Pumpkin Carving Party

On the Saturday before Halloween, I hosted a Pumpkin Carving Party at my apartment. (Even though only 3 of my friends were able to attend, I'm still calling it a party. And 3 is better than none!)

I just love to throw a themed party, to decorate and cook for it. Especially when it's something as simple as pumpkins. Or the Olympics or Royal Wedding. Or, as will happen at some point in the future, an "I heart Obama" party and a wedding viewing party for Leslie and Ben.

My decorations were simple and cheap: pennant banners, printed signs, flags for straws and toothpicks, and dollar plates and napkins from Target.

 

I provided bourbon slush, caramel apples, pumpkin chocolate spice muffins, and cookies. Everyone else brought an appetizer, some drinks, and a pumpkin.

 

For the pumpkins I had carving utensils, templates, and stickers. I also had some pom pom fuzzy creature things that were on sale at AC Moore that we didn't end up making, and some temporary tattoos, which we all were way too excited about.

 

I didn't originally intend on people dressing up but, after several requests, that's what happened. Brandie was a tourist, Sasha was Lana Del Rey, I was a black cat (who couldn't stop laughing) and Shana was a woopie cushion.

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After some drinking, eating, and chatting, we took over the floor and dug into our pumpkins. Sasha was by far the best at cleaning and efficiently cutting her pumpkin. So were Brandie and Shana, though Brandie did get her hand stuck and Shana hated all the yuckiness. No picture of me but I did carve one, too. (Not very well, but it was still lots of fun.)

And the end results, from left to right, Sasha, me, Brandie, Shana

It was fun to just hang out and get in touch with the kid side of Halloween again. But with alcoholic beverages. A win win!

Last Week

I feel so behind on blogging my life. And you know my belief: If I didn't blog it, it didn't happen. But until work calms down and stops sapping all my energy, creative and otherwise, the blog will suffer. And now for some really random tidbits from the last week.

The roommate brought me this sticker from her recent trip home. It's now hanging in my office.

 
The roommate also left me this note. If I want to be sure to take something in the morning, I'll leave a note on the door. A few weeks ago after doing so, I dreamed that K left a note for herself that said "take overalls." I told her this hilarious dream because, no offense to anyone, but we just aren't overalls-type of ladies. This note was a good start to the day.

My PM was out for a week so I was left to handle a lot of project work on my own. As a thank you, she brought me this huge block of chocolate and peanut butter fudge. It's amazing.

My cousin's wedding is next weekend and I don't really have a good non-black dress. And as much as I loved this one, with the tightness, shortness, and low backness, it's hardly wedding appropriate. I did, however, manage to score a $125 Banana Republic dress for $23 at a consignment store later in the week. (That had some weird twisty fabric bits going on that three of my co-workers were able to fix for me while I was on a call.)

The most bittersweet part of the week was saying goodbye to my friend and co-worker, Gloria. I was in charge of the bon voyage party which meant balloons, cupcakes, stripes, champagne, and bright colors.
I miss her tons already but know she's in for quite an adventure.

Finally, it's no secret that I'm quite the grammar nazi. (Though you can find any number of errors in any of my posts because sometimes I just don't care.) But as punishment, I'm sure, for all the times I correct them, my family loves to comment on any errors they find.

Daddy left me a comment last week about a mistake in this post, and then followed up in an email: I left a comment on the last log you wrote. Don't worry, Daddy, I'll be more careful on the next log I write.

Cape Party

About a month ago, my friend Shana held a cape party bar crawl for her birthday. She has done this for several years but this was the first year I've been able to attend. Why a cape party? In the words of Shana, "Why not?" And I have to say that I now agree. I generally despise anything that might attract attention, but this was so fun and so different, it was ok.

Work ladies: Shana the birthday girl, me, and Gloria.

Despite knowing about the party for months, I didn't make my cape until the night before. I already had the leopard fabric and Gloria -- the dachshund-becaped lady above -- got me bias tape for the binding. I added a ribbon drawstring and a brooch and voila.

Yes, I set the timer on my camera to get a pic of the cape.
And yes, I tipsily took a pic of my "bling" to
prove to one of my friends that I did indeed have "bling."

 Then I accessorized with some "bling" and heels and was good to go. (And despite walking and dancing for 8 hours in the heels, I was fine. And didn't fall once. Probably because in addition to the walking and dancing there was also ample drinking.)

We hit up five bars in Bethesda, attracting curious looks, yes, but also lots of smiles and fun questions. We talked, danced, played flip cup, broke some glasses, and just had a generally good time.

I don't feel right posting a lot of pictures since only one person in these reads my blog. But I'll post just a few.

A Viking, a Rage Against the Machine album cover,
Super Tuesday, Dachshund Lady, Horses Man, Blank Man,
Evel Knievel, Darkwing Duck, and Supergirl

Second bar

Flip cup

Yet another bar