Happy Almost Halloween!

As I'm preparing for one of my favorite holidays (I mean come on, candy, creativity, pretending to be someone you're not. What more could you ask for?) I have stumbled across this article in the NY Times about this woman who is a sociologist (swoon) and writes about the history and impact candy has had on American culture. She calls herself the candy professor. Now as a self professed history buff, culture maven, and sweet tooth I'm obsessed and during my graphic design class the last few days (when everyone else was learning what a cursor does. I'm a little more advanced than that. I mean look at this blog?) I read most of her posts on the NY Times website, so check it out! Learn something. And obviously go eat some candy in honor of one of my favorite holidays. Also, check out my recipe for Halloween Delish: Peanuts and Candy Corn.

Dump bag of candy corn in with large amount of peanuts. Mix. EAT A LOT.

All for my art

This weekend the lovely Sara D. invited me over for a pumpkin carving party, so with much enthusiasm I purchased a pumpkin and packed up my trusty serrated knife and headed over. Having not carved a pumpkin since 2005 when I was studying abroad in Florence, I was a little out of practice. I successfully cut the top off the pumpkin, scooped out the pumpkin's slimy, gooey innards, and tediously separated out the seeds for Sara to roast, and carved an homage to the great Salvador Dali's moustache. My masterpiece was complete and all of my fingers were intact. But wait! It would not be an evening with Sarah if a weird, unfortunate event did not occur. So, as I'm heading out the door the knife I had brought breaks through the plastic bag I was carrying it in and falls to the floor grazing my big toe. It immediately begins gushing blood and the blood drains from my face as the reality of having to be rushed to the ER floats into my thoughts (okay maybe I'm being a LITTLE dramatic). Luckily I was in a room full of future doctors who jumped into action, stopped the flow of blood, assessed that I would not die and that I did not need stitches and bandaged up my toe. So as usual I hurt myself doing nothing, but at least I have a lovely halloween jack-o-lantern to show for it!

Etsy Finds + TWIMO Observes: Pop Culture

Ok, ok. TWIMO-ers YOU ARE SLACKING!!! I MISS YOUR COMMENTS and I FEEL YOU AREN'T GETTING YOUR TWIMO GOSPEL WHEN YOU DON'T LET ME KNOW YOU'RE READING IT!!!

Okay just got off my soapbox. Now I know you're all thriving young professionals and don't have much time to waste, you know watching television etc. and keeping up on your pop culture so I feel I should do my job as the only unemployed person of my friends and inform you about what's happening in the world outside of you know, your JOBS.

1) Starbucks is going to start serving wine and beer. Well, only in Seattle for now, but I'm sure if it makes them a BAZILLION dollars in the West it will soon move East.

2) I've been watching a lot of this show on TLC called Sister Wives about a polygamist family. First of all I don't understand why any man would want to have 4 wives. Think about all that hormonal shit you'd have to put up with. I wouldn't want to put up with 4 of me. Also, they have all these polygamist jokes which I think is funny and WEIRD.

3) While watching Sister Wives I was blessed with seeing the commercials for the up coming reality show called Sarah Palin's Alaska. Yes, that's right folks, Sarah Palin has a reality show. Attention whore, anyone?? Now I abhor this idea, but let's be real, I'm going to watch it. I'll fill you in, in case you miss any wonderful Palin moments.

4) A teen mom on the MTV hit show "Teen Mom" may be charged with domestic violence charges for beating her baby daddy. Poor guy. He just couldn't keep it in his pants. He can't help it. I just feel bad for the kid (the baby. Not the kids having the baby.)

Now hold onto your britches it's ETSY TIME. Recently to A) keep me busy in my boredom and B) calm my nerves I have been working on a needlepoint eyeglass case that my mom bought me. Now every time I sit down to stitch I think, "What am I 80?" but no shame here. In hopes of finding some hipper needlecraft projects I went to Etsy and found these great projects that I know you're all dying to stitch up. *Please note that when I came across these pieces I had simply searched for cross stitch patterns, nothing like pornographic cross stitch patterns.

Um yeah... and this was a tame one.

WHOAAA Bella and Edward. Isn't Twilight for pre-teens??? Oh who am I kidding this is probably considered G-Rated in today's tween world.

For the more tradition ladies out there. Mr. Darcy anyone?

And lastly but not least (Erin this one's for you) an RPatts Pillow. Be ready to see that under the tree come x-mas Etabs!

The conclusion I have come to is that women who might buy these projects probably just sit on their couches a lot and make cross stitch pillows so they aren't getting a lot, so these little projects probably keep them a little hot and bothered. You know whatever you gotta do, because the world is your oyster.

Prescription for overly ambitious parents...

So, you may or may not know, but to put a little money in my pockets I have been proctoring mock SATs for a tutoring company. It's really good money for just sitting. The other day one of my fellow proctors said the funniest thing that I thought I'd share with you. First you have to understand that these kids are coming sometimes two weekends in a row to sit for 4.5 hours to take a FAKE test of a test, that let's face it, is kinda a stupid test. So in regards to the PSAT he said, "Yeah, I don't get taking a mock PSAT. It's like taking a fake test for a fake test." I thought this was hilarious as it is SO true. My message to you over achieving parents, TAKE A CHILL PILL, your kids will be good smart people despite their SAT scores (even if I do judge people I go on dates with by their scores. Whatevs).

TWIMO Observes: A Cat Lady

Yesterday I stopped in at Target on my way home from my seasonal employment interview at Vera Bradley, because obviously I want to be a maven of over priced patterned, quilted tote bags. Verdict: LAME. I'm going to with draw my application. Sorry, TWIMOers, no VB bags for you for X-mas. Anyway while the clerk was ringing up my essentials (pee pads for Clair, TP for me, and a box of Mac and Cheese) an older lady pulled up behind me with her cart and proceeds to unload about 40 cans of cat food, a HUGE container of kitty litter, and lastly about a 50 lbs. bag of dry cat food. I immediately judged this woman as a crazy cat lady and looked to see if she was wearing a glittered puff paint t-shirt adorned with a cat and if that murmuring I heard was her talking to herself. I quickly realized that in fact the murmuring was the gawking noise coming out of my mouth as I imagine the 400 cats this woman was going home to. Right then and there I vowed to myself never, ever to become a cat lady, even if I do spend many of my Saturday nights alone and can't seem to find a boy I like. I, Sarah, will never wear a puff paint cat shirt and buy my weight in meow mix. Period. Let's face it, there are other options, because the world is my oyster.


P.S. Never google image search for "cat lady" photos. The results are horrifying.

TWIMO Goes South

Wait! What? Georgia isn't the South you ask? Well, it is, but I recently as in I'm still there had the chance to go even father South to Vero Beach, Florida to visit the lovely TWIMOer and good friend of mine, Alison. So here is a rundown of my absolutely wonderful trip visiting absolutely wonderful people.

Saturday afternoon I arrived in West Palm Beach. Now I've been to Florida before (Orlando, Tallahassee, etc.) but I've not really ventured into South Florida. So as I stepped off of the plane I quickly realized I'd forgotten to wear my stiletto heels and bring my Louis Vuitton bag. Darn! I also realized Florida is much warmer than say Northern Georgia. My lovely friends Ann and Alison then picked me up and we jetted into West Palm Beach where we had a lovely meal at a French bakery (it was really French too, as in the many of the staff spoke French and they had a French radio station playing.). I got a roast beef sandwich with goat cheese on crusty, warm French bread. YUM. Then we drove to Palm Beach (the really rich area) and checked out the giant VACATION home estates of the rich (and probably some famous). Now the interesting thing about Palm Beach that Alison pointed out is that residents are not allowed to build walls more than 4' or so high to protect their mansions from the prying eyes of the plebeian likes of oh... Me. So to keep my gwaking looks out they build instead giant walls of neatly manicured shrubs.

Giant manicured shrubs to keep me from looking at fancy houses. Boo.

After my tour of the West Palm Beach neighborhoods we ventured to the Breakers Hotel (you know, the famous one) where we proceeded to look for the back entrance to the hotel because we decided we did not look fancy enough. Once finding said entrance (we were slowed down by the immaculate croquet course near the entrance with perfect, carpet like green grass that we had to a) admire b) take our shoes off and see if it felt as great as it looked. Verdict: Not so much.

Fake Carpet Grass at the Breakers

We prefer middle class grass). So finally we make it inside the beautiful turn of the century hotel modeled after an Italian palazzo and made our way to the Seafood Bar (the bar has fish swimming in it) and enjoyed a highly overpriced cocktail while looking out over the crashing waves of the Atlantic.

The view of the ocean from the Breakers Promenade

After I snapped out of my dreams of wearing 1920s attire and sashaying about the Breakers with my Vanderbilt boyfriend we headed back to Vero Beach to see The Social Network, the film about Facebook that everyone is raving about. Verdict: What's all the commotion?

As we headed to bed Saturday night my hostesses with the most-esses gave me some options for the following day's activities a) Miami b) Disney World c) See the wonders of Vero Beach.

Sunday morning we wake up bright and early and I revealed my pick for the day's activity. Duh... Disney World. So we pack up the car and head to Disney World where we have decided to spend the day at my favorite park: Epcot. For those of you unfamiliar with the Disney empire, Epcot is kinda like the nerd's park. All of the rides and exhibits are there to teach you something whether it is how they test cars for market via Test Track a high speed car ride or take you around the world in the World Showcase, a mini world's fair if you would.

My home land: Germany at the Epcot World Showcase

Now I LOVE the world showcase, as I love travelling, so we spent most of the day walking around it and sampling the delightful morsels they were selling for the 15th annual Epcot Food and Wine Festival. Here's a run down of my menu: Crab Cake with Slaw (America), Sausage in a Pretzel Roll (Germany), Riesling (Germany), Purple Haze Beer (they had 15 beers you could sample to celebrate their 15th year), and to top it all off a chocolate lava cake with bailey's Irish cream ganache. Can we say YUM.

I was trying to get a date at the Norwegian pavilion by showing them how good I looked in a Viking helmet and how much I love moose.

After this very exhausting yet extremely wonderful foray back to my childhood visits to Disney we headed back to Vero Beach.

Today my hostesses have to work, because obviously Florida does not care about Columbus and his mistaken landing in America, I have been having a great time hanging out with my dog Clair's frienemy Bear.

Bear the Chihuahua and hostess with the most-ess

We took a walk on the beach, bought some local orange juice and had a delightful lunch staring out at the ocean. What a perfect little holiday to take my mind off my unemployment woes...

The Design Guru Observes

Lately I've been foraying into the world of technology, as many of you may already know, I (okay with the help of Momma TWIMO) purchased a brand spanking new Mac Book Pro. SWOON. I'm so in love with it, although I have been a little timid in jumping into the transition between the PC and Mac worlds. Fellow TWIMOer E, has convinced me to dive in and I'm taking her advice, so full steam ahead I'm becoming a Mac (I just need to add all 12 of the apple stickers that came with my computer to my car's bumper to make it official. Can we talk about genius viral marketing?)

Any hoo in the process of getting a new computer by the design geniuses at Apple and needing a new wireless router to go along with it, I have noticed the move in product, packaging, and instructional design to be shifting into a phase that calls for ease and simplicity. For instance, Apple is so convinced that their products are so user friendly that they do not require instruction booklets (disclaimer to Apple: I got an ipod touch which came with no instructions whatsoever and I did not know it had a power button until Miss Alison showed me. Apple, some of us just aren't as smart as you). Coming from the world of the PC this is a mind blowing concept. When I opened the sleek white apple box I was greeted simply by my computer. Beneath it was a tab that helped me remove the machine from the box and then I found beneath the computer two neatly packaged books, one labeled For Everything Mac and the other For Everything Else. How simple and direct could that be! Genius. Also, let's not forget the sleek, shiny, design. I've included pictures of my PC clunker (which is only 3 years old) and the new baby for comparison.

My Big Bertha Computer with the slim, sophisticated, just like Justin Long mac. (Ignore my messy desk. If you know me this should not be a suprise.)

Those famously simple instruction books. I'm treasuring these forever.

The packaging on my router was similarly simple. The router lay one top then a tab opened to a compartment beneath the router to reveal the power cord and LAN cable. There was a simple USB drive stuck in the lid that said insert in computer and begin. No manuals. No extra pieces of paper to keep and hoard. This new way of life could really help me streamline.

Nice, right?

I've come to the conclusion that this influx in simplicity is being brought on by the Millennial generation (I am a strong believer in the power of generations to create paradox shifts in a whole society's way of thinking, as my SCAD friends know.). As a generation we demand simplicity in our overly complicated lives. We want to be able to do things quickly and easily, yet we want our technology, objects, packaging to go above and beyond and provide us with lots of function. What an oxymoron create something simple that has many functions. I think it can be done as they companies are starting to prove. Now if they would just hire me to further their simplistic endeavors.

Oh and what cute laptop does not need a cute laptop bag? Check out the one I got in my absolute fav. color scheme! (Couldn't find a picture that blogger would let me post, sooo check it out via this link!) I got the one in the Baroque pattern. So happy!

Why October is one of my favorite months.

Today is the beginning of October, one of my favorite months of the year. First, it is usually in October that fall (my favorite weather season) sets in. Here in the ATL, we're running a sunny 75 with a slight breeze and it's fantastic. October is also the start of my favorite holiday seasons. First we get Halloween (when I scoff at people that say it is just for kids. Trick or treating is for kids. Halloween is for everyone). I LOVE dressing up and pretending to be something I'm not. Last year I was a "desperate" housewife and it was fantastic fun running around Savannah with my dear grad school friends. The best might have been E (a lumber jack) chasing her log, Miss C-line. Good times. Then comes Thanksgiving my all time favorite holiday and then Christmas, which doesn't really get me all hot and bothered, but this year I'm living abundantly, so the fact that I have very little family left is not going to bother me. :) Now other reasons to love October:


1) Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Having a family plagued with this disease (both my grandmother and mother and the very high chance that I too will get to deal with it) makes me want to spread the word. Go out there support the cause! Since it's directed at women, there are lots of cool products you can buy that give money back to research, for instance this new bracelet I just bought from Ann Taylor Loft designed by Me & Ro (really awesome jewelry designers that I could not afford otherwise). $5 of the cost goes to research AND if you're a TWIMO thrifty shopper, like myself you will have scored this beautiful find for 50% off retail ($35) (Loft is currently running a %25 off everything in the store sale and I had a coupon for %25 off full price merchandise, hence %50 off). So go get one!!! If you're less into material things may I suggest a book to read about the language of cancer, Disease as Metaphor by Susan Sontag. Not as fun as a bracelet, but it will definitely get you thinking. Also, PSA, don't forget to do your monthly breast exam. The DJ on the radio this morning wanted me to remind my friends. So you've been reminded.



2) Oktoberfest!

Now as some of you might know, I come from German heritage. Oh really Sarah? With that last name? A few years back when travelling in Europe I checked into my hostel in Munich and the receptionist said, "Welcome Home." So I may not look like Heidi Klum, but I'm German and one of my favorite parts of German culture is their FOOD. That's right. Hook me up with some sausage, German potato salad, mustard, pickles, and pretzel and I'll be all right. Now if I just liked beer... I think that gene got lost somewhere. Anyway back to the point. In honor of Oktoberfest the lovely people over at World Market are having a sale on German food items. I saw the sale advertised in the monthly e-newsletter I get from them and saw the gem of all gems being thrust at me through my computer screen, Curry Ketchup. Now I know what Miss E is thinking. Disgusting. Well, it's not. Trust me. I discovered curry ketchup while travelling with my ex boyfriend in Europe. We were always on the look out for a cheap eat so in Germany we became obsessed with Curry Wurst, which is essentially a hot dog/sausage with this tomato-y curry sauce aka curry ketchup served piping hot with a little fork. Yum. So now I can have all the curry wurst I want since I am now the proud owner of a giant bottle of curry ketchup.



So go out crack open a nice brew (or lovely Germany white wine) and raise your glass to October.