Lack of Halloween parties: frightening

This is the first year in since '99 that there's no big Halloween shindig on my agenda. Well, I'm sure there are shindigs, we just haven't been invited to any. That's not true either; we got invited to Ashley and Jeff's in Brooklyn. Although I flew home for this annual monster mash a few years ago, I can't swing it this year 'cause I'll be on the East Coast in a couple weeks for Michelle and Jay's wedding.

Frankly, I'm a little let down by the lack of Halloween parties.

As a consolation, I signed myself and Dave up for a haunted brewery tour in Georgetown, one of the older, more industrial Seattle 'hoods. I just wanted to do something new. I asked my coworker if he wants to go with us, but he is handing out candy with his friend's 2 1/2 year old daughter. Is this what Halloween is coming to?

Oh, p.s. Ashley said I can share a clue about her costume.

Yo man!

Sometimes I throw party just so I can make an invitation.

Halloween Gold!

My sister and Jeff come up with the best costumes year after year. You know how most girls use the holiday as an excuse to dress as slutty as possible? Ashley tries to look her worst. I don't have pictures of all her get-ups, but I but in recent years she's been a lunch lady (wearing sloppy joe spilled on her dress and a hairnet), and a ghetto Roca Wear girl with huge hoop earrings and lipliner two shades too dark. Together their costumes are even better.

Last year they were NYC tourists. (Which is funny because they live there.) Their characters were Bev and Joseph, in town from Nebraska to visit colleges. Ashley said the elastic-waist K-Mart pants and white sneaks made her look 10 lbs fatter instantaneously.


Looks like they just picked up some Ts at Times Square:

In 2006, they were Oprah and Stedman. They both had on ridiculous bronzer and Jeff amped up his mustache with mascara. Ashley carried around a lint brush as her microphone and couldn't ask a question without shoving it your face for a televised response.


I want to post what they're going as this year but I'm not sure if I'm sworn to secrecy, so I won't. It's Halloween gold! But I will leave you with this:

moving right along

Dave and I moved in together about two weeks ago and the pad is all set up. We're renting a condo from a woman who just got married and moved into the house her husband inherited from his dead Grandma. Our gain. (And their gain too, I'm sure.) Our place has modern amenities like a balcony, dishwasher, washer and dryer, and a cheesy remote-controlled fireplace for extra ambience. I love apartments with old world charm but man, you cannot beat a stacked washer and dryer attached to your kitchen.

So with all these modern amenities coupled with the bus stop right outside my door, I'm definitely not getting as much walking in as I did when I lived in Queens. I decided last week to join Weight Watchers. Two deciding factors: barely being able to stuff my fat ass into my rental wetsuit for my last surf trip, and the prospect of standing in front of a crowd as Michelle's maid of honor next month. The dresses Ashley and I are wearing are smoking! We need a little more salvation than a pair of Spanx.

Despite my initial misgivings about Weight Watchers, I do like it. I also found out my sis started the week before I did....we are on the same wavelength. I thought it might be bad timing to start since my parents were coming to visit, and I don't know if you know this but, we kinda like to eat and drink. But then I figured there will always be events to navigate through without throwing myself onto the cheese platter, so why not start now? It's a novel idea to go to happy hour and order a seltzer but it's definitely do-able. I've embraced Diet Coke back into my life and been eating taco soup like its my job. And that's all I'll say about that.

Yep, my parents came to visit and they were their usual awesome selves. Dave and I introduced our families and that was a success. We also drove down to Tacoma to meet some old friends who live in Portland, and Dave got to give us a tour of his hometown.

the city that never sleeps

I realize I've been negligent to my blog. The ID theft stuff made me realize how easily someone with ill intentions could abuse my personal info, and even though this blog does not divulge too much, broadcasting on the internet doesn't help keep a low profile.

Anyway, here's one of my latest artworks. I created this for Michelle and Jay's New England wedding in November. They wanted to go with a fall-harvest theme. First, the original sketch:



They liked it but wanted a farm scene to replace the apples at the bottom and more formal with the names. Here's a photo I found in my work library to help draw one:



This is the refined sketch:



And here's the finish!