Happy Halloween!

After a wonderful long weekend in Tennessee, I got to come home to this cutie and the halloween scarf my mom made him!

Happy Halloween to ya'll!  ;)

Happy Anniversary

Kate & Michael

10.30.10

Happy Anniversary to an amazing couple!  

Thank you for letting me be a part of your special day.

Wishing you a lifetime of happiness!!

XOXO

THINK PINK

I've been meaning to write this post for quite some time, but life got in the way.  But I figure, better late than never, right?  

You know I have a special place in my heart for patients, especially oncology patients. Breast Cancer Awareness month is here.  What have you done to support the Ta-Ta's?

If you need a couple ways, let me help you….

Perhaps you will head over to Panera Bread and pick up some of my favorite bagels ever?!

You can only find these Pink Ribbon Bagels this month…so be sure to pick one up this weekend!!

You will be doing something great, as a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the local Breast Cancer Foundation.

How about doing a little baking?  It will be the perfect weekend to turn on that oven on a chilly day and bake some goodies, or even a home cooked meal for a friend or family member in need.  When they are running low on energy, it will be nice to know they have something in the freezer to pop in the oven for a nice meal.  

How about get a manicure, or take that friend in need for a little pampering?  

Try out the Breast Cancer Awareness colors for 2011…

OPI has made a donation towards the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

 Want to do a little shopping?

How about purchasing Lilly Pulitzer's Murfee Scarf in Butterfly Kisses?

LP, a company full of women and pink, is a supporter of Breast Cancer Charities of America. 

Want to get a little more festive? 

Why not paint your pumpkins PINK?!

But there's one thing I will ask you to do.  

Check out this blog, My Big Girl Pants.   

I do not know Bridget personally, but my heart goes out to her.  My mom and her mom are friends.  Bridget is a young girl around my age, who got married around the same time I did.  She is currently fighting Stage 4 breast cancer with her "big girl pants" every step of the way.  

Check out her blog; I promise you will laugh and cry at the same time, she's a fabulous writer and an inspiration to all.  

I ask you send thoughts and prayers to her and her family.  

As for you Bridget...  

….and everyone is right behind you fighting for you in anyway we can!  

Thoughts and Prayers are coming your way!!!

XOXO

Apple Cider Caramel Cookies

What screams fall more than apple cider and caramel???

Here is the perfect fall cookie adapted from a recipe I saw on Pintrest.

I promise you can't eat just one!

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

 Apple Cider powder mix 

(ok, I searched high and low for the one the recipe originally called for but could not find anything close!  Finally…low and behold, my beloved Wegmans came through.  I used 7 ounces of the mix, or two boxes)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

3 cups flour

1 bag Kraft caramels

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line rimless baking sheet with parchment paper.  

2.  In mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, salt and apple cider mix.  

3.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Then mix in baking soda and baking powder.

4.  Add flour and mix until just combined.

5.  Unwrap all of your caramels so they are ready to go.

6.  Take about 1 Tbsp of dough, roll in ball and flatten.  Place caramel in center and work dough around to form ball.  Place on prepared baking sheet.  

7.  Bake cookies for about 10-15 minutes until lightly brown.

(I put mine on lower rack in oven and baked for 13 minutes)

8.  Remove from oven.  Remove parchment paper from baking sheet and transfer to counter.  Allow cookies to cool slightly on counter.  

9.  While cookies still warm, but no longer soft, gently loosen from paper and turn upside down to cool completely. 

10.  Try to not eat the whole 51 cookies this recipe makes ;)

ENJOY!!!

Don't Forget About Fido

No, my dog's name isn't "Fido," that's just the nickname my uncle gave him and every once in a while he gets called by that! 

This weekend I was at a party where I was reminded that "Christmas is only 64 days away," which now is 62 days.  So, have you started shopping?

I found this cute personalized dog bone ornament on Etsy and found the need to scoop one up for Baxter, as he has limited personalization on our tree.  Tracy was super sweet and great to order from.  Check out her shop here.  

Any unique gifts for your pup this year?  Have you started your shopping yet?  

Need a Costume?

This week on the Today Show, it was said that Halloween is the third most expensive holiday, after Christmas and Valentine's Day.  I couldn't believe it!  So, I thought I would post this list I found last year that had some great ideas for costumes, at a less expensive rate!  

1. A Highway: Wear all black sweat suit, stick on white or yellow tape on your legs and chest to resemble lines in a road. Attach tiny cars and road signs onto your pants and shirt.

2. Nudist on Strike: Wear normal clothes and wear a sign around your neck that says “Nudist on Strike.” 

3. Flasher: Wear regular clothes under a long trench coat. Make a belt out of flashbulbs or old cameras. Tell people you are a flasher and then flash at will.

4. Grim Reaper on Vacation: Buy or make a Grim Reaper outfit, but then wear a lei or flowered necklace, a camera around your neck, Bermuda shorts, paint your nose white (like lifeguards) and carry around some postcards or a map.

5. Typical Tourist: Wear a big floppy hat, flowered shirt and long shorts, flip-flop sandals and a camera around your neck. Carry a map and look lost all the time.

6. Cheating Husband: Men can wear a button down shirt that is buttoned all wrong, pants slightly unzipped, shoes untied or on wrong feet, lipstick kisses on collar, shirt, neck or even on pants and hair

messed up. Tell people you didn’t dress in costume, you forgot about the party and just dropped what you were doing to come over.

7. Cheating Wife: Women can wear a skirt with the back tucked into pantyhose; hair messed up, make-up smeared and bra on the outside of shirt.

8. Undecided: Wear solid colored clothing and cut question marks out of paper. Staple or pin them to your outfit and when people ask what you are tell them either “I don’t know, what am I?” or “It’s still a mystery.”

9. Ultimate Superhero: Gather together many elements of superhero costumes such as Superman’s Cape, Batman’s mask, Green Lantern’s ring, etc. and wear them all.

10. Twister Game: Buy a Twister game. Staple ribbon to two corners of the spinner and tie the ribbon under your chin so the spinner becomes a “hat.” Cut a hole in the center of the Twister mat and wear it like a poncho. All night long you can tell people to “put left hand on red” and so on.

11. Web Surfer: Wear a wetsuit like surfers wear, then drape yourself with fake cobwebs.

12. Matchstick or Cigarette: Wear all white clothing with a red stocking cap. For a cigarette try wearing tan pants or cut white pants short and sew brown material from the end of the shorts down to your ankles. This makes the filter. If you can make a belt or sash with a brand name of the cigarette, even better!

13. Leaf Blower: Wear regular clothes. Wear a hat with a leaf hanging down from the rim so that the leaf is in front of your face. When people ask what you are blow on he leaf and make them guess.

14. Tornado: Wear all black or gray clothing. Sew strings of varying lengths all over your outfit. On the ends of the string, tie on tiny houses, people, cars, animals, etc. When people ask what you are, spin around fast and make sounds like a tornado.

15. Cereal Killer: Clothing should be kind of rugged and torn. Carry a bloody knife and have blood on your clothes. Attach labels or actual little cereal boxes all over your clothes.

16. Miss Matched: Dress in a gown such as a beautyqueen might wear. Buy wide ribbon long enough for a sash around your shoulder. On the sash write “Miss Matched.” Then wear your makeup different on both sides of your face, your hair styled different, different earrings, different shoes and different colored nail polish.

17. Killer Bee: Buy a bee costume. Smear some fake blood on it and carry a fake weapon.

18. Spelling Bee: Buy a bee costume. Attach felt or Velcro letters to your suit and carry some around with you. If you can get enough little letters in Velcro your friends will have fun spelling words on you!

19. Peeping Tom: Wear regular clothes and a name tag that says “Tom”. Make a window frame out of cardboard, even add curtains if you are feeling real creative. When people ask what you are, hold up the “window” and peep through it.

20. Red Riding in the Hood: Buy or make a red cape with hood. Have tattoos on your arms, a spiked collar, lots of piercing, etc. and talk tough all night long.

21. In the Shower: Wrap a towel around your body (wearing a tube top and shorts under the towel is optional). Wrap a towel around your head turban style or wear a shower cap. Carry a rubber duck and a back scrubber.

22. Cat Burglar: Wear black clothes, black stocking cap, ski mask or Lone Ranger-style mask. Carry a bag with some stuffed cats peeking out.

23. Kissing Booth: Find a box big enough to fit over your body. Cut or open the bottom and top of the box so that you can slip into the box. Tie rope onto one end of the box so the ropes can go over your shoulders (this will hold the box on you). Wear sexy clothes and have lipstick kisses on your clothes and face. On the box write “Kisses, $1.00.”

24. Work in Progress: Wear all white clothes, a sweat suit works best. Using a black permanent marker, you should draw shapes or bodily outlines all over your suit. Color some of the pieces/shapes in. Carry paints of markers with you and tell people you are a work in progress. Color on your costume all night long. Or, for more fun, have others color on you.

25. Self-Portrait. Wear a shirt that is light-colored enough for you to sign your name in the bottom corner. Make a picture frame out of cardboard or wood. When people ask what you are hold up your picture frame. The frame should be big enough so that from waist up you are in the frame and your signature is in the bottom corner like a portrait.

26. Fried Egg: Wear all white. Attach a piece of yellow felt to your stomach.

27. Sunny Side up Eggs: Wear all white. Attach a piece of yellow felt to your derriere. When people ask what you are bend over and say “sunny side up.”

28. Sleepy Housewife: Put your hair up in curlers; wear a bathrobe, no makeup and yawn a lot. Don’t forget fuzzy bunny slippers! This is especially funny for guys to dress up as.

29. Hump Day (Wednesday): Fashion a hump out of wadded up paper, material or foam and shove it under a short so that you have a hump on your back. On the front of your shirt, write either the word “day” or pull out one day on a daily calendar and pin it to your shirt.

30. Con Artist: Wear a “prison” uniform…the kind that is white with black stripes. Wear a beret hat and carry around an artist pallet and paint brush.

31. Horror Movie Victim: Mess up your hair, smear fake blood on clothes and face, and tear clothes so they are ragged. Walk around looking real paranoid and scream a lot.

32. Black and White Silent Film Star: Wear black and white clothes. Paint all showing skin light gray or white with gray shading around eyes, mouth, nose, etc. Do not talk all night. Or, mouth the words without speaking and hold up signs when done “speaking” (just like how silent films show the scene then show the subtitles).

33. Exterminator: Wear coveralls. Attach plastic bugs and spiders all over the outfit.

34. Gum under the Table: Make a small cardboard table and wear it on your head. Dress in all pink.

35. Picnic: buy or make a white and red checkered picnic blanket. Attach plastic or paper plates, plastic utensils and plastic food to it. Cut a hole in the center and wear the cloth like a poncho. Add some fake ants for that authentic effect!

36. Gum under a Shoe: Take an old shoe and if the laces are long enough tie them under your chin and wear the shoe like a hat. If laces are too short tie string onto the lace ends to make them longer. Wear all pink. For the best effect let your clothes get wrinkly to look like wadded up gum.

37. Perfume Sales Girl: Dress in really nice clothes and lots of makeup. Carry around many samples of perfume and squirt people all night long.

38. Under the Weather: On a hat attach clouds (cardboard and cotton balls), the sun, lightning bolts and raindrops.

39. Cloudy with a Chance of Showers: Attach cotton balls to a hat and clothes for clouds. When people ask what you are say “cloudy, with a chance of showers” and squirt them with a squirt gun.

40. Chain Smoker: Wrap chains around yourself and have a pack of cigarettes sticking out of your shirt pocket.

41. Jack-in-the-box: Find a box big enough to go around your waist. Attach rope to it for shoulder straps. Wear a name tag that says “Jack.”

42. Stood-Up Prom Date: Great for women but really funny for men who want to dress as a woman. Wear a prom dress, heels and make-up. Smudge eye-make up so it looks like you have been crying. Carry a box of tissues and have several tissues tucked into your waist sash, sticking out of your bodice, or anywhere you can stash one.

43. Killing Time: Carry some broken watches and clocks and a fake weapon. Throughout the night repeatedly stab at the clocks.

44. Time is on my side: Wear regular clothes. Attach watches or clocks to one side of your outfit; wear a bunch of wristwatches on only one wrist.

45. Time Flies: Wear wings and tie string onto a clock so you can wear the clock like a necklace.

46. Cupid: Best for large guys, but funny for anyone. Wear a diaper or toga, wings, and buy one of those cheap bow and arrows with the suction cups. Attach paper hearts to the suction cup end. Wear a ribbon sash that says “Cupid”

47. Spirit of Halloween: Wear black and orange. Attach as many Halloween decorations as you can to your outfit.

48. Read between the Lines: Wear a striped outfit or a solid colored outfit and draw strips on with a permanent or fabric marker. In between the lines write words or sentences.

49. The Bottom Line: Sweat pants will work best. Stuff the back of the sweat pants with newspaper or material to make it big. Draw or use colored tape to the seat of the pants.

50. Ice Queen: Wear white or light blue. Buy icicle decorations (like the kind for Christmas decorations) and drape them all over your body. Wear a silver crown or tiara.

On another note, have any of you been able to try Dogfish Head Pumpkin Ale?!  It's sold out everywhere I go!  I'm on the hunt this weekend...