
QUICK THINGS TO DO TODAY:
- Need to eat up, use up or throw out leftovers from the long weekend?
- Is it time to clean your fans and put them away for the year? It’s been so nice (and chilly) here I haven’t used my bedroom fan in over a week. I don’t want to put away dirty fans (though they’ll get dusty in the garage) so I’m taking a minute to wipe them down.
- Peek into your coat closet. Is there room for the coats and rain jackets you and your family will need for the upcoming autumn months? Need to clean out the closet, get rid of extra umbrellas, sort old board games?
- Prepare a special lunch for your kids’ first day back to school after the holiday.
- When’s the last time you wrote in your journal, diary or blog, if this is something important to you? Make time as needed.
- Make any phone calls to relatives if you haven’t over the weekend. Don’t forget your in-laws!
TODAY’S PROJECT: Laundry and Laundry Room

Were you able to get some laundry done over the weekend? Or, like me, did you enjoy participating in too many fun events and neglected your laundry?
Today I’m catching up on towels, bath mats, cleaning rags, and a bedspread with too much cat hair on it.
While I’m waiting for the cycles to finish, I’m tidying my laundry room, mopping the laminate floor in there, sorting and inventorying my laundry and cleaning supplies. I’ll finish by dusting the wood cabinets that hang above my washer and dryer.
Tonight when I’m watching my one hour TV show I can easily fold laundry, rehang towels and run out during commercials to replace bath mats.
It’s easier to keep our laundry up to date when the laundry room itself is neat, clean and organized.
Do you have laundry to do? Hand washing? Ironing? Folding?
LOVELY BLOGS: Craft Critique

This blog is chock full of craft reviews, crafting news, craft ideas and crafting videos. I suspect this blog will become even more fun the closer it gets to Halloween. Picture heavy posts (I mean that as a compliment!) and lots of colorful ideas.
LOVELY FASHION: A Dress for Dining Out

Today I’m going to go try on this gray jacquard dress. I’ve been looking for something elegant (but not too formal) to wear out to very nice restaurants or even to the theater. (Nobody in Seattle other than me really dresses up for the theater, but I don’t care!) I didn’t want a little cocktail dress, nor did I want a gown.
I think (assuming this is flattering on me) this will be exactly the inbetween, elegant dress I was hoping for.
Jacquard Dress, at White House Black Market
LOVELY KITCHEN: Cake Pop Maker

I’ve been very tempted by this adorable machine. Cake pops are so in right now, and I’m not sure I’d go through all the work to make them if I had to do it all by myself. If this cake pop maker were to work reliably, I might serve cake pops at cocktail parties more often.
However, I’m short on cupboard and counter space, so I have to think long and hard about this purchase. How often would I really use it? Perhaps this is a good gift to split with friends – it could live at a different person’s house every 30 days?
Baby Cakes Cake Pop Maker, on Amazon
LOVELY STATIONERY: Color Swatch Journals

These Color Swatch Journals come in Aqua, Orange, Pink and Lime. These are summery colors so I wish I’d seen them earlier in the year. They would make a great pop of color in springtime too, laying around one’s desk or tucked into a purse.
Color Swatch Journals, at Rock Scissor Paper
LOVELY LINKS FOR TODAY:
Caterpillar in the Grass Cupcakes (Babble)
Chocolate Cinnamon Profiteroles with Toffee Sauce (Bakingdom)
Home Brewing Hard Cider (The Tally Type)
Pear Cider, Tomato Sauce and Red Potatoes (Sweet Local Farm)
Reading for Beads (Godless Housewife)
