"Trick or Tweet!" Happy Halloween!

Every Halloween I like to come up with a unique costume to celebrate the holiday and hand out treats to all the Trick or Treaters. It's fun to banter back and forth with the TOT's, "Hey great costume", "Hey, great costume yourself!"

While digging through the Halloween box, I found a blue wig....the color of the blue was familiar....and it got the imagination going.....and I came up with.....

TWITTER!!

I was all shades of blue...From head to toe....

And to think that a little over a year ago, I didn't even have a Twitter! Now I can't stay away from it!

Dressing up is fun...but the real fun begins when the bell rings and you get to see what characters are looking for chocolaty treats. I think my favorite of the night was a little girl decked out with a shiny pink cowgirl hat, and a matching pink tulle skirt, complete with cowgirl boots. I answered the door to a sweet little...

Cowgirl: "Trick or Treat! What are you this Halloween?"

Me: "I'm Twitter"

Cowgirl: "That's cool. I'm a cowgirl."

Me: "I like your pink hat!"

Cowgirl: "Yes, it helps me do this"

she grabbed her hat by the brim and kicking up her booted heel yelled

"Yeeeee-Haaaawww!"

She was the cutest thing ever, and I wanted to give her the whole big bowl of candy.

The next surprise- my daughter baked a birthday cake that matched my costume!!

This Halloween really was a Treat with a Tweet! :)

This is Day 3 of the SITS Halloween Party...check out the other folks that are in today's Halloween Parade!

Tricks and Treats For Your Halloween Creations

Pumpkin Carving Art

One of the best things about Halloween is the opportunity to get creative; with crafts, costumes, parties and even food.  Here are some fun things we did this season:


Let’s start with the Jack o' Lantern.

What I like about carving a pumpkin is that you can never mess it up! So what if you miss an eye or make the mouth too big? Our son thought he messed his up last year…so to cover it up, he made a puker pumpkin. Boys! But, really, he's on to some thing- the best masterpieces are the unexpected ones: like this year's pumpkin eating another pumpkin!

This Year's Winner of the Funniest Pumpkin

A little bit of crafts:

I found the best little ceramic painting place when I lived in Pennsylvania. I went there so often, that I only had to sign my first name to pieces I created: I miss it. I'm sure you have a place in town close by that offers a paint your own ceramic....if so, you should definitely go with the kids or even make it a girl's night out (some have wine parties!). I made this candy bowl in 2000

Now for Treats:

As you may know, today is my birthday! Yes, another year older and as a friend so kindly wrote, another year wiser. If I am to blow out candles, I prefer to have them on a cake that I did not bake! So, my daughter has been making cupcakes for the last couple of years. This year she got very creative, and made each cupcake different!

Didn't they come out so cute??!

Me? Total slacker:  I took Little Debbie Snack cakes and added a little bit of icing and mini chocolate chips:

I could have done the same thing to brownies, but then that would have required me to bake...which is off limits today!

And now a Trick!

I have no idea how I discovered this....but I share this trick to anyone who will listen! HA!

Did you know that a banana splits into 3 equal parts? It's true!



Whole slice of banana...



Three equal pieces!

I know! Amazing right?! I bet you are trying it right now!!

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What are some of your favorite Halloween creations? Leave a comment below and let me know!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is a Treat in My Book

Halloween is my favorite time of year. Then again, I am partial to it. It is the day that this little goblin came into the big bright world! Being born on a holiday can be a drag, but I think I lucked out in the most fun department. Sure, Christmas has lots of toys and good cheer, but each birthday, I got to dress up, be a different character and eat loads of candy. For me, Halloween really is a treat!

I am definitely showing my age here, but I remember as a kid going to Woolworth’s and looking through all boxes with cellophane windows that lined the shelves. When peeking inside, you could see the plastic mask of your favorite character and tucked underneath would be a smock that you would tie at the neck. They were awesome. My favorite was Snoopy and my brother's was Superman. The great thing about those costumes – after each wear, you could fold it up for next year and place the box in the closet for safe keeping.

As kids came into the picture, Woolworth's was long gone and ordering peas in a pod or pumpkin onesies through catalogs took its place. As they got a little older, it was really fun to create costumes! A few years ago, we decided as a family to dress up as vampires-our makeup came out awesome..I wish I could find the family photo, but this is all I could find:

Doesn't my son look a little like Eddie Munster??


I plan on dressing up this year to hand out candy to all the little ghosts and goblins. I will not divulge what or who I am until Nov. 1, so you will have to come back and see! I will have a post and picture for you-speaking of pictures-I am entering into the SITS Halloween Party for a chance to win a sa-weet new camera! This could be the best birthday weekend ever!

Candy, treats, having fun with my family....

I can’t think of any better day to turn a year older!

Halloween and Upcoming Events

To test my bloggy speed, I am going to try to tell you as much as I possibly can in 10 minutes, since I decided to watch Modern Family last night rather than write this post. I know, bad! Oh, well...I have been under the weather for the past three days and believe it or not, I just needed to relax.

Halloween is upon us and a fun weekend is about to begin! We are having our annual pumpkin carving party on Friday. We invite some friends over and the kids go to town with their gourds...have a few snacks and many laughs. When all is said and done, we line up the Jack-o-Lantern masterpieces and light 'em up. It looks awesome! The kids ooh and ahh at the final product. I think this year, we may have a judging contest with prizes.

Pumpkin Parade 2009

Not sure how my son will top his creation from last year.....



Yes, a Puking Pumpkin

But we will see!

I am also going to participate in a weekend long Halloween Contest by the SITS Girls....The prize is a sweet new fancy camera...one that I am drooling over. I love to add pictures to the blog and I have a little Nikon, that takes some sweet shots, but the prize camera, well, if I win, wait til you see *those* shots! Look for my Halloween themed posts on October 30, 31 and November 1. This would be such a cool prize, because what you may not know is....I am a Halloween Baby! That's right! So this could be the best birthday ever! :)

November 1st is also the day that we meet our new Blogger of the Month! I hope you have enjoyed our October Blogger of the Month, David! If you haven't visited yet, please check out his site. I think you will be quick to follow him!

The Chicago Series is about to wind down...we have met The Professor, The Movie Star, Gilligan, Skipper and Mr & Mrs. Howell so far. Next week meet Mary Ann! We will then have a recap party, Chicago style! I have had so much fun writing this...and I am glad you have enjoyed it too.

Since the Chicago series has been so well received, I decided to run a "I am Thankful For......" series in the month of November. Look for Thankful Thursdays, which will be written by guest bloggers sharing their story! Can't wait! Speaking of guest posts....

Nirvana Mamma wrote a guest post to kick off Blog it Forward!! Did you see it? Well, hop on over to www.blogitforwardnow.com to check out her fabulous post! You can find the first task announced at the bottom of that post. Join in! It's a good thing!

Ok. Ten minutes are up! Hope I didn't miss anything!

Have a great day!

Wordless Wednesday :: Arachnophobia, Adirondack Style

Adirondack Spiders are B-I-G!

The Wonder that is Halloween

To celebrate the upcoming Halloween holiday, today's guest post is from our Blogger of the Month, David McGrievey of An Illustrated Life. I hope you have had the chance to visit David's blog to enjoy his witty banter and beautiful illustrations.

I recall the scent of fallen leaves crushed under my feet as my sister and I went door to door screaming 'Trick or Treat" at weary married people. Aside from the few healthy apples dumped in our pillowcases, we were never disappointed. We grew up in a neighborhood with emphasis on neighbor.

Nobody gives out treats in NYC.

Luxury high rise condominiums are closely guarded by uniformed doormen who do not let annoying costumed children in.

My apartment building is not that fancy, no doormen, so consequently, my first year living in this city, a lone fat Asian kid knocked on my sixth floor door and said "Trick or Treat." Dumbfounded, I gave him a piece of sliced Wonder bread, it was the only treat I had.

I dropped the pathetic slice into his colorful 'Trick or Treat" bag knowing full well it was not a treat, I felt bad.

Turns out the kid lived downstairs and he was the only English speaking person in his family. He gave me the stink eye while passing in the hallway for a year after the sliced bread incident but we later became friends. I believe NYC gave birth to the phrase "Never take candy from strangers," which is why I give out Wonder bread.

Please enjoy this fall image of mine which appeared in The New York Times. It is of the Guggenheim Museum and looks like sliced bread, no children allowed.

No Rip Van Winkles This Holiday Season

No snoozing allowed.

I thought it was pretty bad that while the Halloween costumes were being placed on shelves,  stores were secretly unpacking the tinsel and twinkle lights and putting them in the last rows hoping shoppers would not yet mosey back that far.

I must say, I used to think retailers were pushing it when things would show up near Thanksgiving. Now they have moved into Jack's (O'Lantern) territory. Yes, Halloween was a few weeks ago, I know. I hardly had time to put out my decorations, let alone pack them back up. Tom Turkey shows up in less than 2 weeks and I can't  find ANYTHING with the traditional cornicopia for harvest time. Well, that's not entirely true. I think I did find some dish towels that I could hang on the oven door. That can technically count as a decoration, right?

Do not get me wrong...I LOVE the holiday season. I can't wait to free all the red and green items, the boughs of holly and garland that have been stored away for a year or to prepare my baking list for all the yummy treats that will be shared with friends and family as well as that jolly old elf. It truly is my favorite time of year. But, on November 12th ( I remember looking at my watch just to make sure of the date!) I was seeking through radio channels when I heard the voice of Johnny Mathis singing "Silver Bells". I thought, "Already?? Christmas music is ALREADY on the radio?!"  
 
My husband is no Rip Van Winkle; he's bought into it all...the lights were hung outside (with care) yesterday.
 
I, on the other hand,  just want to enjoy my chocolate Hershey Bars and fall into a dreamy tryptophan induced sleep while watching football before I have to deck the halls.