An Awesome Etsy Shop, A Weird Flea Market, and Bigfoot

These things pretty much don't have anything to do with each other, but I'm putting them all in this post because I can't wait to tell you about them!

First off, Husband and I are always trying find ways to improve our weekly grocery bill + be better environmentally. We have talked for a little while about using reusable snack bags in the kids' lunches. I was a little skeptical, because I thought that it might get messy or gross. Deciding to take the plunge, I went on Etsy and searched for "reusable snack bags". I found a lot of shops, but one stuck out to me for their prices and patterns: KBExquisites. I bought two to try them out and we loved them. Seriously. Our family loved them so much that we got three more. We use them everyday in the girls' lunches and sometimes in ours, too. These are so easy to use and clean. I have to mention that the shop's owner is absolutely sweet and great to deal with for transactions. If you are in the market for some of these, I highly, HIGHLY recommend her! We liked the chevron and polka dot patterns the best.

So this weekend we decided to leave town on a whim and found ourselves in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma. We had a great time! Check out our new decor for our dining nook that we found at a little old flea market in a tiny town:

Don't be jealous.

Also somewhere near the Texas border (I think), we found this place:

We were the only customers there and we took that opportunity to ask the question, "Why Bigfoot?" Being fans of cryptozoology, we couldn't believe our luck in finding this place. They even had a near "life-sized" replica of Sasquatch himself, although we think that they used a wookie costume. So why Bigfoot? "Everyone here is Bigfoot crazy," was the answer. Also, everyone has seen him except the lady we were talking to about Mr. Foot. We were surprised, not knowing that Bigfoot was in Oklahoma, but she showed us this map, which I got a picture of:

So now you know. Bigfoot is also in Oklahoma. Husband didn't get to ask her the question he really wanted to ask (what she thought about the theory that Bigfoot is actually an alien), but we did hear a story about her seeing a picture of a ghost. These are the things that happen when we go out adventuring. It's pretty freaking awesome. =D

I hope everyone had a fun and adventuresome weekend as well!

Work In Progress: the forever blanket

About a year and a half ago, I started making granny squares and fell in love with a cool little trick that made a granny square with a big fat polka dot in the middle.  "Make a blanket for the couch," I thought to myself; "I'll never get sick of yellow & grey," I thought.

"How long could it *POSSIBLY* take?!"

I took this picture today when I found the bag containing this half-assembled hot mess.  I'm 5 squares short and even shorter on the patience required to stitch all of these squares together, obviously.

I've decided to just go ahead and finish the darn thing up already.  I'll make the remaining squares tonight and start the incredibly boring task of stitching it all up tomorrow.  I need the motivation to complete it because I just found a really cute idea for matching pixel art blankets to make for my nephews this year (but that's another work in progress post for another day).

What are YOU working on?

A Humorous Coincidence

Fun with my new disguise

It was a daaaark and stormy Halloweeeeeeeeeennn.....(but seriously, it is).

Somehow when deciding to post mainly on Thursdays, it escaped me that my first non-intro blog post would be on Halloween. What a funny coincidence! Why, you ask? Because I love Halloween. I will refrain from sharing pictures from my goth youth and early adulthood, but let's just say that for the longest time my car had a bat hanging from the ceiling inside, I have Halloweenish stuff in my house year-round, and it just generally brings me glee for it to be this time of year.

We use this tablecloth year-round. This borscht was extremely delicious.

Bat and elephant rhubarb berry cobbler I made last spring

It doesn't hurt that my birthday is also in October. We have created a new tradition in the last few years: fancy lunch with family, Husband and the little ladies get me an ice cream cake, and then he prepares an amazing bo ssam feast for us and friends.

My cake last year

My birthday cake this year

Love + Jack O'Lanterns on my birthday

Ms. Matilda Behemoth also has a birthday...today! As a rescue kitty, we don't know her exact birthday, only her approximate age. Since she is a (roly poly) little black cat, the kids decided that Halloween would be a perfect birthday for her!

Happy 3rd birthday, Matilda Behemoth!

We added a few festive decorations to the outside of our house. What do you think?

Miss S doing a little reading under the hanging skeleton garland

Spooky decorations, courtesy of Miss G. Can you find her in this picture?

Of course we had to carve a pumpkin! The kids chose the "epic face".

Pumpkin carving! This is our "epic face" pumpkin.

I'll end with a little something for your listening and viewing pleasure. This is a favorite for me and Husband, "The Ghost of Stephen Foster" by Squirrel Nut Zippers. Enjoy and have a happy Halloween!  =^_^=