Thursday, October 29, 2009

Ladies Night!

I am having some girlfriends over for ladies night tonight.  We're going to drink wine and watch "The Witches of Eastwick," which by the way, is impossible to fnd at the store.  I went to Target and they had "The Black Crystal" on the shelf but not "The Witches of Eastwick."  Netflix didn't have it and Best Buy was backordered for it.  Thankfully Amazon.com sells movies that no one else watches for cheap.  I just hope it arrives before Thursday.

I'm doing an OK job at getting through some of my 15 Days of Halloween movies.  I knocked out "Hocus Pocus" this weekend and have "The Craft" on my DVR.


I just wish that I liked martinis so I could make them in honor of the scene where the women are sitting around, getting drunk and conjuring up Jack Nicholson.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A Finished Project!

Before:

After:

M. and I have pretty much made our cassette tape holder into a big picture collage frame!  We both really love it and the coolest thing is knowing that it's one of a kind.


Here's a close-up of the different scrapbook paper that we used.  It's staying in line with the brown and turqouise colors that we're using in the dining room, but has now also allowed up to introduce bright green.

I now just want to find a whimsical nursery rhyme print (to go along with our Enchanted Forest photos) to put between the desk and the cassette tape holder.


I've been eyeing up a "This Little Piggy" print on Etsy but am worried that it'll seem random or childish.  What do you think?


So, do you like our custom collage picture frame?

Monday, October 26, 2009

Shot Down

So last night, while catching up on back episodes of "Cougartown" and "Modern Family," I decided that I would finally let myself shop.  I went onto Modcloth, filled up my cart with 2 dresses and 1 top and started googling coupons so I could get myself a sweet deal.

M. looked over my shoulder and scolded me for shopping when he is not permitted to.  See, I told him that if he buys anything between now and Christmas, he must report it to me, so I can make sure that his Christmas present isn't something that he already has (he has a tendency to buy himself things right after I get his Christmas shopping done . . . by the way, it is done now).  He said that if he can't shop (oh yea, I never told him he COULDN'T shop, just that he needs to tell me what he got.  According to him, that means he CAN'T shop), I shouldn't be able to too.  And then he followed that up with a reminder that we're saving up money to go to Costa Rica next year.

So, I didn't buy myself anything. 



Sunday, October 25, 2009

My Weekend in Retrospect

We had a pretty low key weekend that was full of relaxing and movie watching.



We were planning on going to the Bennett's Curse haunted house, but found out that there was a 1 - 2 hour wait . . . in the rain . . . So, we decided to cash in a gift card that I got from work and go out on a nice dinner date.  We went to a place downtown called Annabel Lee Tavern.  I guess we can pretend like we were doing something Halloween-ish since it's inspired by Edgar Allen Poe.




















I had a veal chop with black truffle risotto.  It was pretty delicious! 

I also got to finish my Halloween costume!























TA-DA!  I'M A PICNIC!!!

How was your weekend?

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Halloween in Baltimore: Week 4

So, this is a whole lot less about doing something out in Baltimore and a whole lot more about just doing something for Halloween.  It's along the lines of staying at home, saving a little money and getting a few Halloween kicks.  That's what M. and I are trying to do!

ABC Family started their "13 Days of Halloween" on Sunday.  I usually like to catch a few of the movies that they air during this time and I actually get really excited when it comes on.

The schedule as of today is:



















Wed. 21, 8 p.m. - Beetlejuice
Thurs. 22, 8 p.m. - The Adams Family
Fri. 23, 8 p.m. - The Adams Family Values
Sat. 24, 11 a.m. - The Mask; 1 p.m. - The Adams Family; 4 p.m. - The Adams Family Values; 6 p.m. Hocus Pocus; 8 p.m. - The Goonies; 10:30 p.m. - The Mask
Sun. 25, 10:30 a.m. - Casper Meets Wendy; 12:30 p.m. - The Goonies; 3 p.m. - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; 5:30 p.m. - Corpse Bride; 7:30 p.m. - Edward Scissorhands; 10 p.m. - Beetlejuice
Mon. 26, 8 p.m. - America's Funniest Home Videos, Halloween Themed
Tues. 27, 8 p.m. - The Haunted Mansion
Wed. 28, 8 p.m. - Hocus Pocus
Thurs. 29, 7 p.m. - Scooby Doo
Fri. 30, 8 p.m. - Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
Sat. 31, 9:30 a.m. - Scooby Doo; 11:30 a.m. - Scooby Doo 2; 4 p.m. - Batman; 7 p.m. Batman Returns; 10 p.m. - Batman Returns

My own personal "13 Days of Halloween" movie schedule includes:



















1.  The Corpse Bride
2.  Coraline
3.  Beetlejuice
4.  The Nightmare Before Christmas
5.  Carrie
6.  Halloween
7.  The Witches of Eastwick
8.  The Witches
9.  Practical Magic
10.  The Craft
11.  Hocus Pocus
12.  Casper the Friendly Ghost
13.  It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
14.  Scream
15.  Sweeny Todd
16.  Garfield's Halloween Adventure

I think I have a thing for witches at Halloween . . . What are your favorite Halloween movies?  Did I leave anything out?

P.S. - I'm going to see Where the Wild Things Are tonight!!!!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

An Apartment Project

When M. and I were shopping for decorations for the apartment, there was one thing that I knew that I wanted - a chalkboard.  You see, I have a weird fascination with chalkboard paint.














I made lots of threats to M. about how I was going to make everything in our apartment into a chalkboard.  I was inspired by projects like these:















M. said that he was once at a bar with a chalkboard bar . . . be still my heart!

I was determined to make our own chalkboard to fit into our kitchen to write our grocery list and little love notes to one another one.

We made lots of visits to thrift store so we could find a cool picture frame that could be used as the border of our chalkboard.  Alas, after a day spent shopping at 4 different stores, we found nothing.

Then one day, we were out for brunch and found a small random flea market in the square of Fells Point in downtown Baltimore.  I found a vintage window frame and admired it and wanted to buy it, but just couldn't find a reason.  Seriously, it was so obvious what I could use the window frame for and I just didn't see it!  And then M. suggested that we pay the $5 for the frame and use that as our chalkboard.

Which is how we got this:


So, how did we do it?  Well, we started with the window frame, taped up the edges and sprayed about 3 coats of chalkboard spray paint onto the glass.  Since the window frame was old and M. loves shabby chic, we left the frame paint alone.  This helped in areas where a little of the chalkboard paint got onto the areas that weren't painted.  It was totally OK because it fit in with the style of the window frame.  It was really THAT easy and it's probably one of our favorite projects in the apartment.

What do you think?

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Itching to Shop

The title says it all . . . I want to shop so badly!!! 

Here are a few things that I want . . . You'll see that I just want to wear dresses this winter (with tights and cute cardigans!).

From Modcloth:





















One Way or Another Dress in Blue


Wouldn't You Like to Bow Dress



Carriage Tour Dress




The Serena Dress






















Amelie Ivory Roses Striped Dress


Geometric LBD Dress



Navy Checkered Tunic Dress


So, I have given myself permission to buy 2 dresses to bulk up my working wardrobe.  Which do you think I should get?

Monday, October 19, 2009

My Weekend in Retrospect

It was a fairly busy weekend, we celebrated my brother's 31st birthday on Friday, went to the haunted pub crawl on Saturday and had family over for a "house warming" on Sunday.

I didn't take many pictures, but I wanted to share a recipe for a dip that my mom made for the "house warming."




















Ingredients:
1 block cream cheese
Plum Garlic Thai Sauce
Cranberry Jubliee:
   pumpkin seeds
   cranberries
   sunflower seeds
   dry papaya
   almonds
   brazil nuts
   dried apples
Chopped scallions

Soften the block of cream cheese and spread it out on a serving dish/pan
cover the top of the cream cheese with the Plum Garlic Thai Sauce
sprinkle the cranberry jubilee and scallions on top (use as many of the ingredients that you want and sprinkle as liberally as you want).
Voila!  You have a tasty and unique dip to bring to your next party!

As you can see in the photo, it was quite popular!

And the best thing about it being a "housewarming" party (I am putting it in quotes because it was only a semi-housewarming.  My parents, one of my aunts and a few friends came over to watch the Ravens game and see our apartment for the first time) is that I got to keep the platter that my mom served it in.  Even better is that the platter coincidentally is part of the dishware set that M. and I have been looking to get ourselves when we decide to upgrade our plates and bowls!

Yay momma!



Friday, October 16, 2009

Yellow Eyes

"Where the Wild Things Are" comes out in movie theaters today.  I think everyone should go.

Check out these "WTWTA" inspired illustrations at Terrible Yellow Eyes.  I could really spend a whole day at this website.  I also said that if I ever have a child and it's a boy, I want a "WTWTA" themed bedroom (Alice in Wonderland for a girl).




Wednesday, October 14, 2009

A Work in Progress and a Place to Eat!

M. and I bought an awesome vintage cassette tape holder off Craigslist with the hope that we could store his Nintendo games in it.  When we picked it up, the woman told us that dealers had tried to purchase it off her too, but she wanted to sell it to people who would actually use it in their homes.  Well, we got home and saw that his games didn't fit into it!  We couldn't bear to get rid of it or not use it, so we decided to figure out another use for it.

Here it is pre-project.  What do you think?  Pretty awesome, huh? 

M.  originally wanted to remove or cover the "cassettes" sign, but I won't let him do it!




















Here it is in the space.  This is probably my least favorite space in the apartment, but I'm growing on it.  It just looks so dark wood and beige to me - although not nearly s bad as this picture makes it look, I promise!  We're slowly trying to bring in more color and, hopefully after we've completed the project on the cassette holder, there will be more.


You can't really tell in the picture, but the table cloth is robin egg's blue and we have very cool recycled placemats from CB2 to protect the cloth.  We need it on the table because it's so beaten up with age that it needs to be covered. 

Everything in the room, except the decorations and cassette tape holder was donated to us from family.  The desk is being used as my "craft corner" and additional storage, because what we have in bathrooms, we lack in storage!

I don't want to leave out our artwork!
















Recognize these from my weekend recap?  These are pictures of old abandoned pieces from the original Enchanted Forest before Clark Elioaks Farm started preserving them!

I got them on Etsy from a local photographer, CJ Shanks.  Here's a close up!














































I have a deep love for the teacups. 

What do you think? 

Wait until you see the next stage of the cassette tape player!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Celebrity Wedding: Christina Hendricks

Christina Hendricks (Joan Holloway from Mad Men) got married over the weekend.


Christina as Joan Holloway

I am wondering if she was inspired by Mad Men at all or whether her general style is vintage.  I mean, look at the bridesmaids dresses!  I love the one on the far right.




















Christina as a bride from Celebrity Bride Guide

I think I like Christina so much because she's a beautiful woman who embraces her curves!  She's definitely not a in the spotlight as her co-star, January Jones, but she really should be.

Here's some of Christina's red carpet style.