Homecoming Weekend

Posting about this past weekend on Thursday, AND this is a homecoming weekend post with zero homecoming pictures....oops!

I went a little overboard on Fall this weekend, but I couldn't help it.  The leaves were at their peak, the sky was a bright blue and the air was a crisp 50 with almost no humidity.

Friday night we kicked off the weekend with dinner and drinks out with friends; Ryan had some guy friends in town for Homecoming.

Saturday morning I watched the Homecoming parade and checked in on the newest member of the family, Karma!  My parents 8 year old mini schnauzer has cancer (a tumor was pressing on one of her eyes, which was removed a month or so ago, but we know that her time is limited) and my mom has been having a really hard time with it.  She wanted to bring another dog who needed a home into the family to help with the transition.  Karma showed up on my vet's Facebook feed needing a home; she's 4 and her family had to give her up.  She'd been at the vet for almost a month in need of a new family....she and Mia are getting along SO well!

Holy Fall you guys....

Saturday Ryan and I went to the 1 year anniversary party at our butcher's which was really fun (lots of free samples, and a local winery was there).  We rounded out the day on the couch watching the Cards in the World Series.

Sunday morning I hit the trail with Oscar and Ninja for a run, which we all loved:

Ryan made a big breakfast for everyone (his friends were still here) and I headed out to Trail of Tears State Park for a hike, again with Oscar and Ninja (hike quickly followed by a bath/combing to combat poison ivy and ticks):

I made pancetta+arugula pizza (this crust is so good) for dinner and there was more puppy cuddles on the couch Sunday evening...

It was the first weekend in months that we've had with both of us at home (Ryan didn't have a meet this weekend); it was so nice to kick back and relax.

How was your weekend?  What do you have cooking for this upcoming weekend?

Laura Ingalls Wilder Homesite

I had a conference for work in Springfield, MO earlier this month.  Luckily my co-worker is as much of a history buff as I am Laura Ingalls Wilder fan, so I got to make my 3rd trip to Laura's Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansfield, MO!

For a mere $10, you get a guided tour of Laura and Almanzo's home and you gain access to the museum, where they have Pa's fiddle on display, as well as lots of other family things any fan of the books would recognize (quilts and needlework done by Laura and her sisters, the writing desk where the $100 bill almost got lost on the way to Missouri, and lots more).

You can't take pictures of the inside of the home, but here's an awful shot of the postcard I bought of Laura's kitchen:

The kitchen has always been my favorite part of Laura's home.  It was the original cabin on the property, and Almanzo crafted the entire kitchen to be as handy as possible for Laura, who was under 5 feet tall.  She hated baking bread, so he built a built-in hoosier cabinet flanked by windows to make the chore a little easier.  Sap alert:  I got all gooey because Ryan is SO my "Manly;" he loves to make things easier for me around the house with his woodworking.  Sap now over.

Didn't Laura and Almanzo have a pretty view from their front porch?

I always get a picture in front of the chimney built with rocks collected from around the property (scrunched up face, sun must've been in my eyes):

 A family was there on our tour, and the tour guide asked if anyone was 4"11 while we were in the kitchen to illustrate how perfectly fitted for Laura the kitchen was.  One of the girls in that family was, and the tour guide very sweetly said "Well then you're our Laura today!" and that girl couldn't have grinned any wider.  Even the brother was into it (here's where I don't get on my soapbox about gendered books, my friend Stephanie is reading through them with her 5 year old Jack and I'm hopeful they can be "boy" books too); it made me think about bringing our hypothetical, non-existent kids there someday.  The Little House books are some of my very favorites, and I hope to read them with (hopefully) future little ones someday.

Have you ever visited her home site in Mansfield?

1st Etsy Sale!

Last week I had my first Etsy sale!

Thursday night a very sweet woman sent me a conversation, asking if I could get a certain hanky to her by this Thursday, October 17th.  I did some quick checking on the USPS's website and found that a Priority Mail envelope would get it there in 2 days.  I set up a custom listing to cover the extra shipping, quickly scanned my Pinterest boards for a cute packaging idea (packaging is super important in Etsy world, it seems, and I know I appreciate thoughtful packaging in orders I've placed) and got it all race ready.  I used some butcher paper we had, sewed up a little "bag" and used some silvery baker's twine I had on hand.  I do need some sort of card with my shop's name on it, though...maybe a Moo Card or sticker?  What do you guys think?

 

Sold:  My Jane Eyre hanky!

She was kind enough to message me letting me know it had come in this weekend, so she'll have it in time for the book-themed bridal shower she's throwing her friend!

With that sale, all future sales will run in the black; that first sale covers listing fees and supplies.  

My phone made a "ca-ching" sound when the sale went through, haha, I LOVED IT!

Needless to say I'm over the moon.  I have a fresh pile of hankies I need to get listed, woohoo!

Disc golf, a jacket and a haircut

Sunday night we played disc golf at my favorite park; my family minus Mary, Ryan and all four dogs.  It was Mia's first big outing since she got her eye and a big chunk of her brain tumor removed.  Seeing her so spunky, so back to herself, so joyful about life was amazing.  I guess she had been feeling poorly for longer than I realized, and as hard of a decision as it was to get her eye out, it seems to have tremendously improved her quality of life.

My mom is the dog whisperer.

Disc Golf.

I saw this at Wal Mart and now my niece is getting a Halloween present.  And it was only $3.25?!

It's cooler in the mornings, finally, though we're still getting up in the upper 70s by afternoon.  I'll use any excuse to wear my new trench coat, I'd been on the hunt for a khaki, short to mid length trench coat for a while:

Also I got my hair cut!  I got about 3 inches cut off and some layers put in on Saturday.  It looks MUCH healthier and put together, versus way too long and awfully scraggly.  

Quilt Show

Last weekend the Glenn House, a restored Victorian home that acts as a museum here in town, had a quilt show.  Quilt groups from around the area lend quilts to display.  I work with the lovely folks at the Glenn House through work and they were kind enough to show my MeeMaw's quilt.

This quilt is a treasure.  We lost my MeeMaw to Alzheimer's; she burned her house down leaving coffee on the stove before going out to work in her garden all day, so the fact that it survived is incredible.  She had quite a hand for applique.  

The Glenn House was packed with gorgeous quilts.  I've always loved the Dresden Plate design:

This scrappy design was another favorite:

I'm fortunate enough to have a quilt from both of my Grandma's.  Do you have any family heirlooms?

Ben Affleck is here you guys

He is, that is not a joke.  Ben Affleck is my town filming a movie directed by David Fincher that also stars Rosamund Pike, Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris.

Back in February, a location scout visited my office about potential locations for the film adaptation of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  The book is set on a Mississippi River town in Missouri....which I live in.  My boss and I had lunch with the location scout and crossed our fingers that it would work out.

In April another location scout, Steve, showed up.  We'd sit around the conference table with our staff + Steve, and he'd tell us what kind of backdrop they were looking for and we'd map out spots that might work.  We were expecting MAYBE 2 weeks of filming, mostly exterior shots, with the high likelihood that tax credits wouldn't go through or the director would get into town and hate it...so much could've gone wrong.

And to make this long story moderately shorter, they've been filming Gone Girl here in town for about 3 weeks now.  Crew has been here since the spring renovating locations and getting everything set up.  What started out as a handful of exteriors has turned into WAY more shooting than we'd thought we'd get.  Turns out they're filming right about half of Gone Girl right here!

Cape Girardeau will be masquerading as the fictional town of North Carthage, just like in the book:

This is actually a city police car they leased and changed the town name on:

In the book, Nick owns a Bar:

It's been surreal.  Huge lighting rigs are all over downtown, there are signs up in locations lawns to not cut the grass, and it seems like everyone has had a movie star encounter but this girl!  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Overall the economic impact is going to work out to be enormous, and regardless of how Cape is portrayed in the film, the publicity is a gold mine.  Plus it's just been a very unique experience overall.  

Rumor on the street is Ben is super nice, he's been happy to take pictures with all of the excited locals that have fun into him.  TONS of local folks are acting as extras.  I just can't wait to see Cape on the big screen!

Have you read Gone Girl?