Yesterday was a work day outside the office. David, Lily and I walked downtown and took care of some business and had a little bit of fun. I started by talking to the folks at town hall about NC business licensing, had a tasty Mexican lunch, stopped by a few art galleries, and joined the Ashe County Chamber of Commerce. Being an active contributor to the community is very important to me. Being an official member will provide me with lots of opportunities for sponsoring events, networking and helping out. I'm very excited!

After joining the Chamber we wrapped up the day with some yummy ice cream at this great little place downtown and then went and opened a local bank account. I currently do all my banking online, but we needed a local account for cashing checks and things like that.

Apart from becoming an official member of the chamber, ice cream was definitely my favorite part of the day. Of course. Here are some fun photos for you.

I was not even going to photo my ice cream, as the size and chocolatey-ness of it was kind of embarrassing. And here's Bug, the kid who didn't waste a single drop of ice cream. She's the only 2 year old I've ever met who could eat ice cream and not get it all everywhere, let alone nowhere. She knows the importance of not wasting a drop.

All-in-all it was a productive and fun day. Today is hard-core work day so that I can enjoy a work-free weekend. The amount of work I want to get done today may be unrealistic, but I'll be pushing it!

I guarantee you these are the easiest muffins you've ever made. I got this recipe at a Weight Watchers meeting last year, and though they are not, by any means, "healthy" they are better for you than making regular old muffins. AND they're tastier! I make these all the time and Picky David eats them right up. Lily eats them as if they're candy. You can also spoon them onto a cookie sheet and make cookies out of the same batter. I've done this for dinner guests on a number of occasions and they're all the rave. And when I tell them how easy it is, they almost choke.

You will need:

• Box of Spice Cake mix - any brand will do. I just grab what I see first at the grocery store
• Can of Pumpkin Puree

Um, yea. That's it.

What you do:

• Mix them together. Feel free to add a handful of chocolate chips (my favorite!) or walnuts, or whatever floats your boat.
• Spoon onto a greased cookie sheet for cookies or into greased muffin cups for muffins.
• Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Your toothpick will always be a little gooey so keep this in mind and don't over-cook.

Voila!! Fantabulous Pumpkin Muffins.

I have found my place in this world. West Jefferson, our new home, is fabulous. I'm sure you will be hearing more about this place than you ever could have cared about in the next few weeks, and I apologize in advance. But frankly, I'm in love.

Every Saturday in West Jefferson, within walking distance of our new home, there is the Ashe County Farmer's Market. I strolled down there this past Saturday morning with my reusable bag in hand and a pocket full of cash. And boy did I love what I found.

I filled up my bag in minutes and walked home considerably heavier than when I arrived. Saturdays catch consisted of organic spinach and asparagus, no-pesticide potatoes, a gorgeous large-leaf basil plant, and homemade sourdough bread, raspberry-blackberry jam and goat feta cheese. The cost of all these glorious goods: only $24. Jackpot.

I am so lucky to 1.) live in a place with such wonderful resources and 2.) live with a man who gladly shares my obsession with buying fresh and local. We were considering joining a CSA (community supported agriculture) farm, but I think that since we live so close to the farmer's market and the CSA farm we were thinking of partnering with - the one from which I bought the spinach and feta - is at the farmer's market every week, then we'll probably just take that glorious stroll every weekend instead. Just as good!

So, I'm sure I'll be sharing my catch with you each week, as I really see this as being the most exciting event every week. It's like Christmas. Every Saturday!

{photo credit: Zappos.com}

Yes. Drool.

I was just flipping through a Yoga Journal magazine that I picked up a earlier on our 4th trip to Walmart in as many days and I ran across these shoes. So. Amazing.

Partially recycled outsole and memory foam footbed. Need I say more?

And the shoes are only half the cool part. The other cool part: they're having Trunk Show in Wilkesboro NC on Saturday. This is only about 40 minutes from my house. I think I will need to be in attendance. I REALLY want a pair.

Check them out.

Yay! Time for more guilty pleasures. Here are three more; what about you?

• Victoria's Secret Bras - I'm not a high maintenance person. I love Target shoes and I plan my weeks by when I can take my next visit to TJ Maxx. I am, however, very picky about my bras. Every bra I've bought and worn in the past - I don't know - 5 years has been from Victoria's Secret. On one hand, I know they're perfect for me and why change, but on the other hand... it really is just a guilty pleasure.
• Chocolate - I know, I know. Completely cliche, but it get's better. More specifically - Dove Truffle Eggs. Now, these babies only come out at Easter, and this is where the very "guilty" comes in, as I stock up on them like it's 2000. They're my go-to stress food, and sometimes I eat them just because. HUGE guilty pleasure.
• Kenzie Shoes - They don't even make this brand anymore - now Blue something-or-other - but I'm a sucker for them when I find a pair on eBay. Loooooooove them.

We made it! We arrived here Friday night safe and sound, and have been unpacking ever since.

Thus far the two most important rooms in the house have been unpacked: Lily's room and the kitchen. Today we plan on getting our bedroom situated and hopefully tomorrow we'll be doing some furniture shopping. The most important pieces are the dining room table - which is where we live - and an office desk, as I am currently typing this from the office floor. I have to get a desk before work resumes next week, or I just might go mad. Haha!

Anywho, above are pictures of the view from our back porch this morning. We had some fabulous rain last night, and with all the bedroom windows open I slept like a freakin' baby.

And yes, we do live across the street from the cemetery, but this doesn't bother me in the least. In fact, it adds to the quaintness of our new home.

I plan to share more photos with you as the house comes together. Thus far, I'm in love. :-D

Ciao bellas!

I'm running on empty this morning. I stayed up late last night packing and loading up my furniture for the yard sale this morning that my parent's were kind enough to host for me. I have no furniture now. The only chairs in the house are Lily's rocking chair, my studio chair, and my desk chair. I guess I get to eat at my computer now, though that's really no different than usual. :-D

Enough about packing. I ran across this fabulous artist recently and wanted to send you guys to her blog so that you can check out her awesome free downloads. She offers beautiful printable cards. I'm sorta in love. You can download this thank you card here.

Off to sell my goods.

My to-do list for emmarie Designs is growing and grooooowing. My two-week break to pack, move, and then unpack will also be used to get some things done around emmarie Designs while I don't have any outside designs going on. Here is a short list of just some of the many things you will be seeing soon around here:

• Jewelry page redesign - Yup. It's snazzy too. It's already designed, I just have to find the time to code it.
• A whole resources page full of helpful links and tips for you, my dear boutique owners. I'm even working on a Design eBook to help clients with the building of design packages. Pretty sweet.
• Monthly newsletters, as well as weekly update letters for current projects. I've been doing the weekly updates, but they'll be so pretty!
• New pricing. This is something I've talked about before, and is still in the works. This will be going into effect this Saturday.
• Video blogging - I LOVE video blogs and I really want to get into the habit of doing this occasionally. This is HIGH on my to-do list. Who knows... maybe I'll do one tomorrow. Then you can see the mess I have my office in with all these packed boxes. Gees.
• Turnkey boutique websites - I have been working a little on getting a concept going for a fully designed, fully stocked website that will be for sale on my site. The purchaser will just buy the site, I'll transfer the accounts, and it will be more-or-less ready to go.
• Vendor lists - This goes hand-in-hand with the turnkey boutique sites. I'm working on building a list of vendors who are willing to drop ship their products for the purchasers of my turnkey boutiques. More about this to come later.
• GIVEAWAYS! I haven't done a giveaway in faaaaar too long. This is going to change. Starting soon.

That's all I can remember for now, but I'm sure there are others. Eek!

Ok, maybe not "Look, Ma" but definitely "Look, David!"

David ordered us this fab new bike rack for the back of my car the other day, and it arrived today, only about 2 hours after he left for his week-long research trip. When he told me yesterday that it would be coming in today, I exclaimed, "Yay! I can put it on!" And he replied, nonchalantly, "Yea, if you think you can."

Now, don't get me wrong, David is by no mean condescending to me at all, it was just one of those man moments. One of those things where he just assumed since he "wears the pants" he's the only one that can assemble and mount a bike rack. As if.

So, I did it! I'm so proud. And now our bikes can go with us when we move. Yay!

On another note, my phone is completely freaking out. It is laying beside me blinking on and off as if I'm touching it. I'm not. Gees... time for a new phone?