A Tacky Christmas Decorations Failure of a Post

I was going to write a post about tacky Christmas decorations. It all came about somewhat like this the other night when my brain was so fried I could barely think:

Me: Hey, I need some good blog ideas. Ready? Go.
Andrew: Tacky Christmas decorations. People will love it!
Me: Ha! I don't know. People might think I'm a jerkface with the face of a jerk. And, more ideas. Go.
Andrew: The difficulties of working two full time jobs.

And that was the end of that conversation because I thought that was a slightly worthless idea too. Nor did I want to bore you to death with my griping and moaning about how exhausted I am. Though I guess I sort of did that two days ago in some ways. So I was going to write about tacky Christmas decorations. But then I thought I would be a jerkface if I did that. I thought about the time when someone posted a nasty comment on twitter about this card--

They said the card didn't even make any sense and was totally gross. I, on the other hand, thought that the card was hilarious because farts are hilarious. And let's face it, I'm sure there are plenty of people that would say they tend to let things loose once they're married. I mean, who would want to go an entire lifetime holding in their farts? It's not healthy. I would know. I read about it in a picture book that a friend of mine gave another friend of mine. And yes, we were dying laughing about it. Because farts are funny. Ok, maybe too much info.

And crap. (Pun totally intended.) I was going to make this a post about actual Christmas decorations that rocked, but clearly I am on another tangent and have failed. Somehow I don't think pairing awesome Christmas decorations with a fart card is quite the right transition, so I will have to save that for a later date.

And for those of you that are new readers-- I apologize. I promise I'm not so gross all of the time. I should be ashamed of myself, really, to subject you to such things right off the bat!

And because I have no better way to end this post after digging myself into a terribly deep hole-- opinions on the subject? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Overwhelmed

I am overwhelmed.

That, my dear friends, is four greeting cards, two note card sets, one set of Christmas cards, five sets of stationery, and one big custom order. And I made them all in one night. Wait, you mean I'm also a teacher? Whoops. Forgot about that for a second. And by forgot, I just thought you really meant that I was superwoman.

I have to say that while this can be extremely overwhelming to keep up with, I am also overwhelmed in other ways. I am completely overwhelmed by how amazing you all have been in supporting me in this quite possibly crazy business endeavor. In all seriousness, when Andrew convinced me that I should actually start selling my cards instead of hoarding them in our house, I thought he was kind of crazy. I mean, wouldn't I rather end up on that tv show Hoarders for hoarding something as ridiculous as cards? 700 sales later (yes, 700, holy crap-ola!!!) I might have to finally admit that maybe he was a little less crazy than he seemed.

Needless to say, you guys totally rock my socks. Big time. The end.

Cyber Monday Sale!

I'm saving the best for Cyber Monday with a huge sale in my shop! Everything in my shop is 25% off if you use the code MONDAY. Still need to purchase your Christmas cards for the season? Want to buy stationery as a gift for friends or family? Need to snag a birthday card or two for an upcoming celebration? Or maybe you've had your eye on something else in the shop for a while. It is all 25% off, so feel free to stock up!

And I have an added bonus for you bloggers and shop owners out there. Use the same code MONDAY to get 50% off on all sponsor spots for this month!

Enjoy and happy Monday to everyone! :)

Oh, Deer!

As you may know, we love our road trips. Maybe we like them just a little too much. We've had about the best luck we could possibly imagine on our multitude of trips. And by good luck, I mean bad. Tornadoes, blizzards, you name it, we've experienced it while on the road.

We hit the road again, with Lilah in tow in the back seat, on Thanksgiving day to head up to Andrew's parents' house in Cleveland. We thought we were in the clear and were complete geniuses for leaving on Thursday morning rather than Wednesday night when everyone else would be traveling. Clearly, a beautiful sunny day and hardly any cars on the road spelled 0% chance of disaster. Boy were we wrong!

Enter six, seven, or eight friendly little deer. We weren't quite sure how many after the fact because they just kept coming and coming and coming. Kind of like how the clowns keep filing out of the clown car, the deer just kept crossing the road in front of us as we were barreling down the Pennsylvania Turnpike at 70 mph. Good thing Andrew swerved. Oh wait, you mean you're not supposed to swerve? Ooops.

Well, good thing anyway because he was able to maintain control of the car with his superhuman strength, manage to miss the concrete median to the left of us, and hit the smallest of the six, seven, or eight deer. Because only we are that awesome and have this kind of luck, after Andrew pulled off the the side of the turnpike to assess the damage, we looked up to notice that the whole incident happened right next to a Pennsylvania State Trooper station. A PA state trooper was on hand within seconds to write up a report for our insurance company. And, despite it all, this is what the car looked like after the fact.

Another lucky factor? Despite seeing Lilah flying and flailing through the air in the back seat during this whole event, she was quite fine and forgot the whole thing a mere fifteen minutes later when we were able to get back on the road. What a resilient pup!

Needless to say, we're quite thankful that nothing worse happened after all was said and done. And we are also left wondering what else could possibly happen to us while we're on the road. I mean, haven't we finally experienced it all by now? Who knows. Guess we'll find out as we're heading back on the road to Baltimore at the very moment you are probably reading this.

Do you have any crazy road trip stories or are we the only unlucky ones? I'd love to know!

P.S. Don't forget to check out the awesome sale going on in my shop as we speak!

Black Friday Sale!

Stop by my shop to get free shipping within the U.S. as well as an awesome deal on greeting cards. When you order two single greeting cards you get a third for free. Just leave the link for the card you'd like for free in the note to seller when you check out-- simple as that! :)

And in case one day isn't enough, the sale will be running on Friday and Saturday. Plus, be sure to check back on Cyber Monday for some other fantastic deals! Hop on over to the shop and enjoy! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Now is the time that I get to write that really cheesy blog post about what I'm thankful for. I tend not to do cheesy well unless it's sarcasm, but this time I promise there is no sarcasm involved (ok, only maybe a little, but I mean well, people). In the past year, I've had some pretty amazing stuff happen, so here goes nothing.

1) The Saturday after last Thanksgiving, Andrew surprised me in the middle of rainy Chicago by popping the question. Yup, that's right. We were standing in the middle of a wet and dead garden and I was wet and miserable and wanted to know what the hell we were doing there. I may or may not have slapped him on his arm and asked him what he was doing while he proposed. And while I'm not a super mushy and sentimental person, I have to say I'm pretty thankful for him and the last 8 years we've been together (plus for putting up with that arm slapping thing during his proposal). It's been a pretty awesome ride so far and I'm looking forward to more to come. And for those of you that were wondering-- no, we still haven't set a date yet or started planning a wedding. We're pretty bad at that kind of stuff. Oops.

2) After a few really rough and stressful years in a teaching position I was not entirely happy with, I finally made the transition to teaching Social Studies full time. I'm definitely thankful for that because it has revived my passion for teaching. Seriously, people, nothing makes me smile more than hearing middle school students sing "Fifty Nifty United States" as they walk down the hall. At the same time, nothing makes me want to cry more than having "Fifty Nifty United States" stuck in my head at 3:30 in the morning while I lay wide awake in bed trying to fall asleep. But at least I know there is a reason it is stuck in my head and that certainly makes me thankful.

3) Lilah and Finn.

I mean, look at them! Need I say more? How could I not be thankful for them?

4) I'm super thankful for this awesome row house that we get to call our own. It took us over nine months for us to close on this house. It was a short sale and contrary to what the name would lead you to believe, short sales are not short. Factor in the part where the bank lost our paperwork three times in the process and it took even longer. Needless to say, we've been here for over two years now and I couldn't be happier.

5) I'm super thankful for my card shop. I am so incredibly thankful to be able to have this creative outlet and business that I hope one day will be my full time job. In the past year, I've been blown away by the support I have had in making this business grow. And grow it has-- by leaps and bounds in just a few short months. I have far exceeded my goals for this year and I couldn't be more thankful for that!

6) And last but not least, I'm super thankful for all of you awesome people out there. You've all helped and encouraged me with my shop as well as with this here old blog. I'm pretty certain that when I first started writing this blog for fun I never expected to have nearly as many readers as I do. And quite frankly, I'm sort of shocked that you all stick around! But apparently you must love me just enough that you'll put up with five million really bad posts if I can come up with one or two good ones now and again about burning my butt or dying while running. Either way, thank you all so much for reading and commenting, emailing, and tweeting your responses! It's been great so far and I'm super thankful for that!

Now excuse me while I go bust out the fat pants and stuff my face with turkey. Hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Cinnamon Coffeecake

Some weekends I can feel the chill that surrounds me outside of the covers. I don't want to move or get out of bed and would prefer that a cup of coffee magically appears in front of me. And if I try hard enough, I can almost smell the cinnamon wafting up the stairs from the oven like it did when I was a kid and my mom was making coffeecake for breakfast. Then reality hits.

1) I am going to have to get out of bed at some point and face the treacherous task of putting bare feet to cold wood floor planks, all while cursing the fact that I left my slippers just a tad bit too far away from the bed the night before.

2) My mom is 10 hours away in Indiana and the coffeecake isn't going to bake by itself. That cinnamon smell was only a dream I was waking from as the cat was punching me in the mouth with his paw, begging for his breakfast.

Thankfully, there is hope. It just so happens that the cinnamon coffeecake that I'm talking about takes literally five minutes to whip up and get into the oven. And when all is said and done, it tastes just like I remember as a kid. Maybe I had to trade getting out of bed for a tasty morsel for breakfast, but it is most definitely worth it and makes for the perfect start of my day.

Cinnamon Coffeecake

Batter:
1 1/2 cups of flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
3/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg
3/4 cup of milk

Topping:
2 Tablespoons melted butter
2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375. Mix the topping ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients to make the batter. Add melted butter. Mix in the egg and milk. Grease a square baking pan with butter or cooking spray. Using a spatula, layer half of the batter on the bottom of the baking pan. Sprinkle half of the topping over the batter. Repeat with the other half of the batter and topping. Bake at 375 for about 25-30 minutes, until golden brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean in the center.
 

Put the Gun Down

I'm usually not a big fan of female musicians. I'm not really sure why. I think it might have to do with having grown up during an era of Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey diva competitions. It was always this thing with these ladies-- someone had the bright idea (or not so bright idea) of sticking these women on stage together (I think this happened on the Grammys or something, but I clearly remember it being awful for all parties involved). The outcome? They would all go at it trying to out-sing and out-run each other in the most totally out of control display of diva-ness I have ever witnessed. It can be scarring, let me tell you.

Lately, it seems that the diva singer is no more and a new trend is appearing in which we have soulful singers that don't make my eardrums bleed. ZZ Ward is one of those. She's bluesy and original, and I haven't stopped listening to her album Til the Casket Drops since I first heard her song Put the Gun Down on my favorite local radio station. So now I'll let you be the judge. Would you rather listen to another diva singer battle or this?


I know which one I'd pick. How about you? What have you been listening to lately?

Year of the House: Half Bath Update, Number Gazillion

It has been a while since I've updated you with our home improvement projects. And quite frankly, as the Year of the House is coming to an end, we're running out of money to continue our Year of the House renovations. That being said, we've been able to get a lot done this year in order to make our row house our own.

The one project that has been a very slow process has been our half bath on the first floor. After painting it when we first moved in, with plans for putting down earthy brown tiles and wood trim, the half bath looked like this.

After a trip to the flooring store, and nearly buying new tiles to replace the ugly black squares that existed when we moved in, we decided to go with a cork floor instead. In addition, we decided to put in wood paneling in a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired fashion.

After the flooring and panels were installed, we decided that the paint color was too similar to some of the tones in the cork flooring and the maple wood we had used, so we decided to choose a new paint color. We wanted something rich that would bring out the tones in the wood. In addition, we decided to use a very light, natural stain to give the wood paneling a final touch. We decided upon a rich aqua blue paint and are extremely happy with the final result.

We love the final look of the half bath so far, but we have a few more things that we need to finish yet. We'd like to change out the fixtures to something not quite as traditional. We're also going to change out the light fixtures as well to something in the arts and crafts vein. Finally, the mirror that used to hang behind the sink will be framed in maple and stained to match before being rehung. For now though, this half bath project is pretty close to done.

What do think of the final project? What home improvement projects have you been working on lately?

Typical Sunday

Sundays are for drinking coffee, watching football, doing laundry, and taking rides in laundry baskets.

Yup, just another typical Sunday in our Baltimore row house.

P.S. Please excuse Andrew's Browns shirt. It is sad sight indeed.

Graphic

There are days when I love a really fabulously put together outfit (most days, in fact). But there are also days when I like to throw on a t-shirt and call it a day. I don't like to throw on any old t-shirt though-- it has to have a good graphic. For a while my go-to graphic tees were ones that I picked up at concerts. It just seems that a lot of the bands I like also have a great art department when it comes to their merchandise. Umphrey's McGee was practically my t-shirt supplier for a while and these are some of my favorites of theirs that are camping out in my closet.

via

via

My favorite one of all is MIA on the interwebs and is scuzzy enough at this point that I shouldn't model it for you, but it is a super soft gray shirt with a tour van driving down the road into the Rocky Mountains. If I could find a new version of this one, I would be the happiest girl in the world. (Attention to the rare t-shirt finding gods-- start doing your magic so that I can find one these!!) Most comfortable t-shirt ever. I do not lie.

John Butler Trio also has found some space in my closet with some pretty awesome tees. My favorite of all is this super soft dark grey tee. I would replace it if I could, but unfortunately it only comes in extra extra small right now (I didn't even know that was a size!).

via

Needless to say, I've been looking to add a few new t-shirts to my closet for that Saturday afternoon when you don't feel like wearing anything special. I ended up finding a few that I really like that might work as good replacements for the ones that have seen better days.

Maybe this JBT shirt will suit as a good replacement for my original one.

via

Love this tail feather tee from Blackbird Tees.

These five feathers printed on the side of a v-neck are fabulous! I love a good v-neck-- I'm a huge fan over the crew neck (v-necks are just way more flattering on me) and She-She seems to have mastered a great graphic tee.

Love the neutral tee and complimentary graphics on this organic shape collage tee from Crawlspace Studios.

And Uzura provides a great option with this long-sleeved feather tee.

What does your lazy Saturday wardrobe look like? Do you have any tees that you just can't rid of no matter how worn out they are? Or maybe I'm just the crazy one in that department. ;)

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

As the autumn air becomes chillier, it has become entirely necessary to add more soups to the weekly menu. Some night you want nothing more than a warm bowl of soup accompanied by bread and butter. I had one of those nights recently and had run the gamut of soups that are my usual go to's and needed something new. Thanks to Erika and her suggestion that I check out her amazing Pinterest board chock full of delicious soups, I stumbled across a recipe for a Sweet Spiced Pumpkin Soup. While the soup sounded quite tasty, I wasn't sure that I was in the mood for sweet-- I was thinking more earthy spices and stick to your ribs kind of soup. So I started with some of the main ingredients and adapted as I went. The final outcome was just what I had hoped for-- a hearty soup that warmed me up and tasted absolutely fantastic. I amped up the curry powder just a bit to give it a little extra kick and it turned out perfectly! This will definitely be a recipe that I will come back to.

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
half of an onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
1 can of pumpkin
1 can of coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 teaspoons yellow curry powder

In a large soup pot, melt butter. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and saute until the onions are transparent. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the carrots and celery are tender. Use a hand-held blender to blend the soup in the pot until smooth. If you don't have a hand-held blender, you can transfer small amounts of the soup at a time to a standard blender or food processor.

Giveaway Winner!

Good evening readers! I'm super late with this, I know, but I finally am ready to announce the winner for the ever+mi.crush giveaway. Congrats to Jessica on being the lucky winner! Jessica, I will be in touch with you shortly! :) Thanks so much to all of you that entered!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Holiday Collection

It has taken quite some time for me to prepare my holiday card collection this year. I never had any set block of time where I could really sit down and work on the designs I had floating around in my head. However, I can finally say that it is now ready (for the most part)! I still have a few more design ideas that I'll be working on this coming week, but for the time being I thought I would share what is currently available in the shop. I have included last year's designs in this year's collection as well because they have been tweaked a bit so that I am 100% satisfied with the final product. I have the cards listed as either singles or sets, so if you need a different quantity than what is listed, I am more than happy to accommodate! Here's a quick look at the full line of cards available in the holiday section in my shop.

I'm super excited to finally be finished with this project and share it with everyone! What do you all think?!

Luck

This past weekend, we went shopping. We don't go shopping very often, but when we do, we go all out and get the big staples that we need for our wardrobes. The time had come for Andrew to give a good ol' boost to his wardrobe. He was in desperate need of pants for work. He had shrunk a pair of khakis and a few sweaters in the wash (go figure). In addition, his best dress pants had been ripped this summer in a horrific bike crash. He and friend had been biking home from work together when a woman opened her car door right in front of Andrew. He quickly had to swerve, crashing and causing his friend to crash as well, and ripped a huge hole in the knee of his pants in the process. Regardless, a shopping trip was in order.

This is how Andrew shops: 1) Go to Gap and Banana Republic. 2) Try on one pair of pants at each location. 3) Declare the shopping trip as a failure. 4) Out of frustration and a final hope, go to Nordstrom Rack and buy dress shirts instead even if they aren't really needed.

The good thing? Number 3 didn't happen this time. Pants were bought at Gap and Express (oooh, a new store instead of Banana Republic!) and they were happy purchases. The bad thing? Number 4 still happened due to not having shirts that matched the new pants and due to shrunken sweaters that needed to be replaced.

Off to Nordstrom Rack we went and dress shirts and sweaters were picked out. However, each and every one of them needed to be tried on. I waited for about twenty minutes before I gave up all hope and assumed that Andrew had fallen into the depths of the dressing room for the rest of eternity and headed over to the women's section. I wasn't supposed to do this. You see, I am supposed to be on a bit of a shopping hiatus. It may have to do with the fact that I like shoes too much.

Off I went anyway with the intention of looking at sweaters for myself. Key word "looking." As I got to the first rack of sweaters, I noticed a familiar looking coral and red striped article of clothing. No, it couldn't be. But it was!

via Free People

The $108 sweater that I posted about last week was sitting on that rack, calling my name, for only $50. I know that this shopping trip wasn't supposed to be about me and that I was only allowed to buy things I needed (plain long sleeved shirts to layer under sweaters and a pair of jeans), but I didn't care. I was buying that sweater, damn it. And apparently, Andrew must have had the best shopping experience of his entire life, because he happily walked over to me as I clung to my sweater and told me that it was not only ok that I got the sweater, but that I could get another new pair of shoes too. Talk about luck!

P.S. If you haven't tried your luck at my most recent giveaway, there's still time to enter! You could win a $25 gift card to a super cute boutique and do some shopping of your own!

Sometimes

Sometimes you just need to write in order to feel better. I had every intention of writing one of those "Get out and vote!" posts this morning when something else came up. A stray dog arrived in our tree box. I am not sure where the dog came from other than the story from my neighbor that she wandered down the road before hopping into our tree box. Either way, she decided to hop into our tree box.

The dog, a beautiful boxer mix of some sort, curled up in the box as she shivered and shook. She was obviously very ill. My neighbor covered her with a blanket and brought her some food and water. I was unsure who to call, and finally, by way of twitter, was able to get in contact with a volunteer from BARCS, a local animal rescue. I sat on my stoop in my pajamas stroking the dog, just trying to make her more comfortable. She seemed to like that I was there and rested her head and closed her eyes when I pet her. She didn't seem to shake as much either. I sat there for nearly two hours waiting for animal control to arrive.

Animal control arrived and filled out transfer paperwork to take her to BARCS so that she could be treated. An hour after they had picked her up, they called me to let me know that she had tested positive for parvo and that she would have to be put down. This news broke my heart. How cruel that such a beautiful and young pup would have to suffer this way and meet this fate. I know that there was not anything that I could have done to prevent this outcome considering her condition, but I still can't help but be upset. The one thing that I do know, is that there was a reason that she hopped into our tree box this morning on election day when schools were closed and I had a day off from work. And the least I can say and be somewhat comforted by is to know that she was cared for in the last few hours of her life.

I know my post today is certainly not a happy one, but sometimes it just helps to write about things that make you sad. I promise that tomorrow I'll be back on a happier note. And as I had originally intended to tell you all-- get out and vote if you haven't already! I let my voice be heard and I hope you do too!

CLOSED ::: Giveaway ::: $25 ever+mi.crush Gift Card

Happy Monday, my lovely readers! I hope everyone had a spectacular weekend! Mine included some delicious Indian food, a game night with friends, lots of coffee and reading, and some shopping (more on that to come!).

With shopping in mind, I thought you all might enjoy doing a little shopping as well. I was super excited when Christen contacted me share her new boutique, ever+mi.crush, with you all! Her boutique offers some really fabulous pieces that have a bit of a vintage flair. Ever+mi.crush strives to showcase up and coming designers at affordable prices. You may remember seeing one of the sweaters offered in my Sweater Season post last week. Needless to say, there are plenty of beautiful pieces that are perfect for the fall season.

I really love this bold, orange coat.

Autumn in Early Morning Coat - $97.99

I'm a bit smitten with this beautiful scarf.

Garden Under the Sea Crinkle Print Scarf - $13.99

I love the bold colors in this dress.

Sunset in the Desert Dress - $24.99

And it's hard to pass up a cute purse.

Sealed with a Kiss Envelope Handbag - $28.99

And now for that shopping thing I was talking about earlier? Just for being my awesome readers, you have the chance to win a $25 gift card to ever+mi.crush. I even made one of those super duper rafflecopter thingy-ma-jiggies for you so that you can easily enter (fancy schmancy, I know). The giveaway will be open for a week and there are opportunities for you to enter each day if you'd like. So enter away and I'll be back next Monday to announce the winner! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a Story

It is Saturday morning, and we all need some light reading. The head is foggy because you haven't yet had a full cup of coffee and you might still be stuffed from eating too much Indian food the night before (but it was sooooooo good!). Oh wait, that's my life I am telling you about. Either way, this is a story about a cat and his love affair with a toy. Meet Finn (if you haven't already).

Say hello to Finn's toy. (Ignore the dog hair on the floor. It's the latest home decor craze, didn't you know? And nearly impossible to get rid of.)

That doesn't look like a toy, you say? Well clearly you haven't had a cat before if that doesn't look like a toy. That, my friends, is a mangled plastic spout from a half and half container. It was ripped out of the container by Lilah, our resident chocolate lab, about six months ago. And from that moment on, it has been Finn's favorite toy.

Finn spent three months obsessing over this toy. It was by his side at all times. He would even cuddle with it while he would sleep.

He would carry the toy in his mouth around the house everywhere he went. He could not leave this toy out of his sight. Sometimes, he would lose the toy under the pantry or bedroom door and he would wait patiently by the door until we would open it for him so he could retrieve his beloved toy.

Then the tragic happened. After three months of his love affair with this toy, the toy suddenly vanished, nowhere to be found. We checked the pantry and the bedroom closets-- the usual culprits. For over a week, every time we would go near the pantry or bedroom closets, Finn would sit anxiously by the door awaiting the retrieval of his toy to no avail.  Finally, he gave up and two months later he found a new toy-- a red ring from an apple cider jug. This toy became a mediocre replacement for a few days until he gave up on it. We even tried to give him a new half and half container spout, but he didn't want it.

Five days ago, a miracle happened. Finn's favorite toy emerged from inside the box of garbage bags sitting in the pantry. How it got into the box in the first place is a mystery. However, the only thing that matters to Finn is that he has his toy back. He's back to his old obsessive ways-- pushing the toy under the pantry door, waiting for you to open the pantry door, and then swiping around the corner to retrieve his toy.

He carries it in his mouth, drops it next to Andrew's shoes, and stalks it from a distance before pouncing and going in for the kill.

And when he's not playing with his toy, he keeps an eye on it to make sure it is still there.

 And that, dear readers, is the story of Finn's love affair with a plastic spout from a half and half container. (I think our cat might need some psychiatric help.) The end.