Srsly, a kid just came to my door to try and sell me his halloween candy stash at 5c a piece. O_O

What a great party!! I'm sad for everyone that missed it! It was so amazing!

The biggest and best part of the evening was my buddy Sam calling me out onto the deck to say things about the construction. After a moment, I noticed everyone was staring at me, and I'm like BIG WTF? My friend Mandy was following me with a camera and everyone was holding their breath. Then this girl who's sitting next to my husband in a dress and a big feathery mask speaks up and I realize that I RECOGNISE her voice.

It was deliriumdreams!!!!!!

She flew in and got a ride and snuck in the back door and was hanging out all like "Wut?"

I freaked the hell out, obviously!

My friend Mandy also flew in, she stayed the whole weekend and left this morning! It was so good to see her! We went to Baltimore and went hiking in Great Falls (on the MD side - pictures soon!) and had a great time!

Anyway...the party!!

First of all, here's a link to a post I put up a few days ago with photos of the party prep in it...

And now...the photos!!!



( Moar under here! )

This is for all you folks who won't be making it to my party...


Here's a disco skull I made. He's wearing my hat. ;)

( More!! )

STILL HAVE SO MUCH TO DO!!!!!!!

I did it! I carved the Metallicar pumpkin!! Ok, "carved" isn't the right word. I used a dremel. ;)

( SEE IT GLOOOOOOOOOOW )

I've been woefully absent from LJ lately, because I've been busy like crazy.

Two weeks ago, I had Jessi and Barbara in from Michigan and their friend Ann who lives in Springfield staying with me all weekend. We did all sorts of touristy things like hitting the Air and Space in DC and visiting the WWII, Vietnam, Jefferson and Lincoln memorials. We also went to see the Caps play, and I have some AWESOME pics from that, but I haven't gotten to them yet, because I'm insanely busy, as mentioned. We also watched a bunch of Horatio Hornblower which was amazing, and oftentimes hilarious. Especially when watching with Jessi.

---

This past weekend, Vicki came to town and we went to Baltimore to see NOFX on Friday night. Rams Head Live! is a relatively cool venue, except when it comes to their exit strategy. They seriously bar off all six of the exits, and funnel everyone down this long, hot, reeking tunnel wherein people start to push each other, and its about as close as I've ever come to claustrophobia. It was obnoxious.

If I ever go back there again, I'm sitting at the bar and waiting for that place to clear out before trying to leave. Cause, UGH.

We didn't get home until like 3 AM, then we had to get up at 8 am, because Jenni is awesome and she came in early to make time to tattoo Vicki. She doesn't open until 12, so that was kind of incredible.

---

I've also been working on a second Halloween costume, because there's a party on Friday night, and I'm not about to bust out my awesome costume for someone else's party! So I'm going to be a Victorian Vampire. I bought a mini top hat at Build-A-Bear (hee.) and altered it to add a bit of steampunk flair to it.



The cogs all came from clocks that I bought while antiquing a few weekends ago in Fredrick, MD, and the rest is just twisted copper wire. Neat. I had fun doing it!

I also had to alter the cincher top my friend Rach got me for my birthday, because believe it or not, it has SNAPS on the back? Who puts snaps on what is essentially a light duty corset? As soon as you start to tighten it, pop, pop, pop! So I put a zipper into the back and called it done.

---

I've been mixing videos together for the masquerade ball. I have over three hours of video right now with transitions, and I haven't even finished converting The Tudors, Doctor Who, and a couple of others to the proper format for Pinnacle Studio to recognize them. Its kind of a pain in the ass, but its also all kinds of awesome. I'm amused that most masquerade ball scenes begin with an exterior shot of the structure with a horse carriage pulling up. Its kind of hilarious how similar the intros are.
Also, thanks to everyone who helped come up with masquerade ball videos! You guys are truly amazing!!

---

I still haven't caught Capt Destructo on the camera, but it doesn't really matter to me, because this also means he's stopped messing with my yard. I've got a theory that the informant was also the suspect and so when I walked right up to his house and asked, maybe he got a little worried, or actually has a conscience or something.

Either way, hopefully its done. Camera still recording. Its kind of hilarious to watch what goes on in the hood all day while I'm gone. Like the part where my neighbor let his dog pee on my Archway. Awesome. And the part where one of my other neighbors rescued my yard sign from the wind. That was sweet. She's the same lady who got all pissed off when I told her kids they couldn't climb my tree, so its kind of cool to know she's not holding a grudge.

---

Today my friend Abby is in town, and I'm going to happy hour with her and a few other friends. HURRAY! She's the sweetest girl in the world and I just love her to bits and the poor thing lost her mom not a month ago, suddenly, without warning and devastatingly. I start to tear up every time I think about what that must be like. I can't imagine. And poor Abby, she's a lot like me, she feels everything intensely and is a very emotional person. I can't wait to hug her to pieces.

---

Tomorrow and Thursday is mad decoration time! I've got hardly anything done, and millions of things *started*. Kirsten is coming over Wednesday and we're going to power through some of it, hopefully. Pumpkins look out! :)

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My friend Mandy gets here on Friday! She's staying all weekend and I'm so excited to see her! Its always so much fun to be with her! We're going to go hiking at Great Falls and take pictures of the foliage and she's staying til Tuesday so we can all go see Henry Rollins at the Birchmere on Monday night. Can you imagine? Rollins the NIGHT BEFORE the Election? Holy crap. I'm stoked.

---

Its supposed to SNOW tonight? Well, snow showers. Wow. I dont think I've ever seen snow here before January.

---

I'm back to the gym full on this week. I've been slacking and only going once or twice plus yoga the last two weeks, and I can tell a marked difference in the way I feel. I worked my ass off last night, and I had the greatest calm settle over me when I was stretching at the end. Its like, I know I worked really hard and my body is going to be sore, but I did it for me and got some quality alone time in my head, and it was so refreshing. When I'm trying to talk myself into the gym, I always think about how hard the work is, not how good it feels afterward. I need to change that. Also, still losing weight, YAY! I have like, two pairs of jeans that fit me, though. I donated a ton of stuff to the Lupus foundation, and then found a ton more, so they're going to get a good haul when they come back in January. :)

PS, for anyone local, the Lupus Foundation picks up at your house, leaves you a receipt, and you can schedule a pick up on the internet. Also, they're working to find a cure or even a better treatment for a debilitating and awful disease that plagues two of my best friends family, and they need all the help they can get.

If you're cleaning stuff out of your house, they'd love to come take stuff off your hands.

Ok, PSA over. Also, update over, cause I can't think of anything else that's going on. I hope everyone is having a great Halloween week!

I don't appear to be sick anymore. Still have rumblies in my tumblies on occasion, but the worst part is all done now. THANKFULLY. :)

I bought a new seeing eye timer for the halloween lights. This one comes with a handy-dandy mount and is now firmly affixed to the brick of my house. Hope the little bastards won't go to that much trouble. Especially when they can just steal my hand made tombstones. Like the Dracula stone that is now gone.

When I was a kid, we had standards. We only messed with people who were mean, or who chased us or shouted at us. I'm none of those things. I'm nice to kids, even the ones who mutilate my trees. I don't run them over with my car or anything! Why they gotta mess with the good Halloween stuff?

Putting this out there again, in case anyone has thought of anything else, or my new friends have any input...

Here's the list I have so far, with additions from the previous post:


Labyrinth
Van Helsing
Amadeus
Romeo + Juliet (both human versions and the anime version)
Black Orpheus
Doctor Who - Girl in the Fireplace
Mirror Mask
Tanz der Vampire
The Tudors 1X03
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Masque of the Red Death
Black Orchid
Phantom of the Opera
Marie Antoinette
Zorro the Gay Blade
The Man in the Iron Mask
Sweeney Todd
Truman Capote
Eyes Wide Shut
Ridicule
Much Ado about Nothing

Can anyone add anything to this list? Pretty please with sprinkles? Your help would be much appreciated!! To clarify: the movie doesn't have to be ABOUT masquerades, just have a masquerade ball scene.

Seriously.

Someone stole the little pluggy timer thingy that turns my halloween lights on when the sun goes down and off when it comes up.

Who the hell does that? It cost like $5 dollars, go buy your own!

Jerks. Two years ago, someone stole an electronic pumpkin.

If the kids in this 'hood aren't careful, I'm going to become that crazy old toothless lady with the shotgun shouting about stayin off my propertay.

Except for the toothless part.

I hope.

Pink Raygun has a new and spectacular Pumpkin Carving Template, pretty much every day.

The first one I will be carving, clearly, will be THE METALLICAR!!! Cause, seriously, I HAVE TO. The Impala demands it.

They also have:

Sam and Dean

Doctor Horrible and Captain Hammer.

Jareth from Labyrinth (which I may also be doing, especially considering the theme for my party!)

Starbuck and Apollo

Jack and Ianto from Torchwood

Hurley from Lost

The Tenth Doctor and the Tardis

Donnie Darko and the creepy Bunny.

Pan's Labyrinth

Book, Wash, Inara, Jayne, Kaylee, Cpn. Tightpants, River, Simon and Zoe from Firefly.

And Claire, Hiro and Explody Peter from Heroes.

NEEEEET.

First, thanks for all the love for my bro, peeps. You guys are seriously made of awesome.

Second, I have a shiny Poe layout for Halloween. I think its beautimous.

Also, I'm finally determining how I'm going to decorate for the Masquerade ball I'm having for Halloween. I'm pretty excited, because I think it's going to be relatively inexpensive and awesome, and totally different from what I've done before.

And if I pull it off, it'll be creepy and perfect.

Pictures, I promise! Plus maybe I'll make an out of towner filter for people who can't make it anyway to see the production as it gets underway. ;)

After I get back from Boston, that is. And camping the weekend after. So, October. haha!

Have I mentioned that I'm having the most insane and awesome September ever?

Calling LJ Braintrust!

I'm looking for video files (youtube works!) of movie scenes with masquerade balls. I'm having a Masquerade Ball this halloween, and I'd like to cut together a bunch of scenes to play on all the tv's / projector screen.

I've so far got:

Labyrinth (obviously!)
Van Helsing (probably the best part of that movie!)
Amadeus
Romeo + Juliet (both human versions and the anime version)
Black Orpheus
Doctor Who - Girl in the Fireplace
Masque of the Red Death
Mirror Mask
Tanz der Vampire
The Tudors
Oh! And Phantom of the Opera


Any other ideas? If you can't find a youtube vid to post a link, just post the name of the film and I'll track it down. I have GoogleFu.

Wow, where to start.

Well, Friday started with a badly organized bang, and ended with hours of manual labor of loading up truck load after truckload of trash and then an entire truck full of stuff that deliriumdreams had in storage for these past few years.

I had to go back and forth to work and finally got there to help out with the truck at four-ish. We got all of the important stuff out, but by the time we were done loading up and tying down (I had to use electrical cords from defunct lamps tied together because we didnt have enough bungy for as much stuff as was there) the post office was closed.

We dropped off the boxes at my house and took the furniture over to Rachel's house, as she's got room to store stuff until spring, and then headed back to my house to make cookies.

We finally went to bed late, sometime around midnight, and then got up before 730 because the cleaning crew was set to arrive between 8 and 9.

I spent the morning moving clutter out of the basement living room back into the laundry room where it belonged (it had been removed during the construction) and finishing the cookies. Mark and phunkyb1tch and deliriumdreams took two cars full of boxes to the post office for deliriumdreams to ship home.

By the time they got back it was after 1, and we loaded up the cars again and went back to the post office, and then onto Sweetwater for growlers of beer and lunch. We went grocery shopping for all the party food and went back and started cooking, making drinks, carving pumpkins and so on. I should have been getting ready as of 530, but it wasn't until 630 that I finally got away long enough to get a shower and get dressed.

People were already arriving and I didnt have make up on yet, and in all the getting ready, I completely forgot to eat dinner.

However, I still drank like normal, and so by about 130, I was kind of trashed.

In between those times though, I had a spectacular time. Over thirty people showed up, and loads of people were in fantastic costumes, and a good time was had by all! I gave out three costume contest prizes, which were full of weird candies (like skull headed pez dispensers and pumpkin pop rocks) as well as a halloween cocktail shaker or set of shot glasses and odd little toys.

I had the christmas tree up for the party (its black!!) and christmas lights everywhere as well as skeletons and cauldrons and all the standard halloween stuff.

I made three pitchers of pumpkin pie martinis and two of egg nog martinis and had pumpkin ale and cauldron cakes and tombstone cupcakes and pumpkin spice cupcakes. I made gingerbread men (in the shape of the AOL Running man - can you believe they gave us those cookie cutters?) and encouraged people to destroy them or paint them with blood red icing. I made sugar cookies in halloween shapes. We made teriyaki sesame chicken skewers and bbq meatballs and toasted bread with portabello brushetta. Tory brought some delicious mini quiche and Ann brough apple crisp and there was SO much food that I really wish I'd had more than a bite here and a bite there.

Sunday morning I woke up feeling incredibly sick. I thought at first that it was a hangover, but then I realised that it was worse. I think that the salad I had at Sweetwater gave me a touch of food poisoning or something. So, I had that, and a massive headache and I had, at some point, pulled a muscle in my back. The trifecta of suckiness.

I took a bath, I took some stomach pills, and eventually I almost felt human. We went to O'Faolains for breakfast (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!) and by the time we were done, I felt much better. We went over to the storage shed and finished breaking down a bunch of old furniture and tried our best to cram it into the already incredibly full dumpster. I took some Aleve finally and got rid of the headache, and by the time we were done at the storage shed I felt like myself again.

I went home and took another bath (this time for like three hours!) and then I went to bed and finished reading Flowers for Algernon.

It was a really fantastic weekend. But wow, do I not want to ever try to do that much in one weekend EVER again. I'm fine now, but boy was yesterday rough.

Next weekend: San Francisco for a wedding! And I'm finally going to get to see Alcatraz!

My mom sent me loads more photos. Now I'm going to torture you with them. Because its kind of hilarious.



Me and Brett. And what would appear to be Halloween Weebles.

( More cuteness and plastic masks behind the cut. )

A picspam of yours truly. :)


DAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWHHH!!

( Cut to protect the innocent... )

Saturday I did a bunch of stuff around the house, not the least of which was getting some of the Halloween decorations out and up. It was a big day full of rushing and frustration at stupid light sets not working, and then I ran to Leesburg to help out for the Ghost Tours. They had asked for help as they had a private tour for 60 scheduled at 9, but we ended up having so many people that we sold out the public 7 AND 9, and added another tour at 8, which also sold out.

It was chilly out but I didn't mind, and I met a lot of people. It was a fun experience. I'll probably go back next week, provided that I'm finished with the photo session I have on Saturday :)

Yesterday, my friend Jen and I went out to Great Country Farms, and we had a total blast. I got 13 pumpkins (2 huge orange, 7 small orange, 4 medium white) and we had BBQ and Cider and took pictures of goats. :)

After, I made a Target run with my friend Kirsten, and then we went back to her place to watch Pride and Prejudice. I know its popular to hate Keira Knightley, but she was spectacular. It was a great film.

As we watched it, I continued pinning my dress together for my Halloween Costume. Yes, I know you can BUY a Sally dress, but that is NO FUN. So here is what I have so far.

The front is damn near done:



( And the back... )

I love the way the skirt came together. Its ten kinds of awesome. Now all I have to do is actually SEW it. :)

I'm having a gigantic Halloween party. I do it every year, and every year it is fantastic.

I've had two pirate themed parties, one Harry Potter theme (which was ten kinds of awesome, someday I'll put up pictures!), one Space theme, and this year, it is Nightmare before Christmas.

I've got a new receipe for Cauldron Cakes that includes filling Chocolate Cupcakes with honey/nut cream cheese which has been mixed with pumpkin spice. They. Are. So. Good.

I've also got a new receipe for pumpkin pie martinis, that includes Odwalla's Super Protein™ Pumpkin shake, some grey goose, and some Torani Pumpkin Spice syrup. Also, very good.

Probably TOO good. I might end up with people camping out on my basement floor. Good thing I have all those sleeping bags! Oh, and I'm going to make loads of christmas cookies with black frosting or bats and pumpkins with red and green frosting.

Hopefully the effect will be that someone took both holidays, but them in a blender and then dumped them out in my house. Ooh, I wonder if I should make peppermint martinis too!

I'm excited about the idea of a hybrid Halloween/Christmas party. I'm hoping that half the people will show up dressed like elves and santas and we can take a picture with both sides squaring off for battle.

I'm trying to think of other Christmassy things that I can alter to be darker or more halloween-related.

Maybe I should get party favours and wrap them up in halloween wrapping paper and put them under the tree, so everyone gets a present. Maybe like I did with the pirate party, only instead of rum, it would be peppermint schnapps minis.

I wonder when egg-nog goes on sale?

What should I get for costume contest prizes?

Another pic of the costume.



I'm getting the most hilarious looks here at work, and a couple of "That is the greatest show ever!" comments. :)

Also, if you weren't on the happy filter, and you want to see the progress of how everything came together, check out: http://jettdelirium.livejournal.com/tag/costume

I unlocked all the old entries that I've posted along the way :)

Wishing everyone a good day on the greatest day of the year!!!

Hope you get lots of treats!!

Its what you've been waiting for!!


Do not mess with this girl!

( Cut for PLENTY more! )

Also, Giovanni posted his pictures, and there are a few more there, including a couple of adorable pics of the Spiggster. :)

Hurray!!



( More where that came from... )