Last day of October already!?

It's the last day of October and Halloween! We are not very big celebrators of Halloween. I don't mean to sound like a dork, but I just don't like Halloween very much. I like the kids dressing up and the candy part, but I don't like the spooky parts. I've never been much into spooky. (I don't like scary movies either.)

We are taking Kavi to a fall festival tonight where there will be lots of fun(hopefully!). I got him a Lion costume at Old Navy for only $2!!! A friend told me about their costumes going on sale and I can't believe I snagged one! Here he is trying it on and then riding his bike around. I will take better pictures today. Roar!!

Here's a very appropriate Etsy item to share!

Black and Orange Halloween Poppy Bowl

AND DON'T FORGET (like I almost did):

Tonight we set the clocks BACK one hour! Yay!!!

Vintage: Dresses

I usually keep price in mind when finding items to share on the blog but today I am just sharing fun dresses without even looking at the price. I haven't worn a dress in a long time now. I wear my jeans all the time. I like dresses but I don't wear them just to wear them. I need something to attend to wear them. But I still love the idea of a dress. (click pictures for etsy listing)

So much to share. Disney Photos!

Monday was so fun at Disney! We went to the Magic Kingdom in Orlando. This is kind of a photo loaded post! I tried to make the sizes smaller so it wouldn't take forever to load. Hope it worked! You can click pictures to see a bigger size.

Monday, Oct 26th - my 29th Birthday and DISNEY day!

We planned to leave the house at 7:30am. It's about a 2 hour drive for us. The alarm went off at 6am, 30 minutes before I planned on getting up! So I hit snooze twice, and then turned it off. I got paranoid about oversleeping but I figured my husband wouldn't sleep much longer either. I fell asleep and opened my eyes at around 7:15am, oops! :P So we left the house around 8:10am. Not that big of a deal, because I found out the Magic Kingdom would be open until 9pm Monday night! So we would still have plenty of time.

(The gate, yipee!)

We reached inside the actual park around 11:30am. (After parking, ticket booth, and ferry boat to actual entrance). I was so excited! My husband had never been. And I hadn't been in ten years! And I was curious to see how Kavi would react. He was in awe, happy, and sometimes overwhelmed. It was very fun though.
He LOVED meeting Mickey and Minnie. That was the first thing we did when we entered the park. We headed towards "Toontown" where little kiddies can play and meet the mouse! We had to wait in a line for about 20 minutes. Kavi is a shy kid sometimes so we hoped he wouldn't be afraid of Mickey. Boy, he wasn't! Below he is shaking Minnie's hand, he also gave her a high five.
He really loved Minnie. Minnie had given him a nose kiss, and then he kissed her nose on his own like ten times!! He just stared at her in between kisses! So cute haha. I'm giggling just reliving it in my mind (he's almost 21 months old now). He was so calm and content with Mickey and Minnie.

After that we ate some lunch at Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe! Lots of choices, not high prices, and a cute futuristic atmosphere. After lunch we headed to Fantasyland where rides like It's a Small World, Peter Pan's Flight, Mad Tea Party and many more are! It's so sweet to take your husband and child on a ride that is so classic, for their first time.

(On It's a Small World)

I got a cute Happy Birthday pin from Disney at the ticket booth since it was my birthday! They wrote my name on it too. You can see it in this picture above.
Some shots of the ride, hard to get clear photos with my camera because it's so dark inside.

The Taj Mahal! Love this one.

Just other cute sectionsWe went on various rides during the day through all the areas of the park. The longest line was for Peter Pan's Flight, an adorable ride. But we waited 45 minutes, ugh! And it was hot outside. Yes this is Florida for you, hot at the end of October! We were so sweaty and gross all day.

Kavi getting tired in the afternoon, I look tired already too. So what does one do with their stroller while going on all these rides? Well there are actualy stroller parking areas! I got a kick out of it. You can believe the amount of strollers parked in rows. And it's just a system of trust. You leave it for however long, and you just go back and get it. There are areas to park your stroller everywhere! People left their drinks and such on the stroller and left it. I was worried at first but our stroller was a lot less desirable looking than many others haha. So I doubted anyone would take it! Here is one of many stroller parking areas! Other areas had even more strollers.

(after a full day of sweating + my glasses I use for distance sometimes)

In case some people want to know what rides we went on with a toddler...if I remember them all:
Small World(twice)
Peter Pan's Flight(twice)
Snow White's Scary Adventures
Buzz Lightyear(3 times so FUN)
Pirates of the Caribbean(twice)
Spinning tea cups AKA Mad Tea Party
Carousel of Progress
Tomorrowland Transit Authority
Kavi and hubby went on the Jungle Cruise - I had to leave the line for a bathroom break so they went without me. I went to the Enchanted Tiki Room animatronic bird show while they were on the boat ride.
We went to Toontown looked through Mickey and Minnie's houses. We watched some of a parade and fireworks also.

The castle was lit in different colors after dark. Hard to get a good shot but this was the best one I think!

Because I wore my birthday pin, lots of Disney staff said happy birthday to me as well as a few non-staff strangers! It was fun, I have to say! :) Makes your day feel even more magical! They even embarrassingly sang to me at the cafe we ate at and banged metal around. eeeeks! :P We left the park around 9:10pm. The fireworks started at 9pm, even though that is when the park "closes" but you can stay inside I guess for a bit. We watched most of it but near the middle of the show I thought we better start heading towards to exit. Thousands and thousands of people were crowding the streets watching the fireworks and I didn't want to be caught in that when everyone started leaving at the same time! So we beat the massive crowd out.

It was a magical, blessed day. When we walked out of the exit I felt a little teary eyed. It was a sweet feeling having my birthday and my husband and little boy experiencing the day in such a fun way! So much goodness.

We had fun!

We had a blast at Disney yesterday!! It was a wonderful birthday. :) I want to talk more about it soon but for now I will just share a picture.
I'm really tired from the day so I will write more later on! :)

Mama Mia

We had our Sunday french toast a little while ago. Mmmm. Still doing that on Sundays!

Today we are going out to lunch with a couple friends for my birthday(which is tomorrow). It's a nice birthday weekend!

Last night the Ethnic festival was kind of a bummer. It's held on the grounds of a Catholic church every year. When we arrived at the fest we wanted to eat something. The food is always under a tent, with entertainment on stage. When we first were inside the tent someone was singing on stage, so loud, so so loud. We couldn't talk easily over the noise and it was definitely geared towards older people. After she was done, an elderly group was next who performed line dancing to ABBA songs. Yep. Pretty funny. And each performace lasted only about 60 seconds.

They didn't have empanadas which is what I really wanted to eat there. We didn't plan on going on any rides so we just walked around for awhile. I am not used to being around so many teenagers at one place haha. I feel older now after last night. :P

I did score in a rummage sale they were having inside a part of the building. I bought a leaf pin/brooch for $1. There were a few other I really wanted to buy but I only bought the one. It's pretty!

"Ethnic Festival"

It's a lazy day so far. Tonight we are going to go to an Ethnic Festival/Carnival at a local Catholic church. They have been holding this event for many years. It's always fun! There is a tent set up where you can buy food by nationality. So there is the American burgers, hot dogs, and fries, Greek food sometimes, Spanish food, German food, etc. If only there was Indian food too, yum.

I feel a little slow moving and slightly unmotivated lately when it comes to making things to sell on Etsy. My shops are having another dry spell. Except a few nights ago I was thinking how I hadn't sold anything in like two weeks and then that night one person bought three items from my jewelry shop so that really encouraged me again. But now I am again like hmmm. I don't take much time these days to make new items. I enjoy doing it, but at the same time with being home with Kavi sometimes I'd rather be doing nothing when I get the chance, instead of doing something. I am hoping my creative urges come back soon especially since the holidays are approaching. Anyone else know the feeling? I'm sure there are some out there! :) I should be making things, but I just don't feel like it. Ack!!

Inspiring and Fun

1. Blue Bowl, 2. A's bookshelf, 3. Sewing Room, 4. pumpkins and new wall plates, 5. Details from my room., 6. bedroom

Some recent flickr finds that I marked as favorites! I think they were all found in this fun group called Nifty Thrift. Just a little inspiration. My house is filled with thrift store items!

Loot

My birthday is actually this Monday, the 26th, but when I visited my family we had the cake early with them since they won't be here on my birthday. Thanks for the wishes! :D

Monday we are going to DISNEY-Magic Kingdom! And that makes me very excited. Did you know that this whole year, you could go for free on your actual birthday? So I'm going for free, Kavi is free for being under 3, and we will just pay for my husband. He has never been, Kavi of course has never been, and I haven't been in 10 years! And I live only about two hours away. I am like a kid when it comes to Disney.

I thought I would share more of my birthday loot because many items came from Etsy!! My sister, parents, and friend were kind enough to purchase some items off of my favorites list for me.

Pumpkin Spice Soap; Matryoshka Dolls; Tags; Acorn Earrings; Mugs

My husband told me yesterday that he ordered something for me and it should be arriving any day. That is very exciting to me!! I don't usually have gifts ordered for me, from him. I usually just pick out gifts while I am with him and we buy it then and there. I am excited to see what it will be.

Vintage Wednesday: Maple Leaves Ensemble

All items are under $30. Most of the stores featured below have under 40 sales. The only exception is where the Merlot bag comes from, they have over 100 sales.
1. 80's Fitted Trench $28 2.Merlot Suede and Leather Italian 70's bag $26 3.Vintage Bass high wedge shoes $27.50 4. Upcycled Crochet maple leaf scarf $16.50 5.Vintage Two Tone Maple Leaf Brooch $10

Also visit LillyElla's blog where an ensemble I put together is today's "Couture De Jour"...a non vintage outfit.

Back home.

Hi everyone! I arrived back home late Monday night from the weekend trip. I got other fun birthday gifts while away like awesome smelling candles from Bath and Body Works...mmmm!!!
Also I got a cool new sewing book, that I picked out:
Sew & Stow: 31 Fun Sewing Projects to Carry, Hold, and Organize Your Stuff, Your Home, and Yourself!

...and other items I will share soon.

Here are just a few pictures from the trip.

Presents + Pumpkin Patch

Let the presents begin! My birthday is the 26th, and last night my sister gave me one of my gifts already. These leaf earrings that were on my favorites list on etsy! So happy I got them. And they arrived while I was visiting up here so I can wear them during the chilly fall weekend! I have them on right now. ;)

Maple Sugar - Earrings 7.50 + Free Shipping!!

We are all in the midst of getting ready for the day. It's the central time zone here so I always feel a little off time-wise. We are heading to a pumpkin patch where there will also be other cute things for Kavi to see and play with. Yesterday was a pretty cold day. We went to a little fall festival and had fun despite cold noses and cloudy skies! Today is slightly less cold and the sun is out so that will help. Kavi looks so cute bundled in a coat and gloves.

Tomorrow we leave to go back to Florida. So I'll be posting again sometime around Tuesday!

Have a nice Sunday!

Happy Friday! Giveaway winner announcement!

Congratulations Nicole!!

Comment#13:

--------------------------------------------

Nicole&Daniel said...

My favorite fall scent would have to be my mom's pumpkin bread. It's to die for. :)

--------------------------------------------

Pumpkin bread yummm! :)

We arrived safe and sound in Alabama and I plan on enjoying a nice, fall weather weekend here! The temp will be in the 50's during the days that we are here. That is a big difference from the upper 80s and low 90s we had in Florida recently, ew!! I will take pictures while I'm here and will share some fall fun with the blog soon.

Have a wonderful Friday!!

On the road again...

On the road today. Here we go...Florida to Alabama. I will be back tomorrow with the giveaway winner! And if you haven't entered yet, you still have time!

By the way I have been loving reading all the comments in the giveaway about your favorite smells and places to have coffee! :)

Packing

1. Little Miss Traveler Suitcase, 2. suitcases, 3. vintage suitcases as side table, 4. Suitcase-Front

Fun Flickr Finds - Makes packing look fun doesn't it?

Today I'll be packing for a little trip up to Alabama to visit my family. A close family friend (Nancy) has family there and asked if I'd like to ride up with her tomorrow. We will come home Monday. Of course my husband wasn't thrilled with the idea, since it would mean he'd be all alone! But he knew my family misses Kavi and there are going to be some fun festivities while we are up there that Kavi will enjoy.

It's not that my husband and I can't handle being apart. I'd say we are used to that after he was in India and I was here at the beginning of our relationship. And a couple times he has gone back to visit India without me. But it's more an issue of missing Kavi's moments! And at this age, it goes so fast. :) But it will be fine.

Packing for my son has gotten easier now that he's 20 months old. It was very hard in my opinion to pack every thing that was needed when he was an infant! But we did it anyway, taking several drives to Alabama(averaging 9 hours). Plus he has been on a long flight to India and he survived that, while I somehow survived the packing. :P I had a meltdown the day before we left for India while I was packing. It is so stressful to make sure you have everything a 1 year old might need on a 14-15 hour long, overnight flight, in carry-on bags. hehe.

Anyway, I will need to do more laundry and pack everything up by tonight!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!!

Autumn Accessories

I looked through Etsy last night and put together a spotlight of pretty Autumn accessories! Necklaces, earrings, bracelet, ring and a brooch. I want them all!

Left picture shows Copper Crystal Glass Acorn Earrings, by tabbytoo - $10



Oh and don't forget to enter the necklace giveaway!!

100+ Followers Giveaway! Necklace.

In celebration of reaching 100 followers on the blog, I'm doing a giveaway! And thank you everyone! And now I have even more than 100 followers!

I chose a necklace that I had listed in my shop to be the item up for grabs. It's called "Flying Bouquet".

This is a longer chain necklace, chain measuring approx 22 inches, in a silver tone. The bird charm and flowers hang an additional inch. Two white and one red lucite bell flower hang with a silver bird. $15 value.
How to enter to win:

You have up to two(2) chances to win!

1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite scent during Fall-anything like food, candles, perfume, soap, outdoor smells, whatever it is you enjoy smelling this time of year!
2. Leave a separate, second comment telling me your favorite place to have coffee--at home? coffee shop? bookstore? etc!
   

I look forward to the comments! It should be fun. Please leave some way for me to contact you should you win. An email address, etsy shop name, or if you have a blog I can find you that way too.

You have until Friday, October 16th 3:00am Eastern time to enter! (if an entry comes in a few minutes after, I'm not that anal about it-I will accept it. I just figure 3am is a good time being midnight for the West Coast.)

Winner will be announced on Friday, October 16th!
(by the afternoon)

Depending on the amount of entries, I will either do a "name out of the hat" thing, or random number generator. I will be away visiting family in Alabama but I still will be able to go online to pick the winner!

French Toast Sundays

(not MY French toast in picture!)

For the last month and a half or so, I have been trying to make French toast for Sunday morning breakfast. It's a nice breakfast treat. I only forgot to make French toast on one Sunday since I started the little tradition. I think I am ready to start trying fancier variations! :P I will be looking up recipes soon.

Fashionable Friday :TV/Movie Inspiration

I wanted to share some fun fashion inspiration influenced by TV and Movies.

First: Gilmore Girls! I loved that show so much. I miss it! Once in awhile I catch a rerun and still find it so entertaining. While there was drama, there was also a lot of cute and quirky comedy. Lines I will never forget. If you watched it, you'll know about Kirk. Good ol' Kirk. Without him the show wouldn't have been the same!

But moving on to the fashion aspect now. Me, my mom, sis and friends always admired their wardrobe but also wondered how did they afford those clothes? But anyway, I found their style influential for me even if I couldn't really emulate it. And their love(or obsession!) of coffee was always entertaining!

I have fun on Polyvore sometimes creating looks. But today I am sharing looks created by others. I simply did a search and found such fun creations!

Gilmore Girls Inspired Fashion

Gilmore girls by Nikitaaa featuring Alberta Ferretti dresses

Gilmore Girls by Radar Love featuring Seven For All Mankind jeans

A movie with fashion that I found adorable was Penelope. I just love that movie. When she had the pig nose, I didn't think she was ugly. Me and a friend recently talked about it(yes we actually discussed her nose!) and agreed that when her nose was made small and normal again, she just looked weird! We missed the pig nose, a sentiment shared in the movie by some characters! She pulled it off so well. Her eyes were the main focus.

Penelope Inspired Fashion

Penelope movie by Seer_Diedre featuring Marc by Marc Jacobs

Penelope! by Butterfly Interlude featuring Miu Miu accessories

Etsy-versary! Free Worldwide Shipping!

Today is my one year Etsy-versary of opening up my first shop, coffeeandcream!

I can't believe it's been a year! Over a month ago I decided to participate in this weekend deals special on Etsy. I commented in the forum in a thread for anyone who wanted to offer FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING this weekend! It also fits in well for my Etsy-versary!

I commented in that thread at the end of August, hoping to be among comments in the first seven pages. Now there are 88 pages of comments! Anyway, here's hoping to being at least part of the weekend deals gift guide.

Here's what I wrote in the thread, and anyone can use the code! Valid October 9th-11th.

"I would offer the free worldwide shipping on anything in my shop when buyer uses "weekend deals" in message to seller. Paypal refund will be sent within 24 hours -or- ask for a revised invoice ahead of paying."

Let's see if I get any sales over the weekend! I am not trying to sound pessimistic but I have offered sales various times without anyone buying so I am not sure what to expect.

Cozy Vintage Items. And a recent PRIZE!

First I want to say "YAY!" at getting follower #100! Thank you, Leslie!! :) I will have a giveaway ready on Monday! You'll have to wait and see what it is...because I am still deciding!

For this week's vintage finds, I went with cozy items. I like the word cozy, if you haven't noticed!

Wearable Cozy Items: I just love the tones of these great vintage pieces!
1. Vintage 60's Scottish Wool coat $40 from violetfolklore
2. Vintage Saks Fifth Avenue Dress Coat $22 from CassiesAttic
3. Mustard Granny Shaw $22 from McGregorgirl

Cozy Home: Home accents in pastels. I think the bunny frame is so adorable!! (all items are $10 and under)
1. Sweet Bunny Brass frame $8 from sweetina
2. Vintage Kitchen Towel $3 from tracinicole
3. Vintage Pair of Blue Bird Pillowcases $10 from linencloset

I hope you enjoy looking at the items!

I also wanted to share something else. I won a hand painted ornament on Angela's blog Pickles on Pizza not long ago. Another person won initially, but they never contacted Angela after many days. So a new winner was picked, and it was ME!

I received the ornament a few days ago. It's great!! I asked for my son's name to be painted on. She does a great job and I would highly recommend that you buy some from her Etsy shop soon for your Christmas tree or to give as gifts! A personalized item is a great gift idea.