Hump Day Humor

Today our 4th graders took one of their TAKS tests. The rest they'll take next month. Since some students were testing in small groups throughout the building, all of the students had to be especially quiet in the hallway today. So enjoy some standardized testing humor. :)

Music Monday

Since today is a chilly, rainy day, I thought this seemed appropriate. Relax, and enjoy! Oh, but you might want to go to the bathroom first.... ;)

Friday Five

Later this evening I'll be back up at school for Fun Night. This is a twice a year fundraiser for the Enrichment team (music, art, PE, and computer). The parent pays for their child to come up to school for three hours of dodge ball, board games, and a movie. It's a lot of fun for the kids, and is cheap babysitting for the parents. :) So today's Friday Five is all about children's games. Enjoy!

First is a fun felt play mat from One Mom to Another. She has several styles to choose from in her shop, but this particular mat is custom made for your child. Send her a photo of your daughter, and the dress-up doll on the felt mat will have your daughter's face! (Princess Dress-Up Felt Play Mat, $30.00).

Next is a personalized I Spy sachet from Chicks & Chickadees. She carries many varieties of I Spy sachets, but one of my favorites form her shop is the Green Flower Pillow. Each Sachet can be customized for your child. You can have the sachet personalized, either words or pictures on the ID card, and if your child has special interests or hobbies, she will do her best to include those. Fun and educational! (Personalized I Spy... My ABCs... and My Colors Sachet - Green Flower Pillow, $25.00).

The last three items are all beautifully crafted from wood. From Sherri Crafts 4U From Me, a wooden doggie memory set. Each wooden disc is hand-stamped with dog-related images, and comes in a cotton fabric bag for carrying. Due to the small size of the discs, this game is not recommended for children ages 4 and younger. (Memory Matching Game - Dog Edition, $12.95).

What collection of handmade children's games and toys would be complete without building blocks? It's the classic children's toy. Christopher H makes all of his blocks from reclaimed wood pallets, from a variety of wood types. This particular set includes six different sizes, and the different varieties of wood give the blocks different shades and textures. The blocks are packaged in a plastic bucket with a snap-on lid for easy storage, and currently has free shipping. (Solid Wood Toy Blocks - 50 pieces, $43.00).

Finally, a unique children's game - story starter dice from The Small Object. Maybe it's the teacher in me, but I think this is a wonderful idea. Each set comes with three wooden hand-stamped dice, a Match + Write notepad, index sheet, and a muslin bag to store the dice in. A great way to help your child to be creative! (Tell Me A Story Set, $35.00).

Hump Day Humor

Since I've spent the last two days home sick, I thought this picture was very appropriate. :) Enjoy!


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Music Monday

Over the weekend I finally watched August Rush, and seriously, I don't know why I waited so long to see it. Some of my fourth graders had told me that I should watch it earlier this school year, and I had it on the Netflix queue, but didn't move it to the top of the list until about a week ago. This movie is WONDERFUL. The music is pretty good too. :) And according to IMDB, Johnathan Rhys Meyers actually performs the songs that his character Louis sings. Bonus points for that.

This song combines classical with rock, which they do a couple of times in the movie. The two main characters, Lyla and Louis, are musicians. Lyla plays classical cello, and Louis is an Irish rocker. So when they're playing at the same time, their music plays together too. Enjoy!

Sunday Spotlight

Welcome to my new Sunday Spotlight. Each Sunday I'll spotlight a few handmade items from one crafter. Today's Spotlight is Blossom's Wild Herb Lavender Farm. At Blossom's Farm, they grow all of their herbs and plants on a 12 acre farm in northeast Ohio. I bet it's beautiful, and it probably smells great too.

Not surprisingly, since I'm a soaper, we're starting with a bath and body gift set. This particular gift set includes one lavender linen and body dew, one lavender lotion bar, and one lavender essential oil blend soap. Your shipping is included with the price of the gift set, so there are no surprises at checkout. (Lavender Lavender Gift Collection, $21.90)

Blossom Farm also makes a delicious-sounding Lavender Honey. Lavender blossoms are infused in local honey. I think this would be great on a biscuit or toast in the morning, and Blossom Farm recommends it for ice cream and tea. (8 oz. Lavender Honey, $12.90)


Finally, let's look at one more gift set. This one is full of spices and seasonings. The Wild Spice gift set includes Lavender Pepper, Herbes de Provence, Tuscan Lavender Bread Dip, and Lavender Wild Steak Shake. I'm especially interested in the bread dip. Add some of the seasoning to your olive oil, and dip your crusty Italian bread in it. Sounds yummy! (Lavender Wild Spice Blend Gift Collection, $19.90)

Friday Five

This week marks two changes in my blog staples. I'm changing my Friday posts from a Friday Feature to a Friday Five. One subject, five wonderful handmade products. Oh, and be sure to stop by over the weekend to read another new weekly feature.

Today's Friday Five is all about the Olympics. I love to watch them, even though I'm not remotely athletically coordinated. For example, when I do the balance games on Wii Fit, it asks me if I often fall over while standing up. Yes, but since when is that a crime...

Let's start with beautiful Vancouver. One of the best parts of watching the Olympics is getting to enjoy the scenery. Canada is definitely on my list of places I'd love to visit someday. This lovely photograph comes from Shane Kelly (Vancouver Whistler Mountain Peak and Huskies, $25.00).

Next, let's look at an inspiring art carving from solamar7. This Inukshuk carving looks like a rock, but amazingly enough is carved in foam! Which means it will be lightweight and easy to hang on your wall (Believe Inukshuk Carved Styro Art, $42.00).


I'd like to end with some snowboarding. To me, it's one of the more exciting sports to watch. I loved watching both the men and the women's runs. If I could pick any sport to do, I really think snowboarding would be it, because it looks like so much fun. But I also know it takes balance, which I don't have... So I'll stick to watching it, and enjoying beautiful artwork like this one, found in Ussher Art's Etsy shop (Free Flow, $225.00).


Speaking of snowboarding, watching Shaun White the other night was exciting. The best part was when he had already won the gold before he even did his second run, and he asked everyone with him if he should just go down the middle. While I loved seeing his new trick, that would have been awesome too. From CraftinaT, a 5" felt Shaun (The Red Zeppelin, $39.00).


And finally, what better way than to support your future Olympic skier or snowboarder that with a shirt? From coup, a baseball-sleeve raglan shirt (Youth Olympic Hopeful, $20.00).

Music Monday

Ben and I have been watching the Olympics, like I'm sure some of you have been doing. (He even didn't change the channel when the pairs skating came on last night. *gasp*) I love Sarah McLachlan's music, and enjoyed listening to her perform during the opening ceremonies on Friday.

Enjoy!

Fresh Off the Curing Rack

Let's give a big welcome back to my Carbon soap! It's the first soap made by me in 2010. Yay!



We like to use Carbon on our faces in the morning. It contains bentonite clay and activated charcoal, plus a blend of lavender, tea tree, and lime essential oils. You can find my Carbon soap in any of my three shops (Etsy, 1000Markets, and ArtFire. Carbon soap, $5.00)

Friday Feature

For today's Friday Feature I'm doing something different. In the North Texas area we had record snowfall yesterday, which resulted in a snow day, at least in my own school district. (Thank goodness, car rider duty was bad enough yesterday with just a couple of inches of snow and slush.) So today's feature is the snow. :)

Here was Booger yesterday afternoon around 4:15 tromping around the backyard. Look at his tiny footprints. :) At this point the snow was tummy high for him.

During the night we had a even more snow. The satellite kept going out because of snow buildup in the dish. Ben went out twice with a broom to brush it out, but eventually gave up until this morning. Our backyard is now just a sea of white. Our poor brush trees at the back are bowed over from the weight of the snow.


The snow is now as tall as Booger, so this morning he won't go out in it at all. He's sticking to the part of the yard that's in the shadow of the house, where there is about 6" wide of space not snowed on. It's so pretty outside!


And we apparently had a bunny friend earlier this morning. There are bunny tracks all over our driveway and front yard. :)

I've Been Featured!

Grevious Angel Designs has included me in a wonderful Celtic treasury. Take a look at all of the Celtic-inspired items, including my own Irish Tweed Soap. Hurry though, the treasury will end Friday morning!

I'm also a spotlight in the Etsy Veg Team blog sidebar. Yay!

In other news, it's snowing here in DFW. Usually we don't get much snow, but I think this is our third snow/ice since November. Crazy! But it's been snowing since sometime during the night, and we have quite a bit of accumulation. I'm hoping to take a picture when I get home. It's beautiful outside!

Soup's On!

Since it's cold and wintry this week, it seemed like a good time to make some soup. So last night I made Hungry Girl's Southwestern Surprise soup. It's a whole lot like the taco soup teachers at my school make, which is just fine by me. I used Boca veggie crumbles instead of the meat (of course), and a packet of Chipotle taco seasoning. I also added a bell pepper and some spinach. Tasty! And since the recipe makes so much, I put one container of it straight into the freezer. The second container will make a lot of yummy, warm, lunches the rest of the week. Yay!

A New Month...

... a new cookbook!

This week I made the difficult choice of which cookbook of mine to cook from during February. I really had a hard time picking one, but the choice was made a little easier since I had to make soup or salad for our luncheon at school yesterday. I knew how yummy the Sassy Salsa and Pumpkin Soup from Hungry Girl: Recipes and Survival Strategies for Guilt-Free Eating in the Real World, so I went ahead and made that. So this month I'll actually be using a cookbook that I've cooked from several times, as opposed to last month where I cooked from a new one that I hadn't used before. Of course, it had been a Christmas gift, so it makes sense that I wouldn't have used it already.

So, back to the soup. The last time I made it with a chipotle salsa, and this time I used Joe T. Garcia's medium salsa. Joe T's is one of my all-time favorite restaurants EVER, and their salsa is sooooo good, but I think I liked the chipotle salsa better for the soup. It really added to the overall flavor. Next time I'm saving my Joe T's salsa for my baked Tostito Scoops. :)

Calamity Jenn Strikes Again

Last night as Ben and I were cooking dinner, it happened. I made (once again) a huge mess in the kitchen.

We were making sloppy joes, his with ground turkey, and mine from the Vegan Sloppy Joes recipe in my January cookbook, How it all Vegan! I had made the tomato sauce for mine in the food processor, and it was looking pretty good--all nice and tomato-ey. Ben had put the food processor out for me, around the corner of the counter and down at the end... not where I usually put it, but a decent spot, since we don't have a ton of counter space in the kitchen. So I'm turning to grab the tomato sauce so I can mix it with all of my veggie goodness in the skillet, and my arm knocked the bottle of olive oil off the counter and onto the floor.

I wasn't looking as I turned, but I must have been wild with my arms, because I know I didn't put the olive oil near the edge of the counter. And of course, the dog was already in the kitchen with me, so as I'm trying not to move and step on glass shards in my sock feet, I'm also trying to pick up the dog, so he doesn't step on the glass or go to town licking up the oil.

Did you know that it takes a REALLY long time to clean up a shattered bottle of olive oil that was more than 3/4 full? Ugh. Ben was really nice and did all of the sweeping and moping so that I wouldn't hurt my back (yes, I'm such an old lady... bad back and all). I helped by putting the dog up and fetching soapy water, clean water, rags, etc. Ugh. By then, our food was cooled off, since Ben had turned off the burners. Good thing, too, because it definitely would have burned, and then no sloppy joes for us!

Mine turned out really good, though. If you're a fan of veggie sloppy joes, definitely try it out. I used Boca veggie crumbles instead of TVP like the recipe called for. It's what I had on hand, but it worked just fine. Leftovers were pretty tasty at lunch today too! :)

Stay tuned, because a new month means a new cookbook to use! I have no idea which one to go with, there are so many in the cabinet.... ;)

Friday Feature

Today's Friday Feature is Gaia Conceptions. Andrea uses certified organic and eco-friendly fabrics in all of her creations, and custom makes your order specifically to your size. That's great for a tall girl like me! :) She also hand dyes the fabric, so be sure to check out all of the color options.

I wanted to start today's feature with Gaia Conceptions' Secret Pocket Long Skirt. I actually have two of these, one in natural and one in avocado. Every time I wear one to school, I always seem to get compliments on them. And they've been great to wear this winter too, with a pair of leggings underneath to keep my legs nice and warm during car rider duty. (Secret Pocket Long Skirt, $72.00)

Another piece I always love to look at is The Market Dress. I love the 3/4 sleeve, which is great for cooler weather, but Andrea can make it with a different length of sleeve for you. (The Market Dress, $145.00)

One thing I love about Gaia Conceptions clothing, other than the made-to-order sizing, is the way the photographs show different ways you can layer her pieces. For example, I would never have thought to pair The Market Dress with a pair of pants, but they definitely look great together.

Hump Day Humor

Please allow me to put on my dork hat for just a bit. I happen to love Star Trek. The original series is my favorite (I love that the newest movie went back to those original characters!), but I like most of the others too. You can read about just how much I love them here.

Ben came across this video clip. Thanks, Ben! We both laughed pretty hard over this one. Now, Next Generation is Ben's favorite, and I think we've agreed to disagree. I do love Patrick Stewart, though.

So if you like the occasional (or not so occasional) Star Trek, definitely take a look at this clip. Out of context clips put together make for funny stuff!

Enjoy!

Music Monday

I was just watching a rerun of Whose Line is it Anyway? which is a hilarious show if you've never seen it. I'm sad they no longer make new episodes, because this really is one of my favorite shows. Ben says I cackle when I watch it...but...I can't help it if I do sometimes, they're hilarious!

Anyway, this was at the very end of the episode I just watched. It's a song, so it counts for Music Monday, but it's really funny too. Enjoy!

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy

I know what you're thinking. Jenn, you didn't cook at *all* this week! What about your New Year's Resolution to cook at least once or twice each week???? Pshaw, I say. Sunday ends the week, and I definitely cooked tonight.

I made "Everything Goes" Stir-Fry, with Garlic Toss For Noodles. The recipe for the stir-fry makes me smile, because it actually calls for two cups of "everything goes" veggies -- basically, whatever veggies you have on hand. So I put carrot, onion, red bell pepper, broccoli, zucchini, spinach, and tempeh in mine. I cooked the Garlic Toss in a separate pan so the flavors could all gel together into some spicy garlic goodness, and then mixed it in with the veggies right before serving. Yum!

Oh, and just a side note. Don't forget to check on your rice as it cooks. I was so busy stirring my Garlic Toss into the stir-fry that I ended up with little crispy pieces of rice at the bottom of the pan. Turned out fine, but Calamity Jenn nearly struck again.

Hump Day Humor

OK, so I'm not going to claim that I found this on my own. Ben and I were watching Daniel Tosh's show on Comedy Central recently, and he showed this clip. But I loved it so much I had to share it with you guys. Enjoy!

Chili-rific!

So this past weekend was our second annual Chili Supper. We had a bunch of people come up from Austin, along with a bunch of our local friends too. All together there were five different types of chili. Personally, I thought mine was the best... It was also the only veggie chili, and so was the only one I tried. But keeping with my New Year's Resolution to cook one month from one of my cookbooks once or twice a week, I made a new chili recipe. I tried out Sarah's Delicious Chili from How it All Vegan! and it was pretty tasty. I hadn't had chili with garbanzo beans before, but I have to say that I liked it. I would have added some additional spice to the recipe after taste testing for seasoning, but my in-laws were joining us for dinner, and my mother in law can't handle any spice right now. So I was the good daughter in law and made mine not very spicy. *pat on back*

I also made Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies. This would be only the second time that I've made vegan cookies. These turned out so yummy! I picked up some chocolate chips that were swirled with peanut butter and added walnuts. Yum! The consistency was different from a non-vegan cookie. My friend Nick said it reminded him of a biscuit, but to me it was a cross between cake, cookie and biscuit. So good, you definitely should try this one.

Well, It's Friday...

...and I missed today's Friday Feature. No worries, I'm full of excuses tonight.

1. We had a workday at school, and I was busy workday-ing.
2. Ben and I are having friends over tomorrow, and we were cleaning and washing sheets from the guest room.
3. Tomorrow is chili supper, so I made a grocery list.
4. Oh, and I was finishing up counting shrink wrap and packaging for inventory. That's my very least favorite part of inventory, don'tcha know.
5. And how could I forget, I seem to have hurt my back. Again. As in, my back stretches and Aleve haven't done a lick of good. So here I am, about to lay down in bed with the heating pad. Here's hoping it will feel better in the morning, or at least well enough to stretch it better than I could tonight.

And yes, I know it seems that I haven't cooked this week, despite my New Year's Resolution. Well, that would be because I haven't. Sunday I made a Use Up What You Have pasta-casserole-bake. I cooked up the last of the package of macaroni from Thanksgiving, and mixed it with the last of the veggies from when I made pizza that week, with the last of the Zesty Tomato Pesto sauce, also from pizza night, and the last of a package of veggie crumbles. Mix it all together, top with vegan Parmesan, bake for about 15 minutes at 350, and you're good to go. The leftovers made for pretty tasty lunches this week.

No worries, though. Tomorrow is Chili Supper. But enough for tonight. Right now my bed and heating pad are calling. Goodnight!

Music Monday

I just came home from dinner after my Orffestra program at school. Orffestra is my after-school club of 3rd and 4th graders. We sing and play Orff instruments, with a lot of the music we play coming from the Orff Music for Children Volumes, and basically have a good ol' musical time. Today's Music Monday is inspired by a different Carl Orff piece, Carmina Burana--one of my favorite vocal pieces *ever.*

Enjoy!

Pizza Crust is Hard to Do

Now just sing the title of this post to the tune of "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" and you'll be on the same page as me. Of course, it could be because right now I'm watching an episode of Buffy that has everyone singing and dancing.

Last night I tried my hand at making Yeast Free Pizza Crust, along with Zesty Tomato Pesto. Well the sauce turned out great, I added a bit more garlic and basil than the recipe called for, but then I do love garlic more than any other seasoning. The crust was another thing altogether. Yesterday I said it couldn't be too hard, but I think I spoke too soon. Should've learned my lesson from the lasagna noodle fiasco. Dough is hard...at least for me. *sigh* I'll get the hang of it eventually...

Music Monday.... and Go Frogs!

Today is not only Music Monday, it's also my first day back at school from Winter Break, Dinner No. 2 from my New Year's Resolution, AND... the TCU bowl game! Wow, what a busy day! I forgot how tired I always am the first day back at school, and then I had to run by the grocery to pick up a couple of things for tonight (like parsley... the store I was at yesterday didn't have it, gah!).

Honestly, the last thing I want to do tonight is cook. Fortunately, I'm making pizza, which is pretty painless. The only thing is, I'm making Zesty Tomato Pesto and Yeast Free Pizza Crust from How it all Vegan! I've never made pizza crust before, but it doesn't look so bad.

So here I am on the couch, already tuned into Fox, wearing TCU plaid flannel jammies, and a TCU t-shirt. Go Frogs, beat the Broncos! (The video isn't from when I played in the band not too long ago, but it's nice to see that pregame hasn't changed!)

Hump Day Humor

I was so busy today, that I almost forgot to put up my humor for today! And that really would've been a shame, because this is really funny. I came across this print in Dan Jackson's Etsy shop. Enjoy! :)

(108 Print Guitar Hero, $22.00)

I Knead Noodles

Ha, get it? Yep, I'm a dork.

The lasagna turned out pretty yummy last night, but I can't say the same for my first attempt at homemade noodles. Apparently I didn't knead the dough long enough the first time, because when I put it through the roller part, the dough fell to pieces. So I kneaded and kneaded, and kneaded some more, and tried again. Came out fine, and I cut it into lasagna-sized strips. But when I cooked them in the boiling water, a bunch of them came apart. When I drained the water, I had a few whole noodles, and lots of little bits of noodle. So I ended up having to use the store bought no-cook noodles anyway, which ended up working out great.

And speaking of lasagna, here's a good looking one I found in GulfCoastCottagePDF's Etsy shop. (Italian Feast Felt Food PDF Pattern, $5.99)

Music Monday

Tonight starts my New Year's Resolution, and yes, I know it's a little early. Oh well. I was inspired. (And if you have no clue what I'm talking about, check yesterday's blog update.) One month of cooking from my newest cookbook, How it all Vegan! by Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer. My mom is coming over, along with possibly a couple of guy friends, and I'm making Classic Spinach Lasagna, with homemade Traditional Tomato Sauce from the same cookbook. (Homemade pasta sauce rocks, and is super easy!) I'm also making Easy Garlic Spread and cooking it in some puff pastry to make garlic bread rolls. Yum! I bought some lasagna noodles just in case, because the closer it gets to cook time, the more chicken I'm getting about making my own pasta. We'll see... I might save homemade pasta for another night when I won't have company...

What about Music Monday? Hold your horses, I was just getting to that. I was putting groceries in the trunk of my car today and had a very "hippie" moment. In the Whole Foods parking lot, wearing faux-suede boots and an organic cotton skirt, putting reusable grocery sacks filled with tofu and organic veggies into the tiny trunk of my Beetle...

Needless to say, I listened to some Beatles on the way home.

This is one of my favorites. Enjoy!

Whew!

I hadn't realized that it's been so long since I updated my blog... Oops! The holidays are busy for everyone, so hopefully you didn't miss me too much. ;) All I know is, we were definitely Christmas-ed out. Five is a little much, but there's not really much to be done about that. It's nice to be able to spend time with so many different family members, though!

During my week away from school, I've been doing some thinking. And no, it didn't hurt, thank you very much.

Ben and I have been going out to eat most nights, and not cooking at all. For a while I was doing pretty good about cooking at least one dinner per week at home, but the last couple of weeks the only cooking I've done is to take to Christmas Eve dinner at Ben's grandmother's house. The way our schedules are, Ben and I really only eat together Monday and Wednesday nights, plus the weekend. So ideally, one (or both) of those nights would be staying at home for a home-cooked meal. Then, since Mr. Picky Pants doesn't really care for leftovers, that would leave me with lunches to take to school or leftover dinners for nights that I eat without him.

So I've decided that my New Year's resolution this year is to cook one or two dinners per week. That being said, I am a cookbook-holic. Yes, I admit it. I love to look at cookbooks, but the problem is that since I don't cook often, they don't get much use. This means that part of my Cooking Resolution is going to be to use those books! Right now I'm thinking of spending one month per cookbook, so I can try out as many recipes as possible. And I'm not afraid to admit that I was inspired by watching the movie Julie and Julia while wrapping presents. I'm starting with How it all Vegan! by Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer, which my mom gave me for Christmas. Oh, did I forget to mention that I've recently started cooking vegan at home? Except for Christmas Eve macaroni and cheese, that is. My mom is coming over for dinner tomorrow night, so I'm making something from my new cookbook. I'm also trying my hand at handmade pasta, to use my brand new pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aid. Wish me luck!

It's the Holiday Season!

It's finally starting to feel like Christmas in our house. First of all, to give you a little background, we're "not allowed" to put up Christmas decorations until *after* Ben's birthday at the beginning of December. Yes, he has a complex. And since I don't have any Fall/Thanksgiving decorations, the Halloween decorations stayed up inside the house until the weekend after Thanksgiving. I know, I know, that's way too long. Halloween is my favorite holiday. Sue me. :)

When we bought our house a couple of years ago, we thought it would be a good time to upgrade our tiny, apartment-sized Christmas tree to a house-sized one. Well, it barely fit in the 2-door Civic Ben drove at the time. I sat crammed in the corner of the backseat while the front seat was folded backwards so the giant box could lay in the entire passenger side of the car at an angle. Putting it together was a big adventure. You'd think a pre-lit tree wouldn't be so bad. You'd be wrong. Two years of listening to Ben yell and curse at the tree, and several broken light bulbs later, he decided he's not putting it together anymore. (Taking it apart was just as bad.) Oh, and did I mention that the darn thing was too big for the room anyway?

So after us not putting up a tree at all last year, I finally convinced him that we should get an aluminum tree. You know, the kind that they put up way back in the day. (I found this awesome vintage tree ad on Curly Wurly's blog. Lots of great stuff to look at!)

I already had my grandma's old color wheel in the attic, so all we had to do was get a tree. Low and behold, they sell aluminum trees on Amazon! So tonight we put it together, and it was *way* less stressful. Almost peaceful, even! So I'm ranking our new vintage-looking aluminum tree among my top purchases ever.

In no particular order: ski gloves and jacket for car rider duty at school, Neti pot, tiny whisks, and the aluminum tree.

Friday Feature

Today's Friday Feature is Designs by Kari, who I met on a BNS thread on Etsy. Kari makes gorgeous jewelry. In fact, I've ordered from her a couple of times. :) Not only is everything in her shop beautiful to look at, she is currently running a 25% off sale! All you have to do is put "Happy Holidays" in the notes to seller at checkout to receive your refund.

Honestly, I had trouble picking just a few items to feature today, so I started with something I have a weakness for... Rings! Kari's Raspberry Coral ring is made with a raspberry coral cabochon on a silver plated adjustable base. I personally love buying adjustable rings, because I can make them smaller in the winter when my hands are cold and shrunken! :) (Raspberry Coral Ring, $10.00)

Another beautiful item in Kari's shop, her Rock of Love Necklace, is on sale! The focal bead is jasper, with fuscia, black and green all swirled together. I love how the green Czech glass beads pop and give the necklace sparkle. (Rock of Love Necklace, $22.40)

Hump Day Humor

It's Wednesday. And you know what that means. It's business time - conditions are perfect. :)

Thanksgiving Weekend Sale

This weekend in all of my shops I'm offering a free lip or cuticle balm with your purchase of a bar of soap, sugar scrub, facial scrubbing mask, solid perfume, or fizzy milk and mineral bath. Wow! Buy a great gift for yourself or someone special, and get a free stocking stuffer! Sale ends Monday, so be sure to check it out before it's too late.

My Etsy.

My 1000Market.

My ArtFire.

Hump Day Humor

This morning I was searching for a Thanksgiving joke to post, but stumbled across this picture. In the spirit of Monday's post, I thought it was appropriate. :)

Music Monday

Since Sesame Street (one of my all-time favorite childhood TV shows!) celebrated its 40th birthday recently, today's Music Monday is full of Sesame Street goodness. Seriously, you can't listen to this and not smile. Enjoy!

Support Your Local Businesses

Today I came across an interesting article in Etsy's blog, the Storque, about why you should support your local businesses. Stacy Mitchell from the New Rules Project discusses how big chain stores, like Wal-Mart, have caused all sorts of problems, from increased greenhouse gas emissions to a decreased middle class.

Basically, buying locally benefits your own community. Not surprisingly. By purchasing from local businesses, indie crafters, or farmers, you help keep people in your own community employed. My own town was into a form of this idea over the summer. I saw "Shop Mansfield" signs on most of the store entrances I went past. Of course, most of these were chains anyway... Kind of defeats the purpose of Stacy's article.

Some cities, like Portland, have really embraced the whole buy local idea. They even have their own website. So if you're in the Portland area and are wanting to support your own community, be sure to check out the Portland Buy Local website. I did my own search to see if there was anything like the Portland site for my own community. Unfortunately it doesn't look like a comprehensive site like that exists for the Dallas-Fort Worth community. But I did come across the Go Local - Buy Local site, which looks promising. Here's hoping the north Texas area can get on the buy local bandwagon!

That being said, if you live in the north Texas area, you're definitely buying local at Bohemian Rose Bath & Soap! ;)

Hump Day Humor

Today's humor is brought to you by Gordon Keith of The Ticket, a sports talk radio show in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I listen every day on my way to and from work... They're hilarious, you should definitely take a listen. Anyway, this morning Gordon mentioned a photo of Wade Phillips, the Dallas Cowboys coach. Hope it brightens your day. :)

Two New Soaps

Tonight I'd like to introduce you to the two newest members of the Bohemian Rose Bath & Soap family - Carbon and Cranberry Fig.

Carbon is a soap I've been making for a while, but it has recently been reformulated a bit. Activated carbon gives the soap it's lovely gray color. I also included Bentonite clay in with the soap. Lavender, tea tree and lime essential oils complete the herbal scent blend. Ben and his friend Joe like using Carbon on their faces. (I use it on my face in the summer when my face is feeling more oily than normal.)

Oh, and Joe made up a tag line for it... "Carbon - for when real men want to get clean." Thanks! :) (Carbon Soap, $5.00)

Cranberry Fig is a sweetly tart scent. The tart cranberry and sweet fig balance each other out. It's the best of both worlds! Plus, I included cranberry seeds in the soap for some exfoliation. If you have sensitive skin, be gentle with the cranberry seeds. (Cranberry Fig Soap, $5.00)

Music Monday

In honor of next week, which happens to be Ben's favorite holiday, today's Music Monday features the theme song from the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special. Classic. Enjoy!

Hump Day Humor

I'm having a really hard time this week remembering what day it is. In fact, I have said to a couple of my students that I'm having a long week. Their response: "But it's only Tuesday!"

I played in a Veteran's Day Wind Symphony concert Sunday night, then had a PTA program at school Monday evening. Usually on Tuesdays we have Wind Symphony rehearsal, but yesterday's was cancelled. Ben and I were watching TV, and I had trouble remembering that it was Tuesday, since I would normally have been at rehearsal. So today I have my Orffestra kiddos after school, but it doesn't feel at ALL like Wednesday to me.

For any of you having issues like I am this week, here's a funny picture. I laughed at the kitty, because my little Booger is the exact same way. Cat-like in so many ways. :)


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

If You Love Autumn...

...then you should pop on over to CJ's Fine Designs. My Pumpkin Spice lip balm is included in a lovely Autumn feature. Thanks, CJ, for including me!

Music Monday

Today's Music Monday is all about easing you back into the week. Did you have a busy Halloween weekend like we did? Feeling like you need to chill? Then sit back, relax, and listen to some Josh Groban. Trust me, you'll feel much better afterwards. :)

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.)

Music Monday

My husband showed me this last night, and I thought it was pretty much the neatest music remix I've seen in a while. If you like science, space, Carl Sagan, or Stephen Hawking, this video is right up your alley. Oh, and if you're like me, and you enjoy all of those things too, you should check out The Universe. This is pretty much the coolest science show ever. Seriously. Then again, I love learning about space. Maybe I'm just a nerd.

Hump Day Humor

This week was a tough choice... There were two kittehs that made me laugh pretty hard. Since my September blogging hasn't been as regular as I'd like, you may enjoy two--yes, two--laughs today. You're welcome.

Music Monday

Wow, I can't believe it's so far into September and I haven't blogged! Well here to kick off the month (even if it's a couple of weeks late) is a song from Chicago. I love musicals, but we're playing a medley from Chicago in the Mansfield Wind Symphony for the Mansfield Pecan Festival later this month. So I've especially had this song stuck in my head for a couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Friday Feature

Today's Friday Feature is Elemental Dragons!

At Elemental Dragons you can find precious polymer clay dragons from one of seven different clans, each with their very own story. One of my favorites from her shop is Hankie of the Water Clan. I just love his little ears! Hankie also has lovely wings and glow in the dark eyes. You know you want to give this little guy a home. (Hankie of the Water Clan Elemental Dragon, $15.00)

New at Bohemian Rose!

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since my last blog post! Although I really shouldn't be... Two of my busiest weeks during the year are the week that school starts and the week before. So if you haven't guessed, I've been doing the back to school thing. Which means I've been really tired in the evenings, even taking a nap yesterday! And I don't nap that often.

Even though I've had my hands full, I've still had soap on the curing rack. So I'm happy to introduce you to Minty Lavender, one of my favorite scents.

Refreshing peppermint and spearmint blended with soothing lavender. This scent brightens my day every time I smell it. It goes well with my Minty Lavender lip balm and sugar scrub too... (Minty Lavender Soap, $5.00)

Friday Feature

Before we get any farther, let me just say that it's just about lunchtime here, and I'm starting to get hungry. That being said, today's Friday Feature is.... Heaven Baked Sweets! I just got a box of goodies from her the other day, and they're all fantastic.

The first cookie that drew me into her shop, and ultimately I ended up buying, are her Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies. How can you pass up a cookie with bits of Andes mint in them? If you know me at all, you know that mint/chocolate is one of my favorite flavor combinations (ahem...Mint Chocolate lip balm, anyone?) of all time. When I told Ben about the cookies we would get in the mail soon, he asked if I was planning on giving one to his dad. My father in law *loves* Andes mints. When we go to Olive Garden, he's always happy when the server brings a giant handful to the table at the end of the meal. (Andes Creme de Menthe Big Bite Cookies, $13.00 for one dozen)

Not sure if you want to commit to an entire dozen of cookies? Heaven Baked Sweets also offers sample sized orders of many of her goodies. I ordered a sample of her Pomegranate Cream Brownie Bites, and they're full of tart chocolatey goodness. Even Ben enjoyed the bite I let him have, and he's a majorly picky eater. :) (Sample Pomegranate Cream Brownie Bites, $4.25)

Hump Day Humor

One of my favorite websites to read is Totally Looks Like. Seriously, it cracks me up every time.

Old Tree Totally Looks Like Clint Eastwood

see more Celeb Look-A-Likes

New Lip Balms!

Today I had the chance to take photos of the two newest editions to my lip balm line -- Vanilla Mint and Irish Cream. (And of course you'll find them in both my Art Fire and Etsy shops.) Both of these wonderful new flavors are also part of the Pick Two lip and cuticle balms. You can find that offer here.

The brightness of peppermint softened with sweet vanilla. Such a lightly refreshing combination of flavor! (Vanilla Mint Lip Balm at Art Fire and Etsy, $3.00)

What could be better at the end of the day than a glass of Irish cream over ice? Smooth, sweet and chocolatey all at once. Cheers! (Irish Cream Lip Balm at Art Fire and Etsy, $3.00)

Music Monday

Ben and I were in Austin this weekend. Friday night we were at a breakfast-for-dinner party, and Saturday night was game night. Lots of fun times! Yesterday for lunch we went someplace I hadn't been before -- Shady Grove. Not only was the food really good, the scenery was great too. Huge shade trees cover the entire back patio area, which keeps the whole area nice and cool.

The entire time we were at Shady Grove, I had a folk song stuck in my head. I played it for everyone when we got back to the car, and got it stuck in my friends' heads too. This version is different than the one I played for my friends. I played the Jean Ritchie version for them, which I posted in my blog back in June. This version is for all you Dead Heads out there -- Jerry Garcia's version of Shady Grove. Enjoy! :)

Hump Day Humor

This morning I was browsing Graph Jam, and came across the following graph. Now I have Sesame Street songs stuck in my head. Thanks, Graph Jam.

see more Funny Graphs

What's Going on at Bohemian Rose?

Well thanks for asking! The answer is... a lot! I have a batch of NEW lip balm waiting to be labeled, along with restock of Minty Lavender lip balm. And this afternoon I'm making another NEW lip balm flavor. I just have to decide which flavor I'd like to make next. That's the hardest part. :) Look for two new lip balm flavors to be up in my Artfire and Etsy shops soon!

Speaking of new, I also have some new soap on the curing rack. How about Minty Lavender soap? Smells just like the lip balm, but you can use it in the shower! Amazing! This one should be up in my Artfire and Etsy shops in a couple of weeks. Also coming up soon soapwise - Fall scents!

Yesterday I spent four hours at the car dealer waiting for them to do my 40,000 mile check up on my car. I knew it would take a while, but I was thinking two, three at the most. By 1:30 I asked how much longer they thought it would be. He told me that ETA was 2:30... So I called my amazing friend Alana, who had just finished up with teaching the flute sectionals at band camp. She lives about 8 minutes from the dealer, so she came to pick me up and we went to lunch. By the time the dealer called, it was after 3:00. That's a crazy long time! Good thing I brought things that I needed to work on, otherwise I think I would've had cabin fever about an hour into it. Even though it took a while, Rusty Wallis always does a great job with their service. All the service guys are great, they do a wonderful job, and they're (usually) pretty fast. Plus, my car is all shiny and clean now. Bonus!

So since I missed it yesterday, here's Music Monday for your listening pleasure -- some dueling banjos arranged for mountain dulcimer.