Halloween Manicure

Happy Halloween! :)

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...eeeeeeeeeee...

Holly. Eff. things have been so busy around here I don't even know where to start. I'm on day #2 of not even having enough time in a day to turn on the TV. Seriously. It's insane.

Work's been super busy and with everything else keeping me out of trouble in the evenings, I didn't even notice that it's been a whole month since Js left for course. I've been so busy making sure I'm busy enough to not go crazy with lonely, I've gone insane and very... very tired.

I spend all day running around at work and then I get home, pay equal attention to each pet and then keep running around doing my wifely duties of housework and picking up per-ordered video games. There's also been a lot of time invested in Hallowe'en prep - I finally have all the decorations we need for this place so I'm pretty satisfied with myself. I've barely got time to cook decent food so I've been living on pasta and random canned soups for the last two weeks.

I've also been working on some side projects since Js has been gone and when I realized it's been a month I went "Shit! I have nothing to show for a month's work!" so I put things in high-gear and it's like everything came together over the last three or four days. I made a series of four cowl for my crochet collection and I've done more work on my website in the last week than I have over the last month before he left. Given, things are usually slower during the summer... but still. Nutso!

Amongst all this, my blogging kind of fell behind. But on the brighter side, I seem to be digging my way out of this blog-funk I was stuck in. I'm dealing with stuff and getting things squared away and hopefully I can come to terms and or get answers and be able to blog a bit more openly about the shit that's taking up most of my energy. :o) Hurray for betterness!

Baking Fun - Hallowe'en Cake

I said I'd back track and blog about my past-cake'strordinaire baking, here's my first attempt at it so sorry if it's a bit outdated! :)

Chocolate and Pumpkin Hallowe'en Cake

I made this cake using this recipe and it was to die for! The pumpkin kept the cake super moist and really brought out the chocolate flavor.

The icing wasn't as wonderful as I had hoped but it still tasted great! It took me an INSANE amount of food coloring to get it this light orange color so I think the picture on the website is a lie. It did get a bit darker when it set but not by much. Also, the icing was very soft and wouldn't be good for decorations or any other form of fancyness. Worked wonderfully as a base though and the taste was very well balanced with the cake filling. I wouldn't ice this cake with butter cream icing unless I wanted to go into a sugar coma.

The glaze totally bombed but I was able to make it look droopy with some careful pouring and a lot of patience. I used little decorative skulls, gummy worms and some red gel for some festive decor. I shaved some chocolate and sprinkled that around the cake and topped it all with a real mini-pumpkin.

Wasn't the easiest cake I've ever baked but most definitely one of the tastiest!!

It's not easy being Rosie.

Pretty normal Saturday in the life of me. Work was pretty good, must say. Did lots and digitz were kinda sweet! ;o) I've been slaving over some mock schedules that I need to prepare by next week and the more I get done, the more I realize that it's a great preparation even if I'm going to have to change it all anyways in a couple of weeks... *sigh* Gotta love retail!

Last night was fun. It almost didn't happen because Jf wasn't feeling too too great but he decided to go out anyways and I was thrilled cause I didn't really want to stay home alone in my Rosie the Riveter costume. *lame* We headed to Club Edge in an orange Batmobile and Nick and his bunch eventually showed up. We didn't stay uber long due to Jf's not-so-healthy-feeling and a these-hand-cuffs-don't-have-a-release-button incident. (Don't look at me! *points at Jf*)

I was really disapointed/surprised at how many people didn't know who Rosie the Riveter was. I know many people don't know her name and I'm not judging, 'cause I sure as hell didn't until a couple of months ago. I knew the icon and what it stood for. I knew why it was and where it came from. I got a ton of "Oh! It's the girl from the tampax commercials!" and that kinda thing. I'm kinda disapointed about that. Really? Is that what she represents now? Tampax. *mumbles something about loving/hating branding passionately*

My thoughts : She represents progress. She represents courage and strength. She represents determination and "thinking outside the box". She inspired many women to make a stand and do what they wanted.

Sure... sure, women were paid alot less than men and they were not always treated fairly for the work they provided. The point is : they did it. It was a start and they were fearless and they were determined to make a difference. Everyday I go to work, every time I drive my car and everytime I don't have to ask my "husband" the right to hang out with my girlfriends, I'm pretty darn happy these headstrong women did what they thought was right, even if it was the exact opposite of what was expected of them.

That's what Rosie means to me. I'm sure it wasn't all bunnies and roses... but I chose to see the positive side. It wouldn't be a story unless it had two sides.

Happy Halloweenie!

Yay! It's Hallowe'en! The only Holiday when men who normally dress like women can dress like their childhood superhero!

Last night, Jf and I frantically went from one store to another to find a costume. I had a few ideas and options, Jf just decided he wanted to dress up as he got in his car... SO... needless to say, it was quite hectic!

A message to all my fellow retail workers : Next year, if you want to get in the "Working at the Holidays" mood... please, be my guest and go to places like Vallue Village, Zellers and Cody Party on the eve of the ween. Then quietly sit in a corner, cry and wish it was January.

MAD-NESS! Like I'll-leave-my-purse-in-the-car kinda madness! Just nuts!

Since it was Jf and I, of course, we found what we were looking for. I might have stabbed a couple of people with a fake sword on my way there, not quite sure... It was all a blur!

After, we needed some food and I was meeting up with my good old pal Gilbert for a beer. It was great to catch up with him, talked about this and that and the other thing... what's happened since we last saw eachother (last winter) and then what our plans are for the next couple of years/months/minutes.

It's great to have a friend like that. We meet up a couple of times a year and chit-chat and give eachother a little recap of what our lives are like. We're really different in many many ways, but very much alike in many many other ways. We work together fantastically as a team, we met in college and even now we rely on eachother when we have something to do that seems impossible. Kind of like a "JF-à-Distance". We also realized that we've known eachother for 5 years! 5 YEARS! That's HUGE! And I wouldn't have it any other way! ;o)

Having a talk with Gil always takes me back and makes me revisit the last couple of years. Some things I was proud of, some not so much, and alot of it went by in fast-forward.

So it's Hallowe'en and I'm getting ready to go to work, we got a memo yesterday saying we were allowed to dress up so I hade to figure out a way to wear my costume at work! *squeal* I hope Amina doesn't come in because I think my ears would fall off. Then out with the mo it is. Not sure where, it's in your hands, Batman!