Today I wrote a guest post for the lovely Diana at dianapantz. We bonded through Janee's 2012 scarf exchange at YB+YB and have enjoyed chatting since. Check out the post over at her blog today!

Before all this hurricane stuff happened, I went in to Boston to experience the Vegetarian Food Festival put on by the Boston Vegetarian Society. It was CROWDED! I managed to talk myself through staying. There were so many amazing foods to sample. I could have made a meal just out of samples alone, but because my fave pizza place was there I had a slice of pizza too. Yum yum yum! I was definitely full on my way home.

I have an aunt named Sandy, which makes the name of this storm incredibly funny to me. My Aunt Sandy is a petite woman who kills with kindness and there's no way she could be this impossibly large storm that is approaching. So far today we have wind and rain, but I have experienced worse storms here. We are supposed to get more of it tonight and tomorrow, so perhaps I should hold off judgment until then. For now, I can enjoy working from home with the comfort of my snuggily dog and a bowl of curry. I have my flashlights, water and food. My gas tank is full. Here's hoping we don't lose power, but we just might. This is the current radar:

Look at those storms, coming our way! If you are being affected by the storms, too, be safe! I'll be thinking about all of us while the storm rolls through this week.

I spent part of this weekend with Tater at a Doggy Halloween event at a nearby farm. She had a lot of fun smelling all of the dogs and eating treats. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the event:

The bulldog and "sheep" are my favorites. Hehe. Even though Tater did not win in any of the categories, she did have a lot of fun and she won one of the door prizes. She could pick the prize and she chose...a rawhide. Big surprise there!

What did all of you do for the weekend? Any fall activities? Spend time with your companions?

In the summer, it was much easier to capture a photo of Tater Tot smiling while she panted after playing or going for her walk. However, I was able to catch this one of her the other night. She wanted me to throw her kong and sat there waiting for me, panting.

You too can enter your little one in the weekly photo challenge. See this week's entry here from Chelsey at the Paper Mama.

I wanted to share a few photos of my progress with Alycia at the Curious Pug's monthly crochet-along.

I hate to admit that I have been stuck at the halfway point since last week, but I am. I think I will finish though...whenever I finish a bowl, I feel a small sense of accomplishment.

Alycia also challenged us to complete a mid-month project. Check out her post to see the example that I am excited about. I may even incorporate it into my Halloween costume.

I have felt a little scattered this week. Now that I am at 100% on health, I am catching up on everything else work (day job and shop related) and home related. My head is swimming a little. I was pretty proud of myself that I had scheduled two posts already for this week and a few more ideas lept into my brain as well. One that I wasn't planning on was writing about the Plaid Barn. However, as soon as I saw these octopi I knew that I had to share them with you all. They are too beautiful to pass up.

As I was scrolling, something caught my eye on the lower portion of the screen...MORE linen tape available...and MORE fabric tape! You know how these are my weaknesses!

I could hardly believe my eyes...I had scooped this stuff up when it was on sale previously and I haven't regretted it since. The Plaid Barn has recently begun to sell additional items to their deal of the day and I find my eye wandering down to the corner of the screen to check out what they have.

Incase you needed a little inspiration of what to do with these fine supplies, last night I made pennants out of the linen tape by cutting the width in half and hand stamping letters (stamps were also ordered from the Plaid Barn!). It is one of my supervisor's birthdays this week and we are getting together to celebrate tomorrow. I volunteered to make the cupcakes and thought these little pennants would be perfect for the cakes. We have dubbed her our "fearless leader", hence the fearless leader stamped out on some of the pennants.

I wrapped them around the toothpicks and they are all set to stand triumphant in the cupcakes tomorrow. (Now that I look at them I realize that it looks like they say "Happy Fear" rather than "Happy Birthday Fearless Leader," so I will try to get a full, 3D picture later today to show you all.)

If you're interested in grabbing your own crafty deals on these supplies, check out the link in my Affiliates section to the right or click here on my personalized link to check out the deal of the day.

 When I could finally move again, I tried my luck at some grocery shopping. On my way around, I spotted a stand on the side of the road with pumpkins. I had refused to buy one from a grocery store this year, so I was thrilled to find this stand. Look at these gigantic pumpkins!
 When I got home from grocery shopping, I still felt pretty good so I took Tater on a walk around town. We went into one of our favorite antique/consignment shops (Tater's favorite because she gets treats and mine because of the items). How cute is this collection of owls? I wish I hadn't already bought two on Etsy! And that glass on the side...I haven't seen one like that!
 Hanging bats, also in the fave store.
 The top of my perfect pumpkin. I'll clean it up and it will be ready to carve.
 I found a jewelry holder on my travels this weekend. There were a few variations with different birds and stand bases but I liked the look of the owls (noticing a theme here) on this one. I had a bowl-shaped one previously and the necklaces would get tangled together.
 I started setting up the decorations my uncle bought me. I love this cat.
 I took Tater for a walk today on a trail. Fall is definitely here. We had hoped to go to a doggy halloween party, but it was rescheduled due to the rain.
 Such a bright leaf.
I started a new project this weekend. I have been thinking about it for a while and it suddenly came together. After free-handing the acorn silhouette, I cut it out and placed it on burlap. Now begins the fun needlepoint details. I can't wait to show you all the progress as I work on it. It has been a while since I have done needlepoint and I forgot that it is not quickly finished.

How was your weekend?

I wanted to give you an update on my shop. This weekend I was finally well enough to work on more items for the shop. (I pretty much spent the week in bed due to an allergic reaction to...something. We don't know what it is. Yet.) I had so much fun.

 I found this scarf when I visited San Francisco in May. It was so beautiful...the color combination and the texture. It is available now in my shop with the option of custom cursive embroidery. I also played with the watermark feature on my images. I think I will use it more often.

 I also found more mini frames to make chalkboards out of!! At 12 of each, they're perfect for a party or wedding reception. The red is bright red and glossy...it reminds me so much of Christmas.
Then I found a gigantor frame turned chalkboard. The frame size is 12x15 and has lots of room for messages, menu items and chalk drawings. Every time I pick it up, I am surprised at the heft to it.

I love having new items in my shop! It has been too long since I have made new items and listed them. I have a few more items that I am working on that are autumn-themed. I will share those later this week.

 Although we originally had plans to visit an art festival in downtown, we ended up shopping instead. My uncles' flight came in later than originally planned and so we relaxed and went out and about. Lots of new local shops have opened up since I had been to town and it was so awesome to wander through them. The first was Rebel, where they sold a lot of handmade items that I have been lusting over on Etsy before even seeing this store. It was amaaaazing. I purchased a card and a small gift for a friend of mine on bedrest during the rest of her pregnancy.
Next to Rebel was Urban Exchange, which is a consignment store for women. It was also amazing. It was decorated so well and included many nice nice clothes that I could never afford in a regular store. These two stores are definitely on my to do list for my next trip back. Two things I forgot about MI were that it goes at a more relaxed pace and that people are genuinely friendly. For the latter, I kept catching myself questioning the motives of pleasant strangers and store clerks who were simply being friendly. Funny how living on the East Coast makes you realize that.

One evening, I put on my uncle's shoes.

returned at o'dark o'clock on Monday

making my way home

Although my visit was short, it was dense with family memories. It was so good to see all of my dad's side of the family and I look forward to visiting again.

If you are interested to see more photos, you can find me on Instagram as TurtandElephant.

I have been visiting family since Thursday and it has been so nice to come back and relax. All I have to think about is seeing family and not worry about work or any other responsibilities.

The flights over were not too bad. There was some turbulence but overall they were pleasant flights. I was impressed with how much leg room I had on one of them. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed riding escalators and moving walkways, too.
The time on all the public transit also let me begin working on Alycia at the Curious Pug's Crochet-Along project. They are nesting bowls; I'm supposed to be crocheting them in rainbow colors, but as my yarn collection lacks most of the rainbow, I'm just going to crochet with what I have.

Now I am headed off to more family adventures. Enjoy your Saturday!

It's a new month already and I can hardly believe it! What I have been enjoy the most about the change in month is the change in temperature. I have just been waiting for the weather to be in the 50s and 60s and it is finally here!

Another new thing that I have been excited about is getting a new phone. I finally have a smart phone, people! Now I can inundate you with Instagram photos too. Muahahahahaha. Just kidding. No, really. I have loved whipping out my phone and capturing moments left and right. Please add me so that I can follow you too! My username is @turtandelephant.

Alycia at the Curious Pug has announced what October's crochet-along pattern will be. I am excited to begin work on this later this evening.