What's on Tap for the Weekend

Hopefully, tomorrow nite, we will have our first bonfire!  Just the 2 of us!!  We have quite a bit of brush that needs burned ~ so we will be enjoying the fire while helping to clean up the "yard"!  I also have pumpkin (shaped and flavored) marshmallows that I will just have to try roasted over an open fire!!

We will have the first guests to our Loveshack!  My aunt and her husband are stopping by on Saturday for a late lunch and to see Ogden Dunes.  We might take them down to the beach ~ where we haven't been since the nite we went to see the high waves during Sandy.  Coincidentally, they were the first guests at Harvest Moon House, too!

I am going to try out a new crockpot recipe, Buffalo Chicken.  The recipe calls for chicken legs, but my honey bought thighs, so we will improvise!  This is a recipe that I requested from a co-worker's wife.  He brought this to our Halloween party; however, I didn't try them until the next day's leftovers.  Holy, YUM!  Both cold and reheated, they are awesome!  I'll serve some frozen peas & corn, along with either garlic rolls or garlic bread.  Considering buying a dessert, but still toying with the idea of whipping something up from my recipe book...

I made a Cranberry Walnut Bread last weekend that is almost gone (I will enjoy the last piece today).  It is best when sliced and toasted, if you can believe that!!  Don't think I have made this bread before and pretty sure I copied it from one of the mysteries I read.  Fortunately, I had purchased a can of whole cranberries on my last Aldi trip!!  I will definitely make this recipe again!  Could be something to take for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

On Sunday, I plan to try out a Sweet Potato Hash recipe.  If we like it, then it will definitely be one of the foods we bring for Thanksgiving this year!  I love sweet potatoes and really like to have new ways to eat them!  They are so full of healthy goodness!!!

We also have a couple acorn squash I can bake.  I have already made some once this fall, with a new recipe, of course.  Think I might go simple with these: just honey & cinnamon as a healthy side/dessert to go with our Hash.

Our drag queen friend, Sinders Parrish, might compete in her 2nd Dragzilla at SPIN in Chicago on Saturday, but we haven't yet decided if we are making a nite of it.  We want to support our friend and it has to be comforting to recognize faces in the crowd. 

With the Northeast getting slapped with snow yesterday, I know that winter isn't too far off for our neck of the woods.  Looks like we are going to have some Fall weather this weekend!  Yippee!!  I hope it doesn't come with rain, so that we can be outdoors enjoying this, most likely, last hurrah of autumn's warmth!  I think I will see which of the Dunes trails Chris would like to hit Sunday morning!!!  There are several left to tackle and it would be crazy to let the weekend & weather pass without lacing up our walking/running shoes and making the most of the nature that surrounds us!

It's November....already???

With November being the month that "houses" the Thanksgiving holiday, I find this the perfect time to be reflective & thankful and to express my gratitiude.

In each of our lives, there is always something, no matter the size, of which we can be thankful.  After this week's "Frankenstorm" Sandy that walloped the East Coast, WOW!  All of us not affected should be counting our blessings!  What those people, communities, cities will endure during the cleanup and rebuilding, I cannot imagine ... and hope like hell I never have to experience!!!

While we haven't yet begun our new adventure in Colorado, I am grateful that we can afford to live in our new community for the time being, where we get to live among the trees, with the deer, near the beach ... to be so attuned to nature for the next year!!!  Ogden Dunes is a very good substitute...which could turn into a longer "layover" should we decide to buy a place next year. 

I am so thankful for our health!  We are pretty fitness-focused and I want that to always be our lifestyle.  As a matter of fact, while I will dearly miss my LA Boxing, I look forward to all the hiking outdoors that we will do when we live in CO! 

I am glad that I can try out new recipes and that Chris is willing to eat whatever I make!  Today, I am thankful that the pumpkin cupcakes (new recipe from Pinterest) that I made for yesterday's Halloween luncheon at work are so good and that I was able to snag 2 this morning for a breakfast treat!!  I look forward to trying, at least, one new recipe for Thanksgiving at my aunt's.

I am thankful to have my mom in my life and I want it to be for as long as possible.  I hope for her to finally realize that her health and her life are in her hands and to make the changes necessary to be able to watch her grandchildren, great grandchild, and not-yet-born grandchild (my nephew due in January) growing up.

I am so very grateful that my grandparents, my mom's parents, are alive and that we have been able to enjoy so many good times with them, both during our visits to Florida and theirs up here to visit my grandma's sister and her family.

I am glad that my relationships with my younger sisters are developing and that they are learning to know me (not from impressions but from ME).  I am grateful that their daughters will know me, even tho we live so many states apart.  (I love you, Shyla Lynn & Kennedy Harper!!!)

I am thankful for the friends that we have, both together and individually!  I have a few friends from as far back as I can remember and I am lucky to have some really recent new ones!!  I have friends from so many walks of life!  We respect & support one another's differences and rejoice in our similarities.  I appreciate the real, the 100% authentic, the tried & true, the honest-about-themselves kind of folks and those are the ones who will remain in my circle. 

I am thankful that this year we made it to Ghostwood Farm for their annual open house and that we have gotten to know Adam & Melissa Phelps!! 

I am so glad I laced up some roller skates and joined the Illiana Derby Dames, and another CPHS Class of 1990 alum,  for their Halloween roller skating party!  Reignited my love of roller skating and I hope to hit a local rink a few times this winter with our friends: Dave & Sandra, Kim, Paul, Mahdi & Che and maybe a few adventurous others!

I am thankful for our friends, Bart & Bobby, who have led to our friends, Dino, Tony, Jackie & Nancy.  We have had some of the best times enjoying the Chicago nightlife with most of them!  And I really look forward to many, many more!  Chicago Pride 2013 will be celebrated to the hilt!!!

I am so very grateful that I could visit my Florida family again this year.  Getting to meet Kennedy Harper, even tho she will be too young to remember, was very important to me.  Along with meeting my great-nephew, Casey Isaac, who was only weeks old!!  Spending time with just my mom in John's Pass ~~ a wonderfully thoughtful 40th birthday present.  Spending time with my brother (the grandpa!!!) on my last day.

I am lucky that my nephew Jake had time in his schedule when I visited Florida and then just a few short weeks later we got to see him in Chicago for an evening that included my first ferris wheel ride!!!

I am thankful that I was able to rock out to the 80's for my 40th birthday!  A party I had dreamed about for years and years.  I am so lucky that my honey was willing to DJ to save us a few hundred bucks (and sacrificing his fun) while dressed up as Adam Ant (you make those pants pop, Chris!!).

I am thankful that I have developed relationships with extended family, alot of credit going to Facebook.  While we didn't go together (total bummer), I did get to "share" the experience of a Notre Dame Fighting Irish football game with my cousin, Matt.  And, altho we didn't see them this year, I am so glad for the friendships with my cousin, Nathan, and his wife, Jennifer.

I have lost some "friends" this year, too, which has been difficult, but I am always learning who fits in my life and who doesn't.  It is best to move forward with the BEST.

This month, Chris & I celebrate 20 years of marriage! 

Chris, 22, and Jennifer, 20 ~ Simply Meant to Be

Whoa!!!  Seriously, where does the time go?!?  2012 went by fast....but how about the time between November 25, 1992 and now?? 

I am most thankful for the man in my life!  Chris has taught me so much over our 23 years together and I learn from him everyday!  He is my world and my best friend!  I could not have imagined loving him more now than I did 20 years ago, but the feelings I have for him run far deeper than any other.  I love you, Wolfie!

We are going to enjoy some spa treatments right before our anniversary and then a week in Las Vegas a month later.  And while I had dreamed of spending our 20th in Italy for 2 weeks, I am thankful that we have the ability to celebrate as is planned. 

I know there is more (much, much more) for which I am thankful and I plan to come back here to "write" them down as a reminder to myself how very fortunate a life I live! 

Wishing us all small moments in every day to reflect on what matters.

 

IGT Halloween Party 2012

This past Saturday was the annual Indiana Ghost Trackers Halloween Bash. 

Mary, the Vampiress, and me, the Frankenstein monster aka Living Dead Girl

With my gorgeous hubby, reprising Adam Ant

Lucy & Charlie Brown ~ THE best!!  And, yes, there were rocks in the bag!!!

Sexy!!!

With the Mareks

Sandra & Dave

Mary & Rich

Dumb & Dumber...the Funniest Costume winners

Dave ~ working his "axe" off!!

Best Female Costume winner!!!


We stayed at this party for 3 hours before heading to Monsterbash Five at Bart & Bobby's, where we remained until the wee hours.  

We just missed Dave winning Best Male costume!  That's 2 wins in 2 years....last year, he won Scariest!!!   



RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars premiere party

On Monday, October 22nd, we headed to our friends' Donatella Isaman and Sinders Parrish's home for a viewing party for RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.

I tried my hand at a cake....

She has the finish line flags, just like RuPaul in the open to the show!  I made them from some plain white labels!  Colored them and wrapped them around toothpicks (then taped them to her hands)!!  

The cake is Funfetti ~~ for all the rainbow colors, of course!

Donatella

Sinders & ...



Alas, no picture was taken of me...yet I looked FIERCE!  Zebra halter top, zebra earrings, zebra bracelets, lacy black undershorts, fishnets & knee-high white boots!  Perhaps some version will make a return appearance this Saturday when we head to SPIN to see Raven!!! 

 

More Halloween Faves

How could I forget?!?  You can tell 1) I wasn't at home to peruse our DVD collection and 2) that my mind was in 101 million places when I wrote the first list!!

Corpse Bride

Beetlejuice

I know there are, most likely, others that I still haven't remembered....and one new one to add. 

We finished up our Halloween weekend (posts about the parties to come) by catching:

Frankenweenie

Tim Burton...the master, the genius, at work

This will definitely be added to our DVD collection when released!!  

Favorite Halloween Movies

Altho we haven't done so this year, Chris & I do like to watch our favorite Halloween movies every year.  I also like to catch shows aired on the cable networks, too, that have any connection to this, our favorite holiday.

Here are our top faves, in no particular order:

The Addams Family

Gomez & Morticia Addams ~ such a divine couple, aren't they!  We ADORE them!  As a matter of fact, we know so many of the lines in this film and this scene is one of our 2 most faves!  I bought Chris a still of this same shot~ it is black & white and I put it in a matte black frame.

Practical Magic
  

My all-time favorite witch movie!  Doesn't hurt that Chris's "freebie," Sandra Bullock is one of the stars.  From this movie, we own the handmade mug and silver spoon that Gillian magically stirs!  I love the soundtrack, as well!

Hocus Pocus

The kooky Sanderson sisters!  "Amuck, amuck, amuck!"  What a treat this PG movie is!!!  And while we own the DVD, I will always watch it when channel surfing! 

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Jack, Sally, Mayor Maynot, Lock, Shock & Barrel, Oogey Boogey and Sandy Claws!  This stop-motion animation gem is beyond comparel!!!  A true classic!!  Years ago, I bought Chris a gorgeous snow (well, more like glitter) globe with Jack & Sally in front of the moon on the inside and the cast of characters around the outside.

Coraline


Another animated winner, which I believe is also stop-motion!  The cast of characters are so quirky and the story so unique!



Harry Potter

I read all of the Harry Potter books and love the movies (almost) as much!  We were fortunate enough to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal two years ago!  You simply must get a Butterbeer and a Pumpkin Juice!



While I am not as big a fan as my husband, because of him I am a fan of the Universal Monsters.  Chris has many of the DVDs (I also bought him some figures many moons ago) and I will sit with him when he watches them.  There is something about the black & white movies (not just horror) and the simplicity of old movies that is rather transfixing.

I am not a lover of scary movies, tho (or haunted houses)!!  I will watch one every now and then and we do own some on DVD (Exorcist comes to mind), but they are definitely not my go-to pick. 

This weekend, we are going to (finally) see Frankenweenie!  Tim Burton's latest release ~ sure to be fantastic!

I read all of the Harry Potter books and love the movies (almost) as much!  We were fortunate enough to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal two years ago!  You simply must get a Butterbeer and a Pumpkin Juice!

Ya know what?!  Altho we haven't seen each of these movies in their entirety this year, we did watch parts of all of them when we moved into the rental!  We had no cable or satellite, so we would put in our favorite DVDs when we went to bed.  They were like "woobies" to help send us to lala-land!  (We...well I...always have the TV on when we go to bed, with the sleep timer set for an hour!!)

Kickboxing Meets Roller Derby

On Sunday, I had the chance to relive my youth!  A high school classmate is involved in roller derby, the Illiana Derby Dames, and they were hosting a Halloween skating party at the Lynwood Skating Rink.  I practically grew up at the Roller Crown Skating Rink!  Skating AND wearing a costume?!?  Are you kidding me!?  I am in!

The above image was my inspiration, as I decided to dress as a derby girl!

Meet

Pixie "I Break Hearts & Faces" Longstocking





My friend, Sandra, was the lone person brave enough to join me for this "adventure"!!  And, by default, she became my Couples Only skating partner ~~ we were the hottest couple out there, if I do say so myself!!!

It has been close to 3 decades since I skated (I have inlined a couple of times & ice skated once since, tho), so I wasn't sure how steady on my feet I would be.  It all came back!!!  I could have torn it up!  I was able to spin and skate backwards! 

Sandra was rather nervous abouting strapping on the wheels, but after several turns around the rink, she was doing just fine!  And no falls!!!  Next time (and there WILL be a next time), she will be skating backwards! 

I would love to go back with a somewhat larger group...or, at least, Sandra, her husband, Dave, and Chris!

Not in her derby attire, but in costume, here are me & Anne Bingham (aka Pinky Tuscadero).

CPHS Class of 1990 grads ~ we are FIERCE!

Now, I doubt that I will join the Illiana Derby Dames ~ I am too big of a chicken to get hurt and to get "rink rash" ~ so I can say without reservation this was a highlight of my 40's!!! 

 We hope to catch some of the Dames' practices and their shows.  Who knows?  Maybe I will take on a non-skating role ~ just so that I can hang with these tough broads!  

And a shoutout to Fight Chix...that's where you can get your hands on my tshirt!!!