Tag Archives: Halloween

Another Low-Key Halloween (or Still Doing Punny Costumes)

Posted on November 8, 2023 | Comments Off on Another Low-Key Halloween (or Still Doing Punny Costumes)

I’m always so grateful that not only do I have a fun group of friends to celebrate Halloween with each year, but the party is always both low-key and creative. Some people go all out with their costumes and it’s so fun to see what people come up with. But not everyone does that so if you go without a costume or in a simple costume, you don’t stand out too much. So it’s perfect no matter what your mood might be with a costume.

I usually do a simple costume since I have a bit of a drive to get to the party. I know I could wear regular clothes to drive and then change when I get there, but I like having something that is easy to put together when I get to the party and to remove when it’s time to drive home. Since I do simpler costumes, I tend to have a costume that has some pun to it. I have a fun time figuring out what to be and how to accomplish it. Sometimes it’s easier to make a plan than others, but I always enjoy what costume I come up with.

This year, I was stuck for a bit with what I should do for Halloween. Nothing was really jumping out at me or inspiring me, so I just kept looking online to see what I would connect with. It took a bit of time, but I found the perfect punny costume. I dressed as a third wheel.

I actually don’t remember how the person dressed that I was inspired by online. I just remember that their version of the costume wasn’t something I could do or wanted to do. So I had to think of my own version of it and I was pretty happy with what I came up with.

It’s not super easy to tell from the photo, but what I did was print out a picture of a wheel and attach it to a headband with a zip tie. Then I made little stickers of different celebrity couples and I put those all over my shirt when I got to the party. I liked how it turned out and I was happy with what I was able to create. Especially since I didn’t have to buy anything for the costume so it was nice to save money.

The only downside to my costume was that not everyone got it right away. I guess it was an easier costume to guess when you knew what it was. But I got some interesting guesses from friends when they didn’t know what I was. The one I got the most was the paparazzi. I guess I can see how the wheel looked a bit like a flash and I had photos of celebrities on me. But it was funny how many people guessed that. Once I said what I was, everyone thought it was really clever.

As always with these parties, the main focus while I was there was catching up with my friends. I saw most of them at my birthday party, so it hadn’t been that long since we had a chance to hang out. But it also seemed like so many people had a lot of things that happened in the last month or two. I’m glad I was able to be there and catch up face-to-face instead of just online. I know I’ve always appreciated the time I’ve been able to spend with my friends in person, but I appreciate it even more now after the isolation of the worst of the pandemic. And I try to take advantage of the time that I do get with my friends more because I never know if something will happen where we won’t be able to be together in person for a while. I never thought like that before, but now it’s something I think about quite a bit.

Normally, I’m at the Halloween party for the costume contest to see who wins. I know I won’t place since other people have much better costumes, but I like to see how my friends vote. But this year, things were a bit later than normal because a lot of the people who go to the party were in a play that was happening that night. So they weren’t going to be able to be at the party until after the show was done. I wanted to stick around as late as I could to see everyone and see the costume contest, but I got really tired at the time I normally leave and had to head home before I was too tired to drive. I’m sad I didn’t get to see everyone or see who had the best costumes, but I’m glad I got to see some of my friends and have a fun night out!

And now, I have about a year to think of my next funny and punny costume to wear to a Halloween party. And hopefully, that costume will be one that will be easier for other people to guess.

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Default ThumbnailLow-Key Halloween (or A Work In Progress) Default ThumbnailLow Key Halloween (or Costume Flashback) Default ThumbnailHaving To Explain My Costume (or An Almost Normal Halloween) Default ThumbnailBeing A Word Nerd (or A More Normal Halloween Celebration) Default ThumbnailA Halloween Outing (or Dressing Up As Me) Default ThumbnailOscar Night (or A Very Low-Key Award Show)

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Being A Word Nerd (or A More Normal Halloween Celebration)

Posted on November 2, 2022 | Comments Off on Being A Word Nerd (or A More Normal Halloween Celebration)

For almost as long as I’ve lived in LA, I have celebrated Halloween at my friend Marie’s party. It’s a tradition for me and I look forward to it every year. Of course, we had to skip the normal party for 2020, but we had a virtual party that year. And last year, it was a much smaller party than normal because it was mainly for people who have been in the same pandemic bubble together. All of the in-person parties since the pandemic have been that way, so they’ve been smaller groups. But even with fewer people at the parties, they have been so much fun and we all love hanging out together.

But this year, they did a more open party and it was the biggest party I’ve been to in a long time. There were still people wearing masks, which I think might be the way things go for a while, but since the party was held outside I felt pretty safe. And even though I didn’t know everyone there, I knew most of the people and the new people were friends of friends. So it was much more comfortable than being at a party where I didn’t know too many people or if I was at a party that was held inside.

I loved getting to be around so many people and even though I can be overwhelmed in crowds, I know that I was craving this social interaction. And I was so excited before the party to see what costumes everyone would come up with. I know that everyone is so creative and that I would be in awe over what crazy ideas people would come up with. For my costume, I went with something simple which is what I tend to do. I like to have costumes that I don’t have to necessarily drive in since my drive to the party can be an hour if there is some traffic. So having things that can be added to my outfit are the best option.

I didn’t have an idea for the longest time and I was worried as the party was getting closer if I would have some inspiration for a costume. But as it usually happens, I was inspired and knew immediately what my costume would be as soon as I saw it. This time, I saw it through TikTok, and I was so excited to make it as soon as I saw it.

I love playing different word games, including playing Wordle. I play it every day and have a text group with my family to share our scores each day. And I loved the idea of going as a game of Wordle to the party. I picked the words I put on there carefully because I didn’t want to have to make a ton of extra letters. So I figured out something that would make it super easy to guess, but I had little velcro strips on the extra letters and spaces to the costume so it would be interactive. I didn’t end up using any of the extra letters I made up since everyone was able to guess it on the first try, and I didn’t want to keep taking them on and off the costume. But I think people had fun with it even if they don’t normally play. But in the costume contest, I wasn’t even close to the top ones. The best costume was someone as Madame Leota from the Haunted Mansion. They made a tabletop that went on their shoulders and had a plastic bowl over their head to make it look like a crystal ball. It was so impressive and they easily won first place.

I was at the party later than I normally would be, but I knew the next day I could sleep in a bit and didn’t have to worry about getting too much done in my day. I wanted to spend enough time hanging out with my friends and getting to know the new people at the party since they probably will be at future parties as well. It was really a great time and felt like the old normal for a brief moment of time. I know all of us are still being careful with Covid and making sure we don’t take too many unnecessary risks, but it is also nice to be able to put down my guard and just relax with my friends.

And now, I have only a few months until the Oscar party and I know I want to think of a good costume for that one too! It might not be too elaborate, but I like having something fun and clever and I want to start planning for it as soon as I can!

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Default ThumbnailHaving To Explain My Costume (or An Almost Normal Halloween) Default ThumbnailFirst Halloween Party Of The Season (or At Least I Made An Appearance) Default ThumbnailHalloween Awesomeness (or I Am Covfefe) Default ThumbnailA Halloween Outing (or Dressing Up As Me) Default ThumbnailA Busy Halloween (or Dressing As A Box Office Employee) Default ThumbnailHaving Some Halloween Fun (or Creating A Clever Costume)

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Having To Explain My Costume (or An Almost Normal Halloween)

Posted on November 3, 2021 | Comments Off on Having To Explain My Costume (or An Almost Normal Halloween)

Last year for Halloween, I only celebrated over Zoom. I did try to have a bit of a costume by making a fun Zoom background, but it really wasn’t the same as seeing my friends. I knew this was how we had to celebrate so we could all be safe, but it was just another reminder of what we were missing out on during the pandemic.

This year, things are a little different but they are still not as safe as they were before. So while I would have loved to be at a big party with all of my friends, I knew again this wouldn’t be possible. Fortunately, I was invited to a small party with a few friends who only had vaccinated people there so I was able to enjoy Halloween with other people again this year.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for my costumes, so I tried to see what would inspire me. Like so many people, I joined TikTok to entertain me this year. And there are a lot of accounts I follow that are just silly. And one of those is Noodle the Dog. Noodle is a 13-year old pug and each day as his owner tries to get him up from bed he will either stand up or collapse back into bed. So the saying is that he either has bones or no bones and that determines what the day will be like. I know it’s silly, but we all just need silly things these days.

So I decided that a fun and silly costume would be to go as a No Bones Day. I wore all black, made a pug mask from a photo online, and emptied out a dog bone container (I had to buy dog bones but I’ll be giving them to my parents’ dog). Not a super fancy or elaborate costume, but I think it did a good job representing things. And I got confirmation of that when I posted it on Instagram and tagged the Noodle account and they shared it on their Instagram too!

I’m aware it’s also a bit creepy since I had a very realistic looking photo for my mask.

When I got to the party, most people had no clue who I was so I had to show them the TikTok account so they could get what I was supposed to be. There were other people there who also had low-key costumes like I did, so I didn’t feel too out of place. And I think the focus for a lot of us was about being around other people and not the costumes. It’s still so rare to get to be around friends, so I am enjoying whatever chances I get. And we did try to make sure things were as safe as they could be. We were all outside and I know everyone was vaccinated. And not going to a big party was probably smart too.

This was much closer to my normal Halloween than what I did last year, but it still wasn’t what I was used to. I remember thinking last year that of course things would be normal again by Halloween. I think it’s still surprising to me that by this Halloween they still aren’t. But as tired as I am about having to always be careful, I do know this is what we need to do to get past this. And maybe by Halloween next year, we will be 100% back to normal and I will be at a crazy costume party surrounded by my friends again.

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Default ThumbnailStill Celebrating Halloween (or A Virtual Costume To Go With A Virtual Party) Default ThumbnailHaving Some Halloween Fun (or Creating A Clever Costume) Default ThumbnailLow Key Halloween (or Costume Flashback) Default ThumbnailLow-Key Halloween (or A Work In Progress) Default ThumbnailFirst Halloween Party Of The Season (or At Least I Made An Appearance) Default ThumbnailA Halloween Outing (or Dressing Up As Me)

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Still Celebrating Halloween (or A Virtual Costume To Go With A Virtual Party)

Posted on November 5, 2020 | Comments Off on Still Celebrating Halloween (or A Virtual Costume To Go With A Virtual Party)

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Even if I don’t have a great costume, I love dressing up a bit and being creative with a costume. And I especially love seeing the costumes that my friends come up with. The party that Marie and Chris throw every year is such an incredible Halloween party, and I look forward to it every year. When the pandemic started, I don’t think anyone thought we’d still be staying home by Halloween. I mean, I remember thinking that we’d all be able to be together for the 4th of July. But here we are, almost 8 months later and still staying home.

But being at home didn’t mean that Marie and Chris weren’t going to throw a Halloween party. I had a feeling they would do a virtual party, and that’s exactly what they did! I was running a Netflix Party group that night, but I was able to time it out so I didn’t miss too much of the party. They had teased that there was going to be something special at 6:30 and I figured out how to make the Netflix Party work so that I was done at 6:25!

Since the party was virtual, I thought it would be funny to do a virtual costume. I knew I wanted to do something fun with my Zoom background, but I wasn’t sure what to do until I saw a post in a Facebook group that inspired me. The post was about funny ideas for Halloween decorations and it was a bunch of crosses in a yard with the names of guys that have ghosted women. I loved that idea, but I had to make it work in a Zoom background. So I found an image of a graveyard and I added text on it to have some nicknames of guys I’ve gone out with and the dates we were texting or seeing each other before they ghosted me. I did a test with the background before the party and even though you couldn’t see one of the tombstones, I think it looked pretty funny!

It was a little hard for the tombstones to be read, but I was ok with that. I knew I’d have to explain the “costume” no matter what. So I just planned on explaining it and reading to everyone what I wrote.

I made it to the virtual party before 6:30 so I was able to chat with my friends for a few minutes before the guest arrived. And the guest wasn’t as much of a guest as it was a puzzle and mystery for us all to solve! Marie and Chris had a video of them as skeletons saying their souls were stolen and needed our help to get them back. It was so clever and creative and all of us were enjoying it so much while watching the video!

We were told that we could work together as a group or solve it alone. The thing from the video was about solving a riddle, so I figured I could solve that alone and I did that and followed the instructions to give them the answer. After I did that, I got a crossword puzzle in return. That’s when all of us at the party decided to work together. I was the designated answer writer since I printed out the crossword. We quickly were able to get all the answers and I submitted that for the next clue.

And the next clue was a pattern of lines that was an overlay to put over the crossword. Then we wrote down all the words that were under the lines to get the next clue. That took us to Facebook and a specific photo they had posted. If you zoomed into the photo, there was a tiny.url listed and we realized we had to go there. That led to an unlisted YouTube video that mentioned a series of numbers. Someone in the group realized those numbers could be a Zoom meeting code and password, and they were right! After we entered the new Zoom meeting, that became the full party!

It was so much fun working through all the clues and puzzles we had to do to get to the party. It made things feel much more like we were together and not just a bunch of people looking at each other on screens. And we were able to get through the puzzles relatively quickly because we had worked together. So it was a nice moment for us to bond as a group since there were some people in the party that I hadn’t met before.

Once we were in the second party, it was like the other Zoom parties Marie and Chris have done. Some people were in costumes and some people were not. And a few had fun Zoom backgrounds like haunted houses and things like that. There wasn’t a costume parade, but I still liked to see what people dressed as and it was nice that we were trying to be festive.

And we just all talked about lots of random and fun things. We discussed random movies and Halloween stuff. Marie and Chris even had trivia questions so we could do little trivia games where we competed against each other. I only got 1 trivia question right, but I still had so much fun.

I wanted to be able to stay at the virtual party as late as possible since I didn’t have to drive home after it and I was able to sleep in the next day. But it seems like being on Zoom hangouts takes it out of me more than I would expect. I just felt so tired after being on there for a few hours. I think by the time I was saying goodnight to everyone, I was in the party for about 3 hours. I also had been on the computer almost the entire day without a break, so that might have been part of it too. I didn’t want to say goodnight to everyone, but I needed to so I could get some sleep.

Of course, having a party in person would have been the best and would have made all of us so happy, but there just isn’t a way to do that right now and be safe. And a virtual party is much better than nothing at all. I think all of us just want this pandemic to be under control to the point where we can see each other in person again. And it’s tough when we have no idea when that might happen. The next big party for the group is usually New Year’s Eve, and I’m not sure if things will be any better by then. After that, we have the Oscar party. Maybe by then, we can be together since the Oscars have been pushed back to be a bit later. The Oscar party was the last party that we were able to have this year, so it would be nice if that was the first one back.

I hope that everyone had a good Halloween, even if it wasn’t what you are used to doing. And hopefully by next year, we will all be able to celebrate the way we are used to. I have a feeling that if we can, all of us are going to have epic Halloweens in 2021!

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Virtual Pumpkin Party (or Time To Be Crafty)

Posted on October 21, 2020 | Comments Off on Virtual Pumpkin Party (or Time To Be Crafty)

My friend Anne throws an amazing Pumpkin Party each year. Even though I’m not the craftiest person, I love going and trying my best with decorating a pumpkin. I also love seeing how creative everyone is and it’s just an amazing and inspiring room to be in. And even though I don’t know most of the other women who go to the parties, it’s always a great conversation and everyone is so welcoming and friendly.

But just like so many other things this year, I had no idea what was going to happen with the party. Anne mentioned something online about how it and I commented to say that if she did a virtual party I would totally participate! She ended up doing a survey to see if others would be interested in that idea as well, and I guess she got a good response because she announced a Virtual Pumpkin Party! And she also said since she usually provides all the supplies, she was going to make us craft kits that we could get so we would have a pumpkin and supplies for decorating. I was so excited about this and couldn’t wait to have the virtual party!

Part of my adventure driving around LA was picking up my craft kit from Anne. And because she’s the amazing woman that she is, it wasn’t just something simple or basic. We got adorable tote bags with all the supplies inside. I got paint, paintbrushes, fake leaves, yarn, decals, ribbon, decorative paper, and paper cut-outs. It was an amazing craft kit!

I started to think of some ideas for decorating before the virtual party, but I knew that my plan would probably change. But I liked the spider cut-outs I had and thought I could go with that for something.

We had a Zoom room going for us during the party. We were all working on our pumpkins and trying to show them off when we got done with different steps. As I said, everyone in the group is super creative and I’m not creative that way, but I still love to try to do something fun. I tried to do a spider web with the yarn, but it wasn’t really working for me so I did it with some black paint. I straightened out paperclips to make holders for the spiders and added some yarn between the spiders for a little more and just the painted on web. Even though it wasn’t the most labor-intensive or crazy pumpkin, I think the end result was pretty good!

But as always with the parties, it was much more about the conversation than it was about the pumpkins. And we did have a great conversation with us all. The group wasn’t too big that we had a lot of issues with people talking over each other. Everyone was sharing what was happening with their lives and of course, the discussion about politics came up. But it was a positive conversation sharing how we were helping to make sure people registered to vote and to get the word out.

The party lasted about 2 hours and then people had to sign off of Zoom for one reason or another. But a 2-hour hangout was a pretty perfect length and I felt like I got so much out of it. I felt less alone than I had in a while. I felt connected to others and not like I’m on my own little planet. I felt like things were almost normal and not in this crazy world we are living in now. It was the escape I needed from life and it put me in the best mood I’ve been in for a long time.

Thank you Anne for doing the Virtual Pumpkin Party! I got so much out of it (and now I have craft supplies and need to make a craft box). I had the best time and I loved seeing everyone virtually. Hopefully, by next year’s party, it will be able to be in person!

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A Halloween Outing (or Dressing Up As Me)

Posted on November 6, 2019 | Comments Off on A Halloween Outing (or Dressing Up As Me)

With Halloween being on a Thursday, I knew the party that I go to wouldn’t be on Halloween night. But because I have to be up early most mornings, I figured that it would be a night that I couldn’t be out late. And when the party was scheduled to be the day after Halloween, I saw I was right. I work early on Saturdays, so I rarely am out late on a Friday night. It also didn’t help that I was already tired from my week. But I was determined to have a fun time at the party even if I was tired.

I try to be fun and clever with my costumes, but I also want to be very comfortable. And this year, I thought of a fun costume that wouldn’t be too hard to make about a month before. I had to make a run to Staples to buy some supplies, but I didn’t have to get too much and I knew I could make it the week of. I ended up having some time right after work the day before Halloween and spent about 20 minutes making this (it took longer than expected because I wanted to make it look good).

I took some paper borders and covered them with white duct tape. And then I added some letter stickers for my name and had to tape some pens on the back for stability. But I made a pretty awesome looking photo frame. And with my name on it, I made a frame for a headshot!

When I get my headshots taken, I usually dress super comfortable on the bottom since you only see the top half of my body. So I dressed in yoga pants and flip flops on the bottom and a nice sweater with full hair and makeup on top. When I got to the party, I could hold up my homemade frame and I went to the party as my headshot!

I was so happy with how my costume turned out and everyone at the party seemed to love it too! When I wasn’t holding up the frame, some people were confused with what I was dressed as, but most of them understood what it was as soon as I held it up.

The party was themed as The Ghosts of Halloweens Past and the backyard had a mix of decorations from old parties and collections of photos from the past several years. I found a few of my old costumes in the photos and loved looking at all the other photos that were decorating the party.

Because I was so tired while at the party, I knew I wasn’t going to make it too long. I hated that I felt this way, but I also didn’t want to force myself to be there late and then feel really bad over the weekend. But I did stay there for a few hours and got to have some great time hanging out with my friends. I loved their costumes and seeing how clever they were. There were a few costumes that I didn’t know what they were, but once I found out they made so much sense. I love seeing how creative all my friends are and I always wonder if I’ll have a costume as impressive as theirs.

Even though I was so proud of my costume and was hoping I might get votes in the costume contest, I wasn’t able to stay out that late. I found out a few days later that the costume contest was much later than it normally is and even if I wasn’t tired I probably would have had to leave before it happened. That made me feel a bit better. And the costumes that won were much better than mine so I know I wouldn’t have won. But it would have been fun to see if I did get votes.

I really had some high expectations for Halloween outings this year, and they ended up not being exactly what I thought they would be due to me being tired so often. It’s frustrating when I know it’s my fault that I’m not able to be as social as I want to be, but I’m always so grateful that I have amazing friends who understand why I can’t make it out or have to go home early. And I did still have a lot of fun even if it wasn’t what I planned it to be. I love going out and seeing the costumes that other people thought of and just spending time with people that I love to be around.

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First Halloween Party Of The Season (or At Least I Made An Appearance)

Posted on October 24, 2019 | Comments Off on First Halloween Party Of The Season (or At Least I Made An Appearance)

There has been a lot of Halloween party invites lately and so many of them are happening on the same nights. As much as I want to attend everything, I know I can’t and I know if I did that I’d be feeling overwhelmed. So I had to be selective a bit with which parties I would be going to. I didn’t think about how I’d be feeling the days of the parties, and unfortunately for the first Halloween party I attended I was dealing with nausea.

The party was for SAG-AFTRA NextGen Performers. I do love going to NGP events because they are always so fun. Even though I was feeling rotten, I knew I’d find a way to make it. I would have loved to have figured out a costume to wear to the party, but I hadn’t had a chance to figure out what to be. And I also was struggling enough getting dressed and getting out of the house, so even if I had a costume I don’t know if I would have worn it.

I’m glad the party wasn’t too far from my house, so I didn’t have to worry about driving over there and traffic. And the party was only supposed to be about 2 hours long, so I decided I would try to make it for an hour before heading home. I didn’t take any photos while I was there, but it was a really good turnout. There were so many people at the event and lots of amazing costumes. Even if I had figured out a costume and felt good enough to wear it, I wouldn’t have come close to placing in the costume contest.

Right when I arrived, I found several of my friends. The entire time I was at the party was spent socializing and catching up. Even though I just saw most of these people at the convention, we didn’t really get to socialize too much then. If I had been feeling better, I probably would have spent time meeting people who were at their first NGP event and seeing who else was there, but I was feeling like just chatting with my friends. It wasn’t the best thing to do, but I was just proud of myself for pulling things together enough to go out and not just sit on my couch. Some of my friends were in charge of helping to judge the costume contest, so I walked around with them and got to see more of the costumes that people wore. There were a lot of awesome photo opportunities like a step and repeat and a photo booth, but I didn’t do either of those. I did end up being in a few of the photos the photographers took while they walked around, but I haven’t seen them posted online yet so I can’t share them.

Just when I was starting to feel really bad, I realized that I had been there for an hour so I didn’t feel bad that I was going to leave. My goal was an hour and I didn’t feel like I needed to push myself more than that. Plus, I was starting to get more nauseous and when that happens I get sweaty and tend to look sick. So I knew that it wasn’t going to be my best look.

I worked on making my rounds around the room to say goodbye to my friends. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to everyone, but my friends knew I wasn’t feeling well and knew that I might leave before I saw them again. Driving back home after the party was tough and I was glad when I got home and could lie down on my bed to let the nausea waves end. It was also time for me to take medications again, so I took those and waited for them to kick in.

I know that the first Halloween party I attended was a bit of a bust. I didn’t do much and I didn’t talk to too many people. But for me, when I feel as sick as I did, just leaving my house is a victory. I have bailed on so many plans because of my nausea and I’m trying to push through that as much as I can. It’s not always possible, but I also know that if I don’t take chances than I won’t know how much I can do. And I was proud of myself for taking the chance and finding out that I was able to at least do a little something. And the nausea is getting better now so hopefully I’ll be fine for the other parties I will be going to.

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Another Pumpkin Party (or A Day Discussing All Things Creepy)

Posted on October 8, 2019 | Comments Off on Another Pumpkin Party (or A Day Discussing All Things Creepy)

My friend Anne hosts an awesome pumpkin decorating party before Halloween each year. I’ve only been able to make it once because of scheduling conflicts. I was afraid that this year I would have a conflict due to the convention, but I was so excited when I got the invitation and saw it was before the convention so I’d be able to make it! I’m not the craftiest person, but I like trying to see what I can create. Plus, Anne and her friends are extremely artistic and crafty so I always am inspired when I see what they create.

I haven’t decided if I would be decorating this year for Halloween, but I knew that if I was going to that I would want my pumpkin to go along with the ones I did at the last party. I didn’t have a design in mind, but I knew that Anne would have a lot of crafting supplies at the party and I was going to see what was there and what seemed right.

When I got to the party, as expected it was set up beautifully. Anne really is an amazing host and she had everything set up for all of us to decorate our pumpkins however we wanted. There was also some amazing food, but I forgot to take a photo of that.

When I got to the party, I was one of the first people there. I got to meet her other friends who were there (I didn’t know anyone except for Anne) and we also did some catching up. Anne and I hadn’t seen each other in person for a while, and even though we stay in touch through social media, it’s not the same. So having some time to fill each other in on what has been happening in our lives was nice.

And then I decided to take a look at the various craft supplies to see what I wanted to use. I knew I didn’t want anything covered in glitter or paint because that would make it messy to get back home. I wanted something fun, but I am also aware of my limitations with art. I was looking through a collection of drawer pulls in a bowl and saw this awesome keyhole one. And that kicked off the inspiration for my pumpkin.

My other pumpkins have a lot of black, so I was going to go with that for this one too. I had a slightly more elaborate plan when I started, but once I got to working on it things simplified. I used the hot glue to attach several pieces of ribbon going down the pumpkin and then used regular glue to attach some gems to the ribbon. And I managed to fit 2 of the gems into the keyhole and tape them in there so it almost looks like it’s glowing from inside. I know it wasn’t anything fancy or super creative, but I’m really happy with how it turned out!

I didn’t have a specific design inspiration outside of the keyhole piece, but I realized after I was done that it reminded me of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland! It has similar colors to the ride, and I guess that’s perfect since the other pumpkins I made have Disney elements to them as well.

Even though the main point of the party was to decorate pumpkins, of course, it was also all about hanging out and meeting new people. All the people that Anne invited were amazing. It turns out I have a bunch of mutual friends with several of them, and it’s almost weird that our paths haven’t crossed yet. And not only were they awesome people, but we all also had something in common that became a huge part of our socializing: being into true crime stories.

I thought I was really into true crime. I listen to podcasts about it, have read books about it, and watch lots of tv shows about it. But it turns out, I knew nothing compared to everyone else at the party. They all are way more informed than I am about different true crime stories and watch lots of shows that I don’t. I got some great podcast recommendations from hearing what everyone else likes and was able to share one podcast that I listen to that the others in the group hadn’t heard of. But since everyone else was more into true crime than I am, I ended up sitting back and listening to the conversation a lot. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to or feel like I could participate. I was just more in awe realizing that I was in a group of people who are so similar to me and loving hearing what they had to say.

We joked about how it was a bit odd that we were all into true crime as much as we are. But it also seemed very fitting to discuss serial killers while doing a Halloween craft. And since we all were into it, I think that made it even less odd.

I would have loved to have stayed at the party longer than I did, but Anne has a cat and I’m severely allergic to cats. I was surprised I lasted as long as I did because I usually start to have a reaction after an hour. But her cat was hiding the entire time and she cleaned a lot before we all came over. So I think that combination helped to keep my allergies from kicking in as fast as they normally do. I was really enjoying hanging out with everyone and having so much fun discussing true crime and serial killers, so it was sad when I was starting to have some breathing issues and the rash and hives I get from my allergies were starting. I wanted to leave before things got too bad for me.

I’m so glad I was able to make it to the party this year. Hopefully, I’ll be able to make it next year as well because it really is a fun Halloween event to go to. And it gives me an opportunity to try to be crafty when I don’t usually do that.

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Having Some Halloween Fun (or Creating A Clever Costume)

Posted on October 30, 2018 | Comments Off on Having Some Halloween Fun (or Creating A Clever Costume)

This past weekend was the Halloween party that my friends Marie and Chris throw every year. It’s one of the parties I love so much that they throw (and they throw some incredible parties throughout the year) and it’s always so much fun to see what costumes people come up with. This group of friends is pretty competitive when it comes to costumes. We have costume contests for the Halloween party as well as the Oscar party, and I’ve only placed once in the Oscar party about 10 years ago. So I know that if I want to be in the running to win, I must have a great costume.

I was trying to find some inspiration for a costume searching online and nothing was really connecting with me. But then I saw an article from a few years ago of people who created costumes about dating apps, and I thought that was perfect! I had a few different versions that I was trying to figure out with this costume, but I decided to go a bit smaller in scale than some of the ones I saw online. So I used a poster board to look like the Tinder app (and I made the back look like an iPad so it looked like you were using the app on an iPad) and then stalked all my friends who would be at the party on Facebook. I took photos of them, printed them out, laminated them, and then made it so the photos could be swiped left or right. I think it looked pretty great when it was done!

I added the binder clip to hold the photos together at the top because I didn’t want the photos to be swinging around while I was at the party.

When I got to their party, a lot of people were already there. And I loved seeing all the amazing and fun costumes that other people showed up in.

While I had hoped that my costume was going to be good enough to place in the costume contest, as I walked around the party I realized that everyone stepped up their costume game this year and it was going to be even more competitive than it normally is. But I was still having fun showing off my costume and everyone at the party seemed to enjoy swiping through the photos to see if their photo was in there and to swipe left and right on everyone else. Since my photo was on the top, people didn’t realize that all the photos were of people who were expected to be at the party. So as they swiped through, it was a fun surprise for them and I got so many compliments on having a really smart costume and for being really creative.

Marie and Chris always do a theme to their parties, and this year the theme was Day of the Dead. They had so many paper flowers all over the backyard and they added some new string lights that made their yard look more festive than before. and the photo spot was with these skeletons.

I really loved the decorations and thought they were so nice. I know they usually do really crazy things in their yard, but I loved what it looked like this year. And of course almost everything was handmade and that touch makes everything look so special.

I spent most of the party just hanging out with friends. I did a lot of hanging out one on one with people which was nice. I usually am around so many people at a time so getting individual time was nice and allowed me to have more substantial chats with people.

When it came time for the costume contest, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to place. Some of the costumes were just incredible and detailed and others were really good puns. But everyone looked amazing and I had a hard time picking which 3 I wanted to vote for. But I did pick 3 and 2 of them did place in the top 4.

After the costume contest, it was pretty late and I decided to start saying my goodbyes to my friends so I could head home. I would have loved to have stayed longer, but I was starting to get tired and I didn’t want to drive home when I was really tired. But of course, because I had so many friends there, it took over 30 minutes to say my goodbyes to everyone. But it was worth taking the time to do that because it gave me a little more one on one time with my friends.

The next party with this group will probably be the New Year’s Eve party which seems like it’s far away, but it’s really only 2 months. So I know it will be here before I know it!

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Halloween Awesomeness (or I Am Covfefe)

Posted on October 31, 2017 | 1 comment

The Halloween party that my friends Marie and Chris throw was this past weekend. As it is with all of their parties, I knew that they would be doing some amazing decorations around their house and I couldn’t want to see what it was going to be. They had been sharing about how hard they had been working on decorations but weren’t giving any clues on what the theme was. So I had no idea what I was in for.

As far as my costume goes, I tend to be a bit lazy with costumes. I wish I was better at them, but it’s just not something that I’m creative with. So when a friend jokingly suggested I could go as covfefe by just wearing a “Hello my name is” name tag, I totally went for it!

I made extra name tags and was thinking that I would be sticking them on other people, on beer bottles, and other things like that. It was a super easy costume, but everyone who saw it seemed to think it was pretty funny.

But while my costume was low-key, the party was anything but! Marie and Chris really outdid themselves this year and they turned their house and backyard into all things Indiana Jones!

And of course, they dressed to fit the theme of the house.

They’ve done some amazing things with decorations before, but this was beyond what any of us expected. I loved the sacrifice pit that was in the middle of their yard.

But I think the greatest thing they made for the party was the golden idol room they had on the side of their yard.

Between the backdrop and the amazing painting work they did and the props that were in the room, this was seriously one of the coolest things I’ve seen! And we all were taking so many photos in there because of how awesome it looked (plus it had some really great lighting).

And I loved getting to see all the creative costumes that my friends did. Everyone always has really fun costumes and this year there seemed to be a lot of family/couple themed costumes. Of course, seeing little kids is costumes is just so cute! But I loved the couples costumes too because they were all really fun and clever. I’m glad that I go into the party not expecting to win the costume contest because the competition is stiff!

But the reason I go to the parties (besides the incredible decorations and awesome costumes) is getting to spend time with amazing friends. And there were so many amazing people at the party. I was able to get there toward the earlier side of things so I got to see a lot of people who had kids but had to leave early to get their kids to bed. But I also stayed later than I normally do so I saw some of the late arrivals too. There were a few people who arrived after I left, but I think I got to see almost everyone that I wanted to.

Some of us took some time to watch the World Series. It was fun because some of the people at the party are die-hard Dodgers fans but there are a lot of people there from Houston so they were rooting for the Astros. But it was all in good fun and I think pretty much everyone was happy to see that the Dodgers won the game that night. And the home run they got toward the end of the game was pretty impressive!

I really tried to be as social as possible at the party. But I had been up since 7am since I worked that morning plus I had a Hell Week workout that afternoon. I was hoping to get a nap in between my workout and the party but that didn’t happen. So I was a bit tired and run down. But it seemed like a lot of people there were feeling a bit low-key too so a lot of the time we were sitting around and talking. There was so much catching up to do at the party and we got the time to do that.

As with all of the parties that Marie and Chris do, I had the best time! They put so much effort into their parties and making sure that we all have so much fun. And we all do! I think their next party will be New Years Eve and I’m already looking forward to it!

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