Your life depends on THIS post. Srsly.

This is your lucky day.

No, really.  It is:

Reason number one:  I am about to clue you in on something you didn't even know you were missing.

Reason number two:  I am going to give you 10% off something you didn't even know you were missing.

Last month in my email inbox I had a message offering me 100 absolutely free business cards.  There was some cross-promoting going on between this business card company and Etsy, the e-marketplace where I sell my jewelry, and the only string attached was my cards had to include the Etsy logo.

Free business cards promoting Etsy where I also have a shopmmmmkay.

I hear what you're saying.  Business cards, schmidness cards, right?

But just hold on to your britches, these aren't your typical business cards.

They are Moo cards.

Say wha...?

Specifically they are Moo MiniCards.

Let's just say for a sec' you have a little business, some side project you're busy building that will soon take over the world.  You first need some interest.  Actually, you probably are gonna want a lot of interest.  These Moo minicards are nothing if not interesting.

The packaging is sturdy and cheeky.  I keep my little Moo box with me wherever I go.

....because I like cheeky.

The details.  Oh the details!



Moo MiniCards are squatty versions of a regular business card!  They're made from a strong card stock with a smooth finish that make them stand out from that average-Joe card you got from your electrician.

Bonus: use your own photos of your work.  People eat this stuff up, it's like a grown-up trading card.

I have a JTT Photography, I'll trade you for an SJL Original.

Ok, but not the one with the hot girl sitting on the couch pretending to work.

...so embarrassing.

Simple, simple, simple. 

But, of course you can opt for one of the hundreds of designed themes that give you color options and swirly patterns.

Me, I'm a simple gal.

Unless we're talking about my eating habits in restaurants.

But in my defense I don't see anything wrong with making local proprietors aware they have a customer who prefers her meals to be prepared using local ingredients most specifically free range poultry and grass fed beef on the rare occasion I choose to eat red meat.

But I digress.

Now it's time for you to scoot on over to www.moo.com to claim your 10% coupon off your first order.  And while you're there, check all the other ways you can use MiniCards.

(make sure you click on the link above...that's the only way you'll get the discount)

Tell them Stacie sent you.

I mean, you can just say that to your computer screen because it's the code in the link above that's going to do the telling.

.....

You're welcome and enjoy.

Nuts. And other related items.

Can I tell you, I've written this post three different times.

You're looking at attempt number four.

And if you are actually looking at it that means I GOT ONE THAT WORKS!  Finally....

I've been trying to tell you how much I love, love, love fall but every time I get going I'm all "let's talk about every single detail of why marching band is just the absolute funnest thing in the whole entire world!!"

Because that's what goes on now through October.  For four years band was my life and my life was cool.

And then I scratch that post because you're not here for the Life & Times of a High School Trombonist.  So I start over.  But then I'm goofy over Purdue football.

Ok, so what if you almost dated Drew Brees's cousin.

You're impressed.  Right?  Is that what I'm sensing here?

(But srsly, there's nothing better than Big 10 football.  Look it up, I'm pretty sure it's a proven fact.)

But then I'm like, "really, did you really just go there?"

And then I go, "well yeah, it's probably my only claim to fame.  Ever."

So I say, "what about that time you literally ran into Lucy Lui in NYC?"

And I'm like, "ok, but that was different.  I didn't want her signing my umbrella and she was pissy."

And then I go, "fair enough."

People.  Friends.  You, sitting there still trying to decide why you came here in the first place.  I'm getting all carried away with myself because there is just too much to say why I love this season that is only 22 days away!

So I'm pretty much not going to say any of it.

I'm kinda doing you a favor anyway.  My love of apple cider vs. its reign of terror inside my upper GI is probably not going to put this post at the top of your "Faves" list.

What is going to put it at the top of your faves, you ask?

Maybe this:

Well, hello little darlins'.

Fall is when those pesky squirrels start stockpiling acorns.  They take the good nut-parts, stuff 'em in their squirrelly little cheeks, and chuck the leftovers, the acorn hats if you will, at my head, the hood of my car, and dirty pigeons.

Their loss = my gain.

Suckers.

But I exaggerate.  I really do like squirrels.

And for the record I do not condone the throwing of acorn waste, rocks, yorkies, etc. at dirty pigeons.

They can't help it that they were made to have such a high tolerance for dirt and rabies and stuff.

So I take those acorn hats and turn them into cheery little table decorations with felted wool balls as the "acorn."  It's like taking one part of nature and putting it with another part of nature to get a nature hybrid.

How environmentally forward am I?  Pssshaw.

You can leave them alone, scattered on a table.  Or pair them with a mixture of dried fall leaves and berries and stuff.  Or you can decide Stacie has zero interior decorating skills and do something that is "in" right now.

But for now we wait.

We wait for those danged little squirrels to get hungry and then pesky.

We wait for the leaves to change and for the sounds of baritones and tubas in the morning.

...

At least there's still time while we wait to enjoy that last few perks of summer.

With that said, will you please excuse me.  I believe there is something that needs to be grilled.

Chevrons 'n Me: a love story

There are just some things that make my world go 'round.

Like turquoise earrings.

Pea green shoes.

And ugly stuffed bunnies.

Today it's chevron ribbon.

I found these one inch wide ribbons at Paper and Pinafore's etsy store.

They caught my eye the same way puppies do.

...and three inch wedges I could never wear.

The colors....ahhhh the colors!

I love the colors.  I love them more than chocolate covered chocolate donuts.

More than sparkly eyeshadow.

More than....wait, is there anything else?

I don't exactly have a plan for the ribbons yet.  I mean, beyond laying them out next to me while I watch TV at night.

...we all have our own creative process, you know; mine just happens to involve proximity and Matlock.