By Elle
I felt guilty for wishing for a rainy day recently, in light of the deadly storms in the U.S., all because I was itching to try out my new rain boots. So on a recent Friday, I woke up to dark skies and rain, and jumped at the opportunity to slip into my boots. After the rainy morning turned into a warm, sunny day, I took the afternoon off and met my daughter and two of my granddaughters at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, where they both quickly earned animal-inspired nicknames.
My chatty 4-year-old granddaughter, Isabelle (aka Rosiebelle and Rosie), is now called Howler Monkey, and 3-year-old Laila, who communicates more with her big eyes than her mouth, answers to Bushbaby.
Because the weather forecast showed rain all day, I figured we would spend the afternoon strolling about in a museum or some other indoor venue with soft carpeting. I hadn’t expected to spend the day outside in rubber boots, let alone push Howler Monkey and Bushbaby in the stroller up the zoo’s steep hills — and run down those same hills with the stroller, pretending I was going to send Howler Monkey and Bushbaby sailing into the African Elephant Crossing. #MyMistake.
By the end of the day, my dogs were howling and all I could think about was a hot foot bath. Still, I dig my new rain boots and am looking forward to the next rainy day!

I’m crushing on the fake Burberry pattern of my Henry Ferrera Dry Stone rain boots

Taking a moment to relax in the September sunshine

Cute, yah?

Mom bought me these earrings. I like mixing their block style with florals

Mixing florals with plaid is fun and easy so long as you start with similar base colors, such as beige and black in this case

Bell sleeves and cuffs are trending. This is one of my favorite cardigans, not only because of the bell cuffs, but also because of the ruffled trim
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