Snail Mail!!

I'm a little late on my post! But better late than never! One day I was thrilled to find my fall package swap from my good friend Bibi!! Her blog posts and comments always make me smile and her package did that in a big way! Read her package recap here. And head over and read her blog anyways because she is such a sweetheart! Her posts always leave me with a smile on my face and my heart!

 I love everything she sent! She also sent a mug for Jon! He was so thrilled! He's been using it every day on his commute to work and our morning walks!
 I laid the table runner out right away! It adds a bit of fall to the kitchen!

Thank-you so much Bibi! I've loved getting to know you better online! Snail mail made me feel that much more connected with you!

 

I also participated in Alek's Craft Swap!

 

I was partnered with Ann-Marie from Ireland! This is the wonderful package she sent me!

So many great projects to be made! I can't wait! Thank-you so much Ann-Marie! And thank-you Aleks for organizing it! It was such a fun swap!

 

So I LOVED LOVED LOVED the Fall Package Swap!! So much! It was so fun seeing what everyone came up with! With that said, if you've posted a recap on your blog about it link up below!

P.S. I've had a lot of people ask about a Winter/Christmas Swap. I've decided to organize one! I'll post more about it this week!

P.P.S Today's the last day to enter the giveaway on Kelly Michelle's Blog!

100th Sales!!

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I just received my 100th sale in my shop!! Thank-you so much everyone for the support! I was SO excited when I received my first sale and every one makes me equally thrilled! To show my appreciation from now until midnight Sunday use the coupon code 100Sales and receive 50% off!

Being Socially Smooth

I love having grown up in a small town. When I moved away I missed seeing familiar faces every time I went... well, anywhere. But along with the greatness of knowing everyone and everyone knowing you comes along the potential for another problem. Not remembering people's names. Today we went to town to do some errands like change our tires to our WINTER ones! With last week's socially awkward moment still very fresh in my mind I headed into town with the goal of being socially smooth. Yeah, that's totally a real term.

I did and said nothing embarrassing at the tire shop. Or at the post office. Or at the bank. Course it was easy. I just didn't say anything at all! Then we went to this amazing local dutch bakery. Still not too socially awkward in my silence. I sat down with Jon and we enjoyed our coffee and treat. Being the small town, I recognized people at each table. But not in the obligated to talk to sense. Just in the smile and nod politely sense. We got up to leave and I'm walking past one table being careful not to make eye contact. Because that wouldn't be socially awkward right?

And then it happens.

A hand from the table reaches out and grabs my arm. Should I try to get free and run away? Start shaking? No. I'm going to be socially smooth. So I stop walking and turn to look at the table of strangers people I slightly recognize.

The lady who grabbed my arm goes "Hi!!! How are you??? I haven't seen you in so long! "

This is my chance! "I'm great! Yeah, I've been gone for a while. Just moved back like a year ago! How are you?!"

She goes on to say she's doing good. And once again... hasn't seen me for a while. We carry on this banter for a bit and her friends join in the conversation. Jon walks up beside me and they look at him. So I introduce him as my husband. She says "Nice to meet you!" Then it's quiet. So I explain "Well we have to get going. It was nice seeing you again." And I quickly walk out.

We get outside and Jon asks "Who is that lady?"

"I have NO idea!"

Pumpkin Decorating Pinterest Style

Last year we were super excited about fall and we decorated/carved pumpkins before thanksgiving. By the time the end of the month came around our pumpkins were all shrived and ugly. This year I haven't bought any yet and am thinking perhaps any day now would be a good time to decorate some!

Here's a few ideas I have in mind thanks to pinterest:

What about you? Do you plan on (or already have) decorating pumpkins this year? What's your favorite method?

A Lifetime Of Awkwardness

I am SO socially awkward! I never thought I was that bad but thinking back I think I probably always have been.

Like in kindergarten when I walked up to someone and asked if they wanted to be friends and they said no.

Or in grade 11 when one of my guy friends was talking to me about something completely different while holding a stack of photos and I blurt out "no I haven't seen your photos yet" He was so confused.

Or the time I wasn't a fan of wrong numbers.

Or earlier this morning when the contractor was at the door introducing himself. I got his name from my dad and recommended him to the landlords. I forgot to mention to them what my dad's name is and the contractor was asking about it. So when I introduced myself I was going to say I was Carissa... {insert dad's name}'s daugther. Instead I introduced myself "I'm Carissa {insert maiden name}. No wait. {insert actual last name}. I got married." He says "oh that's great" I say "No! Not recently like years ago. I just moved back." (inside I'm cringing and imagining myself running back inside closing the door and drawing all the blinds). He didn't seem to notice my awkwardness and continued talking. Which I continued to mis-hear and make a mess of myself.

Gah! I hate when I get nervous meeting people and blurt out awkwardness! Maybe one day I'll get over that! Are you awkward or eloquent?

When I Grow Up

Every year a couple months before my birthday I get more and more pensive. I over analyze my life. I consider my past decisions. I look at old photographs and journals, I flashback to memories. I build up and build up until my birthday when I usually freak out about how I'm another year older. A main thought that frequents my mind during this time is how...

I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

I know... almost 10 years out of high school, I've had plenty of time to figure it out. And heaven knows I've had fun trying different things. I've always envied people who knew what they wanted to be before they needed to know. Then went out and became that. That's certainly not me. I remember in grade 12 people would constantly ask "what are you doing after high school/next year?" "What do you want to do with your life?" I had no idea. I felt rushed. I just wanted to live. I got tired of never having an answer so I thought I love psychology and would love to help people why not say counsellor.  So that's what I started saying.

I worked for the next two years. I had this idea to move to Australia for a year. I went to the health centre and found out about shots. I met with a travel agent and planned my trip. All I needed to do was go back in and confirm  with a deposit. Then as I was going to dole out the money for it, the friend I was going to go with changed her mind. If that was today I would have gone anyways. But I applied to college instead. With the goal to become a counsellor. That next part of the story is better for a different day but long story short I met Jon and got married after my second year of college. When I was about to go into my fourth year I had reservations. I "like" to talk myself out of things. So that's what I did. Two weeks before classes were to start I switched schools and I switched courses. I decided to go for business. I was really confused that year. Business is really different from Counselling in many learning aspects. I decided to see a career counsellor and take some tests.

She said my results were all high in creativity. What were my hobbies? I didn't have any. Not anything I considered a hobby anyways. I decided right then and there to try anything and everything. And I have. cooking, gardening, sewing, painting, photography, hiking, geocaching, pottery, jewelry making, scrap booking, knitting, crocheting, diy projects.

I can't say I'm any closer to knowing what I want to be when I grow up. But I'm enjoying trying to find out!

Did you follow all that? What about you... are there times that make you more pensive? Did you know what you wanted to be when you grew up?

Under The Weather

As lovely as the onset of autumn is, it also seems to signal the onset of cold season. Also known as the sniffling and coughing season. This week-end it was my turn to enjoy it.  I've been parked on the couch under a bunch of layers of blankets watching reruns of my favorite shows. Almost every time I'm sick I watch the Golden Girls. And this time is no exception. I started thinking about other habits/methods I have to rest and get better.

-I consume copious amounts of liquids. Soup, water, juice.

-I watch far too many daytime talk shows and tv series reruns until I no longer know what year it is.

-I keep the vitamin, buckley's, hauls, and neocitron companies in business.

-I nap a couple times a day and go to bed early.

-I make sure I eat 1 solid meal a day to make sure my body gets enough energy to fight the virus.

-And don't forget the hot bath/shower. When I was little I  used to think it was washing all the sick virus off me and making me better. Needless to say I never entered the medical field!

What about you? What are some of your get-better methods?

Taking the Good with the Bad

Good: How much my dog LOVES his morning walks with a neighbor lady and her dog.  And how much the dogs love playing with each other.

Bad: He jumped into the lake while I was taking pictures today and now he stinks!



Bad: Hearing about a horrible accident that happened on the highway just down the road from here.

Good: Getting into the car after Jon drove it to work last week and hearing this song halfway through it while knowing I did not leave a cd playing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa14VNsdSYM&ob=av3e

Bad: Meeting a neighbor for the first time and her being super rude. You don't know me why the attitude.

Good: Having great blogger friends on twitter remind me it's not personal.

Good: Getting my full size business cards in the mail

Bad: Feeling creative and patiently waiting for an order of jewelry making supplies to arrive.

 

Bad: Mr. J is getting sick.

Good: Having a husband who's so thoughtful and sets the timer on our new coffee pot to go off just before I return from my walk every morning.

Good: It's friday!

Bad: No bad. That's just good!  

Have a great week-end!

Falling for Fall

If the heavy frost on the ground and cars in the morning isn't an indication that we're well into fall than the colors and fallen leaves are! Every day there are more leaves on the ground and less on the trees. The grumpy neighbour that lives next door is no longer hidden. I can see right into her yard. I suppose that means she can see into ours! Guess I should rethink those impromptu dance parties! I LOVE fall! I think it's my favorite season. Followed very closely by spring. I've been pinning fall things on pinterest for weeks now! Here are a few of my favorite finds:

What do you love about fall? Anything on your must-do list?

Thanksgiving and More

The long week-end flew by and tomorrow we'll be halfway through the week! This past week-end was Thanksgiving in Canada! Jon has this neat story about the history of why we celebrate it here. I didn't believe him so I looked it up on a few sites. Part of the tradition behind thanksgiving in Canada is about pilgrims. But the majority of why we celebrate it comes from back when everyone would finish harvesting and celebrate the bounty that they had. Harvest up here is usually finished by the beginning of October so it's a fun time to get together and share a meal! So there's a little history/trivia about Canada!

Here's a few photos from the past week
I always leave my favorite things on the plate to eat last. Is it sad that I left the broccoli salad and corn salad for last? They were so delicious! The only thing as good as a turkey dinner is the leftovers the next day!

One of Mr. J's presents. It would have been awesome if inside there were tickets to somewhere awesome.

I made a pair of mitts out of one of Jon's old sweaters. They're not a perfect prototype yet but they'll keep my hands warm!

One day I decided to take photos of the lake a few times throughout the dayMorning after Kudjo and I went for our morning walk with the neighbor and her dog.

Dinner time

Sun Setting

What have you been up to this past week? What's your favorite food dish on Thanksgiving?

Giveaways To Check Out!

There's two giveaways going on right now for my shop!

Head over to Kelly's Blog to win $15 credit to my shop! You have till October 31st to enter! So make sure you check it out!

Jon wanted to make something special to giveaway on his birthday. Check out my facebook page to enter! Entry closes Thursday!

I like to make a few new things a week so often there are new things in my shop. Have you seen them?

Happy Birthday Husband!

Happy Birthday Husband!



I love you for everything you are

everything you do



 

and everything you mean to me

I hope I made your day extra special for you! Happy Birthday!

Fill In The Blank Friday

It's Fill in the Blank Friday time! Head over to Lauren's blog and play along!

 

1.   Something popular that I can't stand/just don't "get" is  the mustache craze and the "keep calm" posters. 

2.   Something unpopular that I secretly love is   geocaching! It's a great way to explore a town or hiking trail! 

3.  When I've had a bad day I  take time to myself away from people and relax. 

4. I'd prefer    showers    to    baths      any day.

5.  Something that makes me nervous is risks and uncertainty. 

6.  Something worth fighting for is happiness. 

7.  When people think of me, I hope they think  she has a great heart and is genuine. 

In A Good Way

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As I was sitting here tonight thinking about something write I decided to think of a word to describe my thoughts the past couple weeks. One word came to mind instantly. melancholy.


Not in the emo, listen to sad songs, eat lots of ice cream kind of way. Just in a lost in thinking kind of way.

Jon's been noticing I've been a lot quieter lately. He keeps questioning me about it, concerned. But it's nothing to worry about. Autumn has always made me really pensive. It's such a season of change. Changing environment (colors, temperatures, daylight); changing schools, jobs, houses; changing hair color, type of clothes, foods you eat.

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For me it makes me reminisce a lot of years past. I've moved, started new schools/jobs, parents got divorced, and my birthday has all happened in autumns before. Don't get me wrong, I love fall! It just makes me think. And there's nothing wrong with that.

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How about you? Does fall make you melancholy? Or is there another season that important things seem to happen for you?

On My Bookshelf: Book Reviews

I'm a really picky reader. I can (and do) spend MONTHS trying to pick out my next book to read. There's nothing worse than starting a book and realizing it's not very good or interesting. So for that reason I spend a lot of time choosing a book. I'll read reviews. Then the summary again. Then a week or two later the reviews again. And so on and so on. Once I do decide to purchase one, either in paper or on kindle I get so into it I have another problem.

For as long as I can remember I've had this problem whenever I pick up a book. I hate putting them down. No seriously. I HATE it! It bugs me to no end when I have to stop reading and pick it up at another time. I almost always read a book in two days. I start it the first night and read till 3 or 4 am. Than I'm exhausted the next day and maybe take a nap. Then I read again that night till it's finished. Usually till 3 or 4 am. It's so dumb really. But I get so into a book I hate to stop halfway through. And when I do stop, I think about it for the whole day!

Because of my rigorous selection process I'm hardly ever disappointed! Of course, I'm disappointed when it ends; but for those two evenings I really enjoyed the story.

I love to read biographies and memories so usually those are my books of choice but lately I've been getting into a different genre. Hello Emily Giffin! I came into the whole "Something Borrowed" series after everyone else. But since than have read two of her books.

(It says click to look inside but really it means click to go to amazon.com)



Something Blue is the next book after Something Borrowed. And it follows along with the storyline but now with a different perspective. Heart of the Matter is a book that tells two sides of a story amidst a love affair. What I really like about Emily Griffin is her character development. She can make you really feel for a character and than chapters later side against them slightly.

I've been enjoying finding some great reads by authors that I haven't heard of before. One particular author is Maureen Johnson. She retweeted one of my bad dates stories on twitter one time so if that didn't make her awesome enough she wrote two books that I enjoyed.

They're about a girl whose aunt dies and leaves her 13 envelopes that send her off on an adventure to discover more about herself and the importance of living life to its fullest. They reminded me of how much I'd love to travel around Europe! These books make you think about the experiences you have in life and to always make the most of them.

 

This book I actually found out about first through the author Leslie Hager. I enjoy reading her blog Ireland Ever After so I was excited to read her book as it is based VERY loosely on her relationship with her husband! It's kind of a modern day Cinderella story. Except Sean didn't leave a glass slipper. Instead she was left with tidbits about his life that she used as clues to where she could find him in Ireland. I enjoy the way Leslie writes as I could really visualize and image everything that happened. It felt like it was a movie I was watching.

This is the book I read last night. My friend has been telling me for YEARS to read books by Sophie Kinsella so finally I decided to give her writing a try. I loved it! I don't know why I waited so long to read one of her books! This one made me laugh out loud so many times. Which wasn't the best thing as Jon was sleeping next to me! The main character in this book reminded me a bit of Bridget Jones. Mishaps keep happening to her that are really funny.

 

Now that I finished my last book I need some recommendations! What have you been reading lately? Have you read any of the above books before? What did you think of them?

Fall Treats and Mini Moo

Where is the time going?! Didn't we just have a monday? The past week and week-end feels like it went by way too fast! Hello October! We went to some friends' house for dinner on Saturday and I was feeling very fall-ish so we decided to try a new recipe and bring it along.

My mouth just drooled a little.

We found a recipe for Pumpkin Spice Latte Streusel Muffins. We made it into a cake. And adjusted the recipe quite a bit. Because, well... I don't follow recipes, sorta just tweak them as I go. I added some caramel drizzle on top, why not right? I thought it was going to be super sweet but it actually wasn't! Could have easily used the sweetness of a scoop of ice cream on top.

This week-end we also dug up the last of our garden... the pea plants and potatoes. I use the term "we" very loosely. I didn't actually touch a shovel. I pulled some pea plants up and then got distracted taking photos of flowers. But handsome here did a good job!

I finished and packaged up my packages for the fall package swap. package. package. These guys will head out in the next couple days! Yay!

 

Speaking of packages... my mini moo cards got here today!!
When an adorable little box tells you to open quick... you open quick!

 Thank-you! You're my new best friend!

I LOVE the packaging! So cute!

I had a few of my favorite photographs in my shop printed as the picture on the mini business cards. The back has my info.

That's the size of them! So tiny and cute! The paper is a thicker one than most business cards and the quality of print job is really good!

I just discovered them but they make a bunch of other things too! Definitely going to have to do some more browsing on their site! On Klout the other day I signed up for a "perk" of receiving 100 mini moo cards for free! I was so excited about them that a few days later when I heard about a promo through etsy for 50 free regular size business cards from moo.com, I ordered those as well! They'll have some pictures of my jewelry on them! I can't wait to see how great they turned out too! And although I received these for free, I am receiving nothing from them for this review. I just got them, loved them, and wanted to tell you about them!

How was your weekend? Have any fall recipes I need to try?