Fall Fun Series - Fall Recipe!

I know Patbingsu is more of a summer dessert, but there's so much variety in the toppings offered I feel like it can be an all year round dessert. My Korean themed fall recipe would be Patbingsu! I prefer the ones that are made with a shaved milk base instead of a shaved ice base. You can find a recipe here. I haven't tried making it, but if I were to try it I would find a way to add in something pumpkin-ey. Who needs PSLs when you have Pumpkin Spice Bingsu?!

On the more American side of things, I will have to say pumpkin banana bread. It's something I plan to make the next time we go to the commissary and pick up some pumpkin purée. Have I made it yet? Of course not. I'm the epitome of "has her life together." /s

My fall melts for the week are lacking. I melted two scents: Lasting Scent Candles' Sweet Embers and Glitterati's Pumpkin Soufflé Cinnamon Donuts.

Please don't forget to visit these other lovely ladies participating in this series and see what fall recipes they have to share with us!

Amanda at Thrifty Polished

Ashley at The Bohemian Sassenach

Hayley at Polished At Heart

Jaybird at The Candle Enthusiast

Jessica at The Meltdown Blog

Julie at The Redolent Mermaid 

Lauren at LoloLovesScents

Sandra at Finger Candy

Stephanie at Imperfectly Painted

Sunnee at Our Sunny Life

Stop & Chat: September Shenanigans

The last time I left off with the blogosphere, I was dogsitting a beautiful great dane mix for about a week. It's been a little over a week since I dropped River off with her owners, and I've had enough time to get over the traumatic experience that was giving her back. :P

Fall Fun Series - Acts of Kindness

This road leads to a tea room in our neighborhood.

This is a hard topic. I'm not one to draw attention to things I do for others. I know it's good to share the good you put into the world, but I feel like I'm tooting my own horn so to speak. I do not think ill of those who do share their own good deeds, but I cannot do it for myself. I prefer to remain quietly in the background.

How, then, shall I participate in this post? By telling the acts of kindness I've seen in this world!

Lasting Scent Candles - Sweet Embers

Scent Description: Marshmallow, warm fire, amber, woods and magic.

Weight Melted: 0.7 oz

Location of Warmer: Kitchen, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 5/5 Please slather me in this. Sweet and creamy marshmallows roasting over a fire with a hint of musky woods and, as proclaimed in the scent description, magic. Is it possible to lace wax with illicit substances? Because that's what I think happened here.

Warm Sniff: 5/5 No surprises once melted, except I swear I started seeing dragons and fairies and craved more once the scent burned out...

Scent Strength: 1.5/3

Scent Throw: >3/3 This filled the entire kitchen/dining room, hallway, office, and entryway.

Melting Power: 5/5 I got 8 and a half hours of strong scent from half of a tart cup.

Repurchase: Yes! All joking aside, this was a very delectable and almost addicting scent. I will buy it every time I see it and happen to be in the market for more wax.

Glitterati - Pumpkin Soufflé Cinnamon Donuts

Scent Description: Pumpkin, butter, cream, sugar, and spice/none available.

Date Received: September 5, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.5 oz

Location of Warmer: Living room, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 4/5 This is one heavy-on-the-cinnamon blend! Think a very sweet, almost honeylike cinnamon with just a hint of creamy pumpkin.

Warm Sniff: 4/5 The cinnamon dies down a little, letting the pumpkin really shine. I quite enjoyed snuggling up with some coffee and a book while this melted.

Scent Strength: 2.5/3

Scent Throw: 3/3 This filled the entire living room.

Melting Power: 4/5 I got about 7 hours of scent from 1/5 of a chunk.

Repurchase: Definitely! Now that I've finally warmed up to cinnamon scents, I find myself gravitating towards them more and more. Cinnamon and pumpkin? Please sign me up.

Fall Fun Series - Pumpkin Leaves Cinnamon Broomsticks

I'm bad at making choices. Especially when it comes to autumn. My favorite thing? Can I say everything? The atmosphere? The crisp air whipping multi color leaves around while pumpkins, scarecrows, and a whole variety of fall and Halloween themed decorations that pop up around the neighborhoods? Hay mazes and scarecrows?

Every day passes and I get a little more upset that my fall decor hasn't arrived. I want to take pictures to help illustrate what I love about fall! I can't do that outside of my home. Halloween isn't a big thing here in Korea. Some Halloween festivities are slowly becoming bigger in Seoul proper, but it's more geared towards those who wish to dress up, drink, and be merry. Trick or treating and decorating one's home still isn't a thing, especially in the area I live in.

Back to the original post topic! I absolutely love pumpkins. If I had to pick one thing, it would be the pumpkins. I love searching for the perfect pumpkins to buy and put on display. I love decorating the pumpkins and letting someone else cut the pumpkin up (I'm a hazard to my own well being, remember), and loading that pumpkin up with candles to complete the Jack-O-Lantern look. When I was a poor college student with no place to put a pumpkin, I loved the pumpkin themed festivities that occurred in the video games I played, letting me live vicariously through a pixelated world that did not take up space in my real world living environment.


Please don't forget to visit these other lovely ladies participating in this fall series and see what their favorite thing about fall is!

Amanda at Thrifty Polished

Ashley at The Bohemian Sassenach

Hayley at Polished At Heart

Jaybird at The Candle Enthusiast

Jessica at The Meltdown Blog

Julie at The Redolent Mermaid 

Lauren at LoloLovesScents

Sandra at Finger Candy

Stephanie at Imperfectly Painted

Sunnee at Our Sunny Life

Fall Fun Series - Hanji (한지) Halloween Pencil Holder

This post is a bit late. I underestimated how long this project would take from start to finish (about 60 hours). Oopsie. Anyway, here's my contribution to today's Fall Fun Series post: a Halloween themed Hanji pencil holder!

First, I may have to explain Hanji a little. Hanji is a traditional handmade paper from Korea, typically made from Paper Mulberry (dak) trees. Lots of functional and artistic pieces can be made using a combination of Hanji, a sort of cardboard/wood base, and some hanji paste (it's corn starch paste, or wallpaper paste). This craft is used to make lots of exquisitely beautiful pieces, my favorite of which simulate wood grains and staining by using a combination of black hanji paper, wrinkled layers, and a bleach water solution.

I'm not nearly that complex in my hanji crafting, so we'll settle for a very un-Korean version of this craft. Since I also promised a step-by-step process of this several months ago, I'm going to go ahead and make this a two-in-one post. Will that make it long? Very likely. Am I sorry? Only partially.

Vintage Chic Scents - Little Briar Rose

Scent Description: Green apple pomegranate cotton candy frosting.

Date Poured: February 3, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.9 oz

Location of Warmer: Kitchen, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 4/5 A sweet and candylike apple scent.

Warm Sniff: 4/5 No surprises once melted. The apple scent was light but noticeable. If you're not an apple fan this would be a good scent.

Scent Strength: 1/3

Scent Throw: >3/3 This filled the kitchen/dining area, hallway, office, entryway, and part of the living room.

Melting Power: 4/5 I got about 6 and a half hours of scent from a quarter poinsettia.

Repurchase: Yes! I loved this scent. It was right up my alley in terms of sweet candy goodness, but light enough that it didn't suffocate me with its sweetness.

Fall Fun Series - Fall Music, Movie, and Book!

I'm a bit behind on this series. I'm still waiting on some fall decor in the mail, so who knows when that post will be up. I'm not much of an apple fan, so I skipped that post. Basically I'm glad this is a very relaxed series, otherwise I would have to step out.

Candles From the Keeping Room - Bendels Fig Type

Scent Description: A dupe of Henri Bendel Fig-a rich mediterranean Fig with sweet jasmine, spicy aise and sensual sandalwood. A fabulous green and spa type.

Weight Melted: 1.0 oz

Location of Warmer: Kitchen, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 4/5 I was surprised when I read the scent description. This hit me as a very minty-woody scent, similar to BBW's Balsam & Cedar.

Warm Sniff: 4/5 No surprise, except for the knowledge that this does not match the scent description on Carol's website.

Scent Strength: 2/3

Scent Throw: 3/3 This filled the entire kitchen/dining area, hallway, and office.

Melting Power: 3/5 I got about 4 and a half hours of scent from this melt. Pretty impressive, considering it's almost 4 years old and has been through many moves and storage systems. <_<

Repurchase: Eh? If I see it, I'll probably pick it up just because it was pleasant. I wouldn't make an order just for this scent, though.

Stop & Chat: September 9-15 - Yatap-dong (야탑동), Chuseok (추석), and More!

This past week has been another whirlwind of activities. Get your food and/or drink of choice, because it's a long one!

Haul: Glitterati Mystery Box List 2016

This box snuck up on me. I'd completely forgotten about hopping on the list until Janine tagged me on Facebook in the call up post. I'm not one to say no to some Glitterati, so off to pay my invoice I hopped! Let's oogle some wax together, shall we?

I paid my invoice on August 20th and the box was shipped on August 25th.

Stop & Chat: September 1-8 - Labor Day Weekend Shennanigans & Myeongdong (명동) Trip!

I can't do an update without at least one picture of a hamster! I would include other pictures, but we have quickly learned that our camera isn't fast enough to catch most hamster movements without turning out blurry. Phooey. I've played around with the camera, but even with optimal hamster-picture-taking settings, the sound of the camera makes the hamsters scurry off and blurs their glamour shot.

What's the only resolution to such a first world problem? Read more to find out!

(Like that clickbait? I know, I hate myself for even joking about it, too.)

Fall Fun Series: Fall Melting Stash Overview!

Happy Labor Day! I'm cutting this post very, very close to the posting time I wanted to follow. How close? I have less than an hour until this post is supposed to go live. LOL! Please forgive me, I'm not usually this frazzled. I had much more excitement than I bargained for this weekend, which is 180% accountable for my lack of post preparedness.

Today our Fall Fun Series (I was going to abbreviate this, but the abbreviation has already been taken by a much nastier phrase <_<) participants are sharing our fall melting stash! I have a recent post that includes my overall wax stash, but there have been some major renovations to my fall stash in the past month, making this a perfect time to post this! 

Fall Fun Series: An Introduction and Fall Tag!

Hello there friends! This will be a new post series that myself, and a bunch of old and new blogging friends will be engaging in this autumn season. We will be covering our fall wax melts, candles, recipes, decorations, and more. Please feel free to join us in the comments when we post by telling us what you are melting or creating or loving this fall. If you are a blogger and would like to join us please let us know and we will send you the schedule of posts. Please welcome the following bloggers and check out their posts as well which will generally post Monday and Friday starting September and ending the day after Thanksgiving (some may post on different days or times):

Amanda at ThriftyPolished

Ashley at The Bohemian Sassenach

Deb at It's Always Something

Jessica at The Meltdown Blog

Julie at The Redolent Mermaid

Lauren at LoloLovesScents

Lindsey at Little Bit of Lindsey

Liz at Furianne

Sandra at Finger Candy

Stephanie at Imperfectly Painted

Sunnee at Our Sunny Life

To kick off the first post we will do a Fall Tag!

1. What is your favorite thing about fall?

The decorations. Throughout the season, the colors and decor that can be found throughout buildings, stores, and houses makes something in my core extremely happy.

2. Do you get fall colors where you live?

You know, I don't know. We landed in Korea during winter, so it's hard to say whether there is a 'fall' phase. I assume so, as all of the other colors and seasons make themselves known.

3. Favorite fall scent (wax, or anything)?

There is a cinnamon and pumpkin potpourri that my mom would always bring out as the weather cooled down. She no longer has that potpourri, and vendor interpretations of the mix fall short, but it continues to remain my favorite scent.

4. Favorite fall food or drink?

Pumpkin pie. It's the only pie I'll eat, and it happens to be around consistently in the fall season!

5. Football.....yay or nay?

Yay and nay? My parents are both big football fans, so the sounds of NFL happenings on the TV is synonymous with fall to me. I don't particularly search it out to watch on my own, though.

6. Do you rake, jump in, or burn piles of leaves?

I used to, when I lived in areas that had deciduous trees. When we moved to Texas that stopped being a thing, and I've kind of grown out of it.

7. Haunted house or corn maze?

Corn maze. I'm never phased by haunted houses.

8. Have you ever gone on a hayride?

Yes!

9. Cider or hot chocolate?

Hot chocolate all the way!

10. Carve a pumpkin or eat pumpkin pie?

Pumpkin pie. I'm a clumsy person, and I feel like carving a pumpkin would not end well for me.

11. Do you dress up for Halloween?

I used to. Even when I didn't go trick or treating I would dress up as a witch and hand out candy on the front porch. If we ever move to an area that has active trick or treaters I'll start dressing up again.

12. Candy corn.....yay or nay?

Yes! I absolutely love candy corn.

13. Favorite Halloween movie?

The Nightmare Before Christmas! 

14. Scariest movie?

Hard to choose, as I'm a bit of a scary movie buff. The first time I watched Alien sticks out in my mind, so I'll go with Alien.

15. Halloween or Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving!

16. Do you watch the Macy's parade?

Nope. I forget it's a thing until it's mentioned by x or y news outlet/Facebook.

17. Apple pie or pumpkin pie?

Pumpkin pie, of course!

18. White or dark meat?

White!

19. Jellied or real cranberry sauce?

None of the above. I don't care for it all that much.

20. Will you host or travel for Thanksgiving this year?

Host... sorta? We don't expect company all the way in South Korea, so it'll just be M and I this year.

How about you? Join us by giving some of your fall tag answers! Next post we will feature our fall melting stash.

Band of Bloggers - Vol. 9/September 2016

Welcome to our September 2016 Band of Bloggers! By now, most people should be back in school. The weather should be cooling down. Department store shelves are stocking up on fall and Halloween decorations. Countdowns are beginning for the end of year holidays.

This month we will share that special moment, activity, sound, smell, or all of the above that makes us feel like Autumn has arrived! We will also recommend our favorite places to shop for fall decor. Please feel free to share your own answers with us in the comments below!

There are so many things that I associate with Autumn. One big thing is a combination of the ESPN Monday Night Football theme song and school. Football season and the school year always started around each other, so that was the jingle of the new school year for me. 
Around this time, Mom would bring out the Autumn/Halloween decorations boxes and we would spend a day decorating the house. She would also bring out her potpourri and start burning various fall themed scents.
There's a particular crispness to the air and shape to shadows that only occurs at this time of year. The sound of crunching leaves under foot, the softness of my jacket, the feel of the rake in my hands as I build the largest possible leaf pile to jump around in. If I could package all of this together and call it the soundtrack of fall, I would. Or would calling it the experience of fall be better?

For fall decor, I like to go to Bank of Mom for all my decorating needs. LOL! I kid, I kid.
I admit I'm a bit sneaky in asking this question of the BoB ladies. I'm having a hard time shopping for my own fall decor. This is the first year I've started decorating, and I'm limited in where I can go because I can't access all of the stores that always stock up on fall themed decor and not all stores ship. Of those stores that ship, even fewer ship to APO addresses.

 If I were back in the States, however, the Dollar Tree/General/99¢ Store would be my stores of choice. Outside of that, I've enjoyed the Target Dollar Spot. Basically I'm a cheapskate and want the most bang for my buck. I'm disappointed that I won't be home to stock up on the seasonal decor as it goes on sale. 
 

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Please visit these Band of Bloggers blogs
and help support the blogger community!

Deb, at It's Always Something.

Julie, at The Redolent Mermaid.

Lauren, at Lolo Loves Scents.

Liz, at Furianne. 

Michelle, at Waxing About.