It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Yearrrrr

I get so much freakin joy out of making costumes. The more art supplies I use and trips to Goodwill I take, the better. The only time I walk into the Halloween costume store is for wigs and wigs only. I love a good homemade costume...even if it's not completely and meticulously done. If there's effort, I appreciate it. Since we've got two parties this year and the crowds will intermingle at both, so for us, two costumes are required. That means this girl has been plugging away at four costumes for weeks. And by weeks I mean, this past one. But we're ready. Wanna see? This is just my half of tonight's costume. Any ideas?

Have an awesome Halloween!

Set It and Forget It

Oh how I love a good tablescape. But oh how I do not like the word tablescape. It reminds me of Sandra Lee, who looks like a baby goat. And is simply annoying on top of that. Wow, that's not nice to say. Apparently I never grasped that whole 'Golden Rule' thing. Anyway, I digress. At this year's Spookytown Dinner Party, there were 11 of us, which is less than there usually are because a few of my little darlings couldn't make it. You know who you are. So I set two tables, one in the dining room and one in the breakfast room.

The dining room table took on silver, black and purple thanks to the gigantic glittery purple witch hat I snatched up at Pier One. I wasn't sure how it would look just sitting there so when I saw this enormous silver glitter skull somehow sitting at Marshalls on clearance before Halloween, it also came home with me. I also picked up some awesome purple sparkly napkin rings from Pier One with a gift card I had because honestly, at $3 each, I would have never shelled out my hard-earned cash. And by hard earned, I mean, sitting here at work blogging. Throw some purple candles and a spider web runner down and I've got myself a theme. Yay I love themes!

And since I do love themes so much, I can never decide which one to use. Luckily, traditional Halloween/Fall colors work much better in my breakfast room. So out came the too-small-for-the-table spiderweb tablecloth and my year-round orange table runner. I added my stand-by spider napkin rings and looky-there, it looked presentable.

Whenever I set my table all pretty, I think to myself, Self, you should do this all year long. But then I think to myself, Self, that would look silly. Although I love the look of a nicely set table, I can't bring myself to keep them set all day, everyday. I think it would take some of the fun out of doing it for special occasions. Plus, sometimes the cat takes a stroll on our tables and I'm not sure how people would feel about cat hair on their plates. Wait, yes I do. They would be disgusted. And I can't have that.

Sucks to be a Halloween Baby

Happy almost downhill slide to 30 to my little buddy Adrienne. I'm sorry your birthday has always been outshadowed by the greatest holiday ever made. The best day of the year didn't do it on purpose. Your mom and Steve should have planned better. Oh. Ew. Sorry. But really, I hope you have the best Halloween...err, I mean birthday ever. EVER.

Tiny Little Terrorizing Terrariums

Simple paper placecards really aren't my thing. I may have mentioned that I like to make things as complicated as possible for myself. But these were super easy to do and once I had all my supplies gathered, I put them together in about 15 minutes. These mini terrariums turned out really cute and they were a fun little thing to send home with our guests. Wanna make one? Here's the deal.

Find a container for your terrarium, with or without lid, no big deal. I scored these stemless wine glasses on sale at Pier One. They've got the little swatch of chalkboard paint on the front, thus making them perfect for my intended use.

Grab a bag of decorative pebbles. Hint: Get them at the Dollar Tree ($1!) vs. Michael's ($2.50!). Add a small layer to the bottom of your container. This provides for drainage.

Next up, add a small layer of activated carbon (charcoal). I got mine in Walmart's aquarium section.

Then add a layer of potting soil.

Then go out in your yard and dig up some green goodness. These pink flowers are probably some form of weed, but they're pretty and that's all that counts. Plus, we had a lot of it. We also have a couple small patches of bright green moss growin in our yard so I "shaved" it from the ground with a sharp trowel. I'm clearly no gardener, so I clearly hacked up my lawn.

Now here' s where I go technical on your ass. Plant your tiny plant in the potting soil, then manuever the moss around it. Poke your fingers in there, root around and get everything looking natural.

Now for the fun part. Add in whatever miniaturized crap you have lying around. I found these skeleton bones at a party store and thought they looked cute sticking out of the dirt.


The last step was to fill in our friends' names. Voila, you're done.


Or you could make a one huge one. This one sits on my kitchen counter. I can't wait to switch out the skeletons in a few months for some tiny snowmen or reindeer. And yeah, I'm already planning out Christmas decor, it's bad. Reallll bad.

These things require no maintenance. Zilch. This thing's like a gremlin, you shouldn't even water it too often. Just sit it in indirect sunlight and ignore it for days on end. Make one!

At Least We Don't Collect Sad Clown Figurines

But we do collect this. This is Spookytown village. It began fitting atop our buffet. Then John had to built a plywood platform to fit the expanding town. This year, another platform was built. Setting it up is a little tradition for John and I, where when we're all finished, we really do stand back Clark Griswold-style and plug it in. We smile at each other and try not think of the amount of money that has been sunk into this obsession. It's not about that, it's about Spookytown being the inspiration for our Spookytown Grown-Up Dinner Party every year. They come and oooohh and aahhh and try to pick out what's new to the town this year. It's a good time.

And c'mon! It's cute! A mini House of Wax! Adorable!

Halloween Invites : How (not)-To's

Don't attempt these. I warn you.

We all know I've got a thing for paper. And crafts. Papercrafts in general. So if I'm hosting a soiree at my crib, you know you're getting a real invite in the mail. Mail as in USPS mail. So this year, I could NOT think of any ideas, mostly because my head was wrapped up in shower planning and costume-brainstorming. So one day last week, I come up with the idea to do Ransom Note invites. I grabbed a stack of magazines from work and sat down on the couch, cutting out letters and glueing them in place. Yes John, I know there's a Ransom Note font. Nevermind you. C'mon, you know that I like to make things as difficult and labor-intensive as possible for myself.

Oh and I filled in different "preciouses" for each guest. The one pictured above is Audrey's. Her kitty's name is Atreyu. Obviously she wouldn't want Atreyu harmed. So she's coming.

So I got about 2 invites done a night. Time was ticking. These things had to get in the mail. I was running out of O's. Can you believe it? I had about 64 Entertainment Weekly's sitting in front of me and I had to go digging for frigging O's. By the time I "finished" 7 invites, I was exhausted. My back hurt & I had papercuts. And they were only half done! Sharpie to the rescue.

But my invitees were gracious & complimentary, mostly because they are not insane enough to attempt this time-sucking activity themselves.

note to self: Evite may be onto something.

Flashback Friday

Let's see what was happening this day in history.

October 23, 2008

Ok, well the Spookytown Halloween village is officially up and will get it's time in the spotlight tonight at the 4th Annual Spookytown Grown-Up Dinner Party. However this year, it did get a new home. A bigger home even. And once again, we've added more. It has now crossed the line into obnoxious. And yet, I don't see any signs of stopping. You'll see pictures next week of it taking over my dining room.

And once again, the Phillies are on their way to the World Series. Let me just say that while I'm not the biggest sports fan out there, I can appreciate a good game and the hoopla that surrounds it. Plus, Philadelphians are some of the most die-hard fans out there. We go freaking insane. My bud Tursi captured evidence of the win the other night here. And besides a few broken windows, the outcome of a big win is mostly good. Especially at work. I work for and with a lot of dudes. And dudes get excited when their team goes to the World Series. They sit around and bullshit all morning about the players, which means I can feel free to sit around and bullshit on my blog. They leave early to catch games which means I can feel free to leave early to go home and pluck my eyebrows. They come in late & tired from staying up late watching the last inning so I can feel free to come in late & tired from staying up re-reading the Twilight series in preparation for next month. It's just an all-around good deal and makes coming to work a little more bearable. Go Phils.

Cloudy with a Chance of Showers...the Bridal Variety

You may or may not notice that when the blog goes silent for a few days, I'm usually involved in CIA-style top-secret bridal-activity-planning hijinks. This is because in the days leading up to such an event, my life is consumed (in a fun, awesome, crafty way) and in fear of giving something away, I say nothing. Last week was no exception. The mother of all plans finally came together for Katie's bridal shower on Saturday. Here's a quick recap:

I have a Halloween dinner party every year around this time. I sent out fake invites for it to Katie and all of our other friends. In addition to the dinner this year, I planned for us to hit the local orchard to pick pumpkins and have a little carving party back at my house, thus securing Katie's presence for both day and night time. Everyone's in. We're good to go.

Here comes Saturday. It's pouring rain. Fear not friends, I have ponchos. the plans will go on, I told them. Katie shows up at my house with her new rain boots. I laugh silently. I tell her everyone else is either running late (not shocking) or meeting us there. While we're waiting for the others, let's run to the bakery to pick up the dessert for tonight. So off we go to the restaurant. We walk in. Surprise! It's a shower! And you have your rain boots on! ha!

Ahh the restaurant. It was perfect in a rustic-y, twinkle light-y sort-of-way. It's The Gables in Chadds Ford, PA. Service was excellent, prices were fair, I highly recommend it. Check out the bar, it's gorg.

The favors were adorable. Mini apple pies from nearby Lancaster County Amish (where Katie is getting hitched) plus muslin bags of loose tea (because Katie likes tea). Plus, after venturing out in monsoon rain, apple pie and tea sounds nice, eh? p.s. the bags were from Etsy.

The night before, Adrienne and I made cupcakes for dessert. Plus, tiny chocolate and peanut butter leaves. They were so good, I ate two.

The bridesmaids in our "we-don't-know-how-to-pose-except-for-this-prom-pose-we've-mastered" pose. And um, how about my outfit? One of these things is not like the other.

Me and bridey

Now let's talk about my big epic camera FAIL on Saturday. My brother was nice enough to let me run around with his brand new Nikon SLR. Dude, I've never used one. Lenses? You mean, I have to change them? What? Anyway, I manage to turn it on, Kelly helps me with the lens and off I go on pic-patrol. I take about a million pics. Last night, I sit down to check out my fantastical talent. I upload to my computer. Hmmm, there's only 2 pictures from the shower, I think. I start looking at the camera funny. Where's the rest of you bastards?!?

Ohhh, he never took the memory card out that came with the camera. The memory card that doesn't have much memory. Thirty pictures to be exact. 3 - 0. And those other 28 pictures were not from the shower. Eff. I was beyond disappointed. Would anyone mind heading back to the Gables on Saturday to do a re-enactment?

i'm no one trick pony

i made soup! i made soup! My first time ever. And it was freakin good! I broke out the crockpot, prepped the ingredients the night before and combined them all the next morning before work. This recipe made a huge amount of soup, so we dined on this stuff for a few meals. It's hearty and spicy and perfect for this 50 degree weather we've got going on right now. Oh and I added a simple cheese quesadilla to dip, because face it, I love dipping everything.

Ingredients
1 lb boneless chicken, cooked and shredded
1 (15 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (10 ounce) can red enchilada sauce
1 medium onion, chopped, 1/2 c dry minced onion can be substituted
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, UNdrained
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups water
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can chicken broth
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon bay leaf, crushed
1 tablespoon dried cilantro

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients in greased 4 1/2 to 6 quart slow cooker
2. Cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hrs or on high 3-4 hrs (everyone's crockpot is different, adjust accordingly).

You Need More David Sedaris in Your Life

I know I do. Last Christmas, John had gotten me tickets to see David Sedaris live at the Keswick Theatre. Back then it seemed like it would take forever to get here. And it did. So I stashed the tickets away in my dresser and patiently waited for October to roll around. Unfortunately, the show ended up being on a Sunday night. The exact Sunday night that would find me hungover and pretty much sleepless from the bachelorette party the night before. But I bucked up and headed to the show, trying not to let my drooping head and dull headache overcome my excitement.

But it did. David was signing books in the theater lobby both before and after the show and John kept urging me to buy a book, get it signed, meet him, etc... But I didn't feel like it. I just wanted to go sit in my seat and put my head on John's shoulder and close my eyes. So that's what I did. I'll find another way to meet him someday.

But then he came on stage, and in his adorable little voice, began reading short stories and then telling us random stories. I sat back with my eyes closed and listened to him. It was perfect. He's hilarious but not in a knee-slapping way. It was pretty much a very low-key comedy show. It was exactly what I needed to end a very socially-demanding weekend. Now go read his books.

Zucchini Cakes...A Mild Disappointment

It's a good thing I don't get discouraged too easily, otherwise you'd find me curled up on the couch with my trusty takeout menu. I whipped these babies up the other night to mixed reviews in my house, from "eh" to "tasty". I was somewhere in the middle. Oh and wow, my food photo skills are impressive, right? Ha. I have to quickly snap a pic in my dark kitchen before running the plates off to John at the table and the result is this...

The zucchini cakes just needed something. I don't know what because I'm clueless when it comes to that sort of thing. If you decide to make them and add something and they turn out awesome, let me know. I'm not opposed to trying it again. The real star of the meal was the roasted cauliflower though. A packet of onion soup mix, lil bit of oil and a head of cauliflower in the oven for a half hour...delicious. Oh and don't make fun of my leftover pasta wheels. They were for my niece and nephew and on their way out so I threw some oil and garlic on them and ate them up.

Ingredients

1 large egg
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 tablespoon onion (chopped)
2 cups zucchini (shredded)
1 cup breadcrumbs

Directions
1. Combine egg, mayonnaise, Italian seasoning, Old Bay seasoning and onion with a whisk and blend until smooth.

2. Add the zucchini first and bread crumbs on top of the zucchini.

3. Combine by lifting from the bottom with a stiff plastic spatula. Do this in the same fashion as blending a pie dough in a bowl.

4. Warm a large fry pan on low heat. Use a vegetable spray when the pan is hot.

5. Use of an ice cream scoop to make the patties. Slightly flatten them to shape as you lay them in the warm pan. Add them around the outside circle of the pan first, before using the center spot for even browning.

6. Allow to cook for five minutes on each side and refrigerator before freezing or Allow extra browning if using them right away.

ETA: High fives to everyone who wants to make the cauliflower. It's bangin. Take a head of cauliflower, break it into pieces and dump it into a gallon ziplock bag. Pour some oil on it...I don't know how much, be liberal. Dump a packet of onion soup mix into the bag, then shake the crap out of it, coating the cauliflower in all the onion-oil goodness. Line a cookie sheet with foil then empty the bag onto the foil. Move your oven rack the highest it can go, 400 degrees, 30 mins or so. Let me know how it turns out, mmmkay?

i don't want these to ever end

Bachelorette parties that is. Ok, so let's pretend it's last Monday and I'm doing a recap in a timely fashion. *waves wand and it's magically October 5* So this past weekend, we celebrated the end of my pal Katie's single life as she knew it. And how do we do that? We go to Atlantic City. We stay in a fancy schmanc room at the Tropicana. We go out for a fancy meal. We get happy on $@!*#&! Good Cosmos (that's the actual name) and we stay out til dawn. And as usual, this bach was legendary.

Said fancy dinner was at Sonsie at the Pier at Caesars...Great service, huge portions of food, an adorable little private-ish room and seperate checks for everyone with no complaint by the waitstaff!
Me & my pals

Ok, so let me explain this picture a little bit. We all brought a pair of underwear (yes, that's what I call them, don't call them anything else) that had something to do with our relationship with Katie. Some were storebought, others handmade, all were awesome. I made mine with Katie's future hub in mind. He is a notorious line-stepper. He says awesomely inappropriate things on a regular basis and has an off-color, also awesome, sense of humor. I picked out a pair of plain white unmentionables and attached a fun little iron-on.

Attn: Mom and Those Easily Offended, please don't read the next part. And while we're at it, if you're easily offended, I can't believe you actually read this blog anyway. Hmmm...

Ok, so the iron-on I picked out & placed on the crotch were big orange flames and it said "On Fire for Jesus". This was, to me, absolutely hysterical. Luckily, Andy, the fiance, thought so too.

We strung them all up on twine across the hotel window and Katie had to go through each pair and guess who they came from. Laughs ensued.

We then gave Katie her ensemble for the night & let her in our accessory for the evening: Wigs. Every bach we do gets their own attention-seeking accessory that all party go-ers are forced to wear. Hey, it's better than male genitalia paraphernalia, right?


This girl looks cute in anything...jealous.


So we hit up Ri-Ra, Planet Rose Kareoke bar, where Katie did an impressive "Super Freak" then did it up at Dusk at Caesars where Kelly arranged for our champagne bottle service. We all wore our wigs, got pictures with cute old men, checked things off of the scavenger hunt list, danced a little, then ended our night at the piece de resistance, the Irish Pub.


I wish i had more engaged friends just so that we could keep doing these. Maybe I should place an ad. 29 y/o MWF seeks EngagedF's for insane bach parties and other assorted shennanigans. Lame-o's need not apply.

where i'd like to eat my oatmeal

While wandering the internets today in search of inspiration for secret projects, I've come across these beauts. Perfect for a little weekend breakfasting, doncha think?

Credit Unknown --- I love the barely legal there pink.

OnceWed --- This is pretty much perfection to me. I've got this thing for yellow if you hadn't heard.

Country Living --- Gorgeous no? Although after living with that kitchen for a couple weeks, you know I'd be complaining that I need more space.

So it's Friday! Rainy and miserable but Friday nonetheless. And before me sits a weekend with no real plans, which makes me really really happy. I've got a couple crafty things on my to-do list that have been put on the backburner for awhile that I'm hoping to tackle and there's a flea market up the street that is calling my name...but we'll see. Happy weekend!

ocho de octubre

that's Spanish for the neen-yo or in other words things I'm pumped about in October

1. Mod Cloth.com – I have several more dress-wearing occasions coming up soon and honestly, I’ve tired of the mall. I can’t walk into Loft, Express, Limited or Macys one more time in search of a dress. I’ve seen it all before. Therefore, when I came across ModCloth.com, I was slightly intrigued. A lot of the dresses totally aren’t my style but there are definitely some gems. Four gems to be precise. So I ordered all of them with promises to return 2 or 3 out of 4. Pinkie swear.

2. Ugly Babies – I know, it’s something you only talk about in hushed tones and whispers. But they’re out there. And my friends are Magnum PI’s when it comes to finding them and sharing their hideousness with the rest of us. Yes, all of our babies will be born with tails and/or one large eye a’la Lela from Futurama in retaliation for finding enjoyment in other’s unspoken pain…so we’re prepared.

3. Wigs – No, I’m not talking bout Halloween costume wigs, I’m talking wearing wigs for no other reason than to get attention. Blue wigs, pink wigs, afro wigs, they’ve all been part of my October. Pictures to come.

4. Miller Lite – Oh summer of margaritas, we had such a good time. But summer is over and all I have left of you are the calories you left behind. So this is the Autumn of the light beer. Miller light, Coors light, Amstel light, I don’t care, they’re all mom-beers to me and I’ll drink em down with pride thus saving me the calories and dinero of those fancy cocktails.

5. Ok, NOW I’m talking Halloween Costumes. Did you realize yet that this is my favorite time of year and I Fa-Reak out about my costumes every year? I love dressing up and am determined this year to propose another costume-wearing holiday. It will happen.

6. Terrariums – Ever since I saw a group of these babies sitting in the windowsill of National Mechanics (bar in Philly), I was smitten. I love them. I love the tiny scenes you can create in these tiny gardens. I love that they require little to no maintenance. Look for them on my blog this season.

7. David Sedaris – I went to see you the other night after a very lonnnnng weekend. I was sleepy and hungover. You let me lay back, close my eyes and you read to me. In your adorable little voice, you made me laugh. I want to come see you again and bring everyone I know.

i'm so excited! i'm so excited! i'm so...scared!

No really, just excited. My little public record of drinking too much and cooking too little here has received a major award! The pretty-friggin-awesome LB from Lizzie in Progress has bestowed upon me the exclusive One Lovely Blog Award. And honestly, I have to agree with her. If I had to choose a word to describe my blog, it would be lovely. Just lovely.

The rules for the One Lovely Blog Award are:
Accept the award; post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Since I read about 650 blogs, this is a tough one. But here it is.

Lizzie in Progress

Imperfect the Chloe Conspiracy

Blog de la Isrut

Carrie On Loves of Life Medal of Valor

Bower Power Sweetie Pie Pumpkin Noodle

Living the Swell Life Fly Through Our Window Life in the Fun Lane

Little Gray Pixel

Brooklyn Limestone

Urban Grace Interiors

making domesticity my bitch

I like to think I'm pretty good at running a house. You know, as good as I can be for running a house that only contains 2 fully-functioning adults and one sebbilicious cat. I keep it pretty clean and organized, stocked with essentials and decorated. Shirts are always ironed and we never run out of toilet paper. It may sound silly, but I'm pretty proud of it. But I'm here to admit that in one very big household-arena, I fall short. Very short.

Monkeys can cook better than I can.

My repetoire includes: tacos, spaghetti and stuffed peppers and variations on these staples. It's embarassing. I've been reading a craigslist forum for a few years now that had branched off from a newleywed forum. Everyday are posts about what they're having for dinner or menu-planning. They make things from scratch. They cook sidedishes that don't come from a Lipton bag. They use sauces on everyday occasions. They shame me. Luckily my husband never complains and even goes as far as to compliment my latest taco-casserole-pie concoction. I can't ignore the fact, however, that I really believe his taste buds haven't advanced past the third grade.

So, in my attempt to be the perfect wife...and because it's fall and seems like a good time to start using one of my three abandoned crockpots, I'm putting this out there. I am going to make more meals. Meals that require more than 4 ingredients. Ingredients that might not be on my regular shopping list. I am going to use recipes and actually keep track of a meal that turns out successfully. If I put it on the blog, it will happen. Hey, it worked for the PBBL, didn't it?

I started this adventure this week. I made this. And it was so friggin delicious, I couldn't stop patting myself on the back. Dark sesame oil? Yeah, I own you now.

Fiery Cashew Chicken

Sauce
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon asian chili-garlic sauce
1 tablespoon chili oil or sesame oil and 1/2 teaspoon Asian chili sauce

Chicken


2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons fresh ginger
3 cups broccoli florets (12 oz.)
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cups sliced green onions (1-inch)
1/2 cup chopped cashews

1. Combine all sauce ingredients in small bowl. Mix well.

2. Cook chicken in 1 tablespoon olive oil, in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat 4 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink, stirring occasionally. Remove chicken.

3. Add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet. Cook and stir garlic and ginger 30 seconds or until fragrant. Stir in broccoli, increase heat to high. Add broth, cook and stir 3 to 4 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender, adding green onions during last minute of cooking. Add chicken and sauce, cook 30 seconds or until warm. Sprinkle with cashews.

*Oh and many many apologies to my mother who doesn't like when I use terms like "knocked up" on my blog and probably won't like me using the word "bitch" in my title. Sorry Ma, that's just kinda how I talk, remember?

leather jacket, white t-shirt, sweater vest, devestatingly handsome

It breaks my heart to say it, but we will not be costuming as Ferris Bueller & Sloane Peterson this Halloween. I've spent weeks perusing the ebay and the etsy and I've determined it impossible to find a suitable replicate of both Ferris' leather jacket and the cheetah-print sweater vest. I spent even more hours looking for components to make these things myself but it's just not meant to be.

Sloane however is just itching to be replicated. There are oodles of white leather fringe jackets out there waiting to be scooped up and the slouchy white boots? I think they might even in be, dare I say it, in style?

I mean, who wouldn't want to dress up as Sloane? She's pretty much the model girlfriend in life. And the outfit is not only fun, it's comfy...as opposed to last year's where I cursed the damn thing as soon as I began walking. I was the guy from the Operation game FYI.

I didn't really know when to stop looking for the parts for these costumes and make myself choose another. I mean, now that I've officially made up my mind, I'm sure a vintage 80's colorblock leather jacket size Men's large will pop up on ebay for $9.99. And I'd be kicking myself. But alas, I've put the idea to bed and come up with another. A quick call to John for his approval was all I needed to start scouring the internets for this new costume. Wish me luck, I can't go through this heartache again.

randomosities: fancy dresses & bunny noses

Hey, it’s October! When the hell did that happen? And why does it feel like January? Here in good ol Southeastern Pennsylvania, we are accustomed to a genuine autumnal season. We get fall…with it’s sunny warmish days and cool nights that beg you to sit around your fire pit in a hoodie sweatshirt. We expect it. But for the past couple days, it has been downright cold at night. What gives? I’m also totally not prepared for this weather. If you’ll remember, this time last year I was about 94 lbs heavier and got through the winter, losing weight, with one fleece, one pair of jeans and a couple Old Navy long sleeve tees. Well this year, none of those fit and I’ve got to find a fall/winter wardrobe and fast. Unfortunately those things cost money…which I seem to be lacking. Maybe it’s because I had to buy a complete spring and summer wardrobe too. Trust me, I’m not complaining about having to buy increasingly smaller clothes. It’s just frustrating when I’ve got 2 cardigans that are making rotation every few days over different tanks. But I digress.

Speaking of buying new outfits, I’ve had to get two for this weekend because I’ve got big, big plans. Tonight is the annual dinner/dancing/open bar event I attend as my mom’s date for my uncle’s charity, the Blind Relief Fund which provides financial, medical, material and emotional assistance to the needy blind of Philadelphia. This is a fancy-schmance event that requires an adorable cocktail dress that I can’t sit down in. I will spend the evening looking at the items up for auction that extremely rich people will bid on, while downing chardonnays trying to forget the fact that I can’t afford any of it. Good times.

Next up this weekend is yet another trip to Atlantic City. Again, you ask? Yup, I say. This weekend is Katie’s bachelorette party and like usual, we plan on tearing up the place. Stay tuned next week for pictorial evidence of the debauchery. Oh and I couldn’t decide what to wear out for these shenanigans so I bought 2 dresses and 2 shirts. Three out of four will be returned as soon as I decide. You know…those lack of funds I was speaking of earlier.

To round out the weekend, Sunday afternoon will either be spent napping or at a ginormous Irish bar downtown for our friend’s benefit. I’m assuming this is a Beef n’ Beer. Oh and I found out not too long ago that people not from this area have never heard of Beef n’ Beers. Do you guys from far away have those? You know, you pay $30 for a ticket for a buffet ( of beef) and an open bar (of beer) hence we call them Beef n’ Beers. Again, I’m tangent-ing. So Sunday night I get go see David Sedaris live. Do you know how much I love him? You guys read him right? Well John had given me tix for Christmas last year and the day has finally come. I am beyond excited for this.

And because I’ve been neglecting my little Flashback Fridays, let’s flashback magically to 2006 to my own bachelorette party…one of the greatest nights ever. And since it’s Katie’s big weekend, it’s her time to shine. And yes, this is what we do at bachelorette parties. I told you my friends should be rented out.