Letters & Fancies (TGIF!)

Hi friends, happy Friday!! 

Before I jump into my letters, 
I wanted to let you know I can be found somewhere else in the blogosphere today!

 I'm visiting over at Across The Pond today, with the fabulous Megan! 
She is one my daily read, and one of the first "lifestyle" blogs I ever got hooked on  
(which led me to all of <---THIS--->!!).  
I really wish I lived in Europe so we could have a blate!
Maybe when she gets back to the States. :-)
She is one genuinely funny and sweet lady. 

 

If you are visiting from Megan's place, HELLO!  
Welcome!  Stick around for a bit. :-) 

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Dear Beautiful Horses... I'm coming to see you!  Apparently you are not only beautiful, but also talented.  I'm excited to find out exactly what that means on Saturday night, at Valitar!

Dear Ocotillo Desert... No crashing allowed for my boyfriend tomorrow, please.  He has to be back in time for Valitar. Plus, I've already been through enough of that crap, right?

Dear Pinterest... I am coming for you this weekend to decide what to eat/make/buy for Thanksgiving.  I'm sure there will be an overwhelming number of ideas, so I should probably narrow it down before I start. ;-)

Dear Christmas Decorating... I'm making some plans for you. OK, the ornament tree might be a bit advanced but I could definitely do the ornaments in the glass jar, and maybe the wine bottles.  Wonder if Gunney would sit still long enough for me to snap a pic like that!  :-)

Dear Readers... I've jumped to 100(+) this week.  Thank you all!  Assuming a lot of you came from my sponsorships recently, we can pretty much agree we will get along , since we read the same blogs. duh.  ; -)

Dear Boyfriend... I'm looking forward to our dinner and a (horse) show date Saturday night. It's been a while since we've done something new. yay! :-)

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Today's Fancies topic was inspired by all the yummy treats that are available in the fall. 

I think I skipped this week in the summer but I know I thought about doing "orange creamsicle 50/50 bars".   :-)

From Alison:   

Winter may not begin until December, but it feels like fall with each passing day. Let's serve up our must-have autumn treats before the season passes on Friday, November 16th. Whether its a snack or a drink, you can have lots of fun with this one!

Plaid Skirt by cynthia335 featuring illamasqua nail polish

Can you guess what autumn treat I chose??  Yep, Pumpkin Spice Latte.  :-)    
I love them.  

I was thinking candy apple, or maybe candy corn?  But when I saw this outfit it just jumped out as PSL!  Even a touch of green, like a Starbucks cup!  

The boots are beautiful!  Unfortunately they are $300. 

 I hope you are all having a great Friday and have some fun plans for the weekend!

Sunday Confessions

I confess... 

I went to Goodwill yesterday for (more) frames for my map wall art project.  So far I have done 3 shopping trips...and nothing else.  Baby steps.

I confess... 

I just bought myself a Kindle Fire HD, right before Christmas.  I guess I'm impatient.  And I had an Amazon gift card.  I hope it gets here FAST FAST FAST. (As they like to tell taxi drivers on Amazing Race. Love that show.)

I confess... 

I've watched BRAVE twice this week, and we watched a bunch of the DVD "bonus" stuff Saturday night (party animals!).  I want Merida's hair.  The color, the curls, the bounce.  It's just gorgeous!  (Also, if I could genetically engineer a baby I would want her to look like little Merida at the beginning of the movie. I die.)

Source: google.com via Cynthia on Pinterest

I confess...

I'm pretty excited to be at 99 followers!!  Since I just finished my first giveaway, and I have a few others going on with the ladies I am sponsoring, I'm not going to do another one quite yet.  Maybe for the new year? Or my Blogiversary. Or for 150 followers?? (Whoa, don't get ahead of yourself, self. haha)  BUT... I do love you all and thank YOU for being one of those 99!!  :-)

I confess... 

I really think I might be addicted to Etsy.  These are (a few of the) things I already own.  (Don't get me started on how many things are on my "favorites" list.)  I have a necklace to match the airplane earrings.  And yes, I bought a couple few of the tile pendants after blogging about them last week.  I should probably not do that anymore.

 I confess...

I might have bought more than just an ornament for Erin's Holiday Ornament Swap.  I was getting some essentials (ya know, toilet paper, batteries, dish soap) today at some store (rhymes with StallDart. I prefer Tar-Jay but it's significantly farther away) and I was attracted to all the glitter and sparkle of the ornaments. Their ornaments are so inexpensive, I couldn't just buy one and be done.  So, yeah, there might be a few other Christmas goodies going into the package.  (Sorry, I'm not sorry, Elise!) 

Hooking up with the crazy (in a good way) Alyx on this fine Sunday.  

(She has 5 confessions, because it's a list, and she has to have 5 things on it. hehe)

Check her out!  

I hope your weekend wraps up nicely!

See you guy tomorrow for a wrap up of the weekend...

that I just realized I basically told you all about in this post.  

Huh.  

Well, we'll have something going on. Promise.

Adios amigos! 

Roundup of Links I'm Lovin

Hey guys... Happy Thursday!

 Right at this moment I have this cooking in my crock pot at home. Mmmmmm...

Source: storyofmylifetheblog.blogspot.com via Cynthia on Pinterest

Split pea soup, gonna be so good!  It even rained last night so (hopefully) it won't be like eating hot soup on a summer night this evening!  We'll see.  ;-)   
(Thanks JENNI for the recipe!)


A Few Notes from Neverland: 
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1) The lovely Erica, over at Mi Todo has been writing a Throwback Thursday series, 
to document events/trips that took place pre-blogging.  
We've emailed about co-hosting a link-up!  
I know I have tons of ideas already.  She has already done quite a few fun ones!  
In fact, her trip to British Columbia is what inspired my first Throwback post, and I wrote about Vancouver last week.  :-)  
Erica has kindly offered to make us a button so we should be getting something a little more organized together soon!  
So, if you think that sounds fun... 
a) let me know! 
(so I can try to put you on some kind of reminder list maybe? Am I that organized?? We'll see.)
and b) stay tuned!

2) The typewriter necklace giveaway is still on over at Be Freckled, check it out! 

3) My BRAVE giveaway is still going on, see below!! 

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On to some link love... 
I keep a running list of stuff I find online that is fun or interesting, and I figured why not share it with you, my wonderful readers?  :-)  
I hope you find something you like, or a new blog to read, or just a laugh!

1) Ex-pat blogger Lauren and her husband devised an adorably cute plan for finding out (and revealing) the sex of their TWINS!  Too stinkin' cute if you ask me. 

http://www.aspiringkennedy.com/2012/11/guess-what-were-having.html

2) If you liked this post I wrote mentioning The Babysitters Club, you will LOVE this site.  Trust me, just click on it!

http://www.whatclaudiawore.com/

3) I just love these journals, recipe organizers, planners, etc. from Gadanke.
http://www.gadanke.com/product/she-gray-european-paper-writing-prompt-journal-quote-collection-1-0

 

4) Alyx is another momma-to-be blogger.  I seriously love her baby thoughts so far.  
I kinda love her in general, she's a cool/funny lady.
http://www.itsalyx.com/   

5) I LOVE THIS ETSY SHOP (Pretty Whimsical)!!   
Especially these Scrabble tile pendants... I could buy one for everyone I know! 
(As demonstrated below. A few for me, a few gifts.  I think I could go for a baker's dozen actually!  haha)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/prettywhimsical

 #1 for Me, #2 for Gesci, #3 for English 
#4 for Renee, #5 for Me, #6 for Janna
#7 for Gesci, #8 for Kristen, #9 for my Mom

There are also a few new blogs that I have found via giveaways and swaps I've been involved in lately:
Nikki won the yellow/gray earring giveaway on Mish's blog  

Erica won the butterfly earring giveaway on Kristen's blog 
Elise is my ornament swap recipient 
and Crystal is my ornament swap giver via Erin's swap!

If you are on the look out for new blogs, check these ladies out! 

Hope everyone has had a good week so far.  Looking forward to Friday!  

Although I found out this week that my company "accidentally" scheduled our floating holiday incorrectly.  We all THOUGHT we had Monday (Veteran's Day) off, but we don't!  LAME! Luckily I didn't have any real plans but still.. I thought it was gonna be a 3 day weekend!  :-(  Well, at least Thanksgiving is coming up.  ;-)

Monday? Already...?

Oops... I didn't start my Weekend Recap post last night, 

therefore I am not finishing it this morning, like I SHOULD BE!  

 I just wanted to pop in (even without a real post, haha) to let you know I am giving away a super cute necklace (from Etsy, see below!) over on Be Freckled today!  Please, go check it out and enter to win the necklace and/or any of the other fabulous prizes!! 

I hope you all had a great weekend!!

I hope to be getting some weekend details up later this afternoon.

If not, then I'll chat at ya tomorrow! :-)

Sunday Confessions

 Hola amigos! 

(Amigas? Probably. I doubt any guys are reading...but...just in case!) 

Linking up with the lovely Alyx today for.... 

Today I've gotta confess....

Tonight I will be rooting for the Tigers in the World Series game 4, even though I want the Giants to win it.  I don't want to see a sweep!  Not ready for baseball season to be over.  :-(

Source: mlb.mlb.com via Cynthia on Pinterest

I really need should go to the dentist, SOON!  My insurance provider changes so often that I haven't had a consistent dentist to keep me on regularly scheduled appointments. Like for 5 years.  :-(    I think they are in good shape, but I need a good cleaning.  

I didn't read (or write!) any blogs this weekend. Sorry guys!  But, I have an excuse, my mom was here to visit. :-)  I'm hoping to catch up on the reading in the next couple of days.  And, definitely, the writing!  I've got some fun stuff coming up!  (Dog costumes, my VERY FIRST giveaway!!, holidays, and lots of other ideas.) 

I'm kinda excited about being featured on Mish's blog this weekend! She lives here, in San Diego, and is a pretty cool chick.  She and her boyfriend are taking off on a round the world adventure soon!  If you don't follow her, you might want to.  ;-)  (And I am giving away some really pretty earrings!  Click over and enter!!) 

I'm tired...from doing nothing all weekend.  haha!   Not looking forward to the alarm clock going off tomorrow morning. 

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Hope everyone had a good weekend.  

And anybody reading from the East Coast, stay safe in the face of Sandy!!

P.S.  Kristen @ Whiskey Tango Foxtrot's "700 Follower Celebration" giveaway is still going on, too.  

More cute earrings from me, and a bunch of other stuff from the other ladies!   

Click here to enter that one!  :-)  Good luck!!

Weekend Rewind & 10/22

Hi guys, happy Monday (if there is such a thing?)

So, this weekend....

My car hit 30K miles on the way home from work Friday.  

I am pretty sure it just passed 20K a couple months ago...

It was cloudy and drizzly all Friday (and Saturday)

My plumeria bloomed! 

I got my hair colored and trimmed.  

(And apparently one eye was trying to go to sleep.)

My boyfriend bought a leather suit for motorcycle riding.  It made me laugh. 

We made some (Americanized) Korean BBQ at home on Saturday night.  

It was a family affair.   :-)

Sunday we spent most of the day grumbling and going to Home Depot multiple times to try to fix the ice/water dispenser on our fridge.  FUN! (haha, NOT!!)  We finally got it put back together, pumping out water, and not leaking sometime late in the afternoon.   Then we made chile rellenos for dinner!  Yummmm. 

And.... TODAY is my birthday!  :-)    Unfortunately I have to work, but I'll be having some yummy birthday dinner later. And I am getting some (decidedly unromantic, but fully necessary) tires for my car from the BF this year.  And my mom will be coming down this weekend to visit and watch the World Series.  Yay! 

Me, Age 4 ...many years ago!

Most of the time I don't think a whole lot about my age.  

Sometimes, though, I can't avoid it....

 

Recently I went with a couple of my (significantly younger) co-workers to see The Bloggess at a book signing.  On the way there I mentioned that Soleil Moon Frye would be moderating the event.  They both looked blank.  (Ok, I thought, maybe they are too young to remember her name.)  "You know, Punky Brewster?"  More blank looks.  Ouch! 

Source: google.com via hilary on Pinterest

Oh well, I'm getting old.  Nothing I can do to change it!

Hope everyone has a great week!

I may or may not be counting down to next weekend already.  :-)