13 Nights of Halloween on abc family!

Yayyy it’s finally here! 13 Days of Halloween on abc family!! I wonder what they are going to play on Marathon days… I definitely have to remember to make some room on my DVR! Mark your calendars – It starts this Friday, October 19, 2012!

They have this nifty program guide on their website: 13 Nights of Halloween

Here’s some spooky, fun, and crazy costumes from the parade:

After the parade we went to a couple bars: Wicked Willy’s and Mulberry’s (The Mulberry Project).

They had some neat decorations:

And The Mulberry Project also had this print, which I really liked even though it’s not Halloween per say…

My wish for next Halloween is no snow! and no cold!

So that’s the end of the spiders, witches, ghouls, and goblins. Away they go, packed up in boxes.. until next year.

Here are a bunch of interesting inscriptions and tombstones:

Low in a soldiers grave he makes his bed
Entombed he lies among the honored dead
Fearless he went to wage the bloody strife
And to his country’s welfare gave his life.

The second half of this inscription was clearer so after I finally deciphered it, I freaked out. It read:

When you should read these lines my friends
Then you may plainly see
That death is the common lot of all
Prepare to follow me

Obviously I had to figure out what the first part said, but I still can’t make out the first few words…

?…a voice from Heaven saying unto me
While Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord
From henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest
From their labours and their works do follow them

The dangerous path of like is trod
My steadfast hope is in my God.

died in 1872 @ 11 months

Susannah Crane

Fanny Wickham

What's This?

Good Music. Wrong Season.

I’m sitting by the window in a Brooklyn apartment watching the snow and rain come down like someone in Heaven turned on a shower. It’s not light and fluffy. It’s falling down fast like it weighs a ton.

I was on Spotify this morning. I put on Overture from Phantom of the Opera, but ended up discovering a Zooey Deschanel album: A Very She & Him Christmas. So here I am, Halloween weekend, my favorite weekend, listening to Christmas music that makes me feel like the year is already over. It’s too soon.

the culprit

I was drinking a Harney & Sons tea called Paris when I started crying. I lost 2 dogs this year. My one dog was 18 and he was a French Poodle named Paris. I’m only 24. We grew up together. My other dog, Johnny died at 13. He was a beautiful mutt that we won from a Humane Society lottery after being featured in Annie on Broadway. I don’t like that it’s snowing now because it has me thinking that this year is almost over, and I’ll be starting the next year without them. Sometimes I even think I see their spirits in other dogs; the way a stranger’s pet will randomly look right at me like he knows me. I miss them so much.

But honoring the dead is what Halloween is about after all, except I like to think of it as celebrating the magic of their spirit, not the finality of their life. It’s the snow that’s making me feel so sad. I don’t want to leave them behind. I’m not ready.

Paris & Me - 18 yrs ago

What’s This?

This day has been most confusing, feeling more like Christmas than Halloween. I don’t think I’ve ever seen snow in October my whole life. Instead of singing This is Halloween like I usually do around this time — I’m singing What’s This? from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

…There are children throwing snowballs here
instead of throwing heads
They’re busy building toys
And absolutely no one’s dead

There’s frost on every window
Oh, I can’t believe my eyes
And in my bones I feel the warmth
That’s coming from inside…

Tomorrow is Mischief Night. The only thing that should be painting the trees white is toilet paper, not snow. It’s the Grinch that stole Halloween, and the entire season of Autumn. I want it back. I don’t want this year to be over yet.

Scare Yourself Silly > Interactive Halloween Card

Enjoy!!

from Archer

For Halloween, I am being Lana Kane from the FX show Archer. Unfortunately, I’ve lost all of my summer tan so to better play the part I made an appointment for a spray tan.

I started off the morning by prepping for it. I took a long shower and exfoliated my whole body, making sure to spend extra time on my good ol knees and elbows. I shaved, but didn’t use harsh soaps or any thing of that nature. I didn’t moisturize afterwards or use deodorant. I was ready…

…Until it started raining.

I am not the kind of person that carries an umbrella. I don’t have a job where I have to look presentable so it doesn’t tend to matter if I get a little wet or not (this job, I hope, is temporary). Usually I wear a coat with a hood and that’s good enough for me. I wore loose fitting black sweatpants to work and packed a baggy T-shirt to change into after my tanning session.

When I got to the location, the streets were mobbed. Just my luck, there was a concert going on and no parking spots. I had to park 1/4 mile away and walk. When I arrived at the salon, the bottom of my pants were soaked and the nice lady at the counter told me that I would have to be really careful leaving, “You don’t have an umbrella? You can’t get wet, not a drop, or you will get streaky!” Oh. My. God. It was at this moment that I realized that I am practically 2/3 Gremlin.

Gremlin Care Requirements:

1. Don’t get wet < check
2. Don’t eat after midnight < check
3. Keep away from bright lights < half check (my eyes are pretty sensitive to light)

Don't get wet. Don't get wet. Don't get wet.

NoOOOoOoOOoO!

Luckily for me, none of the things I did ruined my tan since the woman did such an excellent job. I work in a shop with all men so of course they didn’t notice, but my first client did. She asked me if I went away and I told her I got a spray tan. She was amazed. It looks so natural.

If you want to hear more about my spray tan experiences and tips – keep reading.

From the beginning:

I didn’t have an appointment booked yet, so I called the place (who shall remain nameless) that I got a spray tan at the first time, but apparently their spray tan girl wasn’t available and doesn’t work nights. I wasn’t disappointed, even though this caused a slight dilemma, because I detected a hint of nastiness over the phone. I went on yelp and called up Olive Organic Tan Spa in Montclair, NJ, and I am so glad I did.

My first spray tan experience at the nameless tanning salon entailed:

• entering a bathroom with black backdrop
• wearing paper shoes & underwear
• being sprayed down with the coldest spray ever

And resulted in a half-decent tan with dark blotches under my arms from when the girl had me raising and lowering my arms. When asked about the blotches the girl told me to “scrub really hard.”

Olive Organic Tan in Montclair was a complete 180. They are an exclusive tanning salon that only uses organic ingredients in their airbrush sprays (so they have no tanning beds).

My second spray tan experience entailed:

• professional environment – individual rooms
• cap to protect hair
• choice of scented airbrush sprays (citrus, coconut, almond, vanilla)
• intermediary drying w/blow dryer (feels amazing)
• dabbing of excess spray to prevent stickiness (ex: eyelids)
• powder application to safeguard spray against clothes

The lady was so incredibly nice and gave me a few tips. She said:

• Wait at least 12 hrs to shower
• Don’t touch your skin because it feels silky (you’ll want to!)
• Don’t Shave
• Don’t use deodorant the next day
• Moisturize often
• Powder yourself

I will definitely be back again (perfect tan & no blotches!!) and plan on purchasing a 3 pack of non-expiring spray tans for a great value.

The only thing I regret is not leaving a tip. I didn’t realize you were supposed to and feel pretty bad about it because I didn’t have any cash. But I promise I will make up for it next time!!

Do you have any advice for me that will help prolong my tan? I’d greatly appreciate it because I love it so much! Thanks!

Ah say ento pi alpha mabi upendi!

This is the time of year that I look forward to in terms of movies. ABC Family starts 13 Nights of Halloween with so many of the best Halloween movies! Here is the lineup.

It kicks off today! Wednesday, October 19 @ 8 (EST) -

Featuring:

1. Pretty Little Liars Halloween Special (W: Oct. 19 @ 8pm)
2. Hocus Pocus (Th: Oct. 20 @ 9pm)
3. Beetlejuice (F: Oct. 21 @ 9pm)
4. The Addams Family (S: Oct. 22 @ 8pm)
5. Coraline (Su: Oct. 23 @ 8pm)
6. Bewitched (M: Oct. 24 @ 6:30pm)
7. The Haunted Mansion (T: Oct. 25 @ 7pm)
8. Monsters Inc (W: Oct. 26 @ 7pm)
9. Scooby-Doo (Th: Oct. 27 @ 9pm)
10. The Addams Family (F: Oct. 28 @ 7pm)
11. Hocus Pocus (S: Oct. 29 @ 8pm)
12. Van Helsing (Mischief Night – Su: Oct. 30 @ 8pm)
13. Casper (Halloween: – M: Oct. 31 @ 7pm)

• The Little Vampire @ 8am
• Jumanji @ 10am
• The Goonies @ 12:30pm
• Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory @ 3pm
• Charlie & the Chocolate Factory @ 5:30pm
• The Addams Family Values @ 10pm
• Death Becomes Her @ 12am

Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back...

Sunday, October 23Teen Witch @ 7am

• The Nightmare Before Christmas @ 4:30pm
• Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride @ 6pm

Monday, October 24

• Practical Magic @ 8:30pm

Saturday, October 29

• Sabrina the Teenage Witch Movie @ 8am
• Matilda @ 6pm

Out of all of these movies, my favorites are: Hocus Pocus, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Practical Magic.

I’ve put Death Becomes Her onto my “to-watch” list because Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn are in it (love them)! Surprisingly, I have also never seen The Goonies, which I understand is a classic so I’m looking forward to that one.

I can’t vouch for: Pretty Little Liars, Van Helsing, The Little Vampire, or Teen Witch.

Stay tuned for my list of the 13 best Halloween movies! (coming soon!)

Don't lose your head!

If I had my own house or at least a bigger apartment, I would definitely throw a Witch’s Brew & Bake party. The theme would revolve around Halloween and alcohol based drinks and food. This would be a great girls night or pregame. Everyone could dress up as a witch and bring something to drink or eat- buy or make, it doesn’t matter!

Here are a few things that could be at the party:

• Whiskey and Cider – I love this fall drink. If you haven’t tried it, then you should.
• Pumpkin Ale – There are so many to choose from! Pumpkin Ale is by far my favorite type of seasonal beer. I like Saranac Pumpkin Ale, but this year I want to try Ichabod Pumpkin Ale.
• Chocolate Stout Pumpkin Brownies – I just tried this healthy beer recipe from Women’s Health. It was an easy, healthy recipe if you follow the serving size suggestions.
• Yalumba Y Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 – I bought it because of the colors and the scarecrow on it. It’s actually really delicious (about $11)
  

  Yalumba, I love ya

Chocolate Stout Pumpkin Brownies

Serving Size (1 of 16 - 8 inch baking pan)

What would you  bring to the party?

scary secret door

I live in the small 2nd floor apartment in an old house. In the kitchen there is this weird hidden door. I didn’t notice it when I first moved in because it has been painted over and blends in with the wall. It almost looks like it was a fireplace at one point because it has mantle like features, but instead of the firebox opening, there is a door instead. I tried unlatching it once to see what was behind it, but it is solidly stuck. I figure this is a good thing for 2 reasons. 1. I don’t want to get charged a fee for damaging anything at the end of my lease and 2. I don’t want to end up like Eleanor in The Haunting. Seriously.

Since it’s Halloween, I’ve decided to creep myself out even more by making it look extra spooky. I wanted cheap halloween decorations so I decided I would go to Michael’s to buy some craft supplies. I intended to buy white or ivory cheesecloth, black crepe paper streamers, and black candlesticks. I am not familiar with the setup of this store so I ended up looking around EVERYWHERE for these items (plus I got distracted by some of the neat stuff). I couldn’t find any employees to ask where they were located so finally, an hour later I found a manager who told me that they don’t carry streamers or cheesecloth…WHAT?! After the huge waste of time, I settled for White Spider Webs instead of cheesecloth and headed over to Party City where I got the streamers and the candlesticks.

I Used:

• White Spider Webs ($2.29)
• 2 81 ft. Black Streamers ($0.89 ea.) **this depends on the size of your mantle**
• 2 Glitter Black Candles – 2 piece set ($2.99)
• Glass Taper Candle Holder ($1.99)
• Random Halloween Decorations – Glitter Gargoyles ($1.99 ea.), Dangling Spider ($2.49)
• Push pins
• Poster tape
• Scissors
  • Total: $10 + cost of random decorations

1. Roll out black streamer across the top of your mantle so that it lays flat – leave extra to hang off either end
2. Push pin it in place on both sides
3. Cut out as many uneven streamer strips as it takes to go the width of the mantle
4. Poster tape the top of each strip to the flat black streamer that you pinned on the top of the mantle (so the tape doesn’t damage the mantle itself)
5. Cut tiny random slits 3/4 of the way up the streamer strips to make them jagged
6. With your hands, squish the streamer strips in sections 3/4 of the way up to make them tattered
7. Stretch white spider webs across the top from push pin to push pin and stretch out (I put another push pin into the center too)
8. Decorate with accessories

tell me this isn't creepy...

Wisdom

These homemade Halloween decorations were easy to do (even for me). I bought 2 sets of the candles because I might actually want to light them and also because the sets are tied with a pretty orange ribbon that I used to tie around the candle holders. Obviously – if you have a real fireplace, make sure you don’t light your streamers or ribbons on fire.

Also, because the top looked a little bare, I added a creepy looking Korean collectors doll to the middle.

My next purchase will probably be some kind of scary poster (maybe one of those cool ones that change when you walk by) unless I muster up the energy to drive home and get that old painting of a General that is somewhere in my basement.

Voila!