Ta-Da!

There have been some requests to see a photo of my Halloween costume.  Without disclaimers, here I am with my favorite redneck.

In line with the theme of "simple and inexpensive" I dressed to match the color scheme.  Next year I will be a character.  Maybe...

Also, the costume was supposed to be an excuse to wear this bright red lipstick I love and normally shy away from.  Sadly, it didn't even show up in the picture.  Go ahead and imagine it, because I was wearing it.  And rocking it.  And not shy at all about red lipstick.

On an entirely different note, did you know that this is National Blog Posting Month?  I signed up to do National Novel Writing Month.  I thought if I could throw a successful Halloween party four weeks after moving, I could certainly write a novel in a month (and unpack boxes..and deal with the ants).  I should have signed up for the daily blogging instead.  I totally could have blogged every day.  But this novel word count requirement is madness!  Madness.

I have to finish my rough draft soon.  It's starting to get to the point that every time I pick up my laptop, I wonder why I started the novel in the first place.  After all, I didn't need to write a novel.  Now people I love and respect know I'm writing this.  I know I'm writing this.  So I will finish it.

It just might not happen this month. 

A Night Circus

I have thrown my first party in the new house.  After a rocky adventurous four weeks, I feel like my house and I make a good team.  It did good by me for our annual Halloween party. 

I was inspired by Erin Morganstern's The Night Circus to have a black and white circus theme.  If you have been reading this blog for any amount of time at all, you probably know that I love a theme.  A black and white scheme made shopping and decision-making more simple. 

Since my new kitchen is still in a state of...uh, impracticality (more on that soon), I opted for a dessert buffet.

 

As always, our guests amazed us with their costumes.

Nathan and Holly won for Best Group Costume:

George won for Best Overall. 

We played our annual game of Killer and again there were some memorable homicides. 

We finished the evening by eating more treats and playing Mafia - more memorable homicdes and a lot of clever people. 

The house was everything I had wanted for hospitality.  Never mind the ants (soooo many ants), the lack of proper lighting, the missing fridge and the need for new siding.  Those things will be fixed.  Last night I sat in my new living room with nine of the best people I know, and I knew that this house is home.