Costumes in My Closet

So I originally planned to split these posts up and scatter them throughout the month of October when...what the?  Can you believe it?  October is finished!  And tonight the Great Pumpkin is already on his way!  So I figured I better get going and do one final "Costumes in my Closet" post for the big day.  In case you are new to this post series, the deal is I am going to share how I can make Halloween costumes from items in my closet and maybe only a few little extra accessories.  I've always been kinda a home-made costume kind of girl as I tend to find that store bought costumes are either  really expensive or  really slutty (the women's ones anyway.)

So here are 3 more costumes all made from items I already had in my closet.  Please excuse the weird exposure...The lighting was strange in our apartment tonight.

Dorothy Gale from the Wizard of OZ

dress: Tulle    shoes: H&M   shoe clips: handmade by me

Holly Golightly

dress: Gap    necklace: Anthropologie

A Hitchcock Heroine 

dress: vintage 

And there you have it.  3 more easy and improvised costumes from my very own closet.  Did you dress up today?  Any from items you already had in your closet?  

Hope you are having a happy, safe and haunted Halloween!

Halloween Playlist on Spotify

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I love making halloween playlists that don't follow the usual pattern of mixes you find at the party store.  You know the ones, they all have renditions of "The Monster Mash," "Thriller," "Tubular Bells," etc.  Not that I have any hate for the monster mash, on the contrary I think it's fantastic!  But today I have compiled a playlist of songs from the likes of Emilie Simon, Neil Young and Tom Waits that are not necessarily Halloween songs, but are certainly spooky, sad, seasonal and unusual.  

Care to have a listen?  If you are on Spotify just click the link below!
Heather's Halloween Playlist

Happy Halloween!

Good morning all you ghastly ghouls and goblins!  Welcome to All Hallows Eve!  I have more tricks and treats up my sleeve which I'll be posting later on tonight, but in the meantime I just wanted to wish you all a BOO-tiful Day!

Yes I am a Skeleton Girl today...What are you?

Movie to Mention....

The other night I accompanied the boy to a screening of the film Like Crazy.  I wasn't going to attend because I was tired and I had posts to write and cleaning to do at home, but I opted to go after watching the trailer because of the subject matter....Here, see for yourself...

Essentially I went to see this film because this is all so similar to what the boy and I went through to be together.  And the movie really captured so many elements of the struggle we endured, through long-distance, through immigration headaches and the like.  It was beautifully acted and never subsided into over-sentimentilized silliness which it very easily could have done.  It was good.  

My only real criticism is that it didn't do enough of showing the actual daily struggle that goes into a long distance relationship.  The missed calls, the emails, the soul-deadening process of filling out of immigration paperwork.  I wanted to see more of all that, but that's because I can't help but impose my own experience on this film.  In fact, there were moments it did capture that brought memories flooding back to me that I have long since suppressed.  But all those memories are bittersweet now, because we made it through the heart-wrenching process and came out stronger on the other side.  But we worked very hard to maintain our relationship and, well, I'm proud of us.  

Anyway, if you get the chance, I'd highly recommend this film.   If you have ever been in a cross-continental relationship, get ready to see some of your life splashed up on the screen.  And lastly, have a nice Saturday! 

Evernote Love

I know a lot of bloggers have shared their love of Evernote, but I just had to give my two cents on the program.  

Basically, I love Evernote.  Of all the organizing programs out there, I think this one is the most helpful.  It syncs between all my computers and my iphone.  I am able to make notes, lists, clip pictures and access it all at anytime.  Since I downloaded this free program, keeping my blog organized, storing ideas and accessing inspiration has been made exponentially easier.  I think it's one of the best tool for bloggers out there at the moment.  

Have you tried it?  If you haven't I implore you to give it a go!

Leaf Love

Leaves take center stage at this time of year, and it's no wonder.  The richness of colors and shapes, the way they float from their trees and dance gently on the autumn air is simply magical.  Have you ever noticed that leaves can sometimes make just as pretty of center pieces as flowers? And do you ever find yourself smiling at the site of leaves lining the sidewalks?  I certainly do.  I love leaves.  I've always wanted to have a yard full of them that I could rake into a huge pile which I could then throw in the air like confetti.  But alas, we don't get many changing leaves here in LA, so I have to rely mostly on the digital world to satisfy my leaf obsession.  Here are a few images that are currently making me smile...

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Hope you are having a leafy and lovely Thursday!

Pumpkin Filled Guest Post from Kait!

Morning! Today I have a very special Halloween Treat for you--A festive guest post from my dear bloggy friend Kait. Read on if you like pumpkins...If you don't like pumpkins, well, I don't know what to tell you; most people will agree they are pretty awesome! 

Hi everyone! I’m Kait, a Canadian gal who loves everything vintage, handmade, eco-friendly, tea and am a firm believer that sandwiches taste better when cut diagonally! I blog over at Miss Kait Online. I love Autumn, so so so much! One of my favourite things to do in the fall is visit the pumpkin patch. It’s tradition for us to go to one, its something that my grandfather started with us when we were kids. This year’s Thanksgiving weekend my family I went to one of the largest patches in the area! It’s a great place for kids and grown ups alike.

picking pumpkins & getting lost in the corn maze!

Some of the things you could do there were picking pumpkins, climbing hay bails, getting lost in a huge corn maze, wagon rides, a petting zoo and so much more! At the store they sold some amazing baked goods, fuits and vegetables. They also have a “Pumpkin Canon” show a few times throughout the day, where they basically fire pumpkins at various targets.

the market, pumpkin canon and petting zoo

Do you have any fall/Thanksgiving activities that you do as a tradition? What are they! If you want to see more photos from the day, I’ll be posting a photo post soon with the rest of them over on at my blog. Thanks so much to Heather for having me on her blog!

A long weekend....

The boy and I just got back from an amazing road trip holiday and I have so much to share with you it's simply makes me giddy.  But I have so much to catch up on and so much to do that takes precedent (if you are waiting for an email from me, I apologize, I will get back to you I swear!)   But for now I just had to show you a snippet from the trip....As you can see, it was pretty Monumental!  

Details to come!  Just as soon as I unpack and clean up and answer emails and wash the dishes and finish my guest posts and...sigh....It's all in the works, I promise! 

Burger Quest: Hamburger Haven

Currently this hamburger joint is ranking in 2nd place in my Burger Quest.  It's had some tough competition, but believe me people, this burger has some serious bite!

We first added Hamburger Haven to the list because of the banner outside their modest shack which reads "People everyday tell us we have the best burgers in LA!"  So with a challenge like that, we had to give the place a go....And I concur  that they really do have some of the Best Burgers in Town! 

This burger was sinfully good.  Perfectly proportionate, meaty, flavorful and all topped with a bun that is easily the best I've ever tasted.  It was slightly sweet, like a Hawaiian roll.  So tasty!  The onion rings were pretty awesome too!  Situated just across from the Abby on Santa Monica Blvd, this West Hollywood gem is one that shouldn't be missed!  Now here's the score...(Keep in mind it's on a scale of 1 to 5!)

Meatiness: 5
Succulentiousness: 3
Bun: 5
Flavor: 5
Stay-together-ness: 5
Joint: 3

Mary Blair

Happy Saturday Loves!  Hope the day finds you well.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from one of my favorite artists, Mary Blair.

Mary is best known for her work with Disney.  As she was the concept artist on several of the early films, such as Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella and The Three Caballeros.  She also gave "It's a Small World" its distinctive look at Disneyland and her work can be seen throughout all the Disney parks.  I suppose I can't help it-- I am a total Disney kid and as such I love exploring all aspects of the company.  But Mary Blair's artwork is also so distinctive, retro and delightful, I am a fan with or without the recognizable characters.  She did so many paintings, this is just a small sample.

Enjoy!

Hello and nice to meet you!

Just wanted to post a quick note to all of you who have come over from Megan's blog. It's so nice to meet you and thanks for all the lovely comments! I love making new blog friends!

Paso Robles part duex: Kristin's Birthday

So as I mentioned before, the boy and I recently made a trip up to Paso Robles with my parents in celebration of my friend Kristin's 30th birthday.  I've known Kristin since I was about 4.  We grew up together as next door neighbors.  We spent our childhood playing with My Little Ponies, reading Babysitter Club books, loving the New Kids on the Block (yes, embarrassing) riding horses and generally having a great time together. 

It was so nice to get to spend the weekend with her, our families and some of her oldest friends!  It reminded me just how lucky I am to have friends like Kristin! 

the whole gang

Shelia and Kristin

My Parents and me and some bearded man I don't know

(Thanks to Kristin for putting these photos on Facebook...I wasn't being a good camera lady!)

something sacred

I have been trying my hardest to clean up my hard drive (one of my 29 before 29 goals) and in the process I found this...

Such a happy picture and a special day.  Liz, I miss you!

Harvest Crafts

Here are a few fabulous seasonal crafts I've found whilst trolling the internet...I'm tempted to try all of them! 

this is for purchase on Etsy

check out the eye-popping how-to on the dainty squid

this adorable diy from a beautiful mess would be stylish all year round!

Do you have a festive craft to share?  Go on and share the link below!!!

Burger Quest: Fuddruckers

My parents are big Fuddruckers fans.  There is one in Burbank and I think my mom frequented it quite a bit when she was a young adult.  See, maybe this longing for burgers is a genetic thing?  Anyway, the boy and I went to a Fuddruckers burger stand in the Century City mall, so I don't really think it should count as a proper representation of the Fuddruckers joint.  Also it was slightly tricky burger to judge because it's set up like a burger bar, so the consumer gets to top the burger with whatever they want and with as much as they want.  In that regard, it's hard to determine what the Fuddruckers signature burger would actually include.

But we ordered a regular burger and fries (the fries were pretty damn awesome too) and we topped that sucker off with lettuce, tomato, pickles and ketchup.  The boy was less than impressed with the Fuddruckers taste, but I found it to be delicious.  The meat was so fresh and juicy and the bun was light and sweet.  MMM, just the memory of it makes my mouth water.  I really liked this burger!

Fuddruckers is a chain and the actual restaurants are pretty fun.  They are crazy with a whole bunch of random crap on the walls, kind of like TGI Fridays but better.  I would definitely recommend y'all sampling a taste if you have the means.

And of course, the score:

Meatiness: 4
Succulentiousness: 4
Bun: 4
Flavor: 5
Stay-together-ness: 3
Joint: 1

Simply Stunning

If you've ever been in a ballet class I've taught you've probably heard me talk about Yumelia Garcia.  She is by far on of my favorite dancers and easily one of the best dancers I ever had the pleasure of working with.  Dancing Kitri in Don Q is one of her signature roles and this is why...



See what I mean?  Check out that balance!!!  She is such an inspiration!

paso robles road trip!

One of my most favorite places on the planet is Paso Robles, California.  The boy and I went there the day after our wedding to kick off our California Wine Country Road Trip and we had such an amazing time.

In honor of our 3rd wedding anniversary, my wonderfully generous parents offered to take us up there again for a weekend.  All four of us stayed at a beautiful charming B&B, whilst going to our favorite vineyards.  The whole trip was actually centered around the birthday of one of my oldest and dearest friends, Kristin...But more about that later!

For now, I'd just like to share some photos of our B&B, Inn Paradiso...

me by the pool (taken by the boy who was actually in it!)

the living room was soo cool

our room was just up those steps

all B&B's need a cat!

It was such a gorgeous place to stay and the breakfast was simply heavenly!  Thanks Mom & Dad!!!