masquerade

we had our annual masquerade this past weekend. we opted to have it outside (the theme was into the woods, everyone being something you could/would find in the woods) which made decorating a lot easier. it was gorgeous. here are some pictures.

my favorite costume of the night was definitely drew . . . max from where the wild things are . . . adorable!! his sister made his entire costume, showing off some mad sewing skills. i was artemis, goddess of the forest and the hunt. regina was goddess of spring and craig was oberon. other costumes included butterflies, braveheart, little red riding hood, and the big bad wolf.

hobb's grove

the story i have to tell today begins approximately twelve years ago. i went to an edgar allen poe themed haunted house during the halloween season. one would have thought an event such as this would have been right up my alley (what, with my love of scary movies and halloween and vampires and all such things . . ). not so, my friends, not so. it scared me so bad i screamed and screamed, and then i cried, and maybe, just maybe, i might have peed my pants just the teensiest little bit (not so much that anyone else would know, you understand, but enough to make me realize i should stay away from such places to avoid future humiliation) . . . .

and stay away i did.

for six years.

then, while living in provo, my cousin convinced me to give it another go. the good news is that i did not pee my pants. however, i did cry before i even got inside.

i stayed away for another six years.

this year i decided to let my friends drag me to hobb's grove. they have attempted to get me to go the last several years (craig has tried to trick me into going several times, disguising his true intentions by describing it as a fun house with clowns) hobb's grove is one of the major haunted halloween attractions in town. they have three separate options, and we chose the haunted forest. i had several days to gird myself mentally for the upcoming fright fest . . .

i am happy to report that i laughed hysterically through the entire thing. i was not scared, i was amused. my friends contributed to my amusement with their screaming and running. so it would appear i have overcome a longstanding fear. congratulations go out to myself.

thank you (bow) . . thank you (bow)

here we are. having a good time.

10 things that made me happy this week . . .

1. finding myself curled up on a couch in the campus library for about 2.5 hours reading. who knew you could concentrate so well in an area built and designated for concentrating . . .

2. my second mid-term is over. hooray. now i can slack off again till finals . . . just kidding.

3. i bought a party dress. only, i'm not saving it for a party. i wore it to church today. it's hot pink and black lace print, empire waist, full skirt, darling black tulle poking out of the bottom. i feel very stepford in it.

4. the last moments of preparation for the masquerade found me elaborately decorating a table under a canopy of trees in the wilderness, fairy-esque make-up on my face, applying massive amounts of green make-up to a boy's face, and listening to show tunes. at that moment i re-realized . . . me and my friends are so wierd. i love us.

5. i must admit i feel very clever and superior whenever that levi's commercial with the half-naked people frolicking in the firelight comes on. i am not fooled into thinking some inspired advertising guru came up with such amazing words. oh no my friends. those inspiring words were penned by one walt whitman. the poem is pioneers! o pioneers! check it out . . . it's a good one.

6. tried a new dessert this weekend. (technically my mom made it, but i found the recipe) di-vine!! perhaps if i feel inspired this week i'll type out the whole recipe and share it with you all . . . we shall see . . .

7. the word "snarky."

8. with the mid-terms and masquerade over, my life can now return to some semblance of normal . . . i've begun to put my room back together. i can now walk in it. (happiness) next i shall finish emptying my car of party paraphernalia. laundry . . . i'm coming for you mid-week.

9. my friends and i are pretty much incapable of being together for more than 15 minutes without song and dance breaking out. life should be like this all of the time.

10. the masquerade was beautiful. i wish to eat outside by candlelight every night.

on my mind . . .

yesterday the students at fresno state organized a walk-out at school to protest state imposed furlough days.
i can't make this make sense in my head.
they're upset because the furlough days are cutting down the amount of in-class time about 2-3 class days per semester, so they're walking out of classes?
wouldn't it make more sense to sit-in on furlough days?
i'm just saying.

i'm in the middle of an obsession with carla bruni.

she's currently the first lady of france, but before that she was a model.

and between those two things, she made a few albums.

they're mostly in french and they're divine.

i can't stop listening to them.

today i'm taking a mid-term for my tsarist russia class.
it's at home and online.
i have from 7 am to 9 pm to finish the whole thing.
i hardly think this constitutes an education.
i'm having a really hard time getting into the class.
so far the entire story sounds like a hot mess.
no wonder everyone wants to leave.

how great is pandora radio?

i wish i could get it in my car.

i can't wait for this week to be over.

i've had a lot to do.

and i have even more to accomplish before saturday night.

i still have to finish sewing my masquerade costume.

i have to make several desserts and ginger ale jello shots.

find ginger ale (which is surprisingly scarce).

decorate.

get myself transformed into artemis for saturday night.

cook.

clean-up.

oh yeah, and have fun.

hopefully that last bit will take care of itself.

but first i have to finish my mid-term.

10 things that made me happy this week . . .

1. our office was closed on monday, columbus day. nothing improves a monday like not having to work.

2. i'm almost done sewing my costume for the masquerade this weekend.

3. craig mocking people, to their face, in front of a room of people, and no one getting it except those of us who are his close friends.

4. went the big fresno fair with a group of friends. we pet some cows and a boa constrictor. we laughed at the bump-it girls. people watching. unhealthy food. i tried a fried twinkie. it was pretty gross. good time were had.

5. the hypnotist show at the fair was hysterical. the entire audience was jumping up and down and screaming with laughter.

6. police officers at the fair who broke up the stampeding hoard of black kids who were running into everyone, knocking people over. i think there was supposed to be a fight. luckily the men in blue nipped it in the bud immediately. good to see my tax dollars protecting my well-being.

7. i got my mask for the masquerade in the mail. i ordered it off etsy. it's amazing! i'm so excited to wear it. (p.s. i love etsy)

8. my dad brought me back a crazy cool necklace from his last escapade at the jerry spence ranch. i forgot to mention it last week. it's huge and turquoise.

9. church: two people made comments that sounded insanely racist. i'm pretty sure they didn't mean it in the way it was delivered. regina and i were trying hard to suppress our laughter. it's so hard to be reverent when people are making such outrageous remarks!

10. flavored creamers. i love them. at the top of my list: creme brule. delicious!

10 things that made me happy this week . . .

1. glee: the cheer coach's journal entry. i need to listen to it over and over. i wonder if i could get it on my ipod . . . just an audio of the journal entry . . . i could listen to it at any given moment and be reduced to a fit of hysterics. it would be wonderful.

2. one of our clients has decided to go on a "hunger strike" until the court gets his psychotic meds figured out . . . right, because that's going to help your mood swings and outbursts . . . blood sugar dropping and hunger pains. i don't have to take any psych meds and i go sort of loco when i get too hungry.

3. impromptu dance party at craig's house.

4. my parents celebrated their 32 year anniversary this week.

5. my family went to see a beach boys concert at the fair. they were great. afton was dancing up a storm. their music is so great. timeless. i think my favorite beach boys song is "fun, fun, fun." which they sang. and i was happy.

6. bonfires.

7. in the last twelve years i've been to two haunted houses/haunted forest's at halloween time. and both of those times i cried because i was so scared. i decided to try again this year. i am happy to report that while my friends were screaming their heads off like a bunch of sissy-la-la's, i was laughing hysterically. it was so much fun.

8. regina made homemade hummus this week. very delicious. we're going to try a flavored hummus recipe next.

9. today is afton's birthday. we had a little party over at logan's parents' house.

10. michael buble's new album is amazing. and he's amazing. i'm swooning a little bit just thinking about him and his voice. "haven't met you yet" makes me feel gleeful.

10 things that made me happy this week . . .

1. watching mazur play soccer on saturday. hooray for bunch-ball.

2. very lazy weekend. i didn't even put on make-up friday or saturday.

3. general conference.

4. kristen's wedding planning meeting. it's going to be beautiful.

5. lady gaga's performances on snl. she is so weird. like . . . weird to the point that i bet you can't even have a coherent conversation with her. but the performances are amusing.

6. i got a massage. it was amazing. and that pesky little knot below my left shoulder blade is almost gone. at least i can't feel it when i breathe in now.

7. it's cooling down again. i actually had to wear a coat to class.

8. my fortune cookie told me "you shall soon achieve perfection." yes! i knew i was close . . .

9. candles that drown out the smell of my co-workers canned fish lunches everyday. they seriously make me want to gag. how can she swallow it? my candle is saving my life.

10. it's october!!! fall, pumpkins, dead leaves, halloween, crisp weather, apple cider, hot chocolate, soup, extra blankets, costumes . . . i welcome you all with open arms!!