fall in washington square park {with EMU australia}

Jacket: Balenciaga (similar style here); Sweater: Everlane (from last year, similar style here); Jeans: Frame; Boots: EMU Australia; Sunglasses: Celine

If you happen to follow me on Instagram or SnapChat (username: krystalbick), you know I often end up in Washington Square Park for some reason or another. Besides being just about a 10 minute walk from my apartment and also Elvis' favorite dog run, I just love how the park makes me feel while I'm walking through it -- as if almost anything could happen to you while you're there. Musicians fill the air with trumpet flares and hearty bass beats, while street performers entertain crowds with their antics. Lovers hold hands and sit together closely on benches and countless others have their noses nestled deep in books about poetry, politics and pop culture.

And this time of year, the park is absolutely perfect, alive with fall colors and a briskness you can almost touch. Growing up, I always love raking up the leaves in our yard and jumping into the piles of goldenrod yellows, burnt oranges and amber-hued reds for long afternoon hours. But after having spent the past 5 or so years in San Francisco, I haven't had a chance to really enjoy this little childhood indulgence of mine in quite some time.

Granted, when I partnered up with EMU Australia to showcase their new waterproof boot line (which I'm looking forward to putting to the test come this winter!), I knew I wanted to hop over to my favorite park and finally play in the fresh fall leaves. For about the first 20 minutes of this shoot, I was pretty alone, as passerby stared a bit funny at this girl throwing around leaves and laughing at herself in the process. But you know what? Eventually, one by one, a few other folks joined into piles and tossed them around, snapping photos along the way, until before long, you could scan the park and see different patches of folks playing, leaves gently falling down around them. And for about 15 minutes or so, we all felt like kids again.

As for these boots? I love how they have a perfect fall nod to them with the suede detailing, making it extremely easy to incorporate into your go-to looks this season, without sacrificing some function for when the weather turns nasty and wet on us.

Speaking of, if you head over to EMU Australia's Instagram account now, you could snag a pair of their latest waterproof line for yourself! Simply follow EMU Australia on Instagram and like your favorite outfit posted -- one winner drawn at random will take home a new pair of boots! Good luck!

Photos by Lydia Hudgens

This post was in collaboration with EMU Australia. As always, all opinions and styling are my own. Thank you for supporting all This Time Tomorrow collaborations!