Happy Halloween!

It's time for my favorite holiday at last! I have a grocery list ready and cleaning underway all to get ready for tonight's Halloween shindig. I can't wait to dress up in my costume, most of which was bought on Etsy, and hand out candy to all the little trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood. We bought extra candy this year, because we usually run low as it is...but with us having friends over tonight, our porch light will stay on longer, which will probably mean more little monsters and goblins wanting candy.

I will be making a yummy drink called Pond Scum tonight. Don't worry, it tastes better than the name sounds! :)

Pond Scum

3 oz. Club Soda

1 oz. Vodka

1/2 oz. Bailey's Irish Cream

Pour into a highball glass and float Irish Cream.

Oh, and just because no Halloween could be complete without some Charlie Brown... Happy Halloween, everyone!

Friday Feature

For today's Friday Feature, I thought I'd do something a bit different. Since tomorrow is my very favorite holiday, today I'm featuring some wonderful handmade Halloween goodies! Enjoy!

Let's start off with an adorable lampwork pirate pig bead. There were so many beads in Gelly's shop, that it was hard to decide. But the pirate piggy's name made the choice for me... Take a look at Capn Jack Sparerib! (Capn Jack Sparerib lampwork bead, $30.00)

The doggie costumes in Spoiled Bratzwear's shop makes me wish

that my own doggie would wear a costume. But alas, Booger doesn't like to wear anything but his fur. :) But if I could get him to dress up, I'd totally buy him this ladybug costume. Maybe next year I'll get one for my brother-in-law's dog, Holly. I bet he'd *love* that idea. :) Ladybug, Ladybug, fly away home, $30.00)

No Halloween could be complete without a survival kit. The Canton Box Company carries just such a necessity. Vampire problem? Have no fear! (Just make sure you have your kit with you.) (Halloween Survival Kit, $33.00)

Halloween Humor

Happy Thursday-before-Halloween, everyone! This is one of my favorite Halloween funnies. Makes me laugh every time. :)

Music Monday

As one of my friends put it in her Facebook status... It's Halloween week! Halloween is my very favorite holiday. Seriously. I had my costume picked out a long time ago. (I even planned ahead and bought parts of it on Etsy!) I love all of the decorations, spooky music, movies, all of it! Surprisingly enough, I'm not big on horror films.... the Halloween movies are about as horror as I'll go.

Anyway, the point of all of my rambling is to let you know that my blog postings this week will be Halloween-ish, if that's the right way to describe it. Starting today with Music Monday, featuring the intro song from one of my favorites, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Enjoy!

Hump Day Humor

Fall is a busy time of year for me at school. Between getting ready for PTA programs, Fall Festival performances, and a 4th grade field trip to the symphony, I sometimes feel like I'm running around like a madwoman here at school. Since I have school on the brain at the moment, today's humor is brought to you by one of my second grade students.

Why didn't Beethoven like the chickens?

Because they say, "Bach, Bach, Bach."

:)

Etsy Veg Team Rocks!

This week I've been making my To Do list for this Saturday's festival (and checking it twice, don'tcha know). Meanwhile, I received a nice message from Kylie, fellow Etsy Veg teammate, letting me know that my Cuticle Balm was included in a treasury on the Etsy Veg blog. Definitely check it out, Etsy Veg-ers make some fabulous products!

Music Monday

The PE teacher at my school really doesn't like roosters. As far as I know, she doesn't have anything against the actual bird. She just can't stand rooster decorations. You know, the country-looking home decor with roosters. Anyway, over the weekend some teachers at our school (who shall remain nameless....) decorated said PE teacher's office in the gym. Needless to say, there were rooster decorations involved. All day long I had a children's folk song stuck in my head (not surprising, I teach elementary music after all). I tried to find it on You Tube to put in my blog for you today, but no such luck. Instead I found this really neat Rolling Stones cover of "Little Red Rooster" from 1965. Enjoy!

Oh, and cock-a-doodle-doo! :)

New Soaps!

It's that time of year, when the weather gets cooler (sometimes...this chilly weather really is unusual for us) and you just want to curl up under a blanket with something hot to drink. While I always say that my favorite season is Spring, I'm absolutely in love with Fall scents. Recently I listed Autumn Afternoon, which to me smells just like I imagine an Autumn day should smell -- crisp and clean.

Today I'd also like to introduce you to my two latest Fall soaps -- Pumpkin Spice and Apple

Cinnamon.

Pumpkin Spice smells just like it sounds. If you're like me, and your favorite dessert at Thanksgiving is anything with pumpkin in it, you'll love this soap. My Pumpkin Spice soap is colored with a small bit of copper mica to help give it a little of that orange color all of us pumpkin pie fans know and love. (Pumpkin Spice Soap, $5.00)

As much as I love my Pumpkin Spice soap, I have to (secretly)

admit that Apple Cinnamon is my new Fall favorite. To me, cinnamon and apples are a yummy combination of scents. Not only can you smell the cinnamon, but I also used some ground cinnamon to make the brown swirl in the soap. These soaps look like marbled apple cinnamon cake. Yum! (Apple Cinnamon Soap, $5.00)

You can find both of my new soaps in my Etsy and Artfire shops.

Music Monday

Lately I've been listening to Pandora Radio in the mornings when I'm getting ready for school. I love having this app on my iPhone, because I can put the phone on the counter and listen to music, but I can also see the time...which is great, because I'm definitely not a morning person at all.

Anyway, one of my favorite channels is the Simon and Garfunkel channel. If you haven't noticed, I love folk and folksy music. :) The first Simon and Garfunkel song I really fell in love with was "April Come She Will." I remember listening to the LP that my parents had, and playing this song over and over again. My mom loved that I enjoyed Simon and Garfunkel. I don't know how many times I heard about how they played at Miami when she was in college. (And this is the "good" Miami, the one in Ohio, as my mom would say.)