sugar overload!

* Halloween treat o' the week: Red velvet raspberry cupcakes with French vanilla cream cheese frosting and a chocolate brain. You can see a step-by-step photo tutorial about the brains on Flickr, but no recipe is provided :(

Kinda related: The lovely headmistress of Gothic Charm School has a blog called Cupcake Goth! I like her striped stockings & boots, her waist-nipping jackets and her not-grumpy Victorian gothness.

Check out these s'mores cupcakes over at Saucy Sprinkles! I feel hyper just looking at them, mmmmm ...

The theme continues with these GIANT cupcakes made from fun noodles over at Dollar Store Crafts. I can't think of a use for any day let alone H'ween ... wait! how about a Willy Wonka theme yard, he was pretty scary (both Gene and Johnny). And don't even get me started on the Oompa Loompas.

How about a cupcake flower arrangement? So cute, and better for those on restricted diets.

* I found this on YouTube. I think it's cool - Alice is one of my favorite movies and I'm trying to find a cross-stitch pattern of her but no luck so far. Enjoy!

* WAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! Went to Yankee Candle to pick up some of the wedding boney bunch - they are sold out! They are even sold out online! I wanted the bride and groom with the wedding cake to celebrate my engagement and I waited too long! :(

oooEEEooo!

* B&BW musta heard me praising their lip gloss, cause today they put out a coupon for a free lip product with any purchase!

* Added a new exciting discovery to my Fun blogs over on the side - Ephemera Assemblyman! I'm gonna be perusing his delicious collection of ephemera for weeks.

rain? please?

* Ooooh, it's sleepy afternoon time.

* Have you ever wondered what the world looked like to our fine feathered/finned/furry friends? Haven't we all? ;) Wonder no more, thanks to the Museum of Animal Perspectives! Sam lets you run and sniff (and sniff and sniff) with an armadillo, get licked by a cow, babysit a lamb, and glide through the swamp with an alligator. Wheee!

* I've never been one to wear lots of makeup, but I do love my collection of lip balms from Bath & Body Works. They don't just smell good, they taste good! Orange Kiss tastes like an orange cream soda, Limeade is citrus goodness, Vanilla Latte gives me that coffee taste when I'm trying to avoid caffeine. But they constantly change their flavors to make me want to try more of them :shaking fist at their slyness!:

I have been wearing more makeup since I got my hair chopped off - my face seems so much more plain without it! (all I'm missing is a fantastic hat!)

* Note to self: DO NOT READ ABOUT HEALTH CARE DEBATE! It only leads to frustration and disappointment with my fellow Americans. Why oh why is there so much hate and bile involved? When did we lose the ability to critically listen to a statement and judge it for ourselves, instead of blindly parrotting what somebody else tells us?

Must. think. of. happy.things. ...

like ice cream sandwiches!! The malted milk one is calling for me. Oh, but each sandwich has 36g of fat before adding any mix-ins.

okay, how about ... lolcats?!?

Yeah, that's better!

and where I'm gonna be in 8 days!!! And my adorable host!!!

cooler outside than inside

* Halloween find o' the week: Blumchen, Purveyors of Life's Little Niceties, a great resource for old-fashioned and vintage Hallowe'en decor.

• reprints of the classic Beistle Co. paperboard cutouts
• super awesome black & white boxes
• repros of vintage postcards
• spooky lantern!

Okay, they also have items for Valentine's and Christmas.

I found them while searching for Dennison crepe paper. One day, I'll post some scans from the Dennison Flower Book.

Also in spooky news, I picked up this year's edition of the BHG Halloween special publication at Publix. Once again they have the best mix of grown-up gothy decor (the linked article is actually a reprint from an earlier BHG magazine, with more photos but less "where to find it" info) and cute kids party ideas (magic show party and retro owl paper decor), and a nice article on vintage collecting.
But Beware to those who try to navigate the BHG website! The magazine lists a link to "halloween tricks" at their site, but it links instead to the general Halloween category. And it appears that none of the articles in the magazine are actually on the website yet. Tsk tsk, how am I supposed to spread the word?

* The a/c seems to be broken at work. Air is blown, but it's humid and warm. I've got the window open for some cool fresh air.
ETA: a/c fixed!

Eye Spy

* Interesting find: Nerd Boyfriend. Despite the name, it is neither about nerds or boyfriends. It is instead a very cleanly designed site with (mostly older) photos of famous men, and underneath each photo a couple of links highlighting what they are wearing. Yeah, I can't really describe it well, but who wouldn't want to dress like Gregory Peck, young Leonard Nimoy (looking amazingly like Syler - good call Abrams!), Mahatma Gandi, or even young men headed to the moon.

* I've decided to post my spooky finds each Monday instead of scattershot. Ah ha - Fearsome Finds, coming each Monday to Yay, It's Another Blog!

Pumpkins and spider webs

* It's getting spookier all the time! The latest source to add is Lillian Vernon - not all of their stuff is to my taste, but some of their lacy goth items (cobweb tablecloth, spiderweb candy bowl stand or lampshade scarf) are quite elegant.

Also Hobby Lobby has stepped up - although most of their items are harvest or Thanksgiving, they have a great selection of pumpkins of all materials and colors. And I am drawn to their crow stuff!

* Claudette came and went, leaving behind tons of rain and pine straw. I didn't even lose power!

* I am STILL having problems with Firefox not finding the server - I have:
- checked my firewalls
- verified my connection settings
- made a new profile
- reinstalled Firefox

It just gets worse. Halp!

photobomb!

* So a woman and her husband are visiting Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park, Canada, and decide to set up the camera to get a photo of themselves. But they were foiled!


Bwaaa haaa haaa! Full story here.

* Over the past 5 days I have spent $500 on my car. It's fixed, but my wallet is empty.

* I thought for sure it was going to rain today but no such luck. The temperature did drop a bit though.

* My new printer/scanner works GREAT! I haven't used it to scan yet, maybe this weekend. I have a stack of magazines and books at the ready.

* Going on a trip ... in space? Don't forget to stop by Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. for all your interplanetary needs - you never know when you might need a space vehicle hull repair patch or Ambient Light and Noise Reduction Kit.
There's also the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. for those seeking capes, a forcefield generator, or just some plain ol' Intelligence in a can.
(I personally am rather fond of the design on these time travel posters.)

shorty

* I bought a new printer, so now I can make t-shirts again!

* I am so tired, unreasonably tired. ONE DAY I'll figure out what causes it.

Hey kids! Head on over to Para Abnormal for a ghoulish good time!

Hot Chocolate!

* Emma ROCKS!

Spooky!

* Hooray, the Boney Bunch are back at Yankee Candle! They have the cutest stuff in their Halloween collection. I especially love their patchouli scent (they change the name every year - this year it's Beware!) No minty vanilla this year, but I'm keeping an eye on Dreadfully Delicious Swirl (vanilla cupcake and pumpkin pie swirled - yum!)

Poor Glen didn't realize what he was getting into when he proposed ;)

* In other news, it poured down rain on the way to work this morning, but now it's bright and sunny. I can't decide whether I'll miss this kind of weather or not.

* My mom got herself a Wii for her upcoming birthday and I'm totally jealous. She got the Wii Fit bundle as well - go Mom!

* On Saturday I went to Gosamyr's house for a pool party. The day started off kinda cloudy but cleared up enough for sunning and swimming. And some zombie killing courtesy of Zogar and House of the Dead: Overkill. Also got to see some people I hadn't seen in a while and catch up. A good time was had by all.

On Sunday I cleaned out the linen closet in the hallway; now it's presentable for showing the house. That makes 2 closets down, 3 to go.

* Fun website of the day - iDIY. Marked as stuff for do-it-yourself weddings, but alot of the crafty freebies and tips have other uses as well. She also provides lots o' links to other fun freebies.