In A Halloween Spirit

I really love Halloween, but sadly I have had almost no time to decorate for it so far. So, I thought I'd decorate this post instead. :) Here are some Halloween/Fall decorating ideas I love from Martha Stewart.

Halloween 2009

Here we are ready for some spooktacular fun! Our friend Jen snapped this pic.

Weekend Roundup

Friday:
-Sleeeeeep innnnnn
-Clean house
-Wait for Josh to get home
-Put on pjs and order pizza
-Pizza in bed while watching Arsenic & Old Lace and Sleepy Hollow
-Bed time

Saturday
-Up early
-Coffee and breakfast while watching The Botany of Desire on dvr
-Holly stops by to loan me her make-up tools and give me a quick how-to lesson for my costume
-Run to Kohl's to exchange Josh's suspenders and Ulta for more make-up supplies
-Back home for lunch
-Shower and get ready
-Make-up and wig
-Costume on and out the door
-Party it up at Clif & Duane's
-Back home to hit the hay

Sunday:
-Sleep in (God bless daylight savings)
-Coffee
-Menu planning and grocery listing
-Shower
-Grocery shopping
-Chipotle for late lunch/early dinner
-Start laundry
-Clean and prep veggies for the week
-Flip mattress and topper
-Put Spring/Summer duvet up, pull out Fall/Winter quilt
-Watch some dvr'd Ghost Hunters while making bed and doing laundry
-Cheese and crackers for snack
-Finish laundry/ironing
-Read a little P&P&Z
-Lights out

It's The Cat's Meow

Well my Halloween costume arrived today. Just in time, right? I didn't order it until Monday because we had barely even had time to think about Halloween between our Cali trip and planning the baby shower. And to be honest, I didn't even figure out what I was going to be until I was looking at costumes online. Normally I like to plan in advance and put something interesting together. You can see some of our past Halloween costumes here. In the end I couldn't come up with a brilliant idea, and Josh wasn't really offering an immense amount of input, so I impulsively told him I was being a flapper and that was that. We have decided that he will be a bootlegger. That basically consists of his "Clyde" costume from two years ago with the addition of suspenders (which he has been wanting anyways) and a bottle of booze. So, despite having a generic fringe flapper dress, I have been determined the past few days to polish up and improve my Charleston dance moves. I've been watching videos on youtube and last night I watched several dance numbers from Chicago and tried to pick up a few steps. When Josh got home I tried to teach him the basic moves and he didn't do too bad, but dancing rhythm doesn't seem to translate that well for drummers. Anyway, tonight I'm going to practice some more, mostly for my own enjoyment because it's not like I'll be able to make good use of this stuff to dance the night away at the part we're going to. I just wanted to lend a little authenticity to my costume. Tonight I'll be viewing some of The Cat's Meow and Singin' In The Rain for more inspiration. Above is my costume, although I've got a red boa and black gloves to go with it. And for fun here's a video of Ginger Rogers & Lucille Ball doing the Charleston together. I picked up a couple of moves from this. Did you know that Ginger Rogers was a Championship Charleston-er? As a matter of fact she won right here in Fort Worth, TX. :)

Weekend Roundup

Friday:
-Sleep-in, no work yay!
-Tidy up
-Watch some Ghosthunters
-Vacuum
-More Ghosthunters and paint my nails
-Shower
-Run to Walgreens for more pantyhose
-Eat
-Finish getting ready
-Head to Club Dada
-Load in and help set things up
-Grab some grub at Cafe Brazil
-Rock out to Sunward as The Flaming Lips
-After party at John's
-Head home
-Totally crash on the couch

Saturday:
-Recuperate from Friday night while watching a lot of television, oy

Sunday:
-Lay around an extra hour- thank you Daylight Savings!
-Shower
-Get ready
-Meet our realtor Ed
-Tour 5 house possibilities, eliminate 3 of them (are you kidding me with that broken down hot tub and handmade shack?)
-Grab some Sonic
-Head home for eating and discussing
-Make menu plan and grocery list
-Stop by Deana's to drop some stuff off
-Grocery shopping
-Unload cargo
-Tidy up
-Catch most of All The President's Men and half of Clue on the telly while looking over house pics and info
-Hit the hay

Favorite Halloween Movies

I already shared how I've been enjoying the haunting season by reading a bit of Poe. I've also been indulging in some of my favorite spooky/scary/suspenseful flicks over the past few weeks, and thought I'd share. :)

Arsenic & Old Lace- A drama critic learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are homicidal maniacs, and that insanity runs in his family. Cary Grant really gets to show off his comedic chops in this one! Lots of laughs, but don't be fooled, there are a few scenes that really get your adrenaline pumping.


Psycho- A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother. I recommend that you watch this on DVD so that you can watch the documentary about the making. It really helps you appreciate how ground-breaking a film this was.


Rear Window- A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder. Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly are fabulous, but I think Thelma Ritter is my favorite.




The Birds- A wealthy San Francisco playgirl pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people there in increasing numbers and with increasing viciousness. Hitchcock is infamous for the leading ladies he chose, but I think he had a real gift for picking first class leading men as well. Rod Taylor- yum!

Sleepy Hollow- Ichabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of 3 people with the culprit being the legendary apparition, the Headless Horseman. I really love this movie. One of my favorite Depp films, by far.




A few more Halloween viewing suggestions:
The Pit and the Pendulum- Vincent Price acting and Poe story make for a great combo
Halloween- Only the original will do
The Rocky Horror Picture Show- The only song I danced to at Prom was the Time Warp and you might recall Josh and I were Brad & Janet last year, so I kinda-sort like this movie ;)
Young Frankenstein- It's a classic IMO
Dracula- Coppola's interpretation is my favorite, but of course Bela Legosi would do beautifully too

Creepy Reads

I FINALLY finished reading Team of Rivals Monday after a long, cozy Friday night that consisted of tomato soup, grilled cheese, a bowl of popcorn and a lot of page turning. I don't know what book I want to move onto next, but I'm taking a little detour to celebrate Halloween while I decide. Currently resting on my bedside table is the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe. Here's hoping I don't here any gentle rapping at my chamber door!

Halloween: A Retrospective, Part I

2004: John & Yoko















Forgive my crooked wig, it was the end of the night and that thing was itchy!

2006: Bonnie & Clyde



























2007: Brad & Janet

Halloween

So, we officially have a Halloween party to attend, which means we have a reason to have costumes. After some deep thought we've settled on dressing up like the two squares pictured here. Josh didn't feel totally comfortable with the idea of wearing underwear as our costumes, so we'll be recreating the above outfits that Brad & Janet are wearing when they arrive on Dr. Frank-N-Furter's doorstep. I can't say I totally disagree with Josh, as Halloween is typically the first cold night of the year here. It just always seems to work that way. We went to a neighborhood thrift store Friday and was able to find a good jacket for Josh that was only $6. He should have pants and a shirt that will work fine, so we just need to find a blue sweater vest and some cheap black glasses that we can pop the lenses out of. I ordered the biggest part of my costume on Saturday. I normally like to put a bit more effort into my costume than just ordering it from a website, but since I can use this costume again for it's original intent I figured it was a good deal. And it will be nice to have a costume I can pull out in case of emergencies. Costume related emergencies, which are obviously a concern for me. So, someday I will be dressed as one of the classiest first ladies, but first I will be Janet Weiss. And now that I'm looking at the dress again, I bet I could probably make a pretty good air stewardess costume out of it eventually. So, what are you going to be this year?