What I've been doing...

Things have been pretty quiet over here the last few days because I have been preparing (ie: stitching) like a mad man for 2 shows I have this weekend and 2 other shows I have in 2 weeks. What made me think that having 2 shows in 1 weekend was a good idea? Oh I don't know... but it's sorta fun and magical to prepare like CRAZY for it.

Long story short, my lack of sleep and poor diet (lack of veggies and A LOT of caffeine) have created a little illness that I'm dealing with today. Hopefully it will be taken care of by the weekend and all will be well.

Here's a peek at what I've been up to for this weekend's shows! All items are currently for sale in the shop and will also be at the 2hands Indie Craft Market Saturday 10-2 and then at The Muse Saturday evening 5-9.

Pretty cozy!

Happy Thursday, ya'll!

A few peeks of our snowy Saturday morning.

Sure, Maryland gets snow, but it is extremely rare for us to get snow in October. In fact, locally speaking, this has only happened 3 other times in the last 100 years! When I woke up this morning there was a nice white coating over everything outside and we're expecting anywhere up to 8 inches by tomorrow morning. Yep. Eight inches of snow in Maryland. The most accumulation we've ever seen has been 2.8 inches in October. It's a little crazy around here.

 We have guests staying with us for the weekend for a (outdoor) wedding we're attending this afternoon, so I woke up extra early to put on the coffee and slide a nice pumpkin bread in the oven. We're not entirely sure what we're wearing to the wedding, but we know it's going to need to be warm! I'm seriously considering wearing my black LandsEnd snowboots... I'm not even kidding... well.. sorta.

While everyone was beginning to wake up, I grabbed my camera and started to shoot little pieces of our day so far...

Is it snowing where you are? If so, what are you doing to stay warm today?

xo,

Liz

It finally feels like fall--let's celebrate with 30% off!

Good morning!

Yesterday was Association Day in Maryland (where the Maryland Educator's Association provides a day off work for all public school teachers to enrich themselves professionally--workshops, trainings, etc.), so Cory and I had the day off together. Last year we attended an AP training, so we decided to take the year off from attending professional development. Plus, we had a long to-do-list infront of us.

Anyhow... the whole point of this is that we woke up to a gorgeous fall day! The high yesterday was 63 degrees, which is considerably chilly considering we'd been floating around in the low 80s recently. The chilly weather inspired me to accessorize with a lot of chunky wool and a fun knit hat as we galavanted around town.

The chilly weather is the perfect reason to host a sale so you can accessorize OR get a head start on your holiday shopping.

Each Donna's item will be beautifully packaged (with new packaging! yay!) just for you!

Enjoy!

xo,

Liz

New to the Shop! The Bandana Cowl

Over the weekend I noticed bandanas are everywhere this season. EVERYWHERE. I've seen them in a few What I Wore posts from bloggers I follow, but realized it's really not my style. What could I do to incorporate the same trend with my own personal twist? Ah ha! Crochet it!

Introducing: The Bandana Cowl

I am in love with this piece. I'm excited to make it in a ton of different colors and lengths as well!

So, if you want to join me in the bandana craze, you can order one for yourself at

 the shop!

xo,

Liz

Suggestions please!

(source)

Lovely readers: help me! My tiptoes are facing a 3-day weekend where I plan to surround myself in yarn and books. I have one novel already in the works that needs to be finished ASAP (Freedom), but would like to add to my "to read" pile.

I'm also in need of new music. Bands that I typically enjoy: The Black Keys, TV on the Radio, Arcade Fire. I am open to any and all new varieties though!

Plus, any new Netflix finds? I watched Paperman earlier this week and loved it. Ok, I'm not going to lie--the story wasn't stellar, but the couch was AMAZING. lol. Whatever it takes, right?

Music! Books! Magazines! Blogs! Share with me (in the comments) what you're into or what you're listening to!

Thank you in advance :)

Liz

Weekend Review: Charmed & Dangerous by The Second City

Cory and I had a really wonderful autumn weekend, and although I do not have many photos to offer, I at least want to document it :).

Friday night, right after work, Cory and I rushed home, changed into our evening best and headed to Baltimore's Center Stage theatre to see "Charmed and Dangerous" by Chicago's Second City comedy troop. (Second City has an impressive history as it has cranked out celebs like: Tina Fey, Stephen Cobert, John and Jim Belushi.)

Once we were in Charm City, we stopped at our favorite sushi place in Mt. Vernon, Minato Sushi. We tried a few new rolls and made it just in time to catch happy hour! Bonus! Minato is in the mainfloor of an apartment building, and I really was appealed to the mailboxes right outside their door--so I snapped a shot of them.

Afterward I snapped this photo of Cory entering the theatre. As you can tell, we were really excited to laugh the night away!

The entire show was set and geared toward Baltimore. It was absolutely hilarious! At a few points, Cory and I even got to participate! Cory offered 'superfluous' as an adjective, and I, of course, yelled "ENGLISH!" when they needed our favorite subject in high school ;).

We had the best night. It was so much fun to hang out with one another, laugh until our stomachs hurt, and just enjoy a night in the city.

We're really excited to start using our season passes to Center Stage!

Our next show is at the end of this month, "The Rivals."

How was your weekend?

xo, Liz

My worlds just collided big time.

So, like everyone else, I'm pretty excited for She & Him's Christmas album to be released at the end of this month. Pink Martini's Joy to the World was constantly on repeat in our home last year, and I'm SO excited to pair them with one another!

Anyway--so I'm reading the little blurb at the bottom of She & Him's website and I realize... dum dum dum...

A portion of the album's proceeds are being donated to 826 National!

826 National!

Okay, so think back to my San Francisco Trip last May. I went out of my way to stop by 826 Valencia, the original 826 location.

826 is a non-profit writing organization that was founded by one of my favorite authors (and people) Dave Eggers. 826 locations are beginning to pop up in many major cities around the country in effort to help support public school children who need a safe place to do homework after school or have a desire to be the best writer they possibly can. The main focus is creative writing, but the organization provides many other services. I mean--AWESOME.

As a nerdy English-teacher-book-lovin person, 826 hits a heart string with me to begin with.

And then there's Dave Eggers' books. I mean hello: he's brilliant. I posted about his books in my Favorite Non-Fiction Reads. A few weeks ago, I trecked to D.C. via metro and met up with a former Eggers lovin' student (she's now in college and is a total book nerd--I'll call that a success!) to meet Mr. Eggers at the National Book Festival. I'm a Book Festival alum, as I have gone the last 4 years running and absolutely love it. The fact that Eggers was going to be in attendance made my heart jump like crazy.

So here we are, in mid-October and I am so pleased to have one of my favorite music groups supporting an organization I love so dearly.

To find out more: 826, Eggers, LOC National Book Festival, She & Him

xo,

Liz