Cover Up! A Halloween Rant

At what point did Halloween become a “limited clothing holiday”? You all know what I am talking about, Why do most costumes made for girls/women over 10 involve very limited clothing? When did it become important to wear very little clothing to celebrate a holiday? And why make this an essential part of an autumn holiday? Okay so realistically it isn’t that cold here in texas but in other places it is down right chilly, it seems like this would be a good holiday to wear more clothing not less! When did “sketchy clothes” become a costume? Seriously a very tiny black piece of silk combined with a witch hat is NOT a Halloween costume! This trend bothers me and in some ways ruins the holiday. I get that I am uptight, I like to layer, and yes I may be a bit conservative, but really I don’t need to see you in that tiny outfit that kinda sorta covers what needs to be covered and kinda sorta doesnt, and children really really really don’t need to see that. Protect the innocence of Halloween, cover up! Halloween is about kids, candy, apple cider, glowsticks, pumpkins, and let’s be honest throwing up because your body isn’t meant to process that much high fructose corn syrup in one sitting- but it is NOT about being partially naked, showing off more of yourself that is appropriate, or wearing an outfit you would be embarrassed to let your mother see you in. Short skirts, low cut tops, and shorts purchased in the children’s section don’t a make a costume more festive… plus really it’s a kids holiday, not a prostitute holiday. Cover up, have some respect for the other trick or treaters, stick to the basics, tights are good, long sleeve shirts are good, skirts and shorts that cover you enter backside are good, partial nudity is bad!

Cover Up! A Halloween Rant

At what point did Halloween become a “limited clothing holiday”? You all know what I am talking about, Why do most costumes made for girls/women over 10 involve very limited clothing? When did it become important to wear very little clothing to celebrate a holiday? And why make this an essential part of an autumn holiday? Okay so realistically it isn’t that cold here in texas but in other places it is down right chilly, it seems like this would be a good holiday to wear more clothing not less! When did “sketchy clothes” become a costume? Seriously a very tiny black piece of silk combined with a witch hat is NOT a Halloween costume! This trend bothers me and in some ways ruins the holiday. I get that I am uptight, I like to layer, and yes I may be a bit conservative, but really I don’t need to see you in that tiny outfit that kinda sorta covers what needs to be covered and kinda sorta doesnt, and children really really really don’t need to see that. Protect the innocence of Halloween, cover up! Halloween is about kids, candy, apple cider, glowsticks, pumpkins, and let’s be honest throwing up because your body isn’t meant to process that much high fructose corn syrup in one sitting- but it is NOT about being partially naked, showing off more of yourself that is appropriate, or wearing an outfit you would be embarrassed to let your mother see you in. Short skirts, low cut tops, and shorts purchased in the children’s section don’t a make a costume more festive… plus really it’s a kids holiday, not a prostitute holiday. Cover up, have some respect for the other trick or treaters, stick to the basics, tights are good, long sleeve shirts are good, skirts and shorts that cover you enter backside are good, partial nudity is bad!

Learning Patience... Never Give Up!

Patience is a virtue that I am lacking. I am impatient in traffic, impatient when the internet loads slowly, impatient with Brian, and impatient in the check out line at the grocery store. I was an impatient teenager, waiting to grow up, move out, and take the world on. I was impatient in college, eager to learn everything from microbiology to Monet, save the starving children, and get those hard earned diplomas. Now I am impatient for... more. Sometimes this impatience has lead to tragedy (see the previous post), but most of the time this inner impatience has led me to work harder for the next thing. Now I am in a stage of life where the next thing isnt as concrete as a diploma, a first job, or a house. I am in the stage of life where there is a lot of waiting and seeing, a lot of finding satisfaction with the stage you are in, a lot of finding success in the smaller things, and a lot of putting my faith and trust in something outside my control.

I have a hard time with this stage of life. I dont know what to do, I am not a wait and see sort of person. I am not patient. I like to know what comes next, I like to plan, prepare, and make lists. This stage of life doesnt come with a to do list, it doesnt come with a calendar, or even an academic plan- this stage of life is tough. Over the past few years I have watched many of my close friends transition into this grown up stage of life. The stage where you leave the safety of school, get real jobs, develop a routine that doesnt revolve around papers, lectures, and midterms, and grow up. It seemed easy enough when I was watching from the sidelines. The lack of deadlines seemed blissful, the homework free weekends seemed endless, and the mere thought of final free Christmas plans lead to hallucinations of a heavenly choir. But now that I have the weekends to myself, and the evenings free from required reading I am... lost. Now is the time where I need to learn patience. I am learning slowly, learning to live in the moment, love the stage we are in, and put my trust in more than a written plan. Oh patience... why I cant I learn you faster!

While on my quest to learn patience I came across this video...

Rotary Cutter + Left Thumb= Blood Everywhere

Being right handed, I dont often appreciate my left thumb. I assume whatever I do with my left hand can also be done with my right. Wrong... there are some things that require two hands- cooking, typing, hair straighting, putting in my contacts, showers, making the bed just to name a few. Until last night I didnt truely appreciate my left thumb... but now, well I am grateful for it and hope it heals quickly!

I thought the title of this post was appropriate given that it is almost Halloween. The title gives away the story, but let me fill you in on all the gory (haha... or not) details. Last night I was sitting on my living room floor with my rotary cutter, my green cutter mat (i'm sure this has an actual name but I dont know it), 10 yards of black tulle, CJ, and an episode of America's Test kitchen for background noise. I was happily cutting my tulle into 8 inch strips when all of a sudden I looked down and there was a LOT of blood. I hadnt felt anything strange so I was intrigued... but not stupid, so I ran to the bathroom and sure enough part of my left thumb was only partially attached. Okay this is making the incident sound worse than it actually was, I did cut off the tip of my finger, but it just took off part of the tip and some of the nail. No lasting damage (that I know of), and no stitches (regardless of whether or not they were needed). I stopped the bleeding, bandaged my hand, finished cutting the tulle, and made 50 potstickers with one hand (fyi not a good thing to make with one hand).

So note to me and to all of you that own a rotary cutter- ALWAYS pay attention when cutting. Dont look up, away, or blink, you could take off a finger, or a finger tip which is still painful. Another note, never underestimate how sharp the blade actually is... yes you might get away with just touching it (why you or I would be this dumb is another story), but when you are actually rolling the blade it goes fast, if it can cut through multiple layers of fabric, denim, and whatever else you have cut, pretty good bet that it isnt going to slow down for your thumb...

Skinny Jeans... a fiasco in the making...

Skinny jeans are a style I swore I would never get in to. There is something about turning jeans which are comfy and meant to make people feel better, into spandex torture devices that did not appeal to me. This was one style from the 80's that wasnt meant to come back. I held fast to this idea until fairly recently. I told everyone that would listen that the style wasnt meant for anyone, that everyone looked a bit wider than needed when wearing them, and I promptly walked out of stores where they were sold. Then last fall I started to have a change of heart. Maybe it was living in Utah, maybe it was the peer pressure, or maybe it is just that I was born in the 80's, but for some reason I started to develop this crazy notion that this style might actually be okay for some body types, and let's be real, it looked like they might not look quite a ridiculous with boots as some other styles of jeans (aka everything else i owned). I continued to stay away, but then a couple of weeks ago I broke. I tried on a pair, and while they werent the cutest thing I ever wore, they werent quite the blue spandex disaster I had been expecting. I bravely walked to the check out counter, paid, and went home. Oh I should mention the long drawn out conversation I had with Brian in the dressing room area before purchasing the jeans that were on sale for less than $20. So I purchased the jeans, wore them to work, continued not to hate or love them, and moved on with life. Then I bought another pair, and while I am still a little concerned that this look isnt great, I do have to say I may have misjudged it a bit... not bad... but not great, what more can I ask for in a pair of jeans?

Em this picture is for you... and yes this is meant to be a grandpa/old man sweater... it is super comfy, i was going for warm and black not cute and stylish.

House Updates

Despite my recent lack of blogging on the topic we have continued to decorate our house... it is starting to look like people live here. Here are just a few of the recent updates... I am sure you were dying to see them...

Nothing new here, what are your thoughts on painting this wall green... I like green but I hate painting so i need some input.

House with fall decorations... nothing too thrilling.. apparently this post isnt actually about what we have done
Recent wall hanging. I saw this idea on a blog... it was for a halloween decoration, i changed the idea a bit and now i have a new wall hanging.
I made two of these, they arent identical, but they are pretty close.
Have i mentioned that I LOVE the target dollar section. I have been wondering what to put above my cabinets for awhile, it seemed so boring and empty up there, i was even tempted to paint (i know!), but then the other day in the dollar section i found these lovely stars on sticks. Sadly, they were not $1 each, but I was pretty happy with the $2.50 price tag, I had thought about going to hobby lobby, but good thing they failed me. I love stars, and I love christmas colors!

Fall Decorations

Just in case you weren't already painfully aware I love holidays and fall. I love everything about the period of time between Sept 1. and Jan 1. I love the food, the weather, and the activities. I love the cinnamon scented air freshener, the seasonal candy, and of course the decorations. I decked (well that might be a bit overly generous) out our house for fall sometime back in august. I made a few modifications on Oct. 1 for Halloween, but all in all considering how little time we are home I thought it was cute. Happy Fall, Happy Halloween, and a very early Merry Christmas!

PS you are welcome for the very short tour of our "decorated" house.

Halloween "decoration" still not sure on this one, I will let you know the verdict, but i think the candy makes it 10,000 times better.

adorable towels purchased at target. Thank you mom for the cute ghosts!
CJ also loves halloween, since she is a black cat I am counting her as a decoration. PS did you see the adorably pumpkin salt and pepper shakers? they were just too cheesy not to buy!
Target dollar section signs... who knew $5 could be so well spent. Sadly the pumpkins were from hobby lobby and not nearly as cheap but I did have a coupon so way to go me!

Happy Fall!