Late Nights

Last night, when I should have been asleep, I thought, "Maybe I should sketch everything out for my (get this) Halloween costume so that I don't forget anything." It's eleven at night, and I was worried about a costume for a holiday that is 7 MONTHS AWAY. Do you see what I'm getting at here?
Anyway, I sketched and made notes for about a half hour. I could not fall asleep until I was satisfied.

They are crappy, but here are things I've found online (cough-mostly Pinterest-cough) that are close to what I've been seeing in my head:

Curly-toed boots!

Aren't they just perfectly witchy?

P.S. FOUND THEM!
Not what I expected though.

Striped Tights

A staple for anyone riding a broom.

Rag Skirt

Pretty and feminine, but not too much!

And I would probably add a tulle skirt under it,

just to add a tiny bit of volume.

Asymmetrical hoodie

Here is a VERY rough sketch of

what I'd like to make. ^

This is the closest I've found. ^

Her tutorial is a great start!

I think I'd be able to modify it

enough to make what I'm thinking.

I'd like to sew it so that the buttons are just decor

and it just slides on over my head.

Also, mine will be fitted under the bust

and then gathered over the bust

for a rouched effect.

Fabulous Eyes

Not the mouth. No zombies here today.

Note: Found on Pinterest by someone who found it on Tumblr which means

NO SOURCE and that bugs me.

If you know, let me know so I can credit them please!

Accessories:

Goggles

I don't want any bugs getting in my eyes now, do I?

(Does anyone else think of Russell when they think of goggles?)

Owl studs

For luck! You can never be too careful on a broom.

And a ring too...

Perched and waiting.

Hair thoughts:

Messy side braid

Great for keeping hair out of the way.

or

Crimped hair

Adds volume and a bit of craziness

so it looks windblown.

And last, but definitely not least:

The Broomstick!

I love that she painted it black.

I think I'd get a crooked branch

and straighter twigs though.

Yep. It's the end of March and I just planned out a Halloween costume.

That's how I roll.

What have you been up to lately?

Random Daydreams

In my daydreams, I do one of three things:
1) Plan birthday parties. Seriously. I have my girls' Halloween/birthday party all planned. Since last year.

2) Plan cakes to go with said parties. Cupcakes, sheet cakes, smash cakes. I love them all.

3) Plan flash mobs. I was in one last year and it was sooo much fun. Not only did we dance in front of a huge crowd, we also held a humungous flag as that crowd sang The Star Spangled Banner on the 4th of July. Since then, I've been hooked.

I was watching this music vid on Pinterest (it's a beautiful thing, really) and it hit me as she tapped the two chicks with the chola brows on the shoulders. Wouldn't this make a really fun flash mob?
Have one person start out. They randomly dance around, but start strategically tapping people on their shoulders. After they go down, they come back up dancing. Wham-o. Dozens of strangers you once walked by with a shopping cart are now dancing in the aisles with huge smiles on their faces. It would be a good day, right?

Changing it up a bit.

As you can tell I've changed things up a bit. I tend to do that. I like an idea, I wear it out, and I pick a new one. Honestly, I haven't gone back to college yet because the only thing that sticks for me is writing. Like in a journal. Or on a blog. Or a status update on the Twitter.

Some examples of my not being able to pick something, anything really:
At one point in time I was really into cooking. I mean, I still cook. I just thought my calling in life was to work in a kitchen. If you could see my kitchen now, you'd know that did not last long.
Then, I thought I'd be a party planner. But my problem there is staying within a budget. More specifically, my own budget. I have three kids and one on the way, plus a husband. That's 5 parties per year that I plan and carry out on my own. I just over spend. A little. Anyway, I love doing it for my family, but for other people? That is a bit more complicated.

My point is that even though I'm a wife and a mom and many other things, I'm still figuring out who I am. I am filling in the blanks.
Today, I was a fashionista. Well, not really. I just had to buy a new pair of pants because I literally wear a pair out before I'll buy more.
Tomorrow, I shall be a baker. Because the brand spankin-new KitchenAid I got for my birthday is calling my name.

As is that recipe for Minny's chocolate pie. (The genuine recipe they used for the film The Help.)

Who are you today?
What inspired you today?
What will you do tomorrow?

Just Because

Over at Shadow Manor, she answered some of Pensive Pumpkin's questions. As a reader, I thought I'd answer them because I haven't posted for a while. There have been some issues and crazy things happen (which I'll explain at a later date) so here is a post, just because.

1. What is your favorite candy?
 I am a chocoholic, but I go through it in stages. Right now it's the Snickers stage. Last month it was chocolate mints. (like Andes)



2. What is your least favorite vegetable?
 On its own, without any other flavor, zucchini. In bread, meatloaf, etc. it is soooo good.


3. Do you play a musical instrument?
 Piano, until my brother told me I was terrible. So I quit. Ukelele is my goal. It just sounds so much more fun.


4. What's the worst injury you've ever had?
 A dog bit me on my throat. I only had a few stitches, but it was close to my jugular, so pretty scary. Although I was in a wreck in college and had staples in my head. It felt awesome to have that familiar ka-chunk, ka-chunk on your skull. Not kidding.


5. What's under your bed?
 Not sure. I don't look under it much. Maybe a few stray books and socks?


6. If you could publish one book, what would it be about?
 Mermaids. Or my biography in the fiction section. I'd rather people not believe that certain things really happened.


7. Do you believe in ghosts?
 I didn't. And then one day we were watching some ghost hunter show. I laughed and said how stupid they were and how fake the whole thing was. Then I went to take a nap. I could tell someone was standing at the foot of the bed and thought it was my husband, the presence was so strong. When I opened my eyes, no one was there. I screamed. My brother-in-law told me someone died in that house. Now I'm not sure.


8. What's on your mouse pad?
 We don't own one. We use a book or the couch or whatever we're close to.


9. What are you currently reading?
 East by Edith Pattou, Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye, and The Peacegiver by James Ferrell.


10. If you could have any job you wanted, what would it be?
 I'd love to be a camp counselor at Hellboy Camp. Or the person that sprays male models with the mist of water so they look sweaty.


11. What's your all-time favorite television show?
 When I was a kid I loved Nash Bridges. Not even kidding. Now, not even sure. Prime Suspect, maybe? She's awesomely hardcore.
 
Answer these questions on your own blog or leave some answers as a comment!
Am I the only person without a mouse pad, though?

Books, What Else?

I know I've already done a post on books that I love, but I've compiled a short list (this is short compared to what I wanted to do originally) of quotes that I love from books that I adore.
Just because.



“That's the trouble with loving a wild thing: You're always left watching the door.” 
Edith Pattou, East
(I believe this would have described my small self perfectly.)


“Always learn poems by heart. They have to become the marrow in your bones. Like fluoride in the water, they'll make your soul impervious to the world's soft decay.” 
(Honestly, I have a few poems memorized. They are ones I'm hoping my kids will have memorized. And their kids. And it will be because of me.)
&
“In a perverse way, I was glad for the stitches, glad it would show, that there would be scars. What was the point in just being hurt on the inside? It should bloody well show.”
Janet Fitch, White Oleander
(I used to be a cutter. I was never diagnosed in high school, but I think I had depression. This is how I felt about cutting. It did hurt inside. And I think I wanted the outside world to know I was in pain.)


“So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.”
(I once had a boy describe me as two opposite ends of the scale. I still hope when some boys think of me, they think of the quiet hurricane.)
&
“When I look at my room, I see a girl who loves books.”
John Green, Looking for Alaska
(Because I am a girl who loves books.)


“The upside to grief is it takes away your appetite. When people say you look good they really mean it. Nature's thoughtful that way.”
Barbara Park, Mick Harte Was Here
(This book, while extremely sad, is also hilarious.)


“It kills me sometimes, how people die.”
Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

(Really, it does.)


“You do not question an author who appears on the title page as "T.V.N. Persaud, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc., F.R.C.Path. (Lond.), F.F.Path. (R.C.P.I.), F.A.C.O.G.”
Mary Roach, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
(This book is interesting, funny, thought-provoking... Love it.)

“All children mythologise their birth. It is a universal trait. You want to know someone? Heart, mind and soul? Ask him to tell you about when he was born. What you get won’t be the truth: it will be a story. And nothing is more telling than a story. ”
(I was born on a very snowy day in March. It was the first day of spring, but you'd never know it by the blizzard outside. My mother woke early, not bothering to wake my father. She showered, got ready, and made sure the bags were ready before she woke him. Then she told him it was time. On their way to the hospital, they found my father's cousin, Carolyn, stuck in a snowbank off to the side of the road. She hopped in with them and went to the hospital. She looks at me still with an eye of nostalgia. She was there when I was born. When she sees me with my oldest, she gasps and tells me how much she looks like myself. My mother left when I was two and my father died when I was 8. Carolyn makes me feel connected to them in a way.)
&
“Do they sense it, these dead writers, when their books are read? Does a pinprick of light appear in their darkness? Is their soul stirred by the feather touch of another mind reading theirs? I do hope so.”
(All I can say is Amen.)
Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale

“We wanted to define her, to wrap her up as we did each other, but we could not seem to get past "weird" and "strange" and "goofy." Her ways knocked us off balance.”
&
“A baseball bat could not have hit me harder than that smile did. I was sixteen years old. In that time, how many thousands of smiles had been aimed at me? so why did this one feel like the first?”
(Because it was the first genuine smile. At least, that's what I think.)
Jerry Spinelli, Stargirl

“It is helpful to know the proper way to behave, so one can decide whether or not to be proper.”
&
“Do you like to slide?" His voice was eager.
Stair rails! Did he suspect me? I forced a sigh. "No, Majesty. I'm terrified of heights."
"Oh." His polite tone had returned.
"I wish I could enjoy it. This fear of heights is an affliction."
He nodded, a show of sympathy but not much interest. I was losing him.
"Especially," I added, "as I've grown taller.”
(Ella is one of my favorite heroines.)
Gail Carson Levine, Ella Enchanted


Do you have any favorite quotes that remind you of you?
Any brilliant, sad, humorous quotes you recite often?