Convertibles, clouds, colored leaves and castles.

I love my car. 

Seriously. When poor Kyle got totaled, I thought I would replace him with something that gave me little more than reliable transportation. I didn't think a car could be such an emotional pick-me-up. But no matter how frustrated, cranky or discouraged I am, there's really nothing like driving around in cold, sunny weather with the convertible top down and the heater blowing full-blast in my face. It's actually quite cozy in there with the windows up. It helps that I'm short, too, so most of the cold air goes right over my head. I was sitting at a stoplight on my way home from work, singing along to my stereo and enjoying the mixture of hot and cold air, and total strangers kept smiling indulgently at me, like they were mocking me, but secretly wished they could do the same. 

For those of you who haven't seen Penelope, here she is!

Now that driving around town has put me in a better mood, I will attempt to rewrite (in fewer words) the lost blog post I spent all morning writing. Driving around only made me more in love with fall (and my car), but I was already going to mention in my would-be post that the sky has been incredibly pretty all week. If you haven't spent a lot of time looking up lately, you should start. We either get clear, blue skies, or we get clouds that take your breath away. Personally, I think we have the most interesting clouds in the country. They hover over the mountains and glow in the morning, appear impossibly high and graceful during the day, and then turn all sorts of fantastic colors in the evening. Sometimes, they even stand out long after dark, outlined by the moon. I think those are my favorites. They're both eerie and calming at the same time. In the interest of fairness, I'm glad that the mountains are to the east of us, so that side of the sky doesn't feel too left out come sunset. I hear the sunrises have been great too, but I really hate to be awake to see them. I do appreciate them when I have to be up that early. 

For some reason, I felt inspired to revisit my pictures from our trip to England last summer, and I came across these shots from Leeds Castle. At the time of our visit, I was slightly irritated with the castle's former inhabitants for "modernizing" it, but this room has since become one of my favorites of all time. It's everything I love about fall in the form of walls and furniture. You can see the blue sky; a conglomeration of red, yellow and green foliage; solid, billowy, white clouds; dark browns from the ground and bare trees; and gold leaves scattered here and there. 

Isn't it perfect? While we're in Leeds Castle, I might as well show you the library, because right now, I feel like a good library is all that's missing from my life, and this one was so charming and comfortable.

The moldings are important, too, as are the lights from on top of the shelves... 

I don't know what you call those.

And there's my pretty sister. We already know that she looks good in my new library, too, 

so that's a plus. Her purse and skirt even match the decor!

And, finally, my favorite corner. Naturally, it's the darkest part of the room. I could have spent all day there if we didn't have so many things to see that day (and if there hadn't been a rope and a sign discouraging tourists like myself from sitting on the couch).

I am considering designating a room of my house as a "creative safe room," where no stressful thoughts are allowed. No arguments, worrying, or administrative busy work.  I'd force myself to spend an hour or two in there every day. Since most of my goals and aspirations are creative in nature, and I spend shamefully little time on them, I would ultimately feel more fulfilled and productive if I spent entire days doing creative things in my anti-everything-else room.  I could come out only to exercise, drive my pretty car, admire the sky, talk to people I love, grow things in pots, learn to cook fancy meals, and occasionally sing along to musicals while washing the dishes. I think that even if I lived in a castle, I would want to sometimes do the dishes.  Maybe we could put a dishwasher and stove in the safe room? That'd be the life.