Halloween 2010

Sorry, I know this post is a tad bit overdue. :)

So, I was in Wenatchee during Halloween weekend for my cousin's wedding, and unfortunately Joe had to stay home since he works on Saturdays. So, I was alone this year for most of the Halloween festivities. Luckily, my cousin, who loves holidays almost as much as I do, invited me to the Halloween party she was attending, and of course I jumped at the chance!

We had a bunch of great costumes among all the partygoers, and I had so much fun. I asked my cousin what she was dressing up as, and she was all, "Oh, I'm just a referee." Yeah, right:

haha! Everyone was cracking up at her costume! (And there's me, the bunny!)

The party was held in a friend's garage. The garage was wallpapered with Halloween scenes - it was very cool and very well done. Outside there was a bonfire with haybales to sit on.

Avatar and Dolly Parton

Scary Clowns

Pirate, Avatar, and Dia de los Muertos


Ninja, Buddy the Elf, and Cowboy

Dia de los Muertos

This is my cousin's boyfriend, who ROCKED his Buddy the Elf costume.

The next morning I woke up at 6:00 a.m. missing my husband terribly, so I headed back to Seattle before the sun even came up (very unlike me!). I got home around 9:00 and Joe and I spent the day lounging on the couch. (It was also our three week anniversary, so I really wanted to spend the entire day with him, which I got to do.) We hoped for trick-or-treaters but didn't get any, and watched "The Crazies", which was actually a scary movie with a good plot. Who knew?

Overall, I wish Joe would have been able to join in on the festivities, but I thought it was a very successful Halloween!

I hope everyone else enjoyed their Halloween.

And now I'm moving on! While I know Thanksgiving is technically next, I now pronounce this Christmas season! Bring on the colored lights, unique ornaments, bell ringers, Santa Claus, and holiday cheer! This is my favorite time of year!

Halloweens Past

I think I've mentioned that I'm a fan of Halloween. I just love dressing up, decorating the apartment, enjoying everyone else's costumes, baking Halloween treats, and handing out Halloween candy to trick-or-treaters.

I went to a Halloween party on Saturday night with my cousin and had a great time, but unfortunately, in my rush to get back home to my husband the following morning, I left the camera with all the great pictures at my cousin's house.

So, I thought I'd head down memory lane and recap my costumes of Halloween past. Then, when I get my camera back, I'll show you all the fun that this Halloween had to offer.

Halloween 2006 - The Devil

I had met Joe but we weren't dating at the time. I spent Halloween with my best friend instead. (His housemates went as his 'bunnies'. If that doesn't inflate your ego, I don't know what would!)

Halloween 2007 - 50's Couple

I found out that my super-cool boyfriend likes to dress up for Halloween too! Ah, a match made it heaven! (Yes, I wore those skates all night and yes, they ROCKED!)

Halloween 2008 - Gunslingers

We were living in the Washington D.C. area and had a blast bar hopping downtown!

Halloween 2009 - Gunslingers (again)

Lame, I know, but we had only been living in Connecticut for a couple months and didn't have any parties to go to or anything and just didn't think new costumes were worth it. We did go to Joe's work party, where they had fun things for families to do. I don't even have a picture of us together. :( But, we did have our first trick-or-treaters EVER that year and that was pretty fun.

What are your favorite Halloween costumes from Halloweens past?

A Trupanion Halloween

I love Halloween. LOVE it. And about two weeks before our wedding, I told Joe we really needed to start thinking about costumes. He looked at me like I had completely lost my mind and told me that he was putting a moratorium on Halloween planning this year. We needed to get through the wedding first, and then we could talk about Halloween. I suppose I have to say, he was right. I didn't need anything else on my plate before the wedding.

But, it made it so I was a bit rushed in finding my costume this year, especially when I found out there was a costume contest at my work. But I figured it out, headed to Value Village and the fabric store, and came up with this:

Cruella de Ville and her teeny Dalmation!

I'm going to get you!

It's exhausting running from Cruella all day.

I didn't really know how much others at my work were going to dress up, so I posted a poll on Facebook on if I should do a 'bigger' costume or a 'safer' costume. Everyone said go big, so there you go.

And it turns out I had nothing to worry about. My entire department dressed up and we ROCKED it at work!

Price is Right winner, Run DMC, and a white trash convict. Plus, the bull with a bull rider there at the bottom. :)

I love my work!

Pumpkin Filled Weekend

I interrupt our honeymoon recaps to tell you what we did this weekend.

So, I was reading one of my favorite blogs the other day (Enjoying the Small Things), written by someone I so admire, and she was explaining that there are two catagories in life - moments that fill and moments that fuel. And she said we all need to focus on the moments that fuel. The moments that fill us with happiness and love and make us enjoy every moment.

This weekend we continued a much-loved tradition and it definitely fell into the 'fuel' catagory. :)

First, we headed to a pumpkin patch to pick out our carving pumpkins. I had never visited a pumpkin patch until Joe and I moved to Maryland and that was the thing to do. And I loved it! And after that we decided to find a pumpkin patch each year. It was a little harder in Seattle. The nearest one we could find was in Snohomish, about 40 minutes away.

And even though it was a rainy day, and the pumpkin field was a muddy sloppy mess, we had a great time. And after browsing through all the pumpkins, we finally found the ones that felt right.

Muddy mess!

Scary corn field at the edge of the pumpkin patch. Yikes!

Our chosen pumpkins - My short fat one, Joe's tall thin one and a little one for the pups!

Corn dog and roasted corn to celebrate our pumpkin picks.

We got home around 5:00 and I made dinner and covered the living room floor with flat paper bags. Joe got out all the carving supplies and huge bowls for the 'guts'.

When dinner was done, we popped in the movie "Halloween" (this movie must accompany pumpkin carving to keep with the tradition) and we got started.

Joe looks so surprised in this picture.

The night's entertainment and the Dia de los Muertos scull we bought in Mexico.

Cleaning the pumpkin while watching the movie. Ava's wondering where she can lay down and still be close to me. She ended up curling up between me and the couch... it looked very uncomfortable.

The final products!

All lit up on our porch.

The movie ended, but we still had the final act to complete our tradition - roasting the pumpkin seeds! So we put in another movie (Stephen King's Carrie, which Joe had never seen) and got to work.

Ready to be roasted.

Everything turned out fantastic, like it always does. The pumpkins looked great and the seeds turned out delicious.

It was a happy day. A fueling day. And I love finding the fuel in life with my new husband!