Halloween party

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October 31st: A Journal

pumpkin carving

Mike’s carvings 2014

Today’s post is a tiny departure from the norm. Since you’ve followed my Halloween preparations throughout October, I wanted to share details from our action-packed day. Here we go.

6:40

I woke up without an alarm to overcast skies.  Rain in the forecast.  Super excited, except that it’s Halloween. Hopefully it will rain before and after the candy gatherers come out to play.

7:30

Carpool three teens to school.

7:45

Wait for the school parking lot traffic to clear.Read a few of my favorite blogs. Leave a long comment on Pauline’s fabulous garden post (one of my favorite subjects of course) but apparently never hit the ‘post’ key. I’ll head back there today, trying to recapture in detail how much I love her garden and her post.

8:15

Tidy the kitchen and start some laundry. I live a glamorous life.

Under strict instructions from my youngest son, I remove all items from the deck. The fairy garden isn’t scary enough.

Line the walkway with pumpkins, candles and the aforementioned fairy garden.

lining the deck with pumpkins and candles

Lining the walkway/ramp with candles and home-grown pumpkins

Inside, Mike guts three pumpkins and decides what to carve. He traveled the day before, up at 4:00 am and home at 10 so he’s tired.  Lindy offers moral support. Mike chooses three of his pattern favorites.

lindy offers moral support

Lindy offers moral support

Mike carving pumpkin

Carving the deadly diva

The skies open up. Puddles form. Honest to goodness rain in San Jose. Giddy with excitement, but still hoping it stops by 5:00 pm. Go out to brunch with Mike, an incredibly rare treat on his day off from work.

rain in the gutters

Rain!

halloween garden in the rain

The rain makes everything look off-kilter

2:00

Well, someone has to fold the laundry.

2:30

Gather the teens from school. It’s still raining so my youngest son is indecisive about hanging black plastic on the deck awning. He waits.

tasty treat trifecta

Tasty treat trifecta: Candy corn for Mike, kitty treats for Lindy, and left over seeds and pulp for the neighborhood squirrels

2:45

Pick up a self-bake pizza, narrowly avoiding a car accident in the process. To my tremendous surprise, the driver follows me into the pizza place and apologizes! Life is good. Note: Halloween is the biggest take-out pizza day of the year. Back home, I review college application materials with my oldest son. UC applications open November 1st. He’s ready to go.

4:00

It’s now or never. With Mike’s help, my youngest son covers the awning and sides of the deck with heavy black plastic, saved from year to year for this purpose.  His friend arrives around 5:00 and they scope out hiding places, adding black lights and string. The boys ready their masks. I repeat firm instructions:  they’re not to scare anyone under the age of 14.

scary halloween deck 2014

Converting the deck into a frightful state

5:15

Pizza in the oven.

5:17

Pizza devoured.

5:30

Race down the hall to get ready for the second of three Halloween parties. The boys man the door as the trick or treating begins in earnest.

Attaching the false eyelashes is always the trickiest part for me. I don’t wear much makeup throughout the year, so I’m always out of practice.

6:00

Dressed and ready to go, I continue passing out little bags of pretzels. Most of the little girls at the door ask if I’m Elsa from Frozen. I nod and said yes. I was going to make bookmarks to go with them. When did I think I was going to find the time? Next year?

8:00

We’ve passed out all the pretzels, a box of gummy candy, packets of cookies and granola bars from our pantry and anything else we can think of. 240 bags and buckets have passed by our door. The supply of acceptable give-away treats depleted, we post a note of apology and close up shop.

8:45

Walk through a cool mist to Lisa and Roy’s Halloween party a few blocks away. Eat. Socialize. Try really hard not to drift off in the comfy chair.

party hosts

Halloween Party Hosts Mary Poppins and Bert the Chimney Sweep

Late

At this point I am so tired that I’ve lost track of time. I manage to remove my makeup before crawling into bed, though briefly considered sleeping with it on. Yes, I was that tired. Drift off, patting myself on the back for finishing off my no-candy countdown.

decal and makeup

Decal eye makeup, false eyelashes and some eyeshadow in between

If you’re still here, thanks for reading.

Today I’m readying our garage for voting tomorrow.  Friends in the States, don’t forget to vote November 4th.

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Party Season Kick-off: Under the Sea Costume Reveal

What a weekend!

Saturday night kicked off the first of three Halloween parties. Hosted at a salon, the under-the-sea theme of this first party inspired our costumes. Party goers dressed as mermaids and pirates and at least one turtle and a fish. My favorite costumes of the night: a pair of deep-sea divers with treasure chests strapped to their waists. Clever!

The dance music had us up and moving. As planned, we had a big salad for dinner with the goal of curbing extra-curricular eating. It mostly worked, though I dipped into a few crispy treats. Hopefully the dancing helped balance things out. Our host set up a photo taking area so I had fun posing for and taking lots of pictures.

halloween costumes 2014

Under the sea costumes

aqua manicure and pedicure

Aqualicious from my head to my toes (Petals made me say that)

My headdress stayed in place all night and the costume itself was quite comfortable. Mike was a bit hot after dancing with his rubberized pecs, but otherwise, he was comfortable as well. Watching several women trying to maneuver in a mermaid costume helped me appreciate the beauty of a pull-on dress.

Guardian of the Sea

Guardian of the Sea

gardener of the sea process

Gardener of the Sea

No-Candy Countdown:

It’s easier to avoid eating candy when it’s not giving you that come-hither look.  I faced temptation twice this weekend, once on Friday and again at the party.

My brother-in-law came to town bearing gifts: a pound of my favorite See’s Chocolates. Oh boy.

I thanked him for the gift, opened the box for sharing, and everyone sat around the table, including my boys, politely abstaining. The site and smell of chocolate had my mouth watering. Once he left, I told my boys it was theirs to share and they made quick work of most of it, consumed out of my sight.

Further temptation sat on a table at the party table: a freshly opened tub of red vines, a childhood favorite.  The power of accountability kept me strong.

I’ve read that the more you resist temptation, the more you strengthen your resolve. This week really put me to the test.

So, October 27th, still candy-free

red vines

Red Vines on the party table

Pumpkins on Parade:

A certain someone I know is dressing up this year as Amy Farrah Fowler, the hilarious scientist girlfriend on The Big Bang Theory. She also suggested a nerdy pumpkin. My version below includes Amy’s signature hair barrette and glasses, and her traditional cardigan and printed blouse.  Amy didn’t mind the squishy pumpkin. The three small ones from the garden are limping their way through this final week of October.

amy farrah fowler

Amy Farrah Fowler Pumpkin from The Big Bang Theory

Spina Farms Pumpkin Patch

I put on my best pout but it was all for naught. I couldn’t entice the teenagers to join me at the patch. Mike is always a good sport, so we enjoyed the car time, but the patch was a zoo. I don’t know what I was expecting the Sunday before Halloween but found it a bit overwhelming. Virtually all of the typical carving pumpkins were gone. The ones remaining we’re extra-large in girth and thickness.  We went around a second time and decided on three ‘warts and all’ pumpkins instead. They’re surprisingly light in weight, so it will be interesting to see them inside.

mike spina farms pumpkin patch

Resident carver picks his pumpkins

Mike really enjoys carving pumpkins each year, and when possible, he takes the day off of work. You can see some of his past masterpieces on my page Passionate About Pumpkins. He’s really good.

Dance Like No One is Watching:

Dressing up brings out my inner goofball.  a sixteen-second clip of me dancing with a skeleton prop.

Here is the rest of that wonderful quote by William W. Purkey:

Dance like no one is watching,
Live like you’ll never be hurt
Sing like no one is listening
Live like it’s heaven on earth.

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September Flew

Metaphorically speaking, the month of September flew. Between back-to-school night, college application night, our anniversary and a trip to the DMV for my son’s driving learners permit, I find myself at the end of the month.

Am I sad? Halloween no!!!

I mean…well, you know what I mean.

October is one of my favorite months. Cooler weather prevails and if we’re lucky, we might get a drop or two of rain. For the past nine years I hosted a Halloween party for our boys. All the children on the block joined. It was loads of fun, but exhausting too, however I always looked forward to the energy of the day. This would have been our tenth year, but alas, tiny children become teenagers and the party this year is a no-go.

Initially disappointed, I quickly rallied when I received a lovely party invitation from my friend, Kirra. The theme: under the sea. Three more party invitations followed and amazingly three of them land on different days.

Realizing all the time and energy I’ll save not planning the party gives me time to make a costume again, but without the mad-dash rush. Plans are already underway.

Of course, the month of October is also filled with land minds: Halloween candy. It’s one of my downfalls.

Chocolate Pumpkin

Chocolate Pumpkin

The other thing that flew this month: seven pounds. I’ve been following a healthy eating plan and slowly the pounds are coming off. The last thing I want to do is reverse that trend eating candy. When I say it’s everywhere, I’m only mildly exaggerating. The grocery stores started stocking bags of it weeks ago. The drugstores have it too. No need to go looking for it as its right there at the check-out aisle. The next land mind arrives closer to Halloween when I buy candy to give away. I’ve learned to stay away from my favorites and that helps. Close to 200 children grace our doorstep over the course of three hours on Halloween night. We give away a lot of candy.

So, starting tomorrow and for the next 31 days, I’m going to keep track of the candy that I **don’t** eat. My Halloween countdown will also include my candy-free countdown as well. If you struggle in a similar fashion, I hope you’ll join me in this challenge.  I’m going to enjoy all the things I love about October while continuing to lose the extra pounds.

Special thanks to Elizabeth Cassidy, Pilates instructor extraordinaire, for her ongoing support.

Here’s what the garden looks like as we head into fall:

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Hostess Gift: A Praying Mantis

We hosted our 8th annual Halloween party this afternoon. Mother Nature graced us with a clear, warm, spectacular day.  My sister and I enjoyed donning our costumes and posing for photos on the garden deck. My sister dressed as The Corpse Bride from the animated Tim Burton film of the same name.  I made a dress to emulate artist and greeting card designer, Bela Pillar.   Our friends came and went all afternoon.  We had a blast.

Corpse Bride and Bela Pilar Dress

Corpse Bride and Papyrus Greeting Card

One of the first guests to arrive lives just a few houses over. Bobbie and his son came bearing an awesome hostess gift: a full-grown praying mantis (mantid). They spotted it on the walk over and knew how much I would appreciate it.  Awesome!

We all gathered around the plant to watch the mantid in motion. He was quite active, and at one point swiveled his triangular head and looked directly at us, before turning back and reaching up to the next set of leaves.  I could have watched him all day.

Mantis (or mantid) can live up to a year, shedding their skin several times as they grow.  This one is fully grown, probably about six inches long (15 cm). These pious bugs are great for the garden, since they dine on unwanted insects and bugs. You can buy praying mantis egg sacks at local nurseries to organically control bug infestations.

praying mantis
praying mantis 2
praying mantis 3Once the party guests went home, and the house was back in order, I went outside in the dark with a flashlight hoping to spot him.  Instead I saw a katydid sitting on a flower, wondering why on earth I was snooping around in the bushes after dark.

Perhaps she had a point.  I’ll check back tomorrow and I’ll let you know.

Halloween Countdown

party going pumpkin

Charlotte’s Pumpkin