Candy&Costumes

This year was the first Halloween in a neighborhood with trick-or-treaters and I was overly excited to hand out candy all night. Mr.U stopped the night before and bought bags of goodies for the evening and I figured out a quick costume to wear for the kids to enjoy. I paced around the living room when 6pm rolled around.

– porch light on, front door open, bowl full of snickers&peanutM&Ms –

I didn’t realize how much I miss chit-chatting with children (like I got to do every day in Disney World) until the little mosters&fairies showed up with their pillowcases&buckets. I crowed down on the porch in my Minnie Mouse costume (complete with ears&slippers) and complimented all of their precious outfits.

I spotted a tiny zebra a few houses down and squeaked up the stairs to Mr.U in excitement of how adorable they all were. And a little toddler dressed as a monkey was too shy to say “thank you” but sneakily blew me a kiss as his mom carried him off.

It was such a fun&exciting evening ...and so different from drunken, scantily-clad Halloweens of the previous years. And, since I was never a trick-or-treater as a child, it was a great experience to finally have (even if it was from the other side of the doorstep.)

Seeds&Mickey

Carving pumpkins always seems like such a fun idea to me – then I get sick of it about 5 minutes in. The whole scraping&straining my arm muscles to ungroop the middle of a hard, orange shell just isn’t as great as I hope it will be. And there never seems to be as many seeds as I crave for roasting&snacking.

Every year… I get pumped.

And every year… I’m let down.

This year :was no exception.

I picked up my pumpkins from a cider mill a while ago and we finally decided to carve them this weekend. The plan was for me to clean 2 of them out while Mr.U cleaned the kitchen, then we’d carve them together. I went out and bought a $5 carving kit and sat down infront of the TV with newspaper spread out around me. First, I cut the hole too small for my hand to fit inside – luckily I’d cut the hole in the bottom, so it didn’t matter if I just made it wider cause it’s not like I had to fit the piece back in. Then I started pulling the guts out. There seemed to be tons of seeds for roasting and they were separating from the goop very easily, which was a nice surprise. But there were no more nice surprises after that. The other pumpkin was way too thick for me to cut through. Even with a steak knife, I couldn’t break its surface. And the 3rd one I’d bought was covered in warts, which I had planned to cut off, cut into, or carve. So we were down to one pumpkin to carve and one pile of seeds. Mr.U - not nearly as excited for the project as I had been - allowed me to do whatever carving I wanted. I had the bright idea to do Mickey Mouse’s face on the small pumpkin I was able to clean, but the details got all jumbled together and I ended up with Mickey Mouse’s head&ears shape, which was cute enough for a simple pumpkin.

Then I roasted the seeds – enough to thinly cover the bottom of a pie tin – with salt, pepper, and garlic. Those were gone by the end of the night …my little snack during the Tigers game.

Anywho

– long-story-short –

pumpkin carving was

– once again –

a letdown

but I’m glad I got one cute carving

...and some yumyums for all my work.

Love&Loss

Welp, we didn’t win the World Series.

(we actually got swept)

…Stupid Giants…

But it was fun to be downtown with the buzz&excitement in the air. The streets were crawling with orange&blue clad fans – tailgating in the freezing cold weather. Unfortunately, all those fans who’d paid over $400 on World Series tickets only got the opportunity to see 2 offense-less games, which was an incredibly disappointing let-down ... for the entire city of Detroit.

But I’m still a fan – and still anticipating next season. Maybe we’ll even get a season-ticket-package if we’re around next summer. World Series win-or-lose, I’ve found a new love in this team.

PINK&Football

The NFL takes the month of October – Breast Cancer Awareness Month – very seriously. Since the Lion’s only had one home game this month, Ford Field was decked out in Pink this Sunday. On the way to the stadium, we were handed ribbons to wear in the game – sponsored by PINK and the NFL. (two of my favorite things) We also got Pink towels to wave around upon entering. And all the players were covered in Pink, which was pretty adorable to see.

Pink Shoes

–

Pink Sweatbands

–

Pink Gloves

And they ran out through a tunnel of Breast Cancer Survivors banging together Pink, plastic sticks and hugging Roary, the Lion’s mascot. It was precious&inspiring. Anyone banding together for a cost tends to get to me. The whole game (and all its advocacy) was pretty wonderful – our last minute win was the perfect ending.

AA Weekend

Elise&I met for a movie in Ann Arbor.

Unfortunately the traffic coming into the city
was absolutely terrible,
so I headed to a bar by the theater
while I waited for her arrival.
I sipped Two Hearted
(from a waitress who looked just like my bunni)
and made friends with the older man next to me.
He'd sat down and quickly ordered
...knowing exactly what he wanted
I assumed he was a regular.
I struck up a conversation,
which continued once Elise arrived.
We talked about life&love&allthedeepstuff.
It was nice.
Finally, we saw Perks of Being a Wallflower.
After the movie
(that I love love loved)
we headed out to a Halloween Party
at a house where an old friend Nate was.
We raged with the best of them
...feeling like we were back in college again.
We had to walk back to the car very early in the A.M.

Weathered Parking

Soon Mr.U&I will have to stop parking on the top level of the structure

...

I feel snow on its way.

WeekendFavorites

Some of my favorite things from this past weekend.

New Skull Earring

 Mr.U Coming to Bed Early

The Cutest Pack of Gum

CiderMillsSunday

Apparently, this weekend was the time for me to embrace fall and all the beautiful things that come with it.

Sunday morning, I met two of my best girlfriend, Rickybobby&theBaby, at a Cider Mill about 30minutes north of my house in the adorable, little Village of Franklin. It wasn’t the most extravagant cider mill I’ve ever seen, but it did the trick – sweet, cinnamon scents and plenty of pumpkins to choose from. We got a little tutorial about the process for making cider, which was very interesting, yet simple. I got 2 pumpkins for carving and 1 covered in warts just for decoration.

The fieldtrip didn’t take as long as we’d hoped, though, so we headed to a breakfast spot to kill a little more time and chitchat.

I miss the days when I could wake up with my favorites and spend the whole day with them.

Fall Photos

Mid-tailgate, I decided to run home for some gloves since our fingers were freezing from holding our beers. I took a shortcut down the railroad tracks and thoroughly enjoyed the fall scenery I encountered ... I haven't really taken in the beauty of my favorite season with all the business lately, so I had to snap a few pictures of the leaves. Though it would make sense to like the bright red&orange trees the most, but I like the dark brown ones (since brown’s my favorite color, obviously).

Our neighborhood is perfect for taking-in the colors, too, since all the quaint streets are tree-lined.

Very picturesque.

TailgateTent

This Saturday was the Michigan vs. Michigan State game, so Mr.U&I tailgated at the KofC with all the old men like last year. (only last year was better because VPBF&bofo were there…) The weather was freezing&wet, but after a couple beers, it wasn’t so bad. And the crowd of people is always fun to hang outside with, watch some football, and eat some warm-tailgate-treats.

FanForLife

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with the Detroit Tigers this season.
The frustration of highs&lows made me throw my hands up in the air, shake my head, and scream at “our boys” – especially after the win-streak of July died down. But, come September, this team won me back over entirely. I’d listened daily for 5 month to 97.1 the Ticket on my commute
…took in all the callers...

...put my two scents toward their opinions...

...learned more baseball stats&strategies than I ever thought I’d know…

and poured my heart into the pennant race we found ourselves in.

Last night, as Prince caught that final pop-fly for the out and Coke threw his hand in their air & glove on the ground, I realized I was involuntarily jumping up&down, screaming at the top of my lounges, and tearing up over the Tiger’s American League Championship. Mr.U calmly sat in his recliner with a doofy smile on his face and we both watched the players’ celebration in excitement&amazement.

Ilitche’s adorable speech

Leyland’s outward showing of his obvious Tiger love

Delmon Young (who was admittedly not my favorite all seasons) winning MVP

Verlander dancing around behind Cabrera’s interview

I couldn’t get enough of the post-game.

It’s absolutely wild: the energy an athletic event can give an entire town. I honestly think I could feel the positive aura from Comerica all the way in our home 20 minutes away and my heart broke a little that this team I’ve fallen so completely in love with can only play 7 more games until April. I’ve always been in love with our Lions&Wings, but I’m wrapped around the Tiger’s finger now, and I can’t wait till next Wednesday.

We’ve got it, boys.

We’re going to the World Series and we’re going to kick some serious ass.

And I will be your loyal fan for the rest of my days.

GG & #bff'sBooks

Just finished Book 1 in the Gossip Girl series. It’s a lot different than the CW series, but it’s still pretty entertaining. Chuck Bass (my all-time favorite character) is much much more devious&trashy in the book, but that’s ok, I suppose. I’ve never been one to get too hooked on characters, celebrities, or trends.

Just got my 3rd rotation of SMBC books, too - #bff’s this time. Starting The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler.

Relatable TV

I tend to watch TV shows I know my friends&family like just so I can use it as a relatable topic. Take, for example, Hart of Dixie – I watched a couple episodes with my cousin last season, but I never kept up with it. Now that the new season has premiered, I’m catching up on the whole 1st season via Netflix and texting my cousin about my love/hate relationships with the characters&storylines.

It’s funny – the things I watch in order to be informed.

Sometimes, though, the show just cannot grab my attention no matter how hard I try. Then I have to find another form of relatablity.

Music&Baseball

Last Saturday night was another concert of the HandGrenade at a grungy-hipster-bar in Hamtramck called New Dodge. All the bands were great, but the I’ll admit that I was more interested in watching the Tiger’s game from our perch in the balcony. The TVs above the bar were in perfect view and the game was too good to take my eyes off with a suspenseful tie-up in the 9th inning. We finally won in extra innings – around 1am – then danced the rest of the night away with the bandmates to silly juke box music. The perfect end to an evening of good music&baseball.

Quaint Desires

During Mr.U’s GRE, I headed to the most adorable little town – Northville, MI – for an art/craft show that my #bff was working at. I wanted to wander around downtown all day – unfortunately I had plans and it was raining. But I was reminded just how much I love quaint downtowns. After a few hours there, I headed back to Livonia for a movie&lunch with RickyBobby. We went to another picturesque place – the Phoenix movie theater – with small-town prices and comfy, old-school seats to see Pitch Perfect, which was absolutely hilarious. Following the round of belly-aching round of laughs, we wandered through the mall to meet Mr.U in the food court for lunch.
It was a very visually appealing day of cute, new places to discover. Days like Saturday make me miss my hometown and hope that – someday – we’ll find somewhere like it to settle down.

Boyfriend's Breakfast

Mr.U had to take his GRE Saturday morning, so I woke up early to make him breakfast before his big exam. He’s been craving pancakes for weeks now. Since I’m not a pancake person, I never think to make them, but since he’s been studying for weeks now, I figured he deserved them. They were gooey&filling and he seemed to love them. I patted myself on the back for a successful first pancake attempt.

I’d also found a recipe for oatmeal bake in the Reader’s Digest and decided to try it. (I’m an oatmeal girl, so it was a treat for me also). It wasn’t the best breakfast treat – oatmeal-bananas-blackberry mush – but it tasted alright and it was nice and healthy (much healthier than pancakes) so I forced myself to enjoy it.

Absent Fondness

I'm beginning to realize that the friends who live the closest to me are the one's I keep in touch with least.

It's frustrating.

I understand that people have their seperate lives - just because the distance doesn't span too far, doesn't mean the friendships or ideas of fun all match up... but sometimes it would be nice to get a little more effort from the people closest to me.

I know that it's a two-way street.

And I know that I try to at least stay informed.

I know that I can ask for the details on anyone's weekend plans, but it'd be nice to be invited instead of informed later.

I guess that's why I always get worried to say "no" to people, cause it seems like once you say "no" a couple times, the invitations stop.

If I turn down a Saturday night at the bar, I must never want another Saturday night at the bar.

If I'm out of town for an event, I must never want to join in on another weekend.

If I didn't once, I never will.

Not true.

PuppyLove

I grew up with a dog – a cocker spaniel named Samantha – and I always assumed I’d get another dog eventually. Unfortunately, Mr.U&I have no time for a puppy. But that doesn’t mean we don’t gawk at puppies and talk about how much we want one every time we see one. This little darling is my college-friend’s puppy … all I wanted to do was snuggle it for a million hours.

 

GG Taping

The final season of Gossip Girl finally premiered on the CW last night. Unfortunately, Barbie was unable to watch it, so – in fear it wouldn’t be available for online streaming right away – I ghetto-recorded it for her on my laptop. Turns out, it’s on cwtv.com already this morning, so she doesn’t have to watch my low-quality video.

I hope she gets to watch it next week, so we can text&tweet about it from 9-10pm.

Reunited Sisters

It's wild.

The way we've gone through so much shit over the years

yet

we can still like each other after all of it.

I'm sure I couldn't live with them again...

...but my sister AlwaysHave&AlwaysWill be my sisters

-

through thick&thin, good&bad, distance&conflicts.

And when we meet for short amounts of time after some time has passed

we simply enjoy the time.

 

China Skype

This past weekend was homecoming in Mr.U&my college town, so we went back for sorority&fraternity reunions in our favorite Village.

Saturday morning started off quietly – we picked up donuts for the guys and hung out at his frat house until more people were up&excited.

When people finally started arriving, we set up the computer for skype – VPBF&herBofo joined our celebration all the way from China. It was such a blast to be able to see them – even if it was only on screen – it made me tear up a little at first. Eventually, we set the computer on the entertainment system and let them observe the party and participate in Power Hour with us. People kept wandering by and dancing for them – saying a few words here&there – turning around to announce to the room how much they miss “those two.”

It was priceless.

I will say, though, that I’m excited for future homecomings when they’ll actually be with us.

Matching Couches

I found two couches that match two of the couches at my grandparents’ in the same frat house. I wanted to steal them. The couches at grandma&grandpa’s have been my bed so many times. Funny, the comfort you find in a simple resting place like a couch.

(Or, davenport, as my great-grandma used to call them.)

City Mornings

The city I work in is adorable.

Its my favorite in the morning

when the streetlights are still on

and

the traffic is minimal.

Food&Clothes

I miss delicious summer foods.

Though the foods of fall are wonderful.

pumpkin donuts&beer

…

warm soups&chili

But, I do miss fresh summer foods.

I also miss my old closet.

I mean, my current walk-in is great

but my old closet was so open&organized.

clor coordinated

…

lots of shelves
Such a great place to put my millions of clothes.

Discovering Buildings

Some old buildings I discovered on an adventure through downtown.

I haven’t been on a good drive like that in a while.

Nails Lately

Rain Nails

(inspired by Lauren Conrad)
 

Gold Toenails
(with polish that lasts forever)
 

 Multi-Colored Fingernails

(couldn’t decide)