Happy Halloween

Oscar and Stewie say Happy Halloween!

I wanted to make these into postcards but ran out of time. Maybe next year. I think they are cute enough to repeat.

Halloween Dinner Party

Last night was my Halloween sit down dinner party.

It took everyone awhile to actually sit down.

It was so good to enjoy a meal with everyone. I was gone so much this summer, fall has been a season for spending time with friends.

I was feeling brave and tried a new recipe for green chile enchiladas.

I also tried a recipe for mexican chocolate baked apples.

With the toasted marshmallows on top, Shruti said they looked more like baby bottoms. Maybe that is what they should be called.

Halloween projects

Tonight I am having a sit down Halloween dinner party, so that required some crafting on my part.

I handmade the party invites. I used pre-cut black cards and added a moon with a stamped branch and a punched out owl.

Was it an excuse to buy the Martha Stewart owl punch at Michaels? Perhaps. Look how cute! It even embosses the eyes!

Aaron cut the moons out of yellow paper for me and then I used a branch rubber stamp to make a tree branch for the owl to sit on. Aaron then wrote the party details on the back with a white pen.

We also made paper mache pumpkins for favors.

The pumpkins were filled with ye olde fashioned candy like Bit-O-Honeys.

The pumpkins weren't hard... we covered balloons with orange crepe paper soaked in Mod Podge mixed with water. After they dried we popped the balloons and pulled them out. Aaron added wire handles and I added black crepe paper jack o'lantern faces.

I was going to make one for each person, but they were more work than I anticipated so we made them larger... one for each couple.

Halloween House

The house is looking very Halloweeny! It looks so festive and cozy, I had to take a picture. I am sure the neighbors were wondering what I was doing on the front walk in the dark with a camera and tripod.

Lollypop Farm: Pet of the Week

"Whadya mean there is something on my nose? Right here? Where? Did I get it?" Just imagine if you brought Medusa into your home, what fun you will have pointing out the little smudge on her nose... athough Medusa doesn't seem to find it very amusing.

Medusa 4689334

"Medusa is a 2-year-old female cat who is at Lollypop Farm for the second time. She had been abandoned the first time, and then an adopter returned her. She can't wait to be in a permanent home. Medusa is a beautiful and talkative cat who loves attention and is easygoing. She even likes to follow her people around in the house! Medusa would do best in a home without dogs, but she is living in one of the shelter's catteries right now and getting along well with the other cats living there." - Lollypop Farm

NOTE: Sanora from last week was adopted! Yay!

10th Annual Pumpkin Picking Party

Today we had sunny weather for my 10th Annual Pumpkin Picking Party. That's 10 years of pumpkin slaughtering.

Fun for the whole family.

Obligatory foot shot.

"Please don't leave me here"

Pumpkins were picked, carved and then consumed in the form of pie.

This year's crop of jack o'lanterns.

Today was my tenth annual pumpkin picking party

Smart Car Rally

Today Aaron talked me into going to a Smart Car meetup in Buffalo. Turned out it was a Smart Car Road Rally and we drove for 2 hours around Buffalo with about 30 other Smart Cars. There was a lot of pointing and picture taking.

Smart Cars hanging out

Smart Cars hanging out

Smart Car rally in Buffalo

Aaron and I are at a Smart Car rally in Buffalo.

Halloween Lollipops

I made a Halloween photo project for work where you can download these lollipop cover templates and customize them yourself. Seeing as how I get over 200 trick or treaters, I need to think hard whether this is something I want to hand out.

To make the photo lollipops I used these Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops. I was lured in by the packaging and the "All Natural and Delicous". Strangely there were NO "pomegranate pucker" lollipops in the entire bag. Also very few mango and blueberry. Otherwise very tasty. Do I want to force the neighborhood kids to eat USDA Organic candy?

Fall Pyrex

I have been so busy being out of the country and whatnot I haven't had a chance to post my latest Pyrex acquisitions. I didn't get these all at once. These are about eight months of collecting. People ask me how I get such great pieces. It's my mom! She is so good at spotting them at yard sales and auctions. She rocks. Of course she would pass out if she saw I was actually using some of these. I broke a pitcher this week! :(

These are some of my favorites here. Basically, I love turquoise and anything with a carrier. The cream of the crop is the Corning Glass Works casserole from Greencastle, PA which is very close to my hometown.

Containers

Even though I am supposed to be on a buying freeze in preparation for the holiday season, I found myself ordering these little glass containers from Crate & Barrel.

After I gave all my poison leaching plastic containers to Aaron for nut and bolt storage, I discovered I didn't have enough glass containers for leftovers, lunches and snacks. These 16 oz bowls with lids are the perfect size and reasonably priced... if you don't count the shipping charge which this poor Crate & Barrel barren city dweller has to bear.

I think it is funny just how many pictures of these containers were featured on the product page. In case anyone was wondering, what on earth could I do with a container this size?... well, ahhh you could put beans in them... umm, some sliced limes? How about some herbs or nuts?

Pockets

I have a thing for dresses over jeans. This is my new favorite, a corduroy number I just got.

Just one problem I discovered. No pockets. I don't think I realized what pocket person I was until I didn't have any and couldn't get to my jean pockets.

Second Storie } Indie Market

I have always been jealous when I read about craft fairs in other cities like Renegade Craft Fair. But guess what? There is an excellent event planned for Rochester NY called Second Storie and this is it's second year. Second Storie } Indie Market will be held at the Visual Studies Workshop Auditorium on Saturday, Nov 29, 11am to 6pm and Sunday, Nov 30, 11am to 4pm.

I am still tormented because I missed it last year due to the Toronto Film Festival and this year I will be in PA for Thanksgiving. Ah well, someday the stars will align and I will make it there.

If you have a crafty streak, you have til Oct 27 to apply for a table. It sounds like such a good event to participate in... no tents needed, table, chairs, and linens provided and sunday brunch too! Otherwise, if you will be in the area be sure to attend and enjoy it for me!

For more info visit Second Storie or email http://secondstorie.net

Pet of the Week

Just so you know, Ghost from last week is still available!

This week we have Sanora. I have searched online to see what Sanora means but all I can find is Sanora Coffee. Note that I removed Sanora's red eye from the picture so you can see that she is indeed not in need of a case of Visine when you take her home.

SANORA #6067646

"Sanora is a 7-year-old miniature poodle mix who was brought to Lollypop Farm as a stray. She is very shy, so she would do best in a home without children. She also needs to meet any dogs in the house before going home, just to make sure that everyone will get along OK. Sanora would benefit from obedience classes – they would help her become more confident. If you take her a course at Lollypop Farm, you’ll get a discount! With some time and patience, Sanora would make a great pet. Sanora is eligible for the Seniors-for-Seniors discount; an adopter age 60 or over can take her home free of charge!" - Lollypop Farm

Aaron and Oscar

Hanging out at Grandma's house.

Sunny fall day at Grandmas

Mummy cupcakes

I spotted these mummy cupcakes at Starry Nites Cafe. They are really cute for Halloween and don't look like they would be too hard to recreate.

Pies!

We are going to PA this weekend to help replace my grandparent's garage roof and I made an apple pie to take home for my dad. Yeah, the crust is all fancy and here is how I did it.

Tah-dah! A handy dandy crust cutter I found at Target on clearance. For $2 it makes my pies look extra special.

The flip side has heart cutouts and I used it for this chicken pot pie I made earlier the week. Jazzy!

No Sweat Sneaks

I love Chuck Taylors, but when I read about No Sweat sneakers on Natural/Artificial blog I was interested. No Sweat provides a competitively priced fairly traded product to consumers and a living wage to their workers.

I told Aaron about them, hinting that they would be a great Christmas idea. He surprised me with them last week instead.

The sneakers come with info on the wages and benefits of the workers that produce the sneakers. And the sneaks are pretty darn cute.

Honey

I have always liked honey... I even like it on my pizza (try it! it's good!). So I love that Chuck on Pushing Daisies is a beekeeper and I really loved this season's first episode where she goes to work undercover at Betty's Bees.

Does this show have the best set design ever? I think so.

A bit overly excited by the Pushing Daisies bee episode, I felt compelled to buy two bees wax candles at the farmer's market. They are supposed to burn for 11 hours.

I also got a little jar of raw honey. It's supposed to taste better and some say it reduces the symptoms of hay fever.

Bee keepers have a good sense of humor.

Lolllypop Farm Cat

Lollypop Farm contacted me to see if I was interested in posting their adoptable pets once a week. I said sure! And here is the first of them.

Just in time for Halloween... here is Ghost! Look at those tufty ears! She also has that signature cat smirk. Boo-meow!

Ghost

Ghost is a 1-year-old female cat who was brought to Lollypop Farm because her owner could no longer care for her. Despite her name, Ghost is not scary at all! In fact, she has lived with cats, dogs, and kids before -- and she got along with them well. This pretty and petite girl has been spayed and is all ready to go home with you!