pumpkin time

it *just might* be a bit chilly today. chilly makes me think of fall. fall makes me think of pumpkins (and candy corn, of course). pumpkins (and candy corn) make me want to bake, so i did just that.

a few weeks ago, i made smitten kitchen’s pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting for a dinner with friends (where we scarfed down our other favorite pumpkin meal: pumpkin sausage pasta). i think i actually squealed a tiny bit when i pulled the cupcakes out of the oven and they looked like proper cupcakes; this rarely happens in my attempts at baking.

these cuppies are super nom-worthy. the only thing that could have made them better? being able to find the candy corn’s first cousin, the pumpkin candy corn. i went to three stores and nothing. what’s up with that? it must be the universe mocking my pumpkin love.

day tripper

i woke up this morning and decided to get my hair cut. while i was on the internets researching salons in the area, i decided to check craigslist for potential estate sales. i found one.

128 miles from my house.

after making sure my iPod was fully charged, i hit the road and enjoyed the view.

after two-and-a-half hours of driving, with only a few minor annoyances (grrrr to perpetual I-35/I-30 traffic shenanigans), i arrived in mart, texas. population 2,243.

i think i’ve mentioned it before, but i really love small towns.

i mean, come on. how awesome is this? cute eateries.

old buildings.

lovely architectural elements.

more interesting doors. note: i take ‘no trespassing’ signs very seriously. most of the time.

of course, most importantly, small towns are likely to have extremely very megan estate sales.

i was pretty much in love with everything for sale. even this odd collection of sad-eyed animals.

maybe not so much in love with these scary baby dolls. dolls kind of freak me out a bit.

doll houses, on the other hand, i completely love. it goes back to my earliest desire to be an architect. this sweet house was tin and had all the original furniture and was in mint condition. for only $85. well, half of that. still… too much. i really do love it, though.

there were so many amazing vintage toys in their original boxes. tiddly winks, cooties, sewing cards, and so much more. i loved this etch-a-sketch.

more vintage tin toys.

and so many beautiful, well-preserved linens. i stopped taking pictures because i had to get down to business and look at every single thing at least twice. maybe three times. i got so many good things, making the trip totally worthwhile.

if you’re driving down I-35 in either direction, you cannot miss stopping at the czech stop and the little czech bakery in west, texas (exit 353).

there will always be a line. but it will always go fast.

and there’s so much to look at while you’re waiting in line.

like pickled pigs feet.

and cupcakes.

and meat kolaches.

and pastry kolaches.

holy yum.

by the time i picked out my treats and walked back outside, it was absolutely pissing down with rain.

i sat in my car and had my sausage and cheese kolaches (oh-so-good) and watched the rain fall harder and harder. as soon as it cleared up for just a second, i got back on the highway and proceeded to have the most stressful drive ever. it was literally a sheets of rain pounding down on my car for two solid hours. i kid you not, my knuckles have never been so white. especially when, just after entering the dallas area, a huge SUV tried to pass my cautious speed and ended up tail-spinning and crashing into the barrier. after impact, the SUV bounced back into traffic and missed me by mere inches. i thought i was going to throw up. i think i might have a bit, actually.

and i totally think this spur-of-the moment excursion totally counts as a road trip, therefore i am crossing it off my thirty in thirty list (# 11) – hoorah!

here’s a sneak peek at some of the day’s great finds. most of the items will be making their way to the shop, so please check in!

just to verify

i feel the need to verify that i am, indeed, glowing.

last night i saw a musical hero of mine and it has left me, twenty-four hours later, in a state of perpetual dreaminess.

my head is still wrapping itself around sufjan’s amazing new sounds and beautifully graphic visual displays (and, if i’m being honest, the crazy helmet-wearing enthusiast a few rows ahead of us – still not sure about him).

some highlights:

*swoon* this is probably my favorite sufjan song. my brother-in-law and i let out small squees of delight when it started. so magical.

still feeling extremely warm and fuzzy… megan.

p.s. more videos on my youtube channel.

idyllic

grumpers.

the cutest little cottage i ever did see.

i love old signs.

i had the best weekend wandering around a different city and snuggling with my sweet dog-sitting charge, all-the-while snapping pictures every few seconds.

(all photos taken with the hipstamatic app using ina’s 1935 film and the helga viking lens)

oh hai…

i had to add a new category just for this post. it’s called life, which perfectly sums up my absence in this space for the past few weeks. what started as a severe sinus infection and a week off of work soon turned into a bad case of pink eye (picked up at the doctor’s office, of course) that kept stubbornly roaming from one eye to the other.

just as the whites of my eyes were indeed once again white, there was a death in the family. my last remaining grandparent passed away at the age of 95 (he would have been 96 this halloween). this in the midst of being appointed to a leadership board at work, where we were assigned a crazy-intense group project to be presented to the new city manager and his efficiency experts.

then, when i finally had a night off to spend with friends, i came home to a mac that would not let me sign in. after a manual restart, my hard drive simply erased itself because that’s just how it goes. as my dad would say, “welcome to the real world, bub.” needless to say, i did not have a backup hard drive because who really does that? oh, everybody, apparently. there went over 10,000 pictures. luckily, i have my most important travel pictures burned to discs, so all my overseas trips have been spared. everything else? gone.

after toying with the idea of spending my newly saved monies for a new computer, my friend came to the rescue after cracking my mac open. we bought a brand-spankin’-new 1 terabyte hard drive for $60 and upgraded the memory while the computer was under. so i have a better-than-new super-fast, super-awesome mac now. and, most importantly, i have a backup system.

i’ve had my mac up and running for just under a week now, but i haven’t logged into the blog because i’ve been shy. you know how it is after you mean to call or e-mail somebody back? and then you don’t? and then, after a longer amount of time, you still don’t? then you’re convinced the other person hates you, which makes you really not want to respond. it’s kind of almost easier to just forget about it, but it’s still in the back of your mind nagging you. that’s how i felt about posting. i’m pretty sure the 365 project is over for this year. my heart hasn’t really been into it the past few weeks and it was more of a chore than a pleasure to take a picture and make a post. i have made progress on my thirty in thirty project, though, so some posts for that are upcoming.

right now, i’m just going to lay in bed and read a book for the rest of the night. exciting times around here.

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(and this is officially the end of my downer post)