Things I learned today

Today was my day off. I had a long list of things I wanted to do and as I headed out into the great wide world, I picked up a few tidbits of knowledge... or was at least reminded of them.

• Never eat at Five Guys alone. One order of fries is enough to feed a small country. Holy. Crap.

• Sometimes songs on the radio can really speak to you.  Two songs in a row I think were meant for me.  "I'm young, wild and I'm free" (by Triumph). and then "Born to Run"  (by The Boss). I realized that this is supposed to be the best time of my life- and I need to get off my arse and take advantage of my freedom! I'll start in a few days by taking in a three state tour. I'm pretty excited!
• I should never be allowed to be let loose in Jordan Landing with a debit or credit card.  Seriously.
• I love Pier One. Love. It. It makes me sad to go there when I know full well I can't buy anything- because I have no where to put it. I have no home to decorate! but I am head over heels in love with this Rug. 

Seriously. I might marry it.

• I am a sucker for anything with glitter and/or feathers. So when I found this Christmas tree covered in both- I was full of smit!

Awesome! I even relented a teeny bit on my judgement of having Christmas decorations out and Holiday tunes blaring overhead. Just look at the gorgeous glittery masks! It has absolutely *nothing* do do with Christmas... but it's so PRETTY!!!

• No matter how hard I wish- the chances of me walking into a store (mostly Barnes & Noble) and being the millionth, billionth or whatever number-eth customer- and getting a $10,000 shopping spree will probably never come true.

• Baby girls are so much more fun to shop for than boys!

Whatever Happened to that Holiday between Halloween and Christmas?

I know it's been all over the Internet- and Facebook and such- but I went to the store the other day and they were already playing Christmas music and this cartoon popped into my head. I couldn't agree with it more!

I love carols as much as any other sing-along-geek, and I love me a beautifully decorated tree, but come ON! People still had their Halloween hangovers and already we're Rockin Around the Christmas Tree?

Next year, I'll try to have enough groceries in storage that after October I won't have to go shopping again until after Thanksgiving... then it won't bother me so.

If I Were a Rich Witch

I don't know about tricks- but my friend posted some treats for today. 

And that is how I started my day. With a big, stupid, Jack o' lantern grin.
 
Without having my own place it's hard to decorate for Halloween... but I go from shop to shop and dream of how I will decorate *someday*.  I really like these.

I also really like glittery skulls. Is that weird? And the glittery pumpkins and spiders have grabbed my eye too. I think I must just like sparkly things.

I also really like witchy accessories.
 
 
*see the broom video at the bottom

And at witchfest I saw the most awesomest haunted village set in the whole world! I'd love to own that... but first- I would need space in which to display it...

and then, like a bazillion dollars to own the whole village.

Speaking of having money to just blow on whatever I fancied... If I had unlimited funds to just spend on completely frivolous holiday decorations- you'd better believe these would be living at my house! 

I found them here (my favorite store at Witchfest!)

I am also quite in love with this valance.

Look closely- the bats are obvious- but the skulls are a little hidden. It's awesome I tell you!

Someday my ship will come in. And when it does- there will be shopping! Although... once you have everything you've ever wanted... you don't have anything left to dream about. Hmmm... I didn't mean to just get philosophical on myself... but maybe to dream *is* better than to have.

I also almost bought this at Cracker Barrel a few months ago (looks like the person who took the video had the same fascination as me).

*Of course, I would buy this for someone else to keep at their house... but for me to visit occasionally.  :)

Things that made me smile today

Ok- the first one needs a little back story.  Choir in high school was a big deal. Maybe just to me- but it was a big deal. One of the biggest honors someone could earn was a brick on the wall your senior year- kind of a legal way of saying "Heather was here". Three of the Baker girls traipsed through the halls of the HHS choir corridor- none of us earned bricks. The young Baker Brother was in choir too... but he didn't really care. He went because it was there- and all you had to do was sing. *He* was the one who earned the brick. I remember when I found out I freaked out! I was so proud of him! He might as well have said he'd just won a Nobel Prize!  He claimed a brick- but he had no interest in ever going to paint it and he just left it there- with a piece of notebook paper taped to it. He left on his mission and didn't care anything about this brick. Oh. The. Humanity!

So with his permission, I took it upon myself to paint it for him. It was the only chance I would ever get.

He was really into cookies... anyway- I visited the brick a few weeks ago when my niece had a volleyball game at my alma mater (I'll blog about that another day). I got to thinking, you know, I really should have made it a Baker block- and not just Trav. He could have been the big lettering since he's the one who earned it, but I really should have put my sisters and me on there too with their graduation years. Just to say not only "Travis was here" but, "The BAKERS were here." It would have fit right in with all the family bricks. Some families had zillions of bricks. After a while it was almost shameful if someone from the family didn't get one- so they got one just because of their name (but I won't delve into high school politics just now).

Anyway- now that you have all that back story- Here are the things that made me smile today:

• I dreamed that Patrick Stewart was my high school choir teacher. I was one of his favorites. I would ride in the car with him on the way to choir concerts and we would talk about opera and Charles Dickens. Half the time I had no idea what I was talking about but I tried so hard to sound smart so he'd keep talking to me- and like me. I knew at the end of the year he would award me with a brick. I was already planning it in my head- how I would decorate it. I was going to put my name on it- but also my sisters' names because we'd all traipsed through choir and I thought we should all be "immortalized."

On the way to an outdoor concert, it started to snow and I was really upset because I hate snow and hate being cold. He decided we'd only do one song- the Hallelujah Chorus. There were people walking to the location but I was in the car with him- and he seemed really sad. So I was trying to talk to him to cheer him up. When I opened the door to get out of the car he asked if i wanted to hear the aria from an opera called Bel Amie (I don't know if that's even a real opera) and I said yes and shut the door- he drove off and put the CD in the player and we ditched the outdoor concert and listened to opera. When we got back to the school people were hanging out in the choir room. There was a big glass case, like a trophy case, in the corner of the room and everyone was gathered around it looking inside. In it there was an antique toy piano with a leather carrying case. I announced to the class that he was going to award it as a prize to my friend, Cami. I was a little disappointed because I thought I was his favorite- but then I didn't mind because I knew he had to appear impartial. and I was further ok, because I knew he'd award me a brick and that's all I really wanted anyway.

I think I've been watching too much Star Trek lately- and thinking about that stupid brick.

• Then- my aunt asked me to watch a movie with her. She just got some movies for her birthday, a gift from her rotten little sister (Hi Mom!). The one she chose was an old Jane Wyman movie called Three Guys Named Mike. 

Not only was the movie hilarious- but it starred two of the guys from my celebrity lunch list- and there was a cameo from another! Awesome!

• The next thing that made me smile today was an email in my spam box. It said "Important! Your Pay Pal account has had unauthorized access!"

I freaked out for a second.

Then remembered I don't have a Pay Pal account!

Witches' Night Out

Last night I joined a group of super fun ladies and went to Gardner Village's Witchfest.  Amber, my friend from work, let me tag along with her family. Thanks!!!

I've been looking forward to it for weeks and slowly putting together a costume. I had to do it on a budget because- let's face it- I'm poor.

I already had the dress and shoes (they are a skirt and shoes I already own- and wear- but put together with the right ensemble it could look witchy). I found the stripey tights and just to make things interesting- a red feather boa (no one ever said a witch could not be *fabulous!!*)

I searched high and low for the perfect hat- and I finally found one that was unlike any I'd ever seen and matched the things I'd already gathered. 

The night of the big outing- I puffed up my hair- globbed on extra makeup- and put on the witchy outfit.

When my friends arrived- I piled in and we drove to West Jordan. The line for the parking lot was at least half a mile long (the broom closet was full). But we finally got in. When they got out of the car and I got to see their costumes, I already felt under dressed.

They looked awesome (and most of the stuff is made by them).

When we walked into the village- we could barely fit. It was a sea of humanity.  I know now what the Quidditch World Cup must have looked like. Witches as far as the eye could see. The first person I saw had the exact same hat as me. Bummer.  I walked two feet- literally two feet further- and saw two more people with the same hat. It was right then that I knew I was not cool. I was one of the lame-os who got their stuff at a chain store like 10,000 other people. I was not unique. Sigh...

I also noticed that it might as well have been a stripey tight convention.  Almost everyone was wearing stripey tights!  

A trend I imagine we owe mostly to the Wicked Witch of the East.

They have all kinds of witchy displays set up throughout the village.

Good lookin ladies, aren't they?

Even the witches took time to eat!

Not all witches go by broom!

Talented, no?

This one's for Shayla.

Up to BAT.

This one had my favorite hat. Should'a gotten a better picture of it.

Apparently they have a little trouble flying.

Someone needs to lay off the witches brew. Or start a chapter of WBA.

Gotta love em, warts and all!

(I keep forgetting to bring my real camera from Idaho- and my phone cam sucks- so a lot of these pictures are either stolen  ***I went back today and took some more pics- the one's that are a little blown out are mine- but they're still better than the ones I took in the dark*** or donated by another member of our little coven.)

Anyway- the stores there were super cute and had lots of awesome decorations for Halloween- and just in general (there was also a *ton* of Christmas stuff- to my dismay). They had a DJ playing tunes so the witches could shake their booties. The lines for food were miles long so we didn't eat there. We just browsed the shops (as best we could- there was a lot to take in and I was trying not to trample people or lose my group so I had a hard time concentrating on one item). I performed a little free service by walking across their lawns and aerating them. My heels got stuck at every step. It was rather funny. And I never got lost because between my regular self, my shoes and my hat- I was easily eight feet tall (Yes, I am related to Hagrid and claim to be half giant).

 I know now what it takes to look good in that crowd- and next time I will go better prepared. Even if I keep my awesome hat- it needs serious work to stand out from everyone else. Maybe I'll scrap it all and start over and go as Madame Maxime.