happy halloween!

i love halloween - costumes, parties, candy, pumpkins - all of it!

this morning at work there was a parade of halloween cuteness - all the kids from the day care got dressed up in their costumes and "trick-or-treated" through the main hall with their parents. there were princesses and fairies and monkeys and super heroes and they were all so precious i thought i would die! i felt a little weird taking pictures of other peoples' babies, but i just couldn't help myself.

after work, we went to my high school's football game. on our way from the car to the stadium, we could see a million little trick-or-treaters and all of the fun halloween decorations in the neighborhood. and at halftime, the band members were all dressed up in costumes and playing songs like ghostbusters and thriller. i love it when people get into the "spirit" of the holidays...

sorry. that was lame.

but i guess the best part of halloween is that it is the official kickoff of the holiday season - in less than a month, we'll be celebrating thanksgiving, and a month after that, christmas! things are just...better during the holidays. people are nicer, places are warmer, and you get to spend lots of time with those who mean the most to you.

happy halloween!

pumpkin carving, II

last night i spent the evening carving two and a half pumpkins with my three teammates from work in the hopes that our creation would win the pumpkin-carving contest at our halloween party. it was a pretty ambitious undertaking, but four hours and two bottles of wine after we started, our spider-eating jack-o-lanterns were complete! our team won "best presentation," but not "best overall"(we got robbed!!!)... even so, we had a lot of fun carving our pumpkins and eating yummy halloween treats...

happy halloween eve!

baby shoes

nothing could possibly be as smile-inducing as baby shoes. they're so tiny, and adorable, and they always have something precious on them, like itty bitty flowers or hearts or a picture of hello kitty.

random sillies

i stumbled across vozamer's etsy shop and i have to say... i want everything! these little monster guys are so silly and crazy and cute!

a good walk

alan and i just got in from a good long after-work walk. it was just chilly enough outside to justify wearing pants and a sweatshirt instead of shorts and a tee shirt. there were ducks quacking and playing in the lake, the sun was slowly setting, and the streets were quiet. the air felt crisp and cool in our lungs. we held hands and looked up at the sky and talked about our days and our cats and our upcoming move and it was just the perfect way to end a monday!

pumpkin carving

with less than a week till halloween, we decided to go ahead and carve our pumpkin today! i drew the face, alan cut, we both scooped out the pumpkin guts, and i separated the seeds from the goo so we could roast them. they just came out of the oven and they are super duper yummy! now we're going to watch netflix movies by the light of our cat-o-lantern.

smell memory #497: high tea

when i was younger, my dad and i used to have high tea every afternoon at 3 or 4 o'clock. we would drink our earl grey or english breakfast and snack on tiny toasts with honey and speak with fake british accents. the smell of hot tea always makes me think of our silly afternoon tea parties.

friday

i know i've blogged about fridays before, but it's been another super-long week and i'm glad to bid this one adieu. i'm off to drinks now to celebrate a friend's birthday, and tomorrow we're going to a halloween party, so i'm wishing everyone a happy friday and a fantabulous weekend!

honest abe

"most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

- abraham lincoln

sauce

my husband had an epiphany about me yesterday - he realized, during dinner, that i love sauce. and it's absolutely true! i do love sauce! spaghetti sauce, a-1 sauce, peanut sauce, hot sauce, chocolate sauce - you name it, if it's on my plate, i'll be licking it off. because i love sauce.

pink links

as if you needed another reason to love pink, right? pink is already the very best color there is, but it is also the color of breast cancer awareness, and october is breast cancer awareness month.

for your pink pleasure, please enjoy these pink links:

fantastically girly kitchen toys from kitchenaid.

a pink gift for a fighter who is close to my heart at genpink.

show your support in style with ralph lauren's pink pony collection.

everything you need to know about breast cancer from the susan g. komen foundation.

one click to donate for free at the breast cancer site.

free e-cards from feel your boobies.

voting

"come, come my conservative friend, wipe the dew off your spectacles and see the world is moving."

— elizabeth cady stanton

i voted today - stood in line for an hour and a half to exercise my rights as an american citizen, my right to express my opinion and my right to have my voice heard.

i have friends who don't vote, and while it makes me sad, i suppose that if people have the right to vote then they also have the right to not vote. are they taking their rights for granted? maybe. but it's easy to take something for granted when it's been a reality all your life. i don't know anyone who was there in 1920 when the 19th amendment was passed, giving women the right to vote, and i don't know anyone who was there seventy years earlier at the seneca falls convention that started the women's suffrage movement. none of my friends were alive in 1870, when the fifteenth amendment was passed to eliminate discrimination based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." it's all just a bunch of stuff we read about in our high school history books, i guess. but i have a feeling that this election is something that our children are going to be reading about in their high school history books. and i, for one, am proud to be a part of it.

to learn about the candidates and where they stand on the issues that matter to you, go here or here.

or, to take an issues-only quiz that will match you up with your ideal candidate, go here.

to find your polling place, go here.

but don't just stand there.

adventures in waffle house

friday night, after the gallery opening in corsicana, we all went to waffle house. i probably haven't been to a waffle house since i was eight. it's exactly the same as i remember it - a little dirty, and maybe a little creepy, but with really good food. anyway, after waffles and hash browns were scarfed down by all, we learned that the credit card machine was broken. there were seven of us, and not one of us had any cash.

and so began the wild goose chase.

three of our friends stayed behind (as collateral?), and the rest of us got directions and headed out to find the nearest atm machine - there were supposedly two at the gas stations a couple of minutes down the road. at the first gas station, the machine didn't work. so we went across the street to the other gas station, where the atm wasn't even on. so we got directions to yet another gas station, one which sold every possible color of clip-on hair extension, a twelve-person stick-on sparkly nail set, and a complete assortment of other dusty dollar-store-type finds. the atm, while it may have smelled strongly of gasoline, was miraculously functional. we got our cash and rescued our friends from the crazy yellow restaurant. all this, for what must have been a $23 total tab.

but, it's a good story. one for the grandkids, surely.

cat surgery (for real this time)

we picked the baby up from the vet this morning - we dropped him off on friday morning so he could have his big boy surgeries, and even though the doctor said he did really well, we've been worried about him ever since. he seemed pretty good when we picked him up; a little scared, but mostly happy to see us.

...his first act after getting home was to pee on our bed. we're really hoping that was a one-time thing. he's been sleepy all day but he's been eating well and purring just like old times. so far no peeing incidents since lunchtime, though. so, that's something to be thankful for. and also for the extra comforter.

celebrations

i'm off to corsicana texas to a gallery opening where one of my [many] talented friends is showing a whole bunch of her amazing artwork. hooray!

happy hour

happy hour is both fabulous and dangerous.

that's all i really have to say on that topic. other than 80s music is awesome.

dear doughnut holes,

dear doughnut holes,

why are you so tasty? and so tiny? you make me eat too many of you, and now i have a tummy ache.

with love/hate,

olivia

my husband

there are about a hundred billion reasons why i am thankful for my husband. i am a lucky lucky girl - to have a husband who gives me daily foot rubs, vacuums without me even having to ask, cleans the litter box, loves the cats i made him get (even though he was always a dog person), leaves silly love notes in my lunch box, brags about me to anyone who will listen, loves my friends and family, makes me laugh all day every day, reads my blog (but never leaves any comments!), watches my girly shows with me, cooks, gives good hugs (and even better kisses), and just...loves me. in spite of my [many, many, many] flaws.

learning

“learn everything you can, anytime you can,

from anyone you can -

there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.”

- sarah caldwell

my friends

i talk a lot about how amazing my friends are - and it's true.

i have the friends that i've known since third grade (and beyond), who literally grew up with me, who mean as much to me now as they ever did. i have friends that i met my first year of college, who have been by my side through the roller coaster of emotions and experiences that define that era of my life. i have friends that i met after starting college and after finishing college that have taught me so much about myself and about the world.

my friends are beautiful, intelligent, thoughtful, patient, forgiving, and kind. they have held me up in my weakest moments, and they have celebrated with me in my happiest moments. we have shared countless stories and adventures and outfits and drinks and cds and everything else imaginable.

i've never been very good at expressing how much they all mean to me - it's nearly impossible to do so with words anyway. i just hope they know that i love them, that i would do anything for them. and i hope that i can be the kind of friend who deserves their friendship too.

a good (long) day

it's been a long and productive day - we took the baby to the vet for some shots and a pill, went apartment hunting, had a pei wei birthday lunch with some good friends, did some more apartment hunting, went to see some of my friend's paintings, and... is it too early to go to bed?

happy half birthday to me!*

*and yes i am a big nerd who acknowledges her own half-birthday. i'm twenty-five-and-a-half. it's a milestone.

fair day

alan and i took the day off and went to the state fair today, and what a fabulous fair day it was!

the weather was perfect - sunny and warm with just a hint of october chill. we got there early so as to avoid the texas/ou crowds, and we were lucky enough to have had two free tickets (thanks to alan's mom and her kind and generous teacher-friends).

we had corndogs for brunch, and then we did a little dreaming at the car show. we saw the ridiculously cheesy jumping-frisbee-dog show, shared an order of tater swirls (heavenly french-fry-slash-potato-chip combo), and shopped in the pavillions of randomness. people watching was followed by funnel cake and a trip to the imax gift shop where we played with fake bugs and something called bloody putty.

all in all, a very successful trip to the state fair.

dream

the supreme object of life is to live. few people live. it is true life only to

realize one's own perfection, to make one's every dream a reality.

- oscar wilde

every great dream begins with a dreamer. always remember,

you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion

to reach for the stars to change the world.

- harriet tubman

twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do

than by the ones you did do. so throw off the bowlines. sail away from the safe harbor.

catch the trade winds in your sails. explore. dream. discover.

- mark twain

happy birthday, julianna!

boo-yah, my friends

some election '08 goodies for you to enjoy...

why i love tina fey here, here, and here;

find your motivation for patriotism here (only 27 days left people! and early voting starts october 20th in texas!);

and of course lots of fun obama-art available on etsy.com.

pumpkin

pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors - whether it's in the form of pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin lattes, or pumpkin-anything-else. i love its spice and subtle sweetness and its beautiful rich color and the way it just smells like the holidays.

fall, of course, is the perfect time for all things pumpkin (just another one of the myriad reasons i heart fall). which reminds me, i need to go get a pumpkin to carve! maybe i'll pick up an extra or two and try out some of these fabulous pumpkin recipes...

your song

it's a little bit funny this feeling inside

i'm not one of those who can easily hide

i don't have much money but boy if i did

i'd buy a big house where we both could live

if i was a sculptor, but then again, no

or a man who makes potions in a travelling show

i know it's not much but it's the best i can do

my gift is my song and this one's for you

and you can tell everybody this is your song

it may be quite simple but now that it's done
i hope you don't mind

i hope you don't mind that i put down in words

how wonderful life is while you're in the world

i sat on the roof and kicked off the moss

well a few of the verses well they've got me quite cross

but the sun's been quite kind while i wrote this song

it's for people like you that keep it turned on

so excuse me forgetting but these things i do

you see i've forgotten if they're green or they're blue

anyway the thing is what i really mean

yours are the sweetest eyes i've ever seen

and you can tell everybody this is your song
it may be quite simple but now that it's done
i hope you don't mind
i hope you don't mind that i put down in words
how wonderful life is while you're in the world

- elton john

camping recap

we just got back from our weekend camping trip in oklahoma, and we're exhausted - but it's the kind of exhausted that means you had a really great time. some of the highlights of our camping adventure included: our very own brand new tent, tropical flavored bug spray, homemade blueberry muffins, a hundred million spiders of every possible variety (including but not limited to a tarantula and a clan of bathroom-dwelling daddy-long-legs-es), a praying mantis named lloyd, nature hikes, campfires, smores, armadillos, mosquitos, raccoons, coyotes, deer, a baby snake, and the most awe-inspiring star-filled nighttime sky you've ever seen.

nature's gifts

“it is good to realize that if love and peace can prevail on earth, and if we can teach our children to honour nature's gifts, the joys and beauties of the outdoors will be here forever.”

- jimmy carter

camping

we're going camping this weekend with a couple of our friends! i'm looking forward to two days of hiking and grilling* and spending time with friends and making smores and sleeping in a tent**. meanwhile, i've packed an arsenal of bugspray and allergy medication.

*veggie dogs and veggie burgers, of course!

**on an air mattress. naturally.

in support of the avocado

1. for lunch today i had this ridiculously delicious salad that was basically half of an avocado mushed up with some lettuce and tomato. awesome.

2. avocados are green. green = awesome.

3. avocados are super good for you! awesome.

4. any sandwich + avocado = awesome.

5. california rolls = awesome.

6. guacamole = awesome.

7. guacamole + margaritas = double awesome.

when my honey comes home

when my honey is away, i realize how much i truly need him - and it's not about making the coffee, or cleaning the litter box, or opening jars - i need his touch, his voice, his laughter, the smell of his skin. i need to make him smile, to feel him next to me, to hold his hand.

...but it doesn't hurt that he cleans the litter box.