Halloween party

So, we had our Halloween party on Saturday, and it was so much fun! All I really wanted was an excuse to decorate the house and play fun games and watch a spooky movie. We bobbed for apples, I told people's fortunes with Tarot cards {which was really ridiculous}, Mike had us play a game of eating gross foods, we played Halloween charades, and watched Sleepy Hollow. Mike made the back room up into a photo studio and took a portrait of everyone at the party {and a million of the Hannamans}, great idea Mike. Here are some pictures from the night.

Yo, yo, tricks and Treats

So I just spent the past few hours rolling our sugar cookies and using my new Halloween cookie cutters I got from Macy's. I was taking another look at the packaging and this is what it says on the box: Spellbinding cookie cutters for tricking out your Halloween treats. Tricking out? Well, well Martha, looks like you picked up a little gangsta when you were in the pen. Word.

Scrub a dub



Generally I don't really like shower gel. I mean I don't buy fancy shower gel {unless it is way on sale} thinking, gosh this smells so good I would much rather have this than its lotion counterpart. No, I don't do that because I find that no matter how yummy it smells in the bottle, in the pouf, and in the shower, moments after drying off the smell is almost completely gone. That was until I met this guy. Smells just as good in the bottle as on the body long after the shower is off and you are toweled dry. Plus I LOVE woody oriental smells, and this one is great.

This just in

Did you too get the email from J.crew the other day heralding the arrival of their holiday collection? I am such a sucker for new, bright, woolly clothes. And bagpipes? Oh man. I was surprised to see that they had some new, adorable bathing suits as well. I guess some of us holiday in the tropics, ahem, ahem. I want this one.

Gemelli with tomatoes, olives, and ricotta



I made this last night for dinner with out the olives {Mike hates em}, and it was really good. Thank you Martha.







Ingredients

Serves 6
Coarse salt
8 ounces gemelli (or fusilli or penne)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
10 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
2 teaspoons salt-packed capers, rinsed
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1/3 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
1/3 cup fresh basil, torn
Fresh ricotta cheese, for serving

Directions

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until al dente. Drain. Drizzle with just enough oil to coat. Spread on a baking sheet, and refrigerate 10 minutes.

Pulse sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, capers, and garlic in a food processor. With machine running, add oil in a slow, steady stream, and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss together pasta, sun-dried-tomato vinaigrette, grape tomatoes, olives, basil, and salt. Transfer to serving plates. Top with a scoop of ricotta, drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with pepper.

Pumpkin, pumpkin burning bright

This is what we did last night. Can you guess which one is mine and which one Mike did?

Work, work, work

Those of you who know why I don't like my job know why. For those of you who don't know why well, this will not become a place where I rant and rave about that. As much as I dislike my job there are some definite perks, living rent free in Hawaii being number one, long payed lunches being another. Mike and I played in the "front yard" yesterday during lunch.





PS The weather the past few days has been indescribably wonderful.

Shave and a hair cut

Speaking of chopping my hair off, I have had the cut I want picked out since the August Anthropologie catalogue came to my doorstep. Tanya Chubko {no I did not know who she was but by gum I used my resources and found out} graced the cover of the catalogue, and I was taken with her beautiful peaches and cream complexion and her rockin red hair. So what do you think? Could I possibly pull it off sans the red hair?

For Mom

Per my mother's request here are two pictures taken last Sunday. I can't wait to chop my hair off, it is driving me CRAZY.

Here they are

It took me long enough but here are the invitations to our Halloween party. Thank you Edward Gorey for letting me borrow your illustration, I am much obliged.

Stephen King

I am not going to hide the fact anymore that I like reading Stephen King books. There, I said it. I like a good spooky book, and for Pete's sake it is October. So where I used to say things to justify the fact that I was reading his stuff, because I felt sort of lame, because he is weird, I'll just admit that I like to read his weird books. And I know, all of the books take place in Maine, and all of them have something to do with "dark powers", and the man does have bats on the gate outside his house, but who cares? Maybe I am a little weird too. Maybe next thing you know I will be going to Star Trek conventions. I hope not, but just maybe. Creepy picture, huh?

MacGyver

Well the weekend did not go off without a hitch, but we did get a lot done. I am convinced that Mike is one of the handiest men I know, and I am pretty ingenious as well. To make a long story short about a mile from the base the car overheated. There was a leaky hose, and then a broken hose and lots of steam. Lucky for us we had some gum, a pen and tape {thanks for the tape highway patrol/traffic organizer guy!} and we jimmy rigged the crap out of the car and made it to an auto parts store. Upon our arrival to the parts store the car gushed out about a gallon of water and looked like well, a pregnant woman who's water broke. Mike fixed the car in the parking lot, and while we did not get to the base to see the airplanes and the car show, we did get to see the blue angels flying around Kaneohe bay which was pretty cool. Oh and Mike was only joking about the bag of gold, how was I supposed to know it was a joke? Boo.

Weekend

Much to Mike's chagrin we usually end up running errands in town over the weekend. However the man has taken charge and on Saturday we are going to the Koneohe Bay, Blues on the Bay air show. The Blue Angels are going to be preforming and I am guessing that there will be lots of airplanes to look at on the ground as well. While the irrational part of me who hates planes with a passion is sort of scared that there will be some tragic crash while the acrobatic feats are being performed, and we will be obliterated by flaming shrapnel, the more rational side of me just hopes we remember to get earplugs.

There will also be a car show and carnival rides. However, what I am looking forward to the most is the bag of gold Mike says they are giving away. Seriously a bag of gold? Gotta get me some of that.

Crayola and Kraft




Not to do a video overload but these are two of my favorite how things are made videos via Sesame Street, crayons and cheese. As much as I love cheese the cheese guy looks a bit dirty, and I just bet there are a few beard hairs in that batch.




P.S. thanks Mike for the help with the video!

Endings one and two

So, in the spirit of the Halloween season I have been filling our Netflix queue with spooky and scary movies. We have watched Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Wicker Man {which was fairly odd} and last night we watched The Watcher in the Woods. Neither Mike or me had ever seen Watcher in the Woods before and there was a little treat on the DVD, two alternate endings involving a squid/skull/bat winged/crystal monster from another dimension and a pretty real looking blond wig. Alternate endings one and two were pretty rad.

Beginning part deux

Well here I go again. Let's see if I can commit to this blogging business, good luck to me!


picture via http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/