An Instagram influencer named Sasha Narang recently bought a Coach purse at a sample sale, then realized it belonged to someone else.  When she got home, she found a lady's wallet inside with her I.D. and all her credit cards. It turned out a woman named Ashley Kwon put her purse down at the same sample sale, and it got mixed in with the other bags.  Sasha tracked her down on Facebook and got it back to her. https://nypost.com/2022/09/27/i-bought-someones-coach-bag-at-a-chaotic-sample-sale/   SOURCE: NY POST

This is the time of year when everyone LOSES THEIR MINDS over anything pumpkin spice-related.  Even though . . . and I don't know if people realize this . . . pumpkin spice actually exists, year-round. Just when it seemed like there was pumpkin spice everything, the jewelry company Angelic Diamonds has created the world's first Pumpkin Spice Latte ENGAGEMENT RING. The ring features a "whipped cream-shaped" center diamond, surrounded by white diamonds and "orange sapphires encased in a cup-shaped claw."  So it's supposed to LOOK like a PSL.  (There's no smell, or taste, obviously.) There's also a gold rose band, with [...]

An animal shelter in Pennsylvania went viral after posting photos of each dog getting a McDonald's double cheeseburger as a special treat.  Someone who'd previously adopted a dog bought about 40 of them. (Here are the photos.)   https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/rescue-dogs-treated-mcdonalds-cheeseburgers-28103025   SOURCE: MIRROR    

How's this for glass half full?  A Canadian woman's home got wrecked by the remnants of Hurricane Fiona on Saturday.  But her refrigerator that got pulled out to sea washed up on her neighbor's lawn.  And she was psyched when all the White Claw hard seltzers she'd just bought were still in there.  (Here's a photo.) https://twitter.com/BenClearyNL/status/1574071309125967872   https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/port-aux-basques-storm-house-damaged-baby-foll-white-claws-1.6596388   SOURCE: TWITTER

While it's being renovated, 29 staffers at a Mexican place in Denver called Casa Bonita got four months of classes to become bilingual in English and Spanish.  The place almost closed for good last year after its owners went bankrupt.  But Trey Parker and Matt Stone from "South Park" bought it.  It was featured in an episode back in 2003.   https://denverite.com/2022/09/24/lakewood-casa-bonita-workers-learn-a-second-language-while-renovations-are-underway/   SOURCE: DENVER RITE

A 21-year-old in Tennessee named Ashton Gilbert has autism, but didn't let it stop him from starting his own business during the pandemic. He and his mom noticed carboard piling up once people started ordering everything online.  So they opened a recycling service called UnBoxed. He's now doing it full-time and living independently for the first time ever.  He's helped recycle about 40 TONS of cardboard so far, with plans to expand.   https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/tennessee-man-autism-starts-successful-recycling-business-cherishes-interacting-customers   SOURCE: FOX NEWS

For the start of fall, Google Trends just did a big round-up of all the pumpkin spice products we've been googling.  And it turns out a lot of cat owners want pumpkin spice KITTY LITTER to be a thing.   It's the top pumpkin spice "scented" product people have been searching for.  It actually HAS been sold before at Walmarts in Canada, but it looks like they might not have it this year.   Google also looked at the top pumpkin spice food or drink each state is oddly obsessed with this year . . .   1.  The states that are most [...]

A mom in Pennsylvania posted a video of her kid coming home from his first day of kindergarten . . . and immediately informing her that the sandwich she made for his lunch was TERRIBLE.  (Here's the video.) It's from 2018, but she posted it on TikTok this month.  She says she hadn't grocery shopped and couldn't use peanut butter because other kids have allergies.  So it was a BUTTER and jelly sandwich. Here's the nice part:  They launched a site called TerribleSandwich.com, and they're using it to raise money for charity.  They're planning to sell merch, and 50% of the proceeds will go to the [...]

A 29-year-old guy in San Francisco is on a mission to do 30 acts of kindness by his 30th birthday in February.  You can follow him at his Instagram account called "30 Acts by 30." They're not exactly small acts of kindness either.  First, he made 400 desserts for firefighters.  Then he got 18 companies to donate $12,000 in school supplies, and made 150 kits for middle schoolers. https://abc7.com/30-acts-by-bryan-tsiliacos-tiktok-giving-back-to-community-act-of-kindness/12240755/   SOURCE: ABC 7

TikTok is great at coming up with new ways to solve the minor annoyances in life.   Here's another life hack that's going viral... Someone posted a video of how to make cold butter instantly more spreadable, and it doesn't involve heating it up. Instead of using a knife, use a handheld STRAINER. In the video, they use one of those small strainers with a tight, metal mesh.  So, a "fine-mesh" strainer, not a plastic one. If you drag the bottom of it across a cold stick of butter, the butter comes through the top and collects there. So you end [...]