Reinterpreting Pumpkin Pie


So how delicious does a pumpkin pie martini sound? I'll answer that for you - it sounds damn good! Instead of making a boring old pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving, why not whip up a batch of Pumpkin Pie-tini's ?

Ingredients:
Graham cracker crumbs
1-1/2 ounces milk (or splurge and use half and half -- it's the holidays)
2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1-1/2 ounces vanilla vodka
1-1/2 ounces white crème de cacao
Cinnamon stick for garnish

Instructions:
Rim a chilled martini glass with graham cracker crumbs.

In a cocktail shaker with ice, shake milk and pumpkin puree to combine. Pour in vodka and crème de cacao and shake well. Strain into the graham cracker-rimmed martini glass. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

The recipe makes 1 martini but you know as well as I do that one martini is never enough -- so multiply the recipe amounts by 8 and make a whole pitcher. Share if you like.

Do you heart handbags? Have I got a deal for you...

I heart handbags big time, and my all time favorite brand is Belen Echandia. Never heard of them? Not surprising... I really believe they are the best kept secret in the handbag world. To put it lightly, the bags are simply amazing. The customer service and quality is superb and the leathers are divine. Oh, did I mention they are handmade in Italy? No "Made in China" stamp on these bags! (There's something kind of disheartening when you spend $500, $1000 or more on a bag that is mass produced on an assembly line).
The genius behind Belen Echandia is the super fabulous and very nice Jackie Cawthra. How cool is it to have a conversation with the founder/creative director of the company where she helps you with your handbag purchase decisions? I'll answer that -- it's very cool indeed.
Additionally, BE offers a bespoke service so that should you desire, you are able to customize and create the bag of your dreams (I am patiently waiting for my bespoke Luxe Chocolate Glossy Hug me and my Turquoise Angel Purse -- both should be arriving soon!) Seriously, I really could go on and on about how great these bags are.


Well let me get to my point!


Jackie is having a fantastic sale on what she is calling Pink Tuesday- you know, as opposed to black friday...(I think "Pink Tuesday" sounds much more fun and happy anyway, don't you?)

So... Jackie is offering (for a full 48 hours starting at 4pm GMT on Tuesday, November 25th) a rediculous, unheard of 40% off any in stock bag! Simply select your bag, add to your cart, and use the code: newbie at checkout.
Of course you can contact any of the BE girls (Jackie, Ashley, or Rose) to help you with your purchase as well -- that's the beauty of buying a Belen Echandia!
This promotion is only for the newbies and is an outstanding opportunity to own a Belen Echandia Bag.

Full details can be found here.


Please note: If you purchase a bag or sign up for their mailing list, please mention you were referred by me - Katie (khargraves (@) yahoo.com)--and I'll be entered in to win a fabulous BE prize.


Also, check out my BE Love Me Mini in Black Crash's appearance on the BE home page, or visit the BE World Tour


The bags pictured in this posting are the Love me in Black Crash and theHold me in Plum Crash. (the Love Me is my absolute, postive 100% most favorite handbag ever. I own it in Black Crash and beautiful Petrol.

Rue la la


Rue La La is an exclusive online destination of premier brand, private sale Boutiques that are open just two to three days each. Joining is free, but you must be sponsored by an existing Member. Brands include Frye, Gucci, Natori, Betsey Johnson, Vera Bradley, and more!


To join, visit http://ruelala.com and click the link for "referred by a member" and enter in my e-mail address -  khargraves (@) yahoo (.) com.  (Remember to remove the formatting and spaces). 
Or, if you prefer,  post a comment with your e-mail address and I will send you an invite.


Island time


A while back, I visited Barbados for a vacation. While we were there, we rented a little car so we could explore the island. One morning, we headed out early and lo and behold, what did we come across? Traffic. Now, Barbados doesn't really have a highway system so this traffic was nothing like traffic jams we have here in the US. In Barbados it's more of a single lane road with smaller roads perpindicular to it. People live on the perpindicular roads and are trying to merge into the traffic, which moves fairly slowly indeed.
So there we were, trying to turn left (towards Bridgetown - we were in St. Lawrence Gap) and faced with traffic. Matt and I just kind of looked at each other in frustration, but almost as soon as we arrived at the intersection, someone let us go - and they didn't just let us go, they let the 5 or so other cars behind us go as well. I was amazed. And it wasn't just the road we were coming in on, every time a road merged, someone stopped and let ALL the cars onto the road. I'm thinking to myself, "Don't these people have to get to work?? They're going to be late!" and I actually started to get all worked up about it. As we continued to sit in traffic I began to see that this is just another facet of "island life" in motion - the laid back, "not in a hurry" kind of attitude that I love - Why is it that I don't mind waiting a few minutes for a cocktail in a bar in Barbados, but home, if the bartender hasn't started working on my drink within 5 seconds of my ordering it, I start to get upset. I am so impatient.

Here in the US (at least in New England), IF someone lets you go they hurry up and get on your tail so that no more than one person is allowed into traffic. God forbid the guy behind you also gets to turn onto the road. Sometimes nobody will let you merge into traffic and they don't even look at you -- it's like people have this feeling that if they don't look at you, they can ignore you. Now, I admit, I am completely guilty of all this as well. We are in such a hurry that we forget sometimes the common pleasantries and courtesies we owe each other. Why are we so concerned with "not letting people get ahead of us" or "getting there first"? Are we all always running late or could we take a few seconds and allow someone to go in front of us? I know I can, and I will start to (try to) improve my level of impatience while driving. While sitting in traffic, I can pretend I'm back on sunny Barbados, on Island Time...

Years grow shorter not longer...


So as many of you know I'm (kind of) a big Jimmy Buffett fan and while most people kind of think that it's all about the margaritas and mayhem, it's really about more than that. Don't get me wrong, the icy cold salted margaritas are great, as is the party in the parking lot when Buffett rolls into town. The parrotheads flock to the parking lot hours early, setting up tents, tiki bars, mock beaches complete with mini pools, and so much more. We spend the day dressed in tropical shirts, wearing flower leis and grass skirts. We drink margaritas, umbrella drinks, and coronas, laugh, and everyone is happy. We have no worries or troubles. We have "escaped" into the place we'd like to spend our time every day. After the parking lot we head into the concert where we sing every word to ever song and it never gets old. Truth be told, the concert ends far too soon and we head back to the parking lot to our cars waiting to take us back to our everyday lives.
But it's in our daily lives where the fact that you're a parrothead really shines through. Jimmy Buffett is first and foremost the ultimate dreamer. His stories tell a song, and speak a truth that we just seem to all understand. His lyrics remind us that we are on this earth only for a short time and we should all enjoy the ride. The years do seem to grow shorter, it's no lie, in a blink of an eye, it goes from New Years to Summer to Christmas. As a child you think that life goes on forever and the days seem to never end. Somehow, as adults in this hectic world, we lose sight of that. Have we just lost our childhood innocence? Is there away to get it back? I think that the music and escapism of listening to Jimmy Buffett kind of gives us that .. if only temporarily.

The trick, I think, is figuring out how to keep that feeling permanently -- Not feeling the need to "escape" but enjoying every minute and every day you have here -- because it'll be over before we know it.

Be Fierce!

Join Team Fierce!
Today, there is more hope than ever for people facing breast cancer. However, there is much work to be done to find promising new treatments, increase awareness about the importance of mammograms, help all women get access to screenings and care, and connect those impacted by the disease with the information, day-to-day help, and emotional support they need to wage their battle against breast cancer.

I believe that hope for a world without breast cancer starts with me. That’s why I'm walking in the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event in Providence on Oct. 19. Not only is this my opportunity to join my community to fight back against breast cancer, it is a way to inspire hope by raising funds and awareness to help those facing the disease and save more lives.

And you can be a part of it, too. Please visit the Team Fierce page and join my team or visit My Page to make a donation.

All donations, no matter how small will help!

Everyone's got an inner BAD gal...

If you wear black eyeliner (and these days, who doesn't) you know it's tough to find perfection in an eyeliner. Ok so "perfection" is pretty strong of a word for makeup -- but Benefit's BAD gal black eyeliner comes as close to makeup nirvana as possible without being totally weird. Seriously -- You can throw out all your old pencils that pull and tear your skin or disappear by lunchtime -- this one glides like butter over your lid and stays put all day. You like to smudge it? Smudge away -- it is perfect for the smokey eye look that everyone's all into right now. This thing's got Rock n Roll with staying power -- You won't be disappointed.


Benefit BAD Gal - $18

Puppy love

So we've decided on a Polish Lowland Sheepdog. Their polish name is Polski Owczarek Nizinny, or PON for short.

The litter was born on March 14 and if all goes well, we're getting the puppy on May 14th.

Still need a name but hopefully that will be evident once we see him. We don't know which puppy we are getting yet - the breeder is going to select one for us. We're pretty sure it will be a male dog though.

Guiltless Designer Shopping!

Love the fancy brands but hate spending a ton of money? Join the Gilt Groupe !

Launched in November 2007, Gilt Groupe brings the invitation-only sample sale to all of America, through our website. Gilt Groupe’s sales, which are exclusively online, provide members access to coveted fashion and luxury lifestyle brands at sample sale prices. Every sale is designer-specific, and held over a one day period.


Gilt Groupe’s team of buyers hand selects both established and up-and-coming designers relevant to members, from American designers like Zac Posen to Italian designers like Alessandro Dell’Acqua.

As a preview, Gilt Groupe’s production team creates a reel to introduce each designer brand to members and makes additional background information available through our website so that members have the opportunity to fully experience that particular brand.

Membership is by referral only and there is no fee associated with joining!

I am a member at Gilt -- if you'd like to join, simply visit http://www.gilt.com/account/register
and use my e-mail address finzup_kt@hotmail.com as the referrer.

Just like when Harry Met Sally ... only better.

OK I never thought I'd be blogging about blush. Seriously -- I love makeup, but out of all the makeup I own, I generally consider blush to be my least favorite item. I never even used to use it. But that all has changed - bigtime!

I've seen the light. I've been using Nars blush in Orgasm. Silly name for a blush, right? Well - not really. The color is a peach hue - and when applied on the cheeks, it gives you a glow that looks like you've just spent hours romping in the hay - I called it the "JFF" - Just f**ked flush!

I don't stop at my cheeks either - I put a little bit on one side of my nose, and on the line of my forehead, too. I don't know if anyone has looked at me and said, "geez, that girl looks like she just had some serious fun" but for me, it's worth it.

Nars Blush in Orgasm is $25

Totally tubular

Do you remember laughing uncontrollably? Hard to remember sometimes, in these hectic days of running around, "getting stuff done", working, and fixing this and that.
Sometimes you wake up and realize you cannot even remember when you've had such fun.

I'm not trying to get all depressing here.. so I'll get to the point. This past weekend I went to Cranmore Mountain in North Conway, NH and went tubing. Yes, tubing. What seemed like an overpriced thing to do to "fill the day up" actually turned out to be something awesome.

On the outside, it seems pricey - $18 for 2 hours or $24 for the whole day. So we figured that as long as we went down the hill at least six times, it'd be worth it for the all day pass. We got our tickets and headed towards the pile of tubes. We each grabbed one and headed towards the lift line. (Yes, they even cart you up to the top of the hill -- making that $24 a bit more bearable).

We got to the top and found that a few steps away was another lift. Thinking it'd be less crowded, we headed up there. The lines were about the same, but it didn't matter. It took less than five minutes to wait in line and get to the top. Now -- there were three tracks ajacent to each other. You could go alone, or in groups. Some tracks were "too fast" for 3 adults to go at once, so they limited it.
My first journey was solo. I brought my tube to the top of the hill, sat in it and waited for the go-ahead from the teenager working on the hill.

"Spin or straight?" the kid said to me with a blank stare.

I looked nervously around -- what should I do? Finally I realized I was taking way too long, so I just said "spin". I have no idea WHY I said spin -- I hate to spin. But it was too late to change my mind. The kid spun my tube around and shoved me off - fast. Let me tell you, if you've ever felt like you were heading down an icy slope in an old Yugo with no roof or no working brakes - you know kind of how it felt. It was scary; but it was fun. Although I screamed my head off (I *think* I might've swore ("ohhh shiiiiiiiiiit") too - probably a big no-no at a family friendly location - but it couldn't be helped.) I had a blast. The wind whipped through my hair as frantic thoughts of flipping the tube over and bashing my head in ran through my head. When I reached the bottom, I instantly ran back to the lift line for more.

The second time I went in a group of two. I went with my sister. We each sat down at the top and when faced with the "spin or straight" we both emphatically said straight. We flew. If going alone and spinning like a whirlygig was fun, than going in twos and flying was like fun on steroids. As the day went on, we rode alone, in a group of two and even in a group of three. We rode sitting in the tubes, sitting ON the tubes, and also on our stomachs face first.

Whichever way we went, we smiled ear to ear and laughed like idiots. It was truly fun and something I need to remember to do everynow and then.

Shameless plug.. forgive me!

Who doesn't like a bit of healthy competition?

I love Ebates. Seriously, I do. My next check is going to be $135 (yes I'm painfully aware that I shop a lot). But now there's Big Crumbs.

Will they steal my love away from my beloved Ebates? We'll see. One thing really cool that Big Crumbs has that Ebates doesn't - Big Crumbs offers you cash back on ebay purchases.. and I do shop quite a bit on ebay...

Only time will tell if Big Crumbs will steal my heart (and pay me back!)