Happy Little Trees

Halloween came and went. I succeeded in squeezing into my cheerleading uniform circa 1993. It felt so good to be in my uniform again and brought back a lot of memories.

I bet that's what the superhero felt like on the Incredibles when he put back on his super suit. My body was a bit sad, because wearing the uniform made it wish to do backflips and toe touches, but knew if it was attempted, I would have to visit the ER.

I tried to vamp up my outfit a bit instead of just being a 34 year old that wanted to wear her cheerleader uniform, so I attempted to make a vampire bite on my neck. One of the teeth marks kept rubbing off, so then I kept getting questions about the love bite on my neck--not the look I was going for!

The gent pictured with me is Tom the Sheik. He's just Halloween eye candy for my blog--not a beau. The dude claims to have eight wives! I know better than that!

Last year, I dressed as a barista to work. I wore the apron and everything. It was my first Halloween in my office, and I was led to believe that everyone would be dressed up. Nope. Just me.

This year, my friend, Karen, bought us all festive headbands. Mine has a bat. I also got to wear my skull tights that I only wear once a year. I couldn't find my tiara, so I couldn't be a beauty pageant winner--even though I had an awesome "diamond" necklace. And I thought about being the wife of Willie Wonka, but I didn't have time to stop and pick up a ringpop. So, I am the Bridesmaid of Frankenstein wearing a black lace dress and my skull tights and Avril Lavigne old-school eyeliner.

Tonight, I'm going to another costume party, and I'm really excited. I went to one several years ago that was HUGE. It was a tad bit overwhelming, and many of the costumes were a tad bit overwhelming to my comfort zone. This one is with a bunch of good friends and some semi-good friends that I hope I'll get to be better friends with tonight.

...and my costume...I just can't say it. It's nothing too over-the-top or secretive, but I have this thing about the element of surprise. I even shy away from when friends ask me what I'm going to wear on a day-to-day basis. Because then, I'll either have my outfit idea shot down before I've even given it a test drive, or they'll show up wearing the same thing, and I'll look unoriginal.

I don't plan on being super original tonight, but I just can't spill it on the internet yet. Sorry.

I have one costume party event this weekend, and I possibly might dress up for work. I'm not sure about my work outfit, but I have the other costume planned out.

I might need to starve myself the remainder of the week in order to fit into the costume, but sometimes, that's the price you have to pay. So far, my starving attempts haven't gone so well, especially since buying (and eating) Halloween candy seems to be my latest favorite pasttime.

This weekend, I must get to Chocolate Du Monde to try their pumpkin fudge. A few years ago, I wasn't that excited about pumpkin flavored items, now I think its the greatest thing since spiced bread (and that would be pumpkin spiced bread).

I've been in a soup mood lately. It could be the chill in the air that makes me want to warm my tummy with soup.

I bought some boxed soups (my co-worker said that should be in the same category as boxed wine), and I'm trying to figure out if they are a good thing or not. Today at work I heated up one of them, and it looked a bit neon but tasted okay.

My other alternative is making my own soup. It's a rather consuming task making your own soup. My kitchen seems to transform from semi-clean to disaster zone with each added ingredient.

I made a nice butternut squash bisque a couple of weeks ago, and then ate it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next few days--which is one downfall with making soup as a single lady--it multiples itself in the pot and you get too much!

Last week, I bought a small pumpkin in hopes of making pumpkin bisque. So far, that little pumpkin is still sitting pretty in my kitchen, and hasn't been sacrificed for the soup yet.

If you have a good pumpkin bisque recipe or other soupy ideas, please feel free to share!

I'm trying to revamp my closet. I tried to steal some ideas about belting and layering from my latest J.Crew catalog. I think I may have some ideas in place. But sometimes if you try to copy what is in a magazine, things can go a bit awry.

When I was in high school, I used to get the fall edition of Seventeen magazine and study the pages very carefully. I would try to shop for items that looked like what the models were wearing, and then I would put together my outfits.

My junior year, I came to school wearing a white Hanes t-shirt with the word "brain" very carefully sketched out with a Sharpie marker just like in the magazine. My friend, Tay, who is now a stylist to the stars, was one of my top teasers. He came to school soon after wearing a shirt that said, "potato." I can't remember if he used the Dan Quayle spelling or the traditional spelling.

The "brain" shirt kind of became a legend. I believe I tried to make some variations of it myself, but none could ever equal the popularity of the "brain" shirt.

No worries--my new outfits will consist mostly of belts, not Sharpied shirts.

I used to be good at mailing things. Of course, that was when I worked in a fileroom, and my job was going to the post office to mail company things. I could easily slide in my nieces and nephews birthday presents, and I knew all the online tricks for making mailing packages easier.

Now, I've graduated out of the fileroom, and going to the post office seems like a major inconvenience. Somehow, I can never make their office hours. Or my car just doesn't like to spend time there. It would rather be lounging at Target or Starbucks.

My niece, Marissa, had a birthday on Saturday. I had her present a few weeks ago. And I mailed it...today.

I reluctantly called my sister yesterday to confirm their home address since they recently moved. By calling her (since my mom didn't answer) that meant I couldn't blame the post office for my own tardiness.

"You haven't mailed it yet?!" she said in her best older-sister scolds younger-sister voice.

"No...I didn't know the address..." I said in an attempt to cover.

"Just bring it home for Thanksgiving," she said.

"No, I will mail it!" I said bravely, as some people would say, "I will climb that mountain!"

I usually order directly from a online retailer, and that helps me get the presents there a little more on time. But sometimes that feels impersonal. I always wonder if they really read those little typed messages that are supposed to be included with the package that are 150 words or less. Maybe each of them have all of those typed little messages saved in a shoebox with a heart made from construction paper gluesticked on the top. --An auntie can dream!

I Picniked this shot. Once you edit photos, it's hard to stop. I even have a photoshop application on my iphone. It's like taking a picture and then bedazzling it or something.

The picture above is from the Run to Cure HD 5K from last Saturday. My friend Kristin's family is on the committee for organizing it. I was very impressed with their organization skills. Those things don't just happen, but take a lot of planning.

The 5K raised about $100,000 for Huntington Disease research. Pretty awesome.

Kudos to the Thurmond family!