Cheetah-Cheetah Pumpkin Eat-ah

 

Ok, it's not cheetah, it's leopard, but that just didn't have the same ring to it, did it?

I quasi went as a quasi leopard today I guess.  At least that's what Kaden deemed to be the case.  Conner thought I was a hippie.  Daryl thought I was a swashbuckler.  Really, I didn't have a plan.  I guess I just went as awesome this year.  Ha!

To be honest, I kept forgetting it was Halloween all day.  But I'm glad it was for two major reasons.

For one, my sister-in-law and mother-in-law came over with my niece and nephew to go trick or treating.

The weather was perfect.  Jessica and I took the kids around, talked, watched the kids get their bags full of goodies and got totally creeped out by an over the top house.

What good night doesn't end with a tummy full of Butterfinger?  Cause seriously, I can't think of any.

For two, we are finally done with Halloween.  Dang.  We had parties all the time to go to for the kids, to host, for school, for friends.  And with Halloween out of the way . . .

I can officially start playing Christmas music!  Yeah, I'm one of those Christmas happy freaks that turns to Kosi 101 on November 1 for their 24/7 Christmas music from Nov 1 to Dec 26.

Although it was busy and seemingly never ending, I'd have to say, Halloween was a total bad ass this year.  I love doing special things with my kids and having traditions.  It's great.

On another note, wtf October?  Or 2012 for that matter?  I swear this is the fastest year of all time.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a candy coated coma to indulge in.

Dress-Ann Taylor, thrifted; Leopard Cardigan-tthrifted; Cognac Knee High Boots-Charlotte Russe; Ring-Encore

By the way, I only got a "Blackberry Special" shot of this house, but it was unreal.  They made this giant octopus, have a real shipwrecked ship in their yard, painted the side of their house, the whole she-bang.  A-mazing!

 And because you were all curious, here's what I wore this month:

Almost Didn't See Ya There

 

I don't have a lot of substantial heart to heart to share with you this evening, but here are some really random tidbits for you should you want to indulge.

  1.  Oh what's with the title?  Yeah, I'm wearing camo.  I was told this today.  Well done.

2.  Carving pumpkins sucks, but the experience of carving pumpkins with your kids is AWESOME.  We totally slacked on carving pumpkins this year (is this holiday over yet?  I swear we've celebrated it 14 times this month) and didn't get our pumpkins until tonight.  We went to bed late.  We got seeds and goop everywhere.  The kids had a blast.  And it was awesome.

3.  Wool jumpers.  Get one.  Easiest layering ever.  Comfy as hell.

4.  11 . . .  is a tricky age. My son doesn't let me take his photos anymore.  Ever.  Which is too bad because he lives in camo and today, we totally matched.

5.  Speaking of "is it over yet", can we just freaking vote already?  Got damn!

6.   The best thing about early in the week?  I usually get to see my mom.  Today we power lunched and caught up.  Awesome.

 7.  Tosh.0.  Most inappropriate guilty pleasure.  Impossible to write posts while watching. 

8.  No seriously, I can't watch Tosh.0 and type a blog post at the same time.

 Leather Jacket-Wal-Mart; Denim Vest-Christopher & Banks, thrifted and DIYed; Camouflage Top-thrifted; Wool Jumper-thrifted; Footless Tight-Kohl's; Studded Boots-Forever 21; Hat-really old

Share the Covers--Wannabe

Here, of course, is the original . . .

And here is the cover . . .

 

 Thanks everyone for all your support in my last post.  I do, however, feel like the biggest sissy on the planet whining about something that seems so trivial in comparison to what many are experiencing on the East Coast.  I do hope that everyone over there is being safe and doesn't suffer too much loss.

Here's another confession for you: I suck at finances and money.  Like really bad.  So, a little over a month ago, I started a budget for the first time ever, with the help of Patrick.

And I did really, really good!  It sounds awful to admit, but for the first time in so long I don't even remember, I went a full month without paying any bank fees or going into the negatives.

That being said, I decided that I wanted to treat myself, just a little bit.  A week or so ago, I spotted a Salvation Army nearby my work.  I didn't even know we had one out here!

So, I stopped by there on Friday and, armed with a modest cut-off spending amount, and of the couple of treasures I scooped up was this amazing suit with a peplum blazer!  $7 people.  $7.

 Let me interject for a second and say something that a lot of other avid thrifters can appreciate:  I despise thrifting during and around Halloween time.

Sure, there is the possibility of finding some really cool meant-to-be-part-of-a-costume-but-I-could-make-it-work-for-everday pieces there, but there are also . . .

At least where I'm stationed for work (i.e. college town U.S.A.), the crowds are full of the spoiled youth of America poking fun at and making a mockery of the thrifting process.

Does anyone else experience this?  Girls holding up perfectly good sparkly shirts, saying that they "guess it'll do" for a disco costume?  Boys holding up perfectly good suits, smirking to each other and saying things like "Nice suit, dude, where'd you get that?  Oh, Goodwill.  HAHAHAHAHAH."

Well I don't care about that.  For a small chunk of change, I ended up with lots of pretty goodies, including this suit.  And when people ask where I got it (and they have!), I will proudly tell them.

So, as fun as Halloween is, I've already hosted a huge Halloween party for many kids, took my kids to other Halloween parties and went thrifting during the heart of omgwhatamigonnabe thrifting.  I'm done now.  Bring on Christmas!

 Suit-Dani Max, thrifted; Striped Tights-gifted; Snakeskin Studded Heels-Vanity, gifted; Earrings-DIY and gifted

And Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Blogging

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Well folks, I'm back.  Thanks for all your sweet comments and patience during the impromptu Wedding Week.  I kinda took a break from personal blogging there. 

The truth is that I was anxious to share the wedding photos with you, but in addition to that, Patrick found out last week when his deployment date is.  And even though I'm sworn to secrecy about exactly when (ugh, that drives me nuts), I can tell you--it's very soon.

That being said, I've been trying to spend the last week reflecting, collecting my thoughts and spending some time with Patrick before he leaves.

Everyone keeps trying to get me to talk about how I feel about Patrick leaving.  I haven't really wanted to talk about it much.  Even though it seems like I share quite a bit on my blog, I really tend to keep my emotions and other personal turmoil to myself.

To be honest, I have a lot of conflicting feelings.  I've been somewhat withdrawn lately from my family, friends and even Patrick due to this.

On the one hand, I am very proud of Patrick.  After all, he does not have to go.  He wants to go.  From his perspective, he's been in the military for a decade and wants a chance to use what he's learned and fight for the country he's spent a decade working for.

On a very selfish side, I don't want him to go.  And that leaves me sad, annoyed, afraid, anxious and even frustrated.  I mean, I just got married and now I find myself going back into single motherhood.  This is gonna suck.

 I've never had a partner who was so helpful, so much of an equal, so much of a friend that I actually enjoyed being around and talking to.  Because I was a busy single mother and then a busy engaged/married mother, my friends kinda fell by the wayside, sufficed to say.  My family doesn't live close anymore like they used to.  So I don't know what I'll do when I have really no other social outlet other than work and this blog to keep my sanity.

A plus side to being a busy mother, though, has been that I have met a ton of other mothers in the neighborhood.  We're not exactly buddy-buddy or anything, but through football and Halloween parties and the like, I've gotten to know a lot of my kids' mothers well enough to be able to shoot them a text should the kids need a ride or a sitter or anything.

It's also been a bumpy ride because at first Patrick's job had promised to pay him his full salary while he was deployed.  Then they came back and said they weren't.  Patrick had to go fight with H.R. and eventually made a deal for a portion of his income.  Which was really draining because on top of not having another body here to help shuffle kids and sit with them while I ran to the store and stuff like that, I didn't want to have to freak out about making it monetarily while he was gone.  Especially with a birthday for a tween (read: their gifts are uber expensive), Thanksgiving and Christmas on the way.

The top of my stress list, however, is the "let's not talk or think about it" fact that . . . Patrick is going to a warzone.  In other words, it really freaks me out to think that at any given moment during the next few months, I could get that knock on my door.

I'm really afraid that I waited 30 years to find someone who I love so dearly, connect with so completely and can depend on so completely and I might lose them.  More importantly than that, and this will require some more explanation at a later date when my mind isn't such mush, but . . .

Patrick is in the process of adopting Kaden.  As I said, it will require me to explain further, but in general--this is a HUGE deal.  Kaden's biological father walked out on him when he was a toddler and the only other father figure he ever had, left him high and dry as well.  So the thought that there is an actual man that is willing, able and desires to finally fill these shoes for Kaden is amazing to all of us.  I don't want him to lose that.  

So, just bare with me for the next week or so.  You might end up stumbling on a blog with mediocre outfits and just a bunch of rambling.

 Gold Skinnies-Mango; Asymmetrical Snakeskin Tank-Pamida; Chambray Button Up-Lee; Moto Boots-Candie's; Earrings-DIY and gifted