scatterbrain

Happy Halloween!  This post is very un-halloweeny, unless you count the pumpkins.  I'm not sure what I'm doing for halloween tonight.  I haven't bought any candy for trick or treaters yet, and I might go to a show tonight, not sure.  I feel like last weekend was really halloween party central.  I'm not big into spending money on a halloween costume, especially since my closet is full of quasi-costumey garments. I guess that's a perk of having sort of quirky, vintage style.  Are you guys pulling any costumes out of your closet?  I didn't take any photos of my costumes this year (bad blogger?), but sort of got some snippits on instagram.

On Saturday I was planning on going to a friend's Halloween party, but I got kidnapped and taken to a hip hop show downtown, which actually turned out to be completely awesome.  I realized that I'd never been to an actual show in Tacoma... meaning not a coffee shop show.  I'd love to try and be a better Tacoman.  It's so easy for me to just be an ultra introvert and live my life from the comfort of my tiny house, but I remember how much I fell in love with Spokane after emerging from the "pinecone curtain," as they called it, of the comfort zone of my college campus.  Even though not many people seem to think much of Spokane, I really loved its unique vibe and culture that it had and there were so many wonderful local businesses, shops, bars, and restaurants.  Sometimes I think I'm drawn to the underdog cities.  I read an article yesterday in the Seattle Weekly that was so incredibly condescending to Tacoma and it really made me salty.  Even though I still feel like a Tacoma newb, I feel a kinship with this town and its amazing people and businesses.  I think one of my 26 before 27 goals will be to really become a better citizen of this city.


dress/modcloth :: top + jacket/courtesy of asianicandy :: leggings/target :: scarf/h&mboots + bag/courtesy of minnetonka :: hat/northface via REI
I live a relatively sedentary lifestyle, and I've been trying to work towards including more activity in my life. Since most all of my work is on the computer, it's super easy to just sit on the couch all day doing all kinds of computer work, whether it's on the internet, or doing design work and editing in photoshop.  Over the past few months I've been trying to workout on a regular basis, since we stopped climbing (lame, I know, but hopefully we'll get a membership again in the next couple months). I like being active, and I feel better when I incorporate activity in my life, rather than just sitting in front of a computer all day long.  Even though the combination of pinterest, facebook, and twitter have made that way more difficult in the past few years (so many sites to keep up with!).  Do you guys feel the same way?  Have you come up with any strategies for keeping active, while still doing all your work on the computer?  One reason I really enjoyed being a barista was that I spent the whole time on my feet.  Even if I wasn't "working out" per se, I was still on my feet and moving around, rather than melting into the comfort of a couch with a laptop perched atop my legs.Even though working out is hard to get excited about, I always feel way better after doing it.  It's helped that Dan has also been trying to be more active as well.  We don't work out together, partly because our house is way too small for both of us to be able to work out at the same time, and because I like working out with videos and Dan doesn't.  Still, it's nice to have the solidarity of us both being sore together!

the mundane transformed

This time of year even the most mundane of streets can become an incredible photo location.  This is just a generic neighborhood street, but the color on the trees and ground have transformed it into some sort of magical golden wonderland.  Even at night, the streetlights backlight yellow trees, making them glow in a most incredible way.  They become luminescent yellow paper lanterns, and fallen leaves reflect the light, gilding the ground even at night.  As Dan & I were walking to dinner the other night it kind of felt like we were in Narnia, because all the trees were glowy and the lamps were very Narnia-esque.  I half expected Mr. Tumnus to come trotting up.
Last night we had a big potluck dinner type thing with a bunch of friends and damn if it wasn't nearly a Thanksgiving dinner! I had baked a whole spice cake, and brought some other treats, and then there was pasta, chicken and ribs, this amazing sweet potato bruschetta type stuff (which I have to figure out how to make) on crostinis with goat cheese, homemade soup, chicken fingers with bbq/ranch dip (also have to figure out how to make that. bbq+ranch... why didn't I think of that?), and some shrimp cocktail.  Mmmm, so delicious.  I think we're going to Thanksgiving in Portland, so it was nice to have a sort of Thanksgiving here in town with all our friends.  

stylish ever crafter dress/courtesy of modcloth :: cardigan/gap :: coat/tulle via lulu e. bebe  scarf/thrifted :: tights/courtesy of asianicandy :: boots/courtesy of lulu's :: belt/thrifted
This is one of those outfits that kind of makes me feel like a crazy person.  There are a lot of elements going on, but everything makes me happy so I don't really care.  I liked the outfit better before the addition of the tights, but it's too chilly outside to go sans tights, and the boots... I don't know, they just spoke to me and told me to put them on, so I obliged.  I'm pretty sure if I was a celebrity and had websites like Tom&Lorenzo or Go Fug Yourself critiquing my outfits all the time they would just think I was kind of out of my mind.  I certainly don't have that chic sophistication that is acceptable for celebrity style.  I'm much more a fan of Helena Bonham Carter (bless her crazy sartorial heart) and Zooey Deschanel's style.  Even Taylor Swift seems to give traditional celebrity style the middle finger from time to time, and I dig that.  I already know how I want to style this dress again and it involves adding orange polka dots... pretty much confirming that I am in fact a crazy person. 

brinkle giveway

Hi everyone!  Today's giveaway is coming to you from my sponsor Brinkle, a cute jewelry company stocked with tons of sparkly arm candy.  For this giveaway one lucky reader will win a set of two half & half bracelets, which feature intricate twilled silken cords combined with a pretty 24kt gold plated chain.
To enter:  Comment on this post letting me know what color(s) you'd like your bracelets to come in if you win, along with a way for me to contact you.  You can find out what the available colors are here.
For a second entry, head over to the Brinkle facebook page and give it a "like," then come back here and leave an additional comment on this post letting me know you've done so (or it won't count!).
The giveaway will be open until Saturday, November 3rd at 9pm PST

And the winner of the Mokkafiveoclock giveaway is...

Congrats!

pumpkin cookies with maple icing

Yup, another pumpkin recipe.  Don't worry, I don't have any more planned... yet.  Pretty much everything I've cooked/baked during the past month has either been soup or treats.  For a while this past week I had all of these cookies, plus all of those pumpkin cupcakes sitting around the house tempting me... and then I got a box of halloween treat in the mail from my mom.  So much sugarrrr.  But I finally got rid of the cupcakes by taking them to a party on Friday night, and I think Dan put away all the pumpkin cookies.  We still have no bake cookies in the freezer though.  This time of year is like a mine field of sweets. So many parties, so many baked goods, so many holidays seemingly built around sweet things.

(Pumpkin Cookies via allrecipes // Maple Pumpkin Icing via The Sheen Bean)

Cookie ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt.

2. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.  Add the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla to the mixture, and beat until it's creamy.

3. Mix in the dry ingredients and then once you've got everything totally mixed together, drop spoonfuls of the mixture on your cookie sheet.

4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven.  While your cookies are baking you can whip up the Maple Pumpkin Icing!  Once your cookies are all done, cool them and then drizzle the glaze over the cookies.


Icing ingredients
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3-4 Tbs milk
1/3 cup of butter, melted
1 Tbs maple syrup
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1. Add all your ingredients to a medium bowl and mix. You can add additional powdered sugar or milk depending on how thick you want your icing.

2. Either fill a Ziploc bag with the icing, snip off the corner and pipe your icing over the cookies, or you can drizzle it over the cookies with a fork.  I opted for the ziplock method.

sponsor in november!

Hey folks, it's almost November up in here!  The beginning of the holiday season!  The next couple months are pretty busy, and if you're a shop owner or blogger it's a great time to get your name out there as people are scouring the web for holiday inspiration and presents.

November is one of my favorite months (so much good stuff happening!), so I thought I'd offer a special on Small Ads so you can have good stuff happen in November too.  So from now until November 5th, if you get a 2 Month Small Ad,  you'll get 50% off the second month!  Just use the code NOVEMBER during checkout and you'll see the discount.  It's a great opportunity to snag an ad that'll take you all the way through the end of the year!

Want to know more about sponsorship, options, rates, and stats?  Head over to my sponsorship page to get all the details, and as always, if you ever have a question, don't hesitate to email me!