Happy Halloween

Boo!

Did I scare you?

Because between the ghost brains and boiled spider legs, our dinner was frighteningly scrumptious last night! Buckeye Belle hosted a wonderful dinner for Betty and I. We ate and drank our fill and then shared some pretty scary tales afterwards (well, it was Girl Talk for us, but way scary for guys)...I LOVE Y'ALL!

Notice the eerie thin smokeline rising from the candle on the left...SPOOKY!

Spooky Celebrations

Our Supper Club Halloween Party is tonight!

And ohhh it's promises to be sPoOkY...

I've been looking forward to this dinner for weeks. Buckeye Belle is hosting this year and just look at the detail she puts into hostessing as even our invites and menu look ahhhmazing!

If you haven't already, check out her stationery design blog The Paper Nest

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And in my attempt to be a little more crafty (homemade versus store bought), here are the Halloween SC "Happy"s in an orange pail: days-of-the-week magnets (they look Gothic); a witches broom pencil; and candy in an orange goodie bag.

I included 2 pictures because at first I only dumped the candy into the pail. I decided to try making the orange bags as my first attempt at sewing with this new sewing machine to get a feel for the machine and also see if I remembered anything at all from my Homemaking Class 15 years ago.


I think the bags gave the pails a nice touch. Originally I made 4 bags; however, the first 2 were trashed. But all 4 only took about 30 min including ironing the interfacing on all sets and setting everything up.

I'm off to our frightening festivities...

Cheap Cheap

WalMart has taken a cue from Target (pronounced "tar-zshay") and is now introducing designer lines in their women's fashion department. Norma Kamali has a collection in jersey (think "Chico's Travelers" jersey not "T-shirt" jersey) and boasts basic pieces in red, black, white and a leopard print.

I've bought 2 pairs of the jersey pants as they're great for my expanding belly. The final verdict is still out as I'll have to see what they're like after wash & wear a few times, but it's nice to have another inexpensive option for clothes shopping.

Night Craft

I wanted to put Mason on my picture wall, in silhouette at least, so here's my first attempt at this craft.

I enlarged the outline of his ultrasound picture to fit an 8x10 frame thinking that a larger image wouldn't have as many tight-fit spaces to cut around. WRONG. I still struggled to control use of my Exacto knife...any advice out there? Unfortunately the eye area went a little deeper than actuals and I didn't do his cute button nose any justice. It wasn't as easy as I had originally thought!

Trial Attempt:

This particular frame doesn't work quite right, but I wanted to see what it'd look like on the wall.

And since I've been procrastinating, this weekend I'm working on an actual sewing project- not for the Baby, but one for Christmas gifts. Ohhh I'm so excited!

Waddle Waddle

My heart aches a little bit.

I really wanted to run a local race- the Vulcan Run 10k (6.2 mi) this November and then the Mercedes Half-Marathon (13.1 mi) in February 2009.

The 2008 Running Resolution had me in the best running shape I've ever been. And then of course I ran the furthest in my life while in the early stages of my pregnancy {9 mi @ 10 wks preggers}.

But alas, that "To Do" will have to be delayed. My joints are beginning to feel the burden of my belly weight; there's no way I'd make it through a 10k at 24 weeks pregnant and I'll be due right around the Half-Marathon.

And Tuesday I asked Speedy what my running stance looks like now compared to before...

As he silently replied by holding an imaginary beachball tummy, puffing out his cheeks, and waddling like a duck, let's just say I wasn't happy at all with his response.

Mea culpa for asking.

Stealing Candy For a Baby...

Sorry Trick Or Treaters. I have successfully finished off 3 bags of chocolate candies...and they were originally meant for you next Friday. It took me 3 1/2 weeks, but yes- I did it all for me Baby Mason. He had terrible cravings and I succumbed.

Could you blame me though?

Snickers

Junior Mints

3 Musketeers

I rationalized that Snickers was the only candy that I should feel guilty about because Junior Mints are actually low in calories/fat/sugar AND everyone knows 3 Musketeers are 45% less fat!

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*UPDATE 10/23/08*

Mom just informed me that Junior Mints are made mostly of sugar. When I rebutted that the sugar content was so low that it didn't even show as a percentage on the Daily Value chart (2g per individual piece), she quickly informed me that SUGAR is NOT a daily requirement and 2g per tiny piece is actually a lot. I honestly didn't know this! But she did add, like Tiff, that the peanuts in the Snickers are at least a source of protein. So that makes everything okay =) or at least with my line of reasoning.

Girls In White Dresses With Blue Satin Sashes...

These are a few of my favorite things:

1. Pink Lemonade: while this would normally be a favorite thing in the hot summertime, I still have cravings for the citrus-y, tart, sweetness of pink lemonade so it's still a favorite pick even through the Fall.

2. Baby Tickles: there's not another way to describe it- some women say fetal movement feels like butterflies in your stomach or an internal fluttering, for me it feels like someone's trying to tickle me from the inside. Mason's active already and we still have 18 weeks to go. I'll enjoy the little tickling while I can and will just hope he waits a very long time to start kicking me hard in the ribs.

3. Vietri Incanto Dinnerware: in another life, I had actually registered for this line (instead of fine china...heck it costs the same!). I find that I still love it *sigh*

4. Barefoot Contessa's Kitchen: House Beautiful's November issue gives us a peak into Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa's barn home. Of course she has a fantabulous kitchen!

5. Free Clipart: Shhh! Florida's Educational Technology Clearinghouse

6. Chandelier Prints: while these must be used sparingly, otherwise they look gaudy and garish rather than elegantly Gothic, I like that they're showing up in stationery as a small way of spreading chandelier cheer.

7. Dress-up Dates: and alas, I have no pictures to show as this has been a rarity in my life as of late =) C'mon Speedy, this is one area where you may be the absolute sloooowest!

They Say It's Your Birthday...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PINK PIMPETTE!

I miss her so much- the months before she moved away, she would come over to my house for the weekend, almost every weekend. And we'd usually go have girl dinners and then get into crazy stuff like make Pimp Cups and Brownie Delights at 2am. I love you girl!

Actually yesterday was Pink Pimpette's Birthday...

But I couldn't post yesterday, because I wanted to share how fun it was putting her Birthday Package together. She's a working newlywed, but also interested in learning homemaking skills and I'm so excited for her (we're going to have another little Martha Stewart on our hands!). And she lives several states away now, so I had to do something mailable for her gift.

So for her birthday, I put together a Kitchen kit with a color scheme centered around an Anthropologie apron (rolled up in the brown ribbon on the right): brown, robin's egg blue, and a light sage green. The soft towel, whisk, and wooden spoon set were wrapped in coordinating ribbons as well as personalized recipe cards (you can't tell much in the photo but there's a faint vintagey print in the card background). It was fun to group everything together and I think 5 different ribbons were used in the making (yea for ribbons!). The birthday card was also handmade to match with vintage print backgrounds (one was a light brown damask and the other a small tile print in the robin's egg blue)

And this became the inspiration for Baby Mason's room.

Happy Birthday wishes to you Pink Pimpette!

A TREAT!

I told you I'd have a treat to share today. This morning I went into my Doctor's appointment and found out that I'm having a little BOY!

Baby Mason is due February 22, 2009; I'm about 20.5 weeks along (just a little over halfway there!). He's healthy and measuring normal...praise God! Here is my Baby Blog I plan to have this journal printed and bound as a keepsake for Baby Mason.

ENJOY!

Halloween Goodies

Other than Christmas, I try not to invest too much in seasonal display pieces. It's not that I'm not into holidays...because I am. It's just that unless I'm having guests or a party, there's not really a need to spend money on items that will be on display for less than 30 days and then put away in a storage box for the remaining 335+ days.

But here are some little guys that I thought were reasonably priced, reusable and fun:

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I think I'm in love with the kitchen island display. I found the stand and plates at At Home. And 8 baby pumpkins were just $5 at Target.

This whimsical pumpkin is Dept. 56 and of course the candy jar needed to be filled with candy corn.
Trick or Treat!

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Each year my Trick-or-Treaters are fewer and far between; I'm not really sure if it's a safety issue, or that they find more loot in other neighborhoods, or what. But for those few little (and sometimes not-so-little) guys, I think I may try this fun craft from A Little Sussy; of course I could always cheat and buy the Martha Stewart kits at Michael's

And check back tomorrow because I'll be sharing a real TREAT!

My Fall List

□ Fall Vignette. I'm so excited I found the little table over the weekend; it was a steal and I thought it perfect for rotating seasonal groupings like a Halloween vignette. Those guys on the buffet behind are some things I pulled from for ideas.________________________

√ Fall Fashion. What better way to celebrate Fall than with a leaf-print dress? On sale at Target for $8.74

No Joke!
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□ Fall Food. It's time to break out the warm, comfort foods. Check out this Spicy Macaroni and Cheese (courtesy of Food Network).

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√ Fall Home Decor. Pumpkins of course!

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□ Fall Mums to accompany (real) pumpkins would be a nice touch at the doorway.

He's BACK!

Last Fall, I had a pest issue: a Small Woodland Creature had somehow nestled a snuggly home inbetween my outside deck and a connected storage area underneath my house. The biggest annoyance (other than the fact that the stupid booger was probably biting through cables or other dangerous fire-starting wires down there) was that I work from home when I'm not traveling and this happens to be an area about 10 ft away and the burrowing sounds resonated through my office space. It's quite distracting!

I gave Mr. Small Woodland Creature a "by" last year, but I just can't stand for it again. It's my home. I pay the utilities and mortgage here!

Today, as our temperatures have slightly dropped to the ever-chilling high-60s/low-70s (ha!), he's decided to return to his Winter timeshare to prepare it for hibernation. There's no telling what damage he may be causing...not to think what it will be like if he invites his entire family of small woodland creatures.

Sorry bud, you've got to go. And this is just in time for my quarterly pest spray (how convenient!). Let's get rid of the rodent!!!

Gladiolas

This is so cheesy, but I just love fresh flowers! It's one of the simple things in life that makes me really happy =)

Last Sunday at Whole Foods they had Gladiolas- 10 stems for $4 so I purchased 20 thinking that they'd look great en masse. But to my delight, they were too large to combine for even my biggest vase so I now have the 2 bunches: one on my kitchen island and one in my living room.

I even left my blanket out on the sofa because they match the flowers (or maybe I was just too lazy to put it away...but we can pretend!).

It's a Small World

I'm back from Walt Disney World!{at the last evening's Gala}

And although I didn't get to visit any of the parks, it was a nice business trip indeed! This was my first stay at the Contemporary Resort so I took some pictures upon arrival.

The lighting was particularly impressive: from the dimming recessed lighting above each pillow (each with their own switch); to the lighting underneath the flat screen that highlighted the mosaic tile design; the lighting inside the entry closets (with frosted glass fronts); and then the lit mirrors in the bathroom were interesting as well.

Quite a successful trip- and then on my way back to the airport, I had a chance to reconnect with an old college friend and her husband. She's still recovering from a nasty bus accident 1.5 yrs ago and it was great seeing her still-smiling face and meeting her sweet hubby. Wow- I hope things return to "normal" for them soon. It was a nice reminder though of how blessed we all are to have loved ones, to have our health, and to have the financial means to live comfortably!

I sometimes forget where all of my friends have been dispersed...thank goodness for the Internet to help link us back up.

It's a small world after all!