tunes tuesday // midnight memories.

OHHHH MAN. It's here, it's very here. Midnight Memories was released last Monday, and after a week of delirious glee, I have decided to share my thoughts about the album with you. Well. I'm just so overwhelmed, I don't know where to start really. I did a little post about Best Song Ever and the video for that already, as well as one for Story of My Life before the album actually came out. Those are the first two songs on the album, and Story of My Life is still one of my favorites now that I've heard the rest because the song and video are just so grown up and amazing, but I do have other favorites. I always tend to go for the more ballady songs, and for this album that's You & I, Half a Heart, and Don't Forget Where You Belong. Along with those and SOML, my last top five spot I think is taken by Strong. Such a great song, so relatable, and it has a nice little beat that goes with the lyrics. Another notable mention is the namesake of the album, and I kind of hope that it's one of the next radio singles because it's a really cool, rock-pop-ish song. Though it is very hard to pick a favorite, as of right now the song that I go to first nine times out of ten is Strong, so I am sharing that one with you all. Even if you weren't a One Direction fan before, this album is definitely worth a listen to give them a second chance. Their musical abilities, taste, and style are totally evolving as they get a little older, and I'm lovin' it.

Strong

One Direction

MIDNIGHT MEMORIES

do it yourself (kind of) stamps.

In 2014 (so soon) I'm starting project life, a simplified scrapbook that allows you to simply slip photos, journaling cards, and other bits and bobs into plastic sheets, rather than gluing and cutting and sticking onto a giant sheet of paper. Though I love traditional scrapbooking and have made many a scrapbook from scratch in my day, I think I'm really going to love this project because it means that I can fit scrapbooking into my weekly schedule and get my creative juices flowing more often. I also love the idea of a weekly spread to really document the little things in life.

I have seen a lot of different project life spreads on blogs since my first discovery of it about eight months ago (see my faves: nicole + elise), so I think I've gotten a really good grasp on techniques I want to use, especially in terms of stamps. I love stamps, I think they're so fun, but they're also kind of expensive. I have bought quite a few stamps over the last year or so that would work well with project life, but I was looking for a few that I had up in my head but couldn't find online or in a shop, so I turned to simonstamp.com and used photoshop to create exactly what I wanted.The first one that I really wanted was a geotag. I made a mini book over the summer and used a geotag wood chip from freckled fawn that I was obsessed with. I knew I would need a geotag then for project life so that I could use it on map snippets and pictures for weeks when I'm on a trip. I created one with a heart opening instead of a circular one because I'm usually traveling with people I love and I normally love wherever I travel to, so I thought it was fitting.

I was excited about this love stamp, because I found the font I wanted to use and just knew that with the tail in the front of the word and at the end, I would need to put it in a circle. This one will be perfect for photos but also on journaling cards.

Since I do a "currently" post on here about once a month, I figured it would make sense to do that for PL, so I made this little baby stamp to fit in spaces on journaling cards. I probably could have made this one a bit bigger because the font is so delicate, but oh well.

This last one (with a quote from superbad) is kind of just a bit of silliness for those weeks when you just have a bad day (or even a whole week). If I need to vent about something, this is the perfect stamp for a journaling card, or even a picture of something crazy. You never know!

I really enjoyed spending the time making these stamps, and I have figured out what I liked and what to do better for the next time I order them. I think that I loved making these so much that I might even reopen my etsy shop to sell some of them.

currently.

running outside as much as I can before it gets too cold (which could be any day now).

highly enjoying the return of layers and tights and legwarmers.

reading as fast as I can get my hands on new material.

playing in the leaves with max on the reg.

drinking hot coffee every morning under a thick blanket in front of my dvr.

waking up in a tangle of puppy limbs.

using my new mug from raygun, which is awesome.

celebrating movember with the help of some cheeky mustache pencil toppers and my best friend.

baking individual pumpkin cheesecakes for Thanksgiving.

watching max sleep peacefully that last minute before I wake him up from his nap.

buying a bunch of comfy sweaters and scarves for winter.

getting excited for my Christmas trip to see R and some friends in England.

feeling better about Homeland now that the storyline is starting to speed up a bit and get exciting.

listening on repeat to the first few songs of One Direction's new album, which is out today (so by now I'm fully immersed in this entire album and just crying with excitement over new lyrics to memorize).

looking all over the place for holiday gifts for family and friends before I leave for my trip.

loving that the Christmas season is on our heels. It's the most wonderful time of the year, and the most inspiring + hopeful.

wishlist wednesday // target edition.

1. denim button down // 2. lace detail dress // 3. solid knit infinity scarf // 4. polka dot tights // 5. pave link bracelet // 6. ankle booties

Like many people, I'm obsessed with Target. I've had a love affair with this magical place for quite a long time, and over the years it has gotten better and better. It's now up there as one of my main sources of clothes.

I've been lusting over the olive ankle booties for a month or so now, so I decided to justify why I should buy them by putting together an adorable outfit centered around them. Now I just really want the other components (besides the denim shirt and polka dot tights, because I already have those!) I'm impressed with the bracelet especially, because it looks just like a gigglosophy piece that I've had my eye on for so long, but Target's version is less than half the price. I'm not sure what the quality would be like, but it looks pretty good in the picture.

I just love Target.