Belated Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone!  Wait, it's November already?  Oops.

My grandma spoils me.  Look at this amazing care package she gave me.  She even included a pumpkin, and a kit to decorate it!

And basically all of my favorite things - homemade sour cream cookies (so.good.), Reese's, peanut butter crackers, Milky Way bars, a HUGE Hershey's bar, hot chocolate, Goldfish, a super cute owl card, awesome socks, and some festive napkins!  So amazing.

I had some friends over in early October, so of course it was the perfect excuse to get some of my favorite Halloween candy.  Luckily not much was left at the end of the night, because I just can't resist it!

I love decorating for any holiday.

Ooh, scary!

I made this when I was really little, and my mom sent it to me in a care package when I was in undergrad.  He manages to still make an appearance once in awhile.

After not dressing up the past 2 years, last weekend I got to dress up in a couple of different costumes.  On Friday I was a "Southern belle" - I wore a dress that my mom wore as a bridesmaid in the 70s :)  I didn't wear the huge crinoline petticoat that would make it even poofier, though.

My friend Josh was a super scary vampire.  Seriously, he was creeping me out!  Pardon my red eyes - I tried to get rid of them in Photoshop but, 1) I don't know how to use Photoshop, and 2) I have perpetual red eyes that seem to just turn gray when they're "corrected."  Josh's glowing eyes work well with his costume, though!

Saturday I went down to Columbus with a group of friends.  I dressed up as "Bad Sandy" from Grease, and my friend Chris was Danny Zuko.  I stayed up pretty late after the party on Friday night to put curlers in my hair in an attempt to make it super curly for an authentic Bad Sandy look.

And I got to sleep in them.  Lucky me!

Buuuut my hair didn't dry by the time I had to take the curlers out the next day, so I was a less authentic Sandy.  Ohhh well.  (Check out my super cool "Academic" high school letter pinned on "Danny's" sweater, haha.)

I'm terrible at taking pictures - this is my attempt at capturing High Ball (a street festival we went to).

I snapped a picture of this scary monster thing.  And that was the extent of my picture-taking!

I also got to eat at one of my favorite places while we were down in Columbus - Northstar Cafe!  I got the Buddha Bowl with roasted chicken, brown rice, peanut sauce, and veggies.  It was really, really delicious.  I failed at using my chopsticks, though :/  Maybe I should try to develop that skill...

Although this pumpkin made a cute decoration, it was even better after it was roasted :)  Stay tuned for my next post, which will be totally pumpkin themed!  (Very original, I know.)

Song of the day:

"Tightrope" by Walk the Moon.  Very upbeat and fun!

Whirlwind

Phew, this week has been crazy, hence the lack of blogging.  Tuesday was a great first day of summer, and then things really picked up.  On Wednesday, I started my summer job in the morning, spent time at my grandparents' house in the afternoon, went to see The Hunger Games (excellent!) and to Olive Garden with my other grandma (that salad and those breadsticks never get old), and went to the gym for some cardio that night, and yesterday I had a full day of work.

Today was another busy one, but also really fun.  I baby-sat a ten year old while simultaneously doing some work and running errands.  Multitasking!

Mother's Day is approaching, so we had some arts and crafts time.

Then we had to go to a muffler shop for some work on my car.  Don't these candy machines just make you happy?  The simple things.  I gave the girl I was watching a quarter so she could get some candy - she was so patient and read her book and played on her iPod while we were waiting, and I worked on typing a document for work.

Everyone at the muffler shop was so nice and friendly!  I even managed to do some networking.  And one customer came in with his pet snake hanging out around his neck!  Check out this sweet car that one of the other customers brought in:

It's a '68 Pontiac Bonneville.  I learned to drive on a Bonneville, but I can assure you it did NOT look like that.  It was a great car, but one of my dad's friends nicknamed it "The Marshmallow" because it was white and rather large and puffy :)

After the muffler shop, we ran some more errands and then went to the mall for some lunch and shopping.  I had the best lunch - a chicken pesto crepe and a fresh juice (carrots, beets, cucumber).  So good.  I could easily eat crepes every day.

Shopping with a ten year old = lots of bright colors and sparkles.

It also means fun things like scented markers!!!  They're back and apparently better than ever - there were so many options!  Scented pens, markers, pencils, even highlighters.  I'm going to have to keep those in mind for back-to-school shopping next year...  And they weren't just in kids' stores - they were in American Greetings and Papyrus, too!

I did get some grown-up things... even though I was not planning to buy anything.  I can never resist a great deal!!  I'll post pictures soon of what I got.  The girl I was watching was a great shopping buddy.

Our errands and shopping wore us out, so we turned on a movie when we got back.  Recognize this image?

Matilda!  One of my all-time favorites.  I never get tired of it.

I ended the night spending time with family and friends at my grandparents' house.  Unfortunately mall-walking was pretty much my only exercise today, but tomorrow I should be able to get in a quality workout.

Hope you all had a good week!

Song of the day:

"Good Girl" by Carrie Underwood.

Happy (Tween) Valentine's Day

So is everyone sick of all things pink, red, and chocolate yet?  I can never have enough pink or chocolate in my life, so it's all good with me!

My Valentine's Day decorations left over from undergrad care packages - those were the best!

My Valentine's cards - the star of the show being the Jonas Brothers card from my dad.  I have a not-so-secret crush on them, particularly Nick....  this is an old picture - he's not THAT young anymore!

And it's a poster!  Hahaha.

The best surprise!  I got this package from my BFF Maryam and it totally made my week!

She knows me SO well.  Look at all those goodies!!!  Dove dark chocolates, Reese's hearts (UH-mazing!!!!!!!), bubble gum, heart playing cards, a bath fizzie, a lollipop, and Baby Lips!  The Baby Lips smells like grapes and leaves such a pretty color on my lips.

Don'tcha think?

I started off the day with cardio at the gym.  Once again, I was the crazy girl unable to control her emotions on the elliptical....  This time it was a surprise marriage proposal on Good Morning America that made me tear up slightly.  Such a sap!

After the gym I made myself a fun treat:  iced coffee!  I made some coffee on Saturday when I had to be at school at 8AM, but it didn't all fit in my travel mug, so I put the rest in the fridge.

Put the chilled coffee in a glass, add some ice, and then pour in some almond milk.

Then admire the pretty swirling effect!

I added about 7 drops of liquid stevia (a plant-derived no-calorie sweetener), mixed it all up, added a pink straw for fun and festivity, and enjoyed my delicious beverage!  Even if there is snow on the ground and it's not exactly iced coffee weather.

I have to confess that I LOVE McDonald's iced coffee - a big part of that is because they use a lot of cream and sugar, so it's hard not to like it!  I think my version is just as good, and much healthier with almond milk and stevia instead of cream and sugar.

Hope everyone is having a great Valentine's Day and that you all got some special treats.  What's your favorite candy?  Mine used to be Reese's eggs (the peanut butter to chocolate ratio is perfect and not having any hard edges like a normal Reese's cup makes it so much tastier!), but now they make Reese's pumpkins, Christmas trees, and hearts, too - I couldn't ask for anything more.

Song of the Day:

"Your Arms Around Me" by Jens Lekman.  I discovered this song because it is on the soundtrack for Whip It - definitely one of my all-time favorite soundtracks.  (And a great movie!)