Happy Hump Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj9_yW8tZxs

Turkish Coffee

If there's one thing I love, it's a good strong coffee. Turkish coffee is your favorite black coffee with a twist. Cardamom takes the stage for a nice minty flavor in this unfiltered concoction. After a few sips, you'll be belly dancing in no time.

You will need:

1 tbsp of finely ground coffee (powder consistency, Turkish if you can find it)
1/8 tsp of cardamom or cardamom pod
1 cup of water
sugar optional

1. Boil water and sugar in an ibrik (pictured here). Don't have one? No worries, I used a tiny regular saucepan.
2. Add cardamom and coffee. Stir gently.
Some experts recommend removing from heat for a few seconds when it foams and returning to heat a few times. This keeps the coffee from boiling over.
3. Pour into demitasse/espresso cup. It doesn't take much. This isn't your average cup of joe.

For an extra afternoon pick-me-up, serve with turkish delights or baklava.

Bonus if you have your fortune told by the grounds left in the bottom of the cup!

Pumpkin Pie Greek Yogurt

I invented a recipe! Ok, so someone thought of it before me. But I didn't know that when I made it! I didn't follow a recipe. I have since found others. Here's mine:

6 oz (3/4 cup) of Greek Yogurt
2 tbsp of canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
2 tsp of brown sugar
few dashes of pumpkin pie spice (which I did not have, so I mixed my spices individually)*

*Mini BONUS recipe: Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 part cloves
1 part nutmeg
2 parts ground ginger
4 parts cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. This velvety mixture can be eaten alone or used as a guiltless pumpkin cheesecake filling. I topped it off with granola! I'll be eating this for breakfast very often!

Donating during Domestic Violence Awareness month

Everyone is familiar with the Pink Ribbon through the month of October. What you may not know is that October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month. 

According to Safe Horizon, one in 4 women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. Every year, 1 in 3 women who is a victim of homicide is murdered by her current or former partner. I am sad to say that in a recent study,  my home state of Tennessee ranks in the top 10 for these cases.

If you or anyone you know is in this dangerous situation, contact local authorities or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-SAFE. 

An organization that has made great strides to empower women and their families is the YWCA. A major player in race relations and labor unions, the YWCA started as Ladies Christian Association in 1858. Now in over 125 countries and reaching 25 million women, the organization has programs for women of all ages, including sexual health programs. Many of the 1,300 US sites are looking for volunteers, matching jobs with your talents and interests. For more information on programs, volunteering or a location near you, visit ywca.org.

To support the foundation and its services, B In Your Bonnet will donate a portion of its profits to YWCA for the month of October. You never know, a mug can change a life. Find yours at my shop.

No thank you, I didn't need sleep anyway

Oh my goodness. I feel like tonight's sleep is more like a nap. I woke up at 2:30 am and I've done everything I can think of to put myself back to sleep. It's almost time to give up.

What do you do when you can't sleep?

Rainy Days and Netflix picks

I don't know about you, but I LOOOOVE Fall, especially when it rains. I like being holed up on the couch watching marathons of movies and catching up on seasons worth of TV shows. Lately (confession time), I've been catching up on Gossip Girl. I got into the show earlier this year and I'm trying to watch all of the fifth season before the sixth starts. (It can be done. I promise.)

What are you watching these days? What should I add in my queue?

Case of the Mondays?

To ease into the work week, a few posts from the web:

Do you talk to your pets?

Lovely illustrations. Makes me want to stop what I'm doing and draw. right. now.

What's for dinner? ...or dessert?

Business cards of fictional characters

So true

Corporation Crush

I think I have the nerdiest, adult crush I've ever had. Maybe more than anyone has EVER had.

In my research of the inner workings of Etsy, I've been reading backlogs of Etsy blogs as well as keeping up with their current news. Recently, I keep seeing the title "Notes from Chad." These are more or less memos from the desk of Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson.

I mean, really, look at that face.

He grew up in North Carolina and got a degree in literature. He's worked at Yahoo! and Salon.com before becoming CTO of Etsy in 2008. You can learn a little more about him in this talk about courage.

While all that is impressive, I mostly appreciate what he has done for the Etsy community. He knows that the success of the company depends on the success of its sellers. He and his team really go out of their way to support the handmade movement. 

They've carved a path for me years before I ever joined to ensure their tools and services make entrepreneurship easy and fun. (Kids these days don't know how good they have it.)

Take a look around at my shop that courage built. B In Your Bonnet has fabulous things for you and your friends and family. Support handmade!

Coffee, Cribs and Culture

My brain is so full right now. Full of ideas and inspiration. I wish there were 30 hours in the day and that I didn't require sleep.

I hope to post at least once a week. Maybe more once we get to know each other a little better.

What can you expect to read about in this blog?
I'm kinda into alot of things. I feel like it will be quite the mish-mash. You can be sure it will include:

Coffee- Seriously? Does this need an explanation?

Cribs- Houses, not babies. I'm too young for all that. I enjoy interiors and gain inspiration from textures used in textiles and furniture.

Culture. I love books and movies and music, but I am not an expert in any of these fields. Art, however, I know a thing or two about.

Current Events. Can you believe Murphy Brown is cancelled?! Oh. That's not current? shoot.

Travel (I ran out of hard K alliteration words.)- If I never had to work and could just experience all the world has to offer, I'd be in heaven.

What do you want to talk about?

Hello there.

You probably don't know me yet. I'm new here. You can call me B.

Take a look at my Etsy shop B In Your Bonnet and you will notice a few painted mugs. That's mostly what I do when I'm not working with kids.

I can't wait to share other amazing things in my life and new things that are happening. This is enough for now. I don't want to overwhelm you.

Thanks for stopping by! Stay later next time. We'll have coffee.

Testing....testing....Is this thing on?