» In my neck of the woods, it’s truly a fantastic Friday! This is the THIRD day in a row we’ve had sun, & it’s due to be here all weekend! Methinks a nice long drive is in order…

» Gluten-free wonton wrappers. Similar to the infamous oopsie rolls; I’ll definitely be trying these soon, perhaps even for pierogies. I’ve had such wonderful luck with the oopsie pizza crust – you’d honestly never know that it’s not flour!

» You do know about Cake Wrecks, right?

» BABY ELEPHANT! Seriously, does it get any more adorable than a baby elephant playing with mommy? I didn’t think so.

» Speaking of elephants, did you see Kurt Halsey’s two adorable intertwined inks back in January? I just discovered them this week.

“We dance round in circles and suppose,
But the Secret sits in the middle, and knows.”
Robert Frost

» c/o Pasta Queen, the exact thoughts of every person living in the Midwest.

» Hosting a party sometime soon? Check out this list of yummy appetizers!

» While everyone else is excited about the new Alice in Wonderland, I personally cannot wait to see The Secret of Kells. At this point, the music & animation is so gorgeous, I won’t care if the plot is the silliest thing ever written. What I’ve seen reminds me quite a lot of The Last Unicorn – perhaps I’ll dig that out this weekend.

» Did you see these birds over at Cute Overload last week? They absolutely make me smile. I do love the birds around here, but I gotta say, I wish we had some of these around!

» Ten Do’s and Don’ts for Speakers - I daresay these have relevance for bloggers as well!

» Gala Darling recieved an interesting letter from someone about self-love & self-acceptance. It’s quite a wonderful & inspiring read! Personally, I rather adore her new project entitled Radical Self Love – it’s a refreshing change from iCiNG & something that most of us absolutely need more of in our lives!

» 101 Posts for the All-Around Well-Balanced Life, c/o of The Book of Wisdom. They’ve really done our homework for us!

» Life before Google: A Short Story.

» Crystal Renn for ELLE Canada – the world’s highest paid “plus-size” model in a wonderful spread. Very beautiful & a refreshing change from both size twos and the usual “girls of all sizes” editorials that most fashion magazines (fail to) do. This is a nice interview from Time magazine about her book, Hungry, which talks about her switch from unhealthy & unhappy at size zero to the exact opposite as a plus-size model. I’ve got it on hold at my library!

» Could you go sixty days without sugar? Sally & her husband over at Aprovechar are trying to. I’ve so far gone a little over two months without pasta, but I can’t imagine giving up all sugar. Honey on hot chicken wings is far too yummy!

» mnmlist talks about clearing distractions - this is the post that partly inspired me to cut back on my social networking.

» In the same vein, here’s a list of 7 Simple Ways You Can Disconnect. Try it over the weekend!

» This will not end well.

Dear readers, what’s been fantastic in your life this week?

» I love this article from Body + Soul about the guys behind the Life is good brand. I’m rather inspired to get a mug with that very message!

» I love her. She’s a fearless pagan primal minimalist; her views on the world are so incredible & refreshing. She may just be my new favorite person.

» My dandelion is a flower.

» 101 Simple Salads – it might’ve been written during the summer, but I could use some summery flavors right about now.

» An experiment in Germany took all the toys away from a day care center for three months. What happened may surprise you…

» How to make your own shampoo – I haven’t worked up the nerve to try it yet (I’m far too in love with my current stuff), but I’d be remiss if I didn’t point it out!

» What will my reward be?

» Burt’s Bees Soap Bark & Chamomile Deep Cleansing Cream – I’ve been using it for about three weeks now, & I look forward to using it every morning & night. It’s just so soothing & wonderful!

» Laughter is the best way to get through all this terrible weather – or at least I think so. Danny Bhoy is an absolutely hilarious Scottish comedian; make some popcorn & watch the whole show!

» 100 Cupcakes featuring 100 games. Can you name them all?

» I started drinking kombucha tea in the last few weeks. I wasn’t sure I liked it at first, but I’ve grown accustomed to my small glass each day. I find it rather refreshing & I’ve noticed I don’t want soda anymore. Have you tried it?

» Do you suppose they’d let me move in with them?

» I’m working on reading all the Printz winners – I’ve only a few left, but my favorites are still Looking for Alaska & How I Live Now. Has anyone read any of these?

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I wish you at least a few hours of sunshine blissfully free of snow!

Happy Christmas to everyone! Next week, I’ll be working on all sorts of fun things for here, but I realized this morning that there are all sorts of amazing things in my life right now!

» Christmas music by Relient K, Barenaked Ladies, & Everclear.

» Your world is now perfect: Grover can now read you The Monster at the End of This Book.

» Avatar: The Last Airbender (not to be confused with the weird blue people). We’ve been watching this for the last few weeks, & I’m fairly certain I need my very own six-legged flying bison. The Cartoon Network original anime is so creative & fun that I’m fairly certain it’ll be finding it’s way into our DVD collection soon. Definitely check it out!

» My new Emu shoes! I have the tan color, & they are HEAVEN. I don’t know when my feet have been so comfy and warm! Apparently they’re actually slippers, but I didn’t know that until after I’d already fallen in love with them, & so I wear them everywhere. Yay happy feet!

» Hot tea. Winter is here in full force, so I’ve been rocking the tea of late. Specifically, berryblossom white, peppermint, & my old stand-by, blackberry sage. What’s your tea of the moment?

» The Muppets do Queen. It’s every bit as epic as it should be.

» Ever since fall hit a few weeks ago, I have wanted to cook just about everything. Of course, all the new cookbooks & amazing recipes that keep coming my way aren’t helping! Body + Soul (if you haven’t already guessed, I love this publication so much I ought to seek employment with them) has not one, but TWO galleries of amazing recipes. First up is a collection of all sorts of things to do with apples (did you hear that it’s apple season?!), whereas the second collection features lots of enticing soups. I’ll be sharing my recipe for chicken stock sometime in the future!

» The Pioneer Woman, whose cookbook is due out soon (I cannot wait to get my hands on it), created a super easy & delicious recipe for roasted garlic & new potatoes. I’ll definitely be trying this out soon!

» I made this ginger soup on Monday, only with chicken & without the shiitakes (they went bad before I could make the soup!), & it was divine. I’ll share my modifications probably sometime next week!

“I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines.” Henry David Thoreau

» As we’re nearing the holidays, & my family is always asking for things I want (music? books?), I’ve been updating my Amazon wishlist. Or, rather, I’ve been adding things that I’d someday like (but no one can afford) to a list of things that have the usual assortment of books, movies, & music. What can I say? It’s rather fun finding things like a KitchenAid stand-up mixer (in the most perfect ice blue) & a $99 fancy German knife set! I certainly don’t need these items, but it is rather fun to dream! :)

» This may not fall within the realm of “fantastic,” but it’s definitely useful: the CDC has a nice page chock full of tips for dealing with illnesses in your home. Get to learnin’ before it hits your town!

» You may have heard that the Where the Wild Things Are movie comes out today! Newsweek has a wonderful interview with Maurice Sendak, Dave Eggers, & Spike Jonze. Turns out the movie was quite the labor of love between all the creators, which is always wonderful.

» This is a collection of free to download (although possibly not legally?) e-books. Just passing it along!

» Josh Groban singing various memorable tv show themes. I’m not sure you’ve really lived until you’ve heard him sing the South Park theme, nevermind the Fresh Prince theme!!

» I know I’ve featured this before, but I think everyone needs more wonder in their lives! I dare you to not smile while you listen to this. It’s impossible, I promise! :)

So, here’s a secret: I work on this feature all week, throwing various amazing things into a folder of favorites dubbed, oh-so-originally, “Fantastic Friday.” Since I work every other Saturday, I get every other Friday off – so I usually throw the links into a post before I head home on Thursday nights. Guess who forgot to do that yesterday? Yeah. That would be me. But now I get to present you with a visual feast!

Autumn has long been one of my favorite times of year (in high school, autumn of course = marching band, which was my life’s purpose those four precious years), but I realized in college just how much I adore the season. Everything is so festive, & here in Ohio, we’re treated to colors that (in my humble opinion) rival the famed New England resort towns. I grew up in the heart of Ohio’s apple orchards, & I probably know more about the various varieties than any normal person ought to (but still far less than my mother does). Bushels, fritters, cider, pies… that old Johnny Appleseed cartoon will always have a spot in my heart.

Today is a particularly grey rainy (& typical) day, but I’ve got chicken stock brewing, Josh Groban on my stereo, & I’m off to run a few errands. Have a ‘fantastic’ day, everyone! :)

Look at the tiny press box!

Are you hungry yet?

I don’t even like these, but it’s not fall until I buy a bag!

Mmm; the first sweaters of autumn…