10.10.10

I've been looking forward to October 10th every year for the past 9 years. It seems pretty silly when I think about why.... and that I've been putting so much on this one day for almost a decade. Still, I think I was really hoping for something different today. However, I am ending this night thinking about all the many blessings I do have in my life. Maybe today wasn't anything extraordinary, but I still have a lot of amazing things going on and amazing people in my life. Maybe I there is nothing special about this date. Maybe it's just suppose to serve as a reminder that life is full of beautiful and memorable moments, we just need to take the time to savor them.

Here's an awesome post that my friend Mary showed me tonight. Same message (savor each moment). It's a pretty awesome story. Enjoy.
This is so enlightening.

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Washington Post Experiment In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by Gene Weingarten from the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. Weingarten won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing for his article on the experiment.

This experiment raised several questions:
*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made … How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

you can catch the video here
and the Washington Post article here

horror party themed treats (from Courtney at You Will Won't You)

I asked my awesome pal Courtney to share a little something for the Fall/October/Halloween month long party and she was sweet enough to share this incredible receipe. Vegan, themed cupcakes! Um....delish! Thanks Courtney!!! :)
-kel
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Horror Party Themed Treats: Puncture Wound Cupcakes

Last year there were three Friday the 13ths during the year. Well, one of them was in March just days after my birthday and I hosted a horror themed party. Decoration and treats all followed this theme. That lead me to whip up a couple of batches of cupcakes. Everyone is familiar with the standard chocolate cupcakes with ʻdirtʼ frosting but I have discovered ʻPuncture Woundʼ cupcakes! They are so delicious and really easy to make. These cupcakes are based off of the Jelly Doughnut Cupcake from the Veganomicon.

Here is what you will need:
1 C Soy Milk
1 t Apple Cider Vinegar
2 T Cornstarch
1.5 C Flour
3/4 t Baking Powder
1/2 t Baking Soda
1/2 t Ground Nutmeg (fresh is best!)
1/2 t Salt
1/3 C Canola Oil
3/4 C plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 t Vanilla Extract
1/3 cup Strawberry Jelly-the cheaper the better! Honest!

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 and place twelve cupcake wrappers in a cupcake tin / sheet.

First, add the soy milk, cornstarch and vinegar to a small cup or bowl and mix until the cornstarch is dissolved and the mixture gets bubbly and looks like it has thickened a bit.

Then, in your standard mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Create a little well in the middle of the dry ingredients to pour your wet mixture into.

Before pouring the wet mixture into the dry give it another quick mix and add it to the well in the flour mix. Now mix it all together until just combined (meaning a few lumps are ok.)

Now add the oil, sugar, and vanilla. Mix everything together once again.

To prepare the cupcakes fill the liners 3/4ths of the way with the batter.

Drop spoonfuls of jelly in the middle.

Pop them in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. You canʼt really do a test to see if they are cooked but you can pretty much tell by looking at them.

NOTE: If you wanted to make genuine Jelly Doughnut Cupcakes you can push the jelly into the batter and spread some of the batter over it. That way it will form a complete dome on the top of a cupcake. The puncture wound is derived because the batter doesnʼt form a complete dome looking like a stab wound.

I hope that you enjoy these delicious (vegan!) cupcakes that can maybe kinda act as a quick brunch breakfast with a delicious cup of coffee.

-Courtney

day 28 of 30 days of me

day 28- a picture of you from last year and now, how have you changed since then?

me 1 year ago:

(with my friend Erin's dog, Bean)

me this year:

so....how have i changed in 1 year. oy. TONS.

This time last year I was going through a tough break up. This year I am happily dating the guy of my dreams.

Last year I had a completely different group of friends. This year I am trying to rekindle lost friendships and trying to hold on to the ones that I somehow let go in the past.

Last year I wasn't happy- I had happy moments of course, but I just wasn't overly happy nor content. This year I feel happy just about everyday. Of course, I still have sucky, fml days, but for the most part I love, love, love my life.

Last year I had only 1 job. This year I have 2.

Last year my best friend was also my roommate. This year my best friend lives in England and I have a new (and also awesome) roommate.

Last year I spent that majority of my time with the bf at the time and the 2nd and 3rd member of the 3 musketeers. This year I spend my days mostly with my current bf and friend Brit.

Last year I weighed about 10 pounds less. This year I am at a healthy weight.

I guess you could say that overall, this past year has made me do a lot of soul searching and evaluating. I've come to find out new things about myself and others. I've grown up....some. haha. I've tried to be more responsible. I've probably taken on way too many things, but I am also the happiest I've perhaps ever been. Life is still tough sometimes, but I'd like to think that I've become better at handling the tough times and enjoying the good. I've grown into myself. There's still a long way to go, but I am happy at where I am right now in life. (And this is something I honestly didn't see myself saying this time last year).

xoxo

kel

halloween guest post & GIVEAWAY (with Amanda from Whimsical Woodland) CLOSED

Hi "On the brink.... " readers!
This is Mandy from the new blog "Whimsical Woodland" and I am sooo excited to be doing a guest post (and a giveaway) on Kellie's cute blog!

Like Kellie, and most of her readers, I am a huge fan of both Halloween and the autumn season. I live in Virginia, and there is so much inspiration to be found outdoors this time of year.

Here are a couple of pictures of what autumn looks like in my neck of the woods:

So, enough of the rambling, let's get on to the really fun stuff! Like I said above, I am offering a giveaway to one lucky "On the brink..." reader.
The giveaway will include the following:

A hand-painted paper mache' haunted house ornament that is covered in glass glitter and two Halloween postcards printed with one of my personal images.
Close up of the postcard:

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post telling us which you would choose: caramel or candy apples?
Enter by October 17th!

Don't forget to stop by my blog, and say hi!

Happy Halloween!
-Amanda

day 27 of 30 days of me

day 27- why are you doing this 30 day challenge

I’ll be honest, every time I see some sort of blogging “challenge” I get all excited and jump on board. However, like most things in my life, I sign up and then get tied up with so many other things that the idea I was so pumped about suddenly takes the back seat (if it is even able to stay in the car at all....). This time though, I’ve promised myself I’d finish a challenge. This challenge. Maybe it’s silly, but I’m almost kinda proud for being so close to done. I love doing anything crafty or blogger-ish (did I just create a new word?) and I’m really hoping that this is the start of a new trend- finishing projects and challenges in regards to crafting, creating, and blogging. We shall see......

-kel

yummy halloween sweets

Today's halloween/Fall post is all about food. Go figure, me posting about food.....but I saw these sweet treats on Southern Living's website and I just HAD to share.

recipes they have are:
heavenly candy bar cupcakes
pumpkin fudge,

owl-een cookies

chocolate ghost cakes

harvest moon lollipops

candy apples

stuffed pumpkin with cranberry-raisin bread pudding

pumpkin cake with ghost decor

witches hat cookies

candy corn choclate cake

and caramel apples.

so go check em out and if you make any....post a link here so we can all see how they turned out!!!!!

lovelove,

kel

day 26 of 30 days of me

Day 26:day 26- what do you think about your friends:

Without a doubt, I have the sweetest, most amazing friends a girl could ask for. True story.

(here are just a few photos of just a few of my wonderful friends)

thanks guys, for always putting up with my craziness, my sometimes adhd-like behavior, my temper, my emo side and loving me still. yall freaking rock and i'm blessed to know each and every one of you. (and this is to everyone, not just the friends in the above pictures.)

love you always,

kel

halloween guest post (with Katie from punk projects)

Hey! I'm Katie from Punk Projects!

I love this time of year, Its beautiful outside, You get to eat lots of pumpkin pie, Decorate for Halloween, etc! My lovely Sister Taylor and I had the idea to make these super cute & easy felt masks!

How to make a mask:
Tools & Supplies: Felt & Fabric, Ribbon/RicRac, Sewing Machine

1. Cut your mask shape out of felt.

2. Cut a strip of black fabric or felt, cut zigzags into it, and sew onto the top of your mask.

3. Sew a few stitches to give your mask some character. :)

4. Attach your straps. I cut my RicRac straps 20" long so that there would be plenty of it to tie.

And you are done! Yay!



Are you dressing up for Halloween?

Thanks Kellie so much for featuring this tutorial!
xo, Katie

day 25 of 30 days of me

day 25- what I would find in your bag

this photo was taken awhile ago, but everything in it is pretty much the same. kinda sad. i think i might be too much of a creature of habit.

in my purse:
my agenda
3 mini notebooks (yea all with different purposes- 1 for creative and craft ideas, 1 for to dos at home, and 1 to do list for my youth leader job
pens and pencils. multiple, yes. oh and an eraser
a pink highlighter
a pink sharpie (yea the black one in the photo died)
water (and yes a new water bottle as well)
my phone
gum (the layered trident kind)
my umbrella
lotion
wallet
makeup bag
tums
eye drops
anti-itch spray (for the stupid mosquitoes)
hand sanitizer (but a different brand from Ulta)
post-its
my meds
tampons
and a package to my bestie in England that I need to mail!

but.....
no poptarts
no tide pen (died)
no sunglasses

whew....could that list have been any longer? (yea i carry everything but the kitchen sink as my mom says).

whats in your bag?
-kel