October-Yay!

I am super excited because October holds many awesome things here in Claireland.  I am actually being smart and planning ahead!  October marks the first month of my monthly business spotlight, as well as a giveaway that I know you all are going to love.  In addition to awesome bloggy things, October means apples and apple orchards and Halloween and costumes and all sorts of exciting things.  I will be cooking up lots of fall foods (and drinks!) so keep checking back because awesome things are happening!

Mid Week Pick-Me-Up...Many, Many Maru.

The Noms...or the lack thereof.

   I must apologize for my recent lack of recipe posts.  I have been experiencing a number of culinary fails and most certainly not "bringing the noms."  I am resolved to do better and probably stick a little closer to the things I know I'm good at.  Look for a plethora of soups in the weeks to come.  In my book, soup is the official food of the autumn season and I couldn't be more excited about it.

Coffee Confessions

Confession #1
   I am afraid of my sewing machine.  There, I said it.  I bought it last year and I haven't used it yet.  I took it out of the box, looked at all the pieces, read through the little booklet, and into the closet it went.  I feel rather awful about this and in my mind I am determined to remedy the situation...it just hasn't happened yet.
Confession #2
   I "baby talk" to animals, but never to babies.  There may be something weird about this.
Confession #3
   I am more than a little addicted to Craftgawker.
Confession #4
   I chatter incessantly when I have Red Bull.  So much so that my coworker has informed me I am not allowed to have it when we are sitting in the same office.
Confession #5-I can easily spend an hour on catsinsinks.com
Confessions #6-I cant catch things very well.  Even a small toss at a short distance.  I drop things.  It's bad.

Mid Week Pick Me Up Pic-Look Ma, No Paws

Photo Courtesy of Zooborns.com

Miss Purple Crayon or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Live Without Missoni.

When I was a kid (think preschoolish) I really liked purple.  I mean really really.  Hey, I still like purple.  Whenever there was an opportunity to color, I was always first in line for the purple crayon.  Some times the other girls didn’t like this, but hey-they should have grabbed it first.  It’s not like I wouldn’t let them use it eventually, they just had to wait.  Then, one day, someone beat me to it.  And you know what?  I survived.  I learned a little patience and I also learned that purple is not the only color in the crayon box. 

   You have most likely heard of the cyclone that recently hit Target stores taking the form of the Missoni for Target collection.  It immobilized Target.com for an entire day and made normally composed women come dangerously close to fisty-cuffs over the coveted Italian designs.  In some stores the collection sold out within an hour.  Some took the morning off of work to get in on the deal, some went and snapped up as much as they could as soon as they were able, some went and found empty shelves.  As with any high demand item, large amounts of the collection have ended up on e-bay.  Some of this is by design, some by chance, as it is easy to just grab what you can when things are flying off the shelves.  This often leads to buyers remorse.  While normally you'd just return things to the store, why do that when you can make a 300% profit?  Now this seems logical to me, but many people are up in arms about not being able to get the items they wanted.  Since Target will not be restocking the collection, many will simply not get what they were hoping for.  Rather than acting like adults, they are throwing around harsh accusations against those who choose to resell their purchases.  Now last time I checked, a Zig-Zag print dress is not essential to life....and if you think it is, well, that's a whole post in itself.  To these people I say this-go back to preschool.  There are other colors in the crayon box and you've got a lot to learn.

Moss Letter DIY

I have been really into moss lately...I am not sure why, perhaps it is me rebelling against the untimely demise of the terrarium I tried making, but regardless, I think moss is a lovely way to bring a bit of nature into your home in unexpected ways.

DIY Moss Letters:

1 letter form (wood, pressed paper, etc. Mine is from Hobby Lobby)

1 bag of moss (I found mine at the Dollar Tree)

Hot glue gun

A covered work space

1.  Seriously, make sure you cover your workspace-this is messy.

2.  Hot glue small pieces of moss to the top of your letter.

3.  Continue adding pieces until the entire top is covered.  Then turn the letter on its side and add moss to all sides of your letter. 

4. Admire your awesome moss letter and smile because you made it!

If you are anything like me, I recommend using a low heat hot glue gun as it is super easy to stick your finger into a wad of hot glue/moss.  Having done this multiple times, I can say I am very glad I used a low heat.  No burns, yay!

Coffee Confessions

So I know I said I would be doing Silent Sundays but this was way more fun. Check out the Linkey below to visit AdelynSTONE who is our host.

Confession #1-I am not drinking coffee..neither is it morning.  It's 9:30PM and I'm drinking spice of life chai.
Confession #2-I purchased a Dracula costume for our cat and he wears it on Halloween each year.
Confession #3-I cannot knit to save my life.
Confession #4-I giggle when I have a lot of carbs.
Confession #5-I like things to be symmetric and become irritated when things feel lopsided.
Confession #6-I cannot cook rice...even in a rice cooker. Rice is my arch nemesis of the food world.
Confession #7-I sleep in too much every weekend and promise myself I'll do better next time...and then don't.