They saunter. Because they have no reason to scurry. They own those tracks. And even when my lightyears-old radiator decides to wake me up in the middle of the night, hissing like the soundtrack from a horror movie. And even when I go on auditions and, you know, get rejected (don't cry for me, Argentina.)  I am still happy to be here. So over the moon. And why shouldn't I be? This place is a dreamers city. Full of bright-eyed crazies and cold-blooded cynics alike. What an effervescent kind of mess.

Even those of you who don't care for NYC at all have to admit - the fall foliage in Central Park this year can't compete with even the most picturesque of New England's Berkshires. This autumn has been outrageously gorgeous, and having previously pounded a lot of New England pavement, I can speak from experience when I say that this autumn has been utterly mesmerizing. The papery leaves continue to fall like confetti, swirling around and having a parade in the sky before finally landing and collecting in a decorative array all over the great yard. The temperatures are continuing to drop, but I just had to share these beauties with you before the winter wonderland overtakes my Instagram.

// Classic panorama. Stevie is so good at taking these. See midtown in the distance? //

// We are children. The end. //

// The sun is SO bright. I'll take it. //

From Glory to Glory.

I just love autumn. So tell me. What has fall been like in your neck of the woods - Dreamy? Dull? Comment below!

The Time We Got Stuck On The Roof.

Where There are Roofs.

In New York City, the apartments are OLD. So old. But one of the benefits to many of these pre-war buildings is the fact that they have roof decks. In about every movie EVER made about New York City, I feel like there is a scene where snazzy people are partying on a roof deck, clinking champagne flutes and wearing sparkles and looking pretty fabulous.

I'd like to say that we are those people. But we aren't.

Stevie discovered that our building actually has a roof deck. A sort of dilapidated one. It's not really set up for people to go out there. In fact, there are huge signs on the doors that say, "DO NOT OPEN - ALARM WILL SOUND", so I figure, we're not really supposed to go up there. I'm a rule follower. So end of story.

Obviously not the end of the story. Stevie determined that we can sneak up on top of the roof of our 6-story apartment complex. And according to his assessment, the view "is awesome!" I never asked him how he figured out that we could get around the alarm system (it's better to know less in these cases.) So against my better judgement, I followed him up 6 flights of stairs and opened the warning door; yet no alarm went off. Hmm. Okay. We were feeling pretty Jack Bauer-ish. Rogue. And sly.

We stepped out onto the windy deck. It was pretty awesome, I admit. We could see the tops of all the buildings on our block, we could look down on all the interesting apartments. We could see the edge of Central Park. We could see cats, flowers, patio furniture, tree tops, we could see everything! It was fun. And colorful. And kind of windy. So windy, in fact, that after about 5 minutes of snapping some pictures, I was ready to go back downstairs. And eat some soup and stuff.

We walked towards the door. Which was slammed shut.

So... AWESOME.

Like I said, the wind was not messing around, and it must have blown the door closed.

It was locked. Totally locked. We wrestled with the door. We threw our body weight against it. But nothing. It wouldn't budge.

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DOOOOOOOOO?!" I'm a bit of a wailer. It can't be helped in moments of panic.

Stevie, on the other hand, is cool, calm and collected. Almost always. It's annoying. BECAUSE WE ARE LOCKED OUT ON THE ROOF. It's time for panic.

 "Kris, it's okay. We could call the super," he said to me. Oh no. Not happening. That guy kind of hates us.

"The super hates us. Not an option."

He stared at the ground, lost in thought. "Okay... ok, I think I've got an idea." He hoisted open a side window leading into the stairwell, just around the corner of the extremely locked door. Propping one leg up and then the other, he slithered his wiry self into the slatted opening and disappeared.

I was alone. On the roof deck. All alone. The wind whipped around my head. I was swimming in the thought of having to sleep up there. And the fact that I never knew my husband was secretly in Cirque du Soleil.

When suddenly!

My man reappeared, through the previously locked door! Victory! VICTORY!!!! Instead of whining like a baby about how I am never breaking the rules with him again, I just hugged that man liked crazy and then leapt through that door before it shut on us again.

Moral of the story? Follow the rules. Even if the alarm doesn't go off. Because there won't always be a window of opportunity ready to bail your out of your law breaking!

Mmm so deep.

October Delights List

October List by knhale // 1. Gwyneth Paltrow's It's All Good Cookbook // 2. Trader Joes Autumn Mums // 3. Urban Outfitters Staring at the Stars Cardigan // 4. Capri Blue Mercury Glass Candle // 5. Urban Outfitters Midi Chain Ring // 6. Kate Spade New York Cedar Street Maise Handbag // 7. Origins Plantscription Serum // 8. Anthropologie Petite silk pants // 9. Paper-Source Gold Confetti Thank You Notes // 10. Christian Dior Miss Dior Fragrance // 11. Clinique Black Honey Almost Lipstick //

Oh October. 

I really love this month because Autumn begins to set in and I get to celebrate the birth of some of my absolutely favorite people. First my mother in law (she's pure joy, people, seriously) and then both of my gorgeous, talented sisters. It's an absolute thrill gift-shopping for all of them, because it's so much fun to shower the ones you love with treasured surprises. And when you're doing it on a budget, you have to be selective and really think about what they want... which leads to discovering things you kinda want, too. This list is a compilation of a few things I've pick up here here and there and a few things I'm dreaming about. 

With all the wonders of fall comes one not-so-wonderous occurrence: dry skin. I've been using (7) Origins Plantscription Serum and it's really doing the trick. I am no stranger to Origins products, but this one is an especially magical elixir. In excitement for fall, I decorated my outdoor space with a bevy of these (2) fun fall mums in several colors and I ordered a sample of this (10) Christian Dior Miss Dior Fragrance from Sephora (we shall see how it goes, I'm pretty selective about my perfume choices.) I'm getting motivated to start cooking healthy again, so this (1) Gwyneth Paltrow's It's All Good Cookbook is on my list to buy. My adorable god-daughter got me my first Kate Spade bag for my birthday (does that little gal have excellent taste or WHAT?) so it's caused me to stumble over to their site and start drooling over maaaaaany of their gorgeous creations for fall, like (6) Kate Spade New York Cedar Street Maise Handbag. My sweetheart-of-a-sister-in-law got me this truly deliciously-scented (4) Capri Blue Mercury Glass Candle for my birthday, and it's been making my house smell like a masterpiece. Well, actually, it smells like Anthropologie, and that's pretty much my idea of what Heaven smells like. Score. And I might have treated myself to a few little things, like these (5) Urban Outfitters Midi Chain Ring and an old favorite, (11) Clinique Black Honey Almost Lipstick, but those were just for funsies. And since I've been writing a fair share of thank-you notes this week, these (9) Paper-Source Gold Confetti Thank You Notes have definitely gotten the best of me. They're so delicately pretty it's dangerous. The rest are dream items. Although I'm not totally sure how well I could rock those slouchy silk (8) Anthropologie Petite silk pants (but they are just so darn cute.)

Keep dreaming of lovely Autumn things, dear Oy-sters. The weather is just right for dreaming.