Welcome back for another installment of My Productivity Playlist, aka Whistle While You Work 2.0! Since it’s October, I thought it would be super fun and festive if I themed out this playlist to fall favorites and haunting Halloween sounds! I’ve gone ahead and made another Spotify Playlist in order to share these tunes with you, and it seems that you guys like this idea because many of you told me so and began following me on Spotify which I do appreciate. Plus all you followers had the added bonus of actually accessing this playlist before I published this post!
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach
The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber
I Put A Spell on You by Nina Simone
Witchcraft by Frank Sinatra
Montagues and Capulets by Sergei Prokofiev
Sweet Transvestite by The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Told you it was festive! I hope you guys enjoy this playlist and of course I want to know what you’re listening to right now! So, leave me a comment or go ahead and send me a tweet and tell me what music you have been loving this month to get into the Halloween spirit or just to help get you through the day!
I recently received a very lovely comment from a reader and member of my online community about my life and the work I do creating inspiring and motivational content for others. The comment was truly sweet, and ever since I received it, I have been thinking a lot about my life and the way it must seem to others who follow me online. From the outside looking in, I seem to be living a very charmed life! By all means, I feel incredibly grateful and thankful for my life, because I know that I do live extremely well and am overall, incredibly happy with my situation in life. That doesn’t mean I don’t have bad days like everyone else, or struggle with things like anxiety or depression from time to time, but I know I lead a charmed life. Hence this blog is called Strange & Charmed because it encompasses the duality of my quirky yet blessed life, but I think you already knew that.
What you don’t know about me, the part I am not so open about sharing, is my past, most notably my life before I began blogging in 2008, and even further back than that. Truth be told, as much as I live a wonderful, happy life today, things were not always going so well for me. Growing up was pretty rough for me. For most of my childhood my family was lower middle class, my parents divorced when I was young and from that time onward, I was always moving from one place to another, never setting down roots or establishing friendships in any one place for too long. At various points in my life, I was exposed to some decidedly unfortunate aspects of life, like addiction, abuse, neglect and of course, poverty. It’s a little hard for me to even admit that here to you all on my blog because to be completely honest, it’s painful to even remember those times. However, I think it’s important for me to share this with you guys because we have all gone through bad times in our lives and although some of us have experienced different struggles, we all have them and they are all painful!
What I want you to really take away from this is that if happy well-adjusted Alexis can come from a a place in life where she didn’t have very much and then turn around and make something of her life- something lovely and wonderful- then you certainly can too! I gave it some thought, and put together a list of some of the things that helped me to get where I am today. If you are struggling right now or in a rebuilding phase, hopefully these tips will help you get inspired to make changes in your own life in order to fulfill your dreams and potential.
1. Make a plan: So life isn’t great for you right now, but it doesn’t have to be that way! The first step to getting the charmed life you want is to make a plan. What can you do right now to make your life better? What is lacking in your life that you need to acquire to come to a better place? Figure out what you need and make a plan on how to achieve it!
2. Get to work: If you want something, you have to work for it, it’s that simple! I know this can be a scary concept sometimes because it means that we actually have to take control and get things done ourselves. Your wonderful life is out there waiting for you, but you need to work for it- the world isn’t just going to roll over and hand it to you.
3. Ask for help: I think one of the major things people get wrong when they are trying to build their lives is that they feel like they have to go it alone, as if having help diminishes what you have or can accomplish. This just isn’t true. Don’t be afriad to ask for help if you need it. Sometimes, we don’t know exactly what we need from others, but reaching out for a lifeline can often bring unexpected and positive results.
4. Get out of your comfort zone: We all know that change isn’t easy, and it certainly isn’t comfortable. However, if you want to bring change to your life, you are going to have to get outside your comfort zone and be prepared to feel very uneasy and unsure. Stick to your plan and understand that just because you can feel the pain of change, doesn’t mean that you are hurting yourself. In the long run, a little discomfort during the process is much better than staying in a bad situation.
5. Replace bad habits with new ones: Often times, we are our own worst enemy in our lives. If you complacently play the role of innocent victim, your life will never change. Instead, try to pin-point the areas in your life where you feel helpless, and make changes in your habits to develop confidence. For example, if you feel like you are always working but never have money and like to blame “bad luck” when you get a speeding ticket or a bill goes missing, acknowledge that the common denominator in those situations is you and that you need to become more responsible with your money by getting into the habit of paying bills early or making sure you practice safe driving. Whatever bad habits are holding you back, acknowledge your part in them and do what you can to build new habits in their place.
6. Always be ready and willing to learn: I believe that the people who have the greatest lives are the people who always keep their eyes open for new opportunities to learn. You seriously never know what important life lessons are around the corner, but if you walk around with blinders on all day you will miss them and in turn may miss important signs from the universe that may help you make the most of your life. Be open and always prepared to absorb new information and messages that can bring greater insight to your life.
7. Mix it up: They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If you have made your life changing plan and have gone ahead and broken out of your comfort zone but you still don’t see changes yielding any results, mix it up. Don’t be afraid to try something new, or to approach your problems from a new angle. Remember, the path of life isn’t a straight line, you may have to take a few turns from time to time!
8. Have a back up plan: So, you have made your plan, and you are determined to stick to it, but things just aren’t working. This is why you need a backup plan- something else to fall back on if your original plan doesn’t pan out. After all, it’s important not to rely too much on one single course of action. Like they say “don’t put all your eggs in one basket!” Options are good, just so long as you aren’t bouncing between options too frequently!
9. Stay inspired: It could take years for you to see major changes in your life, at least, I know it did for me! Don’t let this deter you or cause you to loose hope in your dreams. After all, this is life, and your in it for the long-haul! Make sure to constantly look for motivation and inspiration for your journey so you don’t loose steam. Even when things get tough, and they will get tough as you try to make major life changes, remember this quote by Kenji Miyazawa “We must embrace paid and burn it as fuel for our journey.”
10. Share what you have learned: As you take this journey of self-advancement, you will certainly learn a thing or two along the way. I believe that what we have learned, we must also share with others. Although this post may be titled “Secrets of a Charmed Life” there is nothing “secret” about it. The formula for a charmed life isn’t something that’s hidden from people, in fact, if you really pay attention, you are receiving signs and messages to uplift and advance you all the time. It’s just a matter of believing in yourself and trusting that you will end up where you need to be in life. As you go along on this journey, take a moment to stop and share your knowledge with others. It’s almost like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind so that you do not get lost along the way and so that others can also find you and see the direction you have headed.
Now, to help you guys remember these little lessons, I have created a lovely free printable with a book mark, some journaling cards, some page tabs, and deco flags! Like I said above, you will need a lot of inspiration for your journey, and I hope these small reminders help you stay inspired. For best results, I suggest printing these on 98 bright, 32lb paper or a nice heavy card stock if you have it handy! If you enjoy this printable, I may start making more of these sorts of things and including them in my blog posts as little mementos that you can keep with you in your planner, a notebook, or on your inspiration board! Make sure to let me know what you think and what sorts of printables you would like in the future, and of course, make sure to share this in your social media! I would also love to see pictures of these journaling cards and deco items at home in your planners and notebooks, so please make sure to upload a picture to Instagram and tag me!
It has been quite a while since my last real What’s in my bag post! I know I did the back to school version at the end of the summer, but that was more of a hypothetical on what I would carry with me if I was going back to school! Even so, I know you guys are like me and love a great bag and just have to see what is inside. Handbags are just one of those things that I think women are just naturally curious about. On on hand, they are a very personal item that houses the important items that get us through our days, and on the other, they can be a fashion statement of our personality and taste. I know anytime I see a new What’s in my bag post, I immediately feel the need to reorganize and reflect on my own handbag status. I find myself questioning how my own bag and it’s contents are working for me. Do I still like the shape? Is it the right size for my needs? How does the size of the bag work with my body frame? Am I happy with the hardware? Does the brand represent me and my aesthetic values? Ultimately, it leads to the question of do I want a new bag?
I know some of these questions may seem a little intense or overly analytical, but if you’re a person who is spending a few hundred dollars (or more!) on a handbag, I think these are important questions to ask yourself. Even if you don’t normally purchase “designer” handbags, I still think these sorts of questions are important because at the end of the day you are spending money on a fundamental item of your wardrobe, and when it comes to purses, the sky’s the limit when it comes to available variety. So, that’s why I wanted to share with you a very helpful little Style Guide to Handbags that was recently published by Rue La la. If you’re thinking about a new bag or just want to get a little more information and history on styles you already own, I definitely recommend checking out this free reference!
Now, back to my bag and what’s inside because I know you’re dying to know! Well, for about 6 months now, I have been carrying the super chic Phillip Lim 3.1 Pashli!t It is by far the most expensive bag I have ever owned, and was definitely a purchase I put a lot of thought into. According to the Rue La La Handbag 101 Guide, I would say this bag is somewhere between a Tote and a Satchel, which happen to be two of my favorite styles of handbag because you can just fit so much into them and look chic doing so! One of my favorite parts of this bag is the material, it’s a highly durable, almost pebble style leather that wears beautifully and really holds up well to the daily grind.
You can stuff quite a bit into this bag and I really do a good job at pushing the capacity limits! Since this is my “Blogger” bag, I use this to carry around not only my necessities, but also important tech items like my DSLR (not pictured) and my Macbook Air for working on the go! I carry my DSLR in a microfiber camera bag by Mod, so it’s protected while traveling, and my Macbook Air sleeps in a Michael Kors sleeve!
Since this bag lacks any organizational elements or a variety of compartments, I end up carrying most of my necessities in pouchesfrom Forever 21. I use one for general necessities and one for beauty!
Of course, I absolutely can’t leave home without a few essentials, like my iPhone 5 and my new Filofax Original Fluoro Pink planner, that keep me organized and on task when I am getting down to the nitty-gritty of my blog to-dos!
So, of course to go along with this post, I also filmed an updated What’s In my Bag video! Make sure to check it out if you want to see more exact details of the contents of my bag as well as the contents of my pouches! Make sure to check out the Rue La La Handbag 101 Guide online as well– it’s a great little resource for handbag lovers, so make sure to share it with your friends!
xoxo,
This post was created in conjunction with Rue La La to promote their new Handbags and Purses Guide. Thank you so much to Rue La La for creating this guide and for giving me the opportunity to share it with my readers!
Happy Friday Everyone! I have something very fun and exciting to help you kick off your weekend! This morning when I woke up, I had one of the best emails ever sitting in the inbox! Kate Spade is having their 3 Day Friends and Family Sale now through Sunday October 19th! So, as I usually do when I receive these sorts of sale emails, I popped over to their site and checked to see if there was anything I wanted and I was very surprised to find that there were a bunch of items I was drooling over! Now, I know and you know that I love Kate Spade, but normally I can only find a small handful of things I really want, but not today! Today apparently, everything in the online shop was to die for so I thought I’d share with you guys since I know many of my readers also love Kate Spade and sale time is the best time to shop Kate Spade, in my opinion!
Here’s what I was drooling over!
[show_boutique_widget id=”174924″]
I am definitely going to pick up a thing or two during the sale, definitely the leather gloves! I have been dying for those for some time! Oh and I for sure need those magnets for the fridge! What about you? See anything you like from my selection of must-have’s? Make sure to use the code F14FFUS at checkout to get your 30% discount when you shop online!
Immediately after I received my newest planner, the Kikki K Lilac and Gold 2015 Time Planner, I went through something of a Filofax revival! All of a sudden I was super obsessed with my planner again, I scoured the internet for new inserts and goodies and started watching way to many planner set up videos for new inspiration. At some point, I watched a video where a woman showed her setup and briefly commented on a DIY folder she had assembled for her planner. I remember thinking it was one of the cleverest things I had seen in a planner in some time, and made a mental note to attempt to DIY one for myself, not knowing exactly how she had gone about making hers. A few weeks later, I found a little note in my planner that referred to this file folder DIY, and feeling crafty, I decided to see what I could come up with!
Many of you have seen exactly what the result of my labor was, and have commented on your interest in seeing a DIY on the topic. So, I went ahead and filmed a video where I walk you through how I made mine. As this wasn’t my original idea, I really wanted to find the source of my inspiration and link you all to the original video I had seen that had inspired this creativity, but for the life of me, I can’t find the video! I searched through my YouTube history, spent days searching videos trying to find the originator of this idea, but alas, I could not find it and thus do not know who I should credit for this idea, but thank you, whoever you are! I love this little folder I have made for myself and I think you guys will love this DIY because it’s really almost too simple!
I considered whether or not I should write out the directions to this tutorial, but I know I will probably get a bunch of questions on the process because I feel like crafty tutorials like this need to be seen, not read. So, below is the video where I walk you through the process. Here is a list of supplies I used and suggest for this project:
A Target $1 Spot File Folder
A cutting mat
A metal ruler
An exacto knife
A permanent glue roller
Clear tape
Scissors
A single hole punch
I hope you all have enjoyed this video and this DIY! I think this little folder is great for storing a variety of different planner supplies like extra paper, sticky notes, page flags, stickers and more! It can also act as a divider as well or even a dashboard if you keep yours in the front of your planner like I do! If you have a planner that lacks lots of pockets or if you just need a more unique storage idea, definitely take the time to try this out and share it with your planner friends as well!
We are nearly half way through my favorite month of the year and although I am sad to see the time passing so quickly, I will say that I am very happy about how much I have managed to pack into this month thus far! This may be my most eventful October to date and I may have to credit my 31 Things to Do In October Printable for that! You seriously need to check it out and download it before the month is over- it has really helped me stick to the Halloween/Fall spirit! In 14 days I have actually managed to check off 14 items from that list, including take a hayride, visit a pumpkin patch, and complete a corn maze- three fun activities that I crossed off this past Sunday during my visit to a local farm. You may have noticed the Instagram picture of an adorable little pumpkin just waiting to be picked… yep, I brought him home with me along with a few of his friends. In fact, for the first time in a number of years, I not only purchased real pumpkins (I normally prefer the fake, non decomposing types) but I also had a blast decorating them! Yea, you see these pics? These aren’t designer pumpkins I pulled from Pinterest, no, they are my pumpkins! I decorated them all by myself, and I honestly couldn’t be prouder! Of course, for those who know me and my aesthetic, it should be no surprise that I went with a glittery black and white scheme with a punch of turquoise thrown in the mix. I’m especially pleased with my black and white rugby stripe pumpkin that I painted by hand after a few failed attempts at creating straight lines with tape. He’s quirky and a little messy… just like me.
These pumpkins were really fun to paint and decorate and not too difficult either. All I did was primed the pumpkins with a white spray paint primer (thank goodness I used spray paint because it made the process so much smoother and gave me a fresh base for my pumpkins) and let them dry. Then I painted two of them black by hand with some acrylic paint, and one turquoise. I knew I wanted to use silver glitter and plastic rhinestones to bling them up, so I got those over at the craft store! For the glitter topped pumpkins, all I did was spread Elmer’s School Glue in sort of a drippy pattern on the tops of the pumpkins and then covered the glue in glitter before it dried. As you can tell, some of the glue dripped down a bit more obviously in certain areas, but it all adds to the charm! Then for the rhinestone pumpkins I just applied some super glue to the backs of the rhinestones and arranged them in place. I like how one of the rhinestoned pumpkins looks like it’s wearing a jeweled collar and the other looks like polka dots. Of course my special turquoise pumpkin got the best of both worlds with the glitter and the rhinestones and I love her excessive bling. She is my official Strange & Charmed pumpkin, so she sits front and center!
Anywho, enough about painting pumpkins! On to the real topic of this post, my favorite non-Halloween, Halloween movies! Okay, so what do I mean by non-Halloween? Well, I mean movies that aren’t your typical blood, guts and gore horror movie! These aren’t necessarily all kid friendly movies, and some definitely fit into the horror genre, but they aren’t your typical slasher/monster/ghoul movies either!
So, I hope you enjoyed this little update to my month and got some good ideas for some movies to watch as we near Halloween! If you’re looking for some actual Halloween type movies, I found this list of the best Halloween films currently on Netflix. If you’re looking for a more traditional scare, I’m sure you could fill more than a few movie nights with some of those! Let me know in the comments which movies you are excited to watch for Halloween and if you do some pumpkin decorating I would love for you to tag me in an Instagram picture so I can see your October spirit as well!
If you saw my September Favorites, you know that I recently purchased a bunch of new “toy” lomography lenses for my DSLR. Go ahead, call me a Hipster, but I actually really enjoy lo-fi photography and that whole lomography movement in artistic photography isn’t going away, in fact I think it’s only getting stronger. In case you’re reading this and asking yourself what lomography is, let me sum it up for you. Lomography is basically an artistic photographic style that values the aesthetic of analog cameras. It’s been something of a movement since the advent of digital photography, preserving the artistic experience of film photography. You may be familiar with the plastic “toy” cameras sold at Urban Outfitters, such as the Diana and the Holga, throwbacks to a dying age dominated by film, or at least you are familiar with the many Instagram filters that can give you that analog film camera look with just a tap of a finger! Well, good news, you can actually buy lenses for your DSLR that have been made by Diana and Holga to give you that great vintage quality in your digital images, and I am going to talk about four of those that I purchased and have been testing and give you my feedback in case you also want to give these lenses a try. I recently took all four of my new toys out with me while I went apple picking and shopping in a quaint little country town near my home. This little experiment on a bright sunny day, gave me the ability to test the lenses in optimal lighting conditions.
Now, keep in mind, these lenses are called “toy” lenses for a reason. They are plastic (for the most part) and not made to be high quality optics. They also only cost me an average of $25-30 each, so they are definitely not pro lenses, but for DSLR owners who also enjoy the lomo look or would like inexpensive lenses to play around with, they are an option out there, and options are good! Another thing to keep in mind is that because these are cheap plastic lenses, they don’t have any sorts of electrical mechanisms that speak to your DSLR body, so you will need to shoot in manual when using these lenses. Your camera will act like there is no lens connected to the body, so depending on the camera you have, you will lose certain features as well, but if you are comfortable or knowledgable in shooting manual, you shouldn’t have any problems. I kept my DSLR in manual with my ISO set to auto (because these lenses don’t have large apertures to let in much light). I also kept my shutter speed as slow as I could without causing blur, again, in order to help increase the amount of light getting in through the lens. Finally, I also used the Live View mode on my display as opposed to shooting through the view finder. In certain situations, you just can’t be sure of the lighting and live view (as least until your comfortable shooting in the lighting/environment you have) will help!
Holga
I purchased two lenses made by Holga. The first is their 60mm f/8 Lens, which is the same lens that you would find on a standard Holga camera, but made with a special mount to fit a DSLR. Because these are lo-fi, basically analog lenses, they can’t do things like autofocus, so you have manual control of that by twisting a ring on the outside of the lens that has some convenient little non-specific images that denote portrait, family, group, and infinity! It’s not precise, but it’s also not rocket science! The lens definitely skews on the dark side, and has a good amount of vignetting, but overall, I thought it gave me some of the best “vintage inspired” results out of all four of the lenses. To me, it produced the sorts of images that I might see while flipping through the pages of my grandmothers scrapbook and it’s actually given me a few awesome family photo ideas to work on for the holidays.
TL;DR: Authentically vintage, albeit tricky to use. Will continue to play with it for fun effects!
The second of the two Holga lenses I tested was the Pinhole. This lens is says its 25mm, but since it is just a tiny pin sized hole, there isn’t anything you need to adjust and no way to focus. If you have ever used a pinhole camera before, you know that it’s all about controlling the light with these because their aperture is nothing more than a teeny tiny hole that lets in next to no light. This one was probably my least favorite out of all the lenses I tested, and for good reason. Even on a super bright and sunny day, this lens was still overly dark, and I believe the ISO for this picture was at least 400-600, while the shutter was 1/60. In the typical pinhole fashion, you can certainly make out the heavy vignette circle around the image created by the tiny hole, which I do think adds a really interesting vintage feel, but this is the sort of lens that has a time and a place to use and for me, I don’t find I have many reasons to use it!
TL;DR: Lens is way to dark to use on a regular basis, won’t be bringing it out again unless I have a great concept to shoot.
Diana F+
Now on to the Diana lenses. These one’s are a little more unique because they are the actual lenses that fit onto Diana F+ Cameras. In order to fit them to your DSLR, you need to purchase an adaptor that connects the lens to your camera body. Downside of these lenses is that the adaptor is only available for Canon and Nikon cameras (unlike the Holga lenses which are actually made to directly fit a few different camera manufacturers). Now, the first Diana Lens I want to talk about is the 38mm Super Wide Angle. In comparison to the other three lenses, this one felt the most plastic-y. The Holga’s were actually made from quite a hard sturdy plastic, but this Diana lens felt light and wobbly like it may just break apart- but good news, it didn’t! Even after much in and out of my bag and traveling around, it held up, it just felt unstable! This lens is also the largest out of the toy lenses I purchased. It too, like the Holga 60mm, has a focusing ring with a very non-precise system of focus measuring, but again, once you got used to using it, you sort of understood the focusing distances. The thing that is quite interesting about this lens is that it creates some very interesting effects with the light. The Diana F+ is often dubbed the Dreamy Diana, because of the soft, ethereal lighting effects that it creates. This lens works well in situations where you have a lot of lighting contrast, so a bright sunny day was a good time to shoot with it, or conversely, I would also love to take this out into the city at night and capture the electric city lights and signs that brighten the night (it’s on my to do list)! Because of the dreamy lighting effects, I actually think that I prefer to use this lens for video as opposed to photography. I played around with it while we were apple picking and I loved the vintage feel of the scene as the light danced around in glowing blobs! Overall, it wasn’t a terrible lens and I found the artistic quality of it to be very lovely!
TL;DR: Feels cheap, but gives a unique artistic feel. Best for creating vintage inspired video, in my opinion.
Now to the final lens, and you can say I saved the best for last! This final lens is the Diana 75mm Premium Glass Lens. Yes, I said premium glass. Again, this is a lens that was made for Diana F+ Cameras, sort of as an upgrade to the cheap plastic made lenses that come standard with the camera in order to bring more sharpness to the film photo’s. Out of all the lenses, it was my favorite, but it was also about twice the price of the others. First, let’s address the construction of this lens because it’s a little odd and a bit of a juxtaposition with the term premium glass. Yes, the optical element of this lens is glass, but the body is still plastic, albeit a much sturdier plastic than the 35mm Super Wide. It’s a relatively small lens, that definitely has a more premium look to it than the others, however, it has the strangest manual focus. Instead of the focus ring being placed outside the body of the camera, this one is actually located in the front center of the lens, right around the glass, which makes it awkward to adjust. People with large hands and fingers may find it a pain to focus this way, I found it a pain and I have small hands and fingers, but I will say that this odd focusing ring actually lends itself to an overall positive experience with the lens. As you can see from the sample images I took, this lens is sharp. It produces clear, crisp images once you can get the lens in the proper focus. You have to remember, this is a 75mm lens, so it lends itself to being more of a portrait style lens by nature, and personally, I find that it’s the sort of lens I want to use when I’m taking stills of friends, or I’m on a nature hike, walking at a leisurely pace and photographing flowers and plants. I know that may sound weird, but the fact that you have to take a moment to finger the focus to the appropriate spot means you need to take a moment to stop and think about the shot. I think that slower paced, more thought process driven method of shooting is actually very important and a great opportunity to learn more about your own style of photography. For the size and the price and the quality combined, I have no excuse not to keep this little guy with me!
TL;DR: Good quality lens with relatively sharp optics and small form factor. Is now a staple in my camera bag.
I hope you guys found this installment of Picture Perfect to be helpful and informative. I would say that although most of these lenses aren’t wonderful quality, the fact that they are pretty inexpensive is reason enough to pick one up if you are a DSLR owner who maybe only owns a real lens or two. I could imagine that if you are reading this, you most likely only own an entry-level DSLR with the kit lens, so these loom lenses are a fun way to mix up your photography, especially if you want to pick up the 75mm because that focal length is a pretty good one to own and for the price, you can’t beat it! Even if you’re not so into photography, I think these lenses would actually make really great gifts for friends, family and loved ones who may be interested in photography and own a DSLR! Especially students because I think they would get a lot out of playing with these sorts of artistic/creative lo-fi lenses!
Guess what time it is? Time for a new monthly feature! Since this site was founded on my love for technology and its ability to make our lives easier, I thought it would be fun if I started a new feature where I review awesome apps that I like and that you may enjoy as well! I am calling this feature, Apptastic, and I hope you enjoy it!
For my first installment of Apptastic, I want to talk about a free app that, so far, has been something of a lifesaver for me, and I foresee that it will continue to be of use to me in the weeks and months to come! It is called TV Show Tracker, and I think you can take a good guess from the name what the app does. Yep, it’s Fall and all our favorite TV Shows are premiering left and right! Since I don’t watch much TV on a daily basis, I’m always absentminded when it comes to tracking show schedules. With the help of TV Show Tracker, I can save my favorite shows, see when they are airing and set an alarm to remind me when episodes are coming up! That way I never have to miss a show!
So, what show’s am I watching this fall? Well, first and foremost, Once Upon a Time just restarted a few weeks ago and I have been obsessed with the addition of our favorite Frozen characters! Ghost Adventures, my favorite paranormal travel documentary series is also back with new episodes that just started up last weekend! What can I say… I love scaring myself with ghost stories just in time for Halloween! This week, another modern classic, American Horror Story also premiers with their 4th season, and I cannot wait to learn more about the freak show! Also premiering this week is probably one of my absolute favorite shows, The Walking Dead! Who else is excited to see what Rick and the gang are up to?!? Do you think they will all make it out of Terminus alive? And where the heck is Beth? Last but certainly not least, in another few weeks my final favorite fall show premiers, Grimm! I can’t wait to see what happens with Nick and the new grimm after Monroe’s wedding. In case you can’t tell, my favorite shows are clearly fairy tale and horror related!
Okay, now it’s your turn! What shows are you looking forward to this season? Have you been watching any of my favorite shows? Will you be using the TV Show Tracker App to keep all your shows straight? Let me know in the comments below!
Last year, I was obsessed with the Nordic Ware Halloween Skull Cake Pan from Williams-Sonoma. I’m not really big into baking, but the thought of being able to bake a cake in the shape of a skull was enough to turn me into Betty Crocker! Well, unfortunately for me, the pan sold out relatively quickly last Halloween season, but this year it came back and I had to have it! So, my husband surprised me with it last month and to thank him I immediately made him a cake using the pan!
Mike loves red velvet cake, and I thought it would be the perfect type of cake to make to test the pan! The cake itself is obviously red, and when covered with the off white cream cheese frosting, I thought it would look like a real (enough) skull, and then when you cut into the cake it would look like it was bleeding because of the red cake underneath! I was super excited to make the cake, and although I used a simple cake mix and pre made frosting, it was a really fun and festive activity.
As you can tell from the image of the cake pan, the cake is made in two pieces. The pan itself has two wells, one for the face of the skull and the second for the back of the neck and head. Once the cakes are baked, you connect both halves to create a complete 3D skull! But I was thinking about it and if you wanted to, you wouldn’t necessarily need to make the whole cake, you could just use the well with the skull face and that would make a festive cake that didn’t require too much coordination connecting the two halves of the skull. Using both wells, it took two boxes of cake mix, so it becomes a rather large cake in the end once it’s all together, so in the future I will probably end up making half of the cake more often than the whole head!
Now, although this is a Halloween themed cake pan, I think it’s interesting enough to use year round and I plan to make skull cakes for every event I plan to attend from now until forever! Really, the possibilities are endless. The next cake I make may be a white cake, perhaps an angel food cake?!? That could be awesome and it wouldn’t require frosting (which, admittedly, I am not so good at) but would still give that bone white skull look! For now, if you would like to see how my cake turned out and the process for how I put it together, check out my video below!
I love this cake pan, and if you are a fan of skulls and/or Halloween, I think this is a great festive addition to your bakeware collection! Now, if you like the skull motif but don’t think you would get much use out of such a large pan, Nordic Ware also makes a Mini Skull Cakelet Pan that makes 6 large cupcake sized skull cakes (face only). Since the Halloween bakeware is currently on sale, I may go ahead and pick this one up as well!
Thanks for reading (and watching)! So, tell me… who else is super excited for Halloween? What sort of festive treats are you looking forward to for celebrating the season of spooks and ghouls? Let me know in the comments below!
October is here and I am super duper excited! I know I mentioned this in my impromptu post yesterday, but October is one of my favorite months of the year, mainly because it’s the first official month of fall, and fall is my favorite time of year! October is filled with so many wonderful things, and this month I am hoping to share some of those things with you! You may be wondering, what the heck I am doing writing a letter from the editor to you, anyway. Well, the thing is, I am shaking things up a bit on the blog, as I tend to do from time to time, and I decided that at the start of each new month I would write a personal letter to you, my friends and readers, outlining my plans and the type of content you can expect! I know in the past you could never really tell what you were going to get from me each week here on the blog, and although I’m not going to reveal all my secrets, I thought giving you a sneak peek into the sorts of content you can expect would be a nice way for you and I to connect!
So, what do I have planned for you this month? Well, to start, food… lot’s and lot’s of food! Specifically, I have a couple of recipe posts to share with you guys starting on Monday with a very special seasonal experiment in baking that I have been very excited to share with you! If you follow my YouTube channel as well, you may have seen that last month I started a series called The Lazy Girl’s Cookbook, where I feature recipes for seasonal meals that are super easy and delicious! Well, that series is going to continue on this month as well with a few more of my favorite fall recipes! Moving on from food to fashion, I have a fun scarf tutorial planned just in time to keep you warm in the crisp fall air! Of course, since it is October, and I am obsessed with Halloween, you can expect a Halloween themed Geek Speak feature this month, as well as a seasonal installment of My Productivity Playlist! Rounding out the month, I am also planning a few new reoccurring features around planners and productivity inspiration!
I hope you’re all as excited about my upcoming month of content as I am! I also wanted to take this opportunity to say a sincere thank you to everyone who showed their enthusiastic support for my new shop yesterday and downloaded the 31 Things to Do in October printable! I am so glad that so many of you were as excited about it as I was, and I hope that throughout the month you will keep me up to date as you check those seasonal items off your list! Feel free to tag me in photo’s on Twitter and Instagram so I can follow along with the fun!
Thanks again everyone and I hope you enjoy the great things I have in store for you this month!
