Giveaway Extended!

Guess what?! This week's giveaway has been extended until Monday!

Enter to win this clutch from Stitched + Adorned by liking them on facebook and leaving a comment telling us which item from their shop you lurve. By lurve, I mean love. Come on, people. Get with the pro[gram].

HOW TO WIN:

For one entry, like Stitched and Adorned on Facebook and comment on this post letting me know you've done it!

For a SECOND entry, leave a comment and answer this question: If you were an animal, which would you be? Why?!

Are you kind of lazy and not feeling up to finding them on facebook? Fine. I'll do the work for you. BOOM! How's that for ya? All you gotta do is click a button...

Shoes!

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!

SHOES! <--If that excites you, read on. If not, come back tomorrow...

Shoes of Prey is a website that allows you to design your own shoes. Seriously. You design them and their magical elves (kind of like the ones in the North Pole) make them for you!

Pros: Super easy. Very visual. Tons of different styles...

So I I got a little fancy for a while and made myself some winter shoes...

And these, which totally remind me of Carrie Bradshaw's newspaper print dress in Sex and the City... 

Cons: $330. Seriously. Elves or not, that number aint magical for me.

*Image from Luzuo.

And, for those of you who appreciate a bit of good humor, here's a shoe-related video... Happy Friday!

Easy Cumin Quinoa

Do you like pasta? How about couscous? Rice? What about the fact that those dishes are high carb? Yeah, didn't think so! Meet my friend Quinoa. Isn't she lovely?Instead of being full of carbs, she's full of protein. Boom. You're in love.

Cook time: 35 Minutes
Yield: 4-5 Servings
Ingredients

• :2 Cups Rinsed Quinoa
• 4 cups Water
• 1/2 tablespoon Cumin Powder
• 1 teaspoon Curry
• 1/2 cup Feta Cheese
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
• 1/4 Yellow Onion
• 1 Tomato

Cooking Directions

1. :Bring water to a boil.
2. On medium-high heat, add Quinoa and spices.
3. After 20 minutes (once Quinoa has soaked up most of the water), add Feta cheese and chopped onion.
4. Just before removing from heat, add Parmesan cheese.
5. Garnish with tomato. Serve in a pita if you've got them on hand :)
   

The Greatest Weakness of Humans...

Source

Faithful

Wow. God knows us so well and knows what we want and need. I got an email from my Girlfriends in God newsletter on Friday... I had rushed all morning, lost my keys, frantically searched for them, sped to the train station, and sprinted from my car to the platform. During my first two minutes on the train, I was greeted with one of my favorite lines from scripture:

Moses answered the people, 'Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today ... the LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still (Exodus 14:13-14, NIV).

The email went on to tell a story of one woman's road through hardship... And one line in particular struck me. She wrote, "Scripture assures us that even when we are faithless, God remains faithful."

This is something of which I find myself in frequent need of reminding; that, in my darkest days, when I am least faithful to God, HE is ALWAYS faithful. I am a victim of guilt and battle it daily, hourly, and by the minute. I often fear the consequences of my actions when I fail to follow God (Did I make the right decision? Am I being selfish?). My fear is not like a child fearing a tough spanking, but a child fearing that her father will be disappointed and ignore her. I become overwhelmed by wondering 'Does God hear me?' or 'Does He even want to help me now?'

But He does hear me. And not only does He want to help, He is faithful. He will not ignore us or leave us to fend for ourselves. He will come through for us, even when we are not 'coming through' for Him! Like a lover who selflessly lavishes another, with no hesitation in response to rejection. If we saw this from a man or woman, one might quickly comment on the level of desperation or stamp on the labels "foolish," "pathetic," "sad." But not with God. When God remains faithful in the face of our selfishness, faithlessness, and rejection, He is giving. Loving. Faithful. Merciful. Benevolent. And most of all, He is THERE. Whether we are walking the path right by Christ's side or have impulsively left the path to pick flowers, whether we are fighting or standing still, He is there. And He fights for us.

What Does English Sound Like?

Reblogging this from A Cup of Jo...

Have you ever heard people speaking in other languages and wondered, hmm... what does English sound like to others?

Now you know...

[Sexy] Fall Decor

Half of you will hate me for this: I can't stomach most fall decor.  It's just not very 'cute' to me! It makes me feel old... and feeling old will just not do (this is particularly true when one of your life 'mottos' is You're as old as you feel).

But I do like leaves. The concept of them, at least. And I do like making things. Tracing and cutting and pinning. There's something therapeutic about those actions. 

I think creating things should be sexy. Not in an inappropriate-why-did-you-post-that-on-your-family-friendly-blog sort of way (5 points if you're laughing at my use of "family-friendly")... but in a clean, cool, creative sort of way. Instead of making you feel old, it should feel exciting. Glamorous. It should feel creatively new, yet also evoke, in some way, your memory of something old, something you've seen before.

So here we are. 

Fall has... fallen. 

Leaves have, too. 

I've got my leaves... 

how 'bout you?

Thanks to my sister for never throwing out a huge stack of old "W" magazines. They're coming in mighty handy. Using a leaf brought in from a run last week (and pressed for easy tracing), I stenciled the shape of a leaf onto various magazine pages.

Not wanting them to all be exactly alike, I actually chose to layer a few sheets at a time while cutting. I know, it seems like this would make them exactly alike... but in reality, when you layer multiple sheets of magazine paper, they end up slipping and sliding and moving in very subtle ways so that you end up with leaves that are similar enough to emulate the "real" shape of leaves but different enough to value those subtle differences nature gives us.

I found some twine left over from a graduation party this summer that had miniature clothes pins still attached to it. Score. A few pieces of tape and some quarter weights later (I taped the ripe to quarters, which I taped to the top of the furniture. This may have been entirely unnecessary... but it happened), we had this:

And with a few miniature clothes pins and my freshly-cut leaves, we had this:

A totally random piece of scrap paper looked freakishly like a butterfly to me. Yes, I know butterflies aren't particularly prevalent this time of year. But the bent wings worked so perfectly with the clothes pin that it felt like a welcome, if not necessary, addition. So it stays.

Anybody else have some out-of-the-box fall beauty brewing?

York Peppermint Patty Cupcakes

York Peppermint Patties. I love them. They're my road trip snack that I break the rules for. And now they're inside a delicious cupcake. Move over, Reeses-filled cupcakes! Get a life, chocolate-mousse filled cupcakes. Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes, hit the road... Seriously. These are my new favorite :)

Total time: 1 hour

Yield: 22-24 Cupcakes
Ingredients:

• 1 box Devil's Food Cake
• 1 can La Croix
• 1 bag York Peppermint Patties (size small, about 20-24 of them)
• 1/2 Tub Cool Whip (standard size)
• 1 teaspoon Peppermint Extract (Not mint)
• Green Food Coloring

Cooking Directions:

1. Prehead oven to 350.
2. Combine cake mix and La Croix (or 8oz Sparking Water) and mix well.
3. Spoon into paper-lined cupcake tins until 2/3 full.
4. Unwrap peppermint patties and add on top of each cupcake.
5. Bake for 18-22 minutes (following package directions).
6. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
7. In a separate bowl, combine cool whip, peppermint extract, and a conservative amount of green food coloring (we're not making green eggs and ham, people). You can slowly add more coloring if you'd like. I used Wilton's icing coloring.
8. Add peppermint to taste.
9. Once well mixed, use a knife or piping bag to pipe/spread icing onto cupcakes. The peppermint patty will have deflated somewhat, so be sure to fill in the leftover crater with mint icing before making it pretty!