November Already!

Can you believe that we are already headed towards the end of another year?!  This year has flown by and November is shaping up to be a pretty busy month, so I thought I'd share some of the exciting things going on.  This Friday Donnie and I will head to Baltimore to see Andrew McMahon, which I previously mentioned in this post.  It's been awhile since we've been to a show, mostly because we are too tired to deal with crowds and long drives and staying out late.  We used to love seeing bands, but alas, we are getting old!  This venue has some seats, probably for parents, but that is where you will find me for the show!

The most exciting thing about this month is Thanksgiving.  Turkey and stuffing are pretty darn awesome, but I'm referring to where we are spending the holiday.  We are headed to Florida and are spending the holiday with my brother and his family.  I cannot even begin to express how thrilled I am.  I've been counting down the days for the last month and a half!  I had such a great time on my last visit and just seriously love spending time with my brother and sister in law.  And did I mention that we will be taking the boys to Disney World?!  I think Donnie is probably most excited about that.  It is the most magical place on earth, after all.

And finally, I have something exciting coming up in December that I will be spending all of my free time working on.  I am doing my very first craft show, Handmade Arcade!  I applied back in September and didn't really expect to get in, so I was pretty surprised when I got the acceptance email.  I actually asked Heidi if she somehow pulled some strings to get me in!  She assured me that she had nothing to do with it. She is going to be coming along to help me and has been such a tremendous support, along with Jessee.  I text them fairly frequently with questions and ideas.  Thanks, gals!  I'm completely nervous, but super excited!  If you live nearby, please come see me!!  Here is the info-

Put A Bird On It

I'm pretty sure I did a bird related post previously.  I really like birds, though, so here is another!  Happy Election Day to my fellow Americans.  I hope you've done your homework, educated yourself, and are voting today!  

1/2/3/4/5/6

Musical Monday

I was pretty amazed by T-Pain's voice and musical skills on this video.  For those who aren't familiar, T-Pain is an artist who is pretty well known for his use of auto tune.  This video is like T-Pain unplugged and it's pretty darn good!  I love NPR Tiny Desk Concerts, because they are so intimate and are a great way to discover new artists or watch your favorites play stripped down live versions of their songs.  You can check out others here.

Happy Halloween!

Here Comes The Big Parade!

The boys look forward to the fall parade in the little town of McConnellsburg, PA, during the Fulton County Fall Folk Festival.  It mostly consists of tractors and steam engines and almost everyone in the parade has candy to throw.  It's like heaven for my little guys!  Those handsome fellas on the red tractor are my cousin CJ and his son Oakley!  And see that steam engine in the bottom corner?  That was made by a company that used to be right on my street!

I absolutely adore the architecture on the main streets of old towns!  Oh, something else I adore is marching bands!  I don't know that the boys cared about either, because there were buckets just waiting to be filled with candy!

The yellow "car" is actually a tractor in disguise!  I thought there was something so lovely about that rusty old steam engine and I am a complete sucker for cute homemade parade floats!

October Crafternoon

I actually skipped September's crafternoon and almost passed on this month's as well.  I just haven't really been enjoying the group setting, so instead of showing up and being a grumpy jerk, I have just been staying home.  On the evening before this month's crafternoon, though, I decided I needed to go.  I missed my friends and really have to stop being such a hermit!  Donnie helped me think up my costume, Heidi's number one fan, threw together a good gift for the white elephant exchange, and brewed some iced tea to share with everyone.  I'm so darn glad I went.  It was a nice small group of gals and may have been my favorite craft to date!

Heidi, of course, is always an amazing hostess!  She made everyone little treat bags and Halloween mixes. She made the paper mache shapes ahead of time, so we just had to carve and paint them.  It's a pretty fun and easy process, using a Dremel and X-acto knife.

Once the faces were carved and the paint was dry, we glued printed eyes, noses, and mouths.  I could have made a dozen or more, but stuck to three!

That last minute costume won me a prize!  I'm certain it was the only time someone won anything for having donuts hanging from their hair and glasses.  There won't be a November crafternoon, but I will be sure to attend the December event!

Break The Silence

We all know by now that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, right?  It may have been mentioned once or twice on the blog.  I've been trying to be involved as possible at raising awareness for this important cause.  I started out the month by attending a candlelight vigil at a local hospital.  It wasn't really well publicized, but there was still a nice little turn out.  I'm hoping this event continues and grows each year! Sorry for the grainy photos, but candlelight and nighttime does not make for ideal iPhone photos.  

The hospital staff member who was responsible for organizing this event was great!  She clearly believes in the cause and spreading the word, so I believe she will be a great ally in the community!

I kept thinking about what I could to help out our agency.  Times have been really tough for us financially, with one position's funding being completely lost a few months ago and expensive renovations at our shelter this past year.  I knew the Instagram community would come through for me, so I organized an online auction.  I had so many amazing donations and am so touched by everyone's kindness and generosity.  The auction is actually open until Wednesday evening, so if you are on Instagram, head over to my shop account (@thethriftydoll) to bid on  amazing fabric, sweet vintage goodies, and amazing handmade items!  Here is just a small sampling of some of the items available-

So although there are only a few days left in October, please keep in mind that domestic violence is a problem that deserves attention every month.  It affects more people than you would probably guess and knows absolutely no boundaries of race, economic status, age, or background.  Now get on some purple, take to the streets, and break the silence about domestic violence!