Etsy Wishing

You've probably heard by now that Etsy is a fabulous place to find anything--and all kinds of anythings--that you love. And real bad want. But money doesn't grow on trees, at least not in these parts, so my favorites have to stay right there in my Etsy favorites for now. I'm hoping a gift card at Christmas will help remedy a couple of these.

But for now! I wanted to share some of my Etsy wishes with you guys. And I give you permission to go ahead and buy some of these if you want--I won't get mad I promise. ;)

An Etsy wishlist of mine would not be complete without an item from Flowerleaf, easily one of my top 5 favorite Etsy shops ever, so we're jumping right in with a piece from it. Okay maybe my #1 favorite, even though I have yet to have the pleasure of getting to buy one of her pieces. And I have bragged on this shop on here more than once. So check it out already! ;)

Navy Blue Scrabble Ring from Flowerleaf // $26 // for sale here

I'm thinking I found this next shop on good old Instagram, and I don't know what it is about this bag, but I loooove it. And want one for me and one for my best friend. We shall see. ;)

Light Teal Cotton and Lace Clutch from Thimble and Tag //  $34 // for sale here

Another perennial favorite: Retro Revivial Boutique--the sweetest lady with such unique pieces. And if you know me at all by now, you know purple + gold = Kacie. Ah well.

Purple Royals Statement Necklace from Retro Revival Boutique // $44.95 // for sale here

Okay, I don't even drink tea. Or coffee. I just drink water, guys. And sometimes juice (with medicine in it--man, am I fun!) But I want these. I don't know why. I just yuvs them.

3 Vintage Shabby Chic White Tea Cups from Design IK // $28 // For sale here

You're not surprised by this next one are you? Matryoshkas for Katya. Yes, my iPhone needs a bed to sleep in, covered in matryoshkas. It's only $18! 

Russian doll iPhone case from Handmade with Joy // $18 // for sale here

And also if you know me at all, you know that gold + clear = Kacie. Big time. Ohhhh my. I really need this one, guys. Man. Plus, this piece is from a sweet lady who I've bought from more than once, and I love her shop full of vintage treasures.

Vintage Bezel Set Crystal Necklace from Red Garnet Vintage // $50 // for sale here

And this is just gorgeous (everything in this shop is gorgeous, really...). As in, give me a 16x20 over my couch. Blow that thing up. But first I need a couch to put it over, but before that I need a house to put a couch in. And before that I need money for a house. So yeah, this picture remains on the wishlist. Priorities you know.

 

Southern Elegance White Roses Photo from My Sweet Reveries // $30+ // for sale here

Please feel free to shop around these awesome pieces' homes on Etsy--there's plenty more where these came from!

Speaking of Etsy shops, I wanted to let you guys know that I'll be having a flash auction on Instagram this Sunday at 4 pm--15 pieces not available in my Etsy shop, all starting at hugely discounted prices. All the details will be coming soon on my Instagram, and I would absolutely love for you to come take a look on Sunday, and by all means bid if you feel so inclined. ;)

And keeping up with my current tradition, I'm linking up with sweet Anne's Wednesday Wishes on Love the Here and Now!

So, did any of these make you drool? A little? 

Are there any pieces or shops on Etsy that you're wishing for? I'd love to see them!

P.S. Linking up with Lovely Thursdays and Anything Goes Linky

Wellness Wednesday: Allergen-Friendly Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okie dokie, you guys, I tantalized a few of you with my reference to these on Monday. And I just happened to make more that night (4th batch this month I think?), so here ya go! Gluten-free, soy-free, refined sugar-free, and dairy-free if you don't call eggs dairy. Yep, I'm happy to be eating eggs again now. (You could use banana in place of it if you want, like I did in these cookies, I just haven't tried these that way.)

Now, before I start, I need to mention that I got the original recipe from the box of flour I use--Bloomfield Farms Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Mix--but I made several changes to make it much more allergen-friendly and healthy. As always.

You'll need:
3/4 cup coconut sugar (I use this or this)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup coconut milk (the cold kind in a carton)
1 1/4 cup flour (In this recipe I used Bloomfield Farms Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Mix, which makes for very thick batter. For runnier batter, try King Arthur GF Flour, and for a happy medium, use1/4 cup Bloomfield Farms and 1 cup King Arthur GF Flour.)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I use these)

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2) Mix together the baking mix, salt, and baking soda.
3) In another bowl, mix together the coconut sugar, egg, vanilla, and milk.
4) Combine the ingredients from the two bowls and mix. For some reason, I don't know if it's the coconut milk reacting with the baking mix or what, but the dough gets very thick--unlike your average gluten-free dough. Which is awesome, and makes for thick cookies.
5) Add the chocolate chips and mix.
6) Lightly grease a baking sheet (I use olive oil spray). At this point, you could use spoons to drop smaller portions of the dough onto the tray, but I like larger cookies (and when Daniel makes them, he makes Starbucks-sized cookies, which is amazing, but these are about half that size), so I dip out the batter with my hands to make them bigger. The dough is very sticky, so getting just a little water on your hands will help.

7) Baking time varies greatly based on the flour you use. These went for 19-20 minutes, since they are so big and use just Bloomfield Farms flour. Obviously if you make them smaller than this (you know, like a normal person), then they won't need to go as long. And if you combine the flours, they only need to go 10-12 minutes. One batch of these got me 9 cookies. (So I generally double it anymore. ;)

Okay, am I the only one who noticed the cute little smiley face on the one in the front right away? Oh my word!

All done! When we first made them, I tried to figure out what cookies they remind me of. And I think it's these (even though I was thinking they were in a red bag). Except better, and better for you. ;)

 Filled with chocolaty amazingness...

Yeah, I think they're pretty amazing. Considering their healthy ingredients and the fact that they don't make my stomach hurt? I need them every day.... I think they've replaced my addiction to these, and based on cost per day, these are probably cheaper!

P.S. Linking up with Delicious Dish Tuesday, Real Food Recipe Roundup here and here, Time to Sparkle, Share Your Stuff Tuesday, Share It Link Party, Do Tell Tuesday, Thursday Favorite Things,Creative Exchange Link Party, Link Love

10 Blogging Pet Peeves, aka What Not To Do

In my not-so-long time as a blogger, who is constantly looking at other blogs of course, I've found some reoccurring issues that really get on my nerves. So I'm countin' em down for you--yep, in order. I know 10 seems like a lot. But, I have a lot... And I don't plan to make this kind of venting/complaint post a recurring thing around here, so they're all coming out now!

Now, I'm not saying if you do any of these things, I don't or won't read your blog, cause I still do. ;) But hey, I thought I'd share them anyway! And if you are guilty of any of these, ... sorry! I still love you! ;) (Please still love me, kay?)

10~ Things flashing or changing constantly. || My Instagram feed is about as flashy as I can handle. Flashing text, some kind of feed changing every two seconds--too much, too much! I get visually distracted quite easily and then I can't even focus on what I'm trying to read. Calm, please. Calm.

9~ No Bloglovin' link. || Or a hard-to-find one. You know, down at the bottom somewhere. Bloglovin' is the only way I follow blogs. Is it just me? So if a blog's on there, I want to know. I've had to search for blogs on there many, many times to find they're sure enough on there, just keeping it a secret for some reason. :P

 8~ No home page link. || This may sound weird, but I've seen it. If I've followed a link to a certain post and want to go to the blog's main page, I have to go up to the url and delete all the extra text to get down to the main url. I know typically the header image is a link to home, but this was literally the only way I could find to get there. Weird! Please don't do that to your readers.

7~ No archives. || Or unhelpful ones. Like the kind with only a month with a little number next to it of how many posts were in that month. What if I want to get to a specific post? Or a post from last week? I have to scroll through all the posts for that month just to find it. (Or am I the only one who goes hunting for specific posts? Uh oh.)

6~ Commenters who ask to be followed. || You just don't do that. You just don't. It's in the rules, wherever they are.

Okay, now these are my big ones...

5~ No about page. || When I get on a blog for the first time,  I almost immediately go to the about page. I want to know right away what this person and this blog are all about. (haha) And when I just see one of those automatic blogger profile blurbs over on the side, I get sad. And probably leave. Similarly, when it's not obvious that there is an about page, whether there is one or not. It belongs in the navigation bar, ready to be found within .3 seconds.

4~ Teeny, tiny fonts. || Enough said. Mine is about as small as I'd like to go. There are some blogs--really super popular ones--that have the smallest fonts! Oww on the eyes!

3~ Teeny, tiny pictures. || Okay, I don't have the best eyesight. But this one isn't just me--it's on about every guide to making your blog look better I've read. I want to see--blow them babies up! I think bigger makes even not incredible pictures look better. Especially if it's something you made, a wedding photo, something that's really intended to show us something and not just for decoration. Which is pretty much every picture that will ever be on your blog. I wanna seeee!

2~ Bloggers who never respond. || To anything. Ever. Oh my gosh. I don't know why anyone would do this. But it happens enough that it really bothers me. And it's not just a one time thing. Like, leaving a comment on a post, then another on a post a week later, and another after that. And then I go back to try to check and see if they commented below my comment (you know, if I can find it--see #7), and they haven't. O_O I get it if they have like 20 comments. But when they have a whole lot fewer than that, and I never ever hear from them? Kinda makes me not want to come back... :/ (Which I have done...)

***Fireworks Going Off***

1~ No-reply bloggers. || I promise I'll stop talking about this. When the problem doesn't exist anymore! :P Please double-check if Google still has you under its curse of keeping your email address a secret. Which means I can't reply to your comment by email. Which means you may think I'm #2 above. When really I just can't find you! You can make it all better with the help of this priceless post here.

Okay, those are my 10. Do you agree with any of these? Am I just too picky? 

What would you all add to the list?

P.S. Linking up with Funday Monday, Monday Morning Gossip, Manic Monday here and here, Thinking Out Loud

New Look + Grateful Heart Monday

So, do you guys notice the difference? (Surely... ;) I gave my blog a brand new look! (I warned you it was inevitable.) And let me tell ya--designing one's own blog is soo much harder than designing for someone else. Who's pickier than one's own self?? Sigh. But I did it! And I like it. And the best part is that now there's room for my pictures to be ha-uge! ;D I think the lady at KV Designs did a mighty fine job. :)

Meanwhile, today is Grateful Heart Monday. And this week:

~ I'm grateful that I got this blog redesign done! And I'm glad I just did it (not to imply it was a quick little job or anything) instead of waiting longer!

~ I'm grateful I finished a friend's blog design this past week, and I think she likes it. ;)

~ I'm grateful that a new supplement is in my future that should be much more effective than a current one.

~ I'm grateful that I seem to be able to handle lowering a dose of a current supplement that was to protect me from an extra strong one. Boo-ya! :P

~ I'm grateful that I have finally, finally begun the journey of cutting chemicals out of my life. One shampoo, one shave gel at a time. You can bet there will be future posts on this topic.

~ I'm grateful that I can finally eat chocolate chip cookies. Had them for the first time in about 8 months a couple weeks ago. And I think we've already made them 3 times. Rest assured, there will be a post for that too. They're amazing--and not bad for you. :O (And no, they don't have bananans and coconut in them like everything else I make. Just a little coconut. :P)

So what are you grateful for this week? 

Please keep me in mind for your next blog redesign, 

or pass me along to your in-need friends! :)

P.S. Linking up with Let Your Light Shine and Link Love

My Friday Five: Jewelry, Awards, and Boo on Google

This year I've finally remembered--today's 4 years since Daniel asked me to be his girlfriend. :D Man alive, kinda feels like, just four years? Holy crap has a lot happened since then. Dated for a year and a half, engaged for three months, now married for two years. And yeah, we're still dating. <3

Meanwhile, on to my Friday five!

1~ Did you see all the new Katya Valera pieces I shared on Monday? :D

2~ This is such a nifty little diy gift idea from Lavender's Blue! It has tons of potential, beyond just song lyrics.

3~ I was nominated for The Sunshine Award this weekend! Did you see my ginormous 11-11-11-11 post on it on Tuesday? ;) And more importantly, did you see the 11 amazing bloggers I nominated? Take a look, and check them out!

4~ I just found this post from This, Too so lovely. Both words and pictures. As was this post from Belong with Wildflowers. Equally lovely, in a completely different way.

5~ And you guys have got to be tired of me mentioning this. But the issue still exists, so I haven't reached the ends of the earth yet: I am so tired of Google making people no-reply bloggers. It's really not nice of them. If you comment on my blog, I like to email you in reply so I know you see it, and soo many lovely commenters are still under the no-reply blogger curse! Please don't make me go huntin' you down all over the google-sphere... Please, please, take a look at this post to determine if you are a no-reply blogger and, if you are, how to fix it. (It's not hard--I had to do it once!) Pretty please? And share this with ev-er-y-body!! Thank you muchness. :)

Hope you guys have a great weekend! :)

P.S. Linking up with Little Friday, Lovely Thursdays, Friday Favorites, That Friday Blog Hop, Friday Favorites, Five on Friday, Fab Favorites, High Five for Friday, Link Love