Happy Halloween!

OK, OK, so I may not be the biggest fan of Halloween but I couldn't resist posting this pic:

Chloe's a postal worker for Halloween. Well, she was for about 30 seconds ... until she shook the hat off and started tugging at the costume. I couldn't resist. She got this costume for Christmas from Andi's dad (who's actually a postal worker). I think he found in on clearance for $2 or something. 

My friend Ellie's theory proves correct ... everyone's cuter in costume!

Date Night: Pumpkin Carving

October has flown by in a whirlwind and I found myself questioning Andi last week about his plan for our monthly date night. If you'll remember, he gifted me a year of monthly date nights -- all planned and paid for by him -- for our one year anniversary. In August, he took me to the Pizza Farm and last month to The Strip Club. With only a few days left in the month, I was determined to hold him to his commitment. Those nights are, after all, my favorite date of the month because it's quality uninterrupted time with my honey.

Andi marked Wednesday, October 27 on the calendar and told me to plan to dress casually and keep an open mind. "Are we going rock climbing or something?" I said with a wrinkled face. He shook his head no and said I'd have to wait and see.

When Wednesday morning rolled around, Andi forwarded me an email from an old boss of ours who was in town for only one night - Wednesday. He invited Andi to a working dinner and it's really something Andi can't turn down. I completely understood. Date night cancelled.

We rescheduled date night for last night and in Andi's words, he "dug himself out of the doghouse" by inviting me to an evening of carving pumpkins at home. I was more than happy for the change in plans as I'd begged him to carve pumpkins with me for two weeks! It was the perfect date night in my opinion.

The wine accessory you just can't live without

A few weeks ago Andi and I traveled back to Nebraska to visit our family and friends. We stayed at my best friend Ashley's house in Omaha one night and she told us about a kitchen gadget that will change your life.

It's the Rabbit Wine Aerator ... have you heard of this?

There's this one that actually slides into the bottle neck ...

And there's this one which works well for box wine. We do a lot of box wine drinking at our house so we had to get both.



The wine aerator works like a decanter and allows the wine to breathe. It makes such a difference! This handy device turns a $7 bottle of wine (our usual) into a $25 bottle of wine. The difference is truly amazing and totally worth the investment if you're a wine drinker. In my most sophisticated wine tasting voice, I tell you it takes the bite out of your drink creating a smoother body. My only complaint is that it's a little awkward to push the box wine spout while holding the aerator and your wine glass all at the same time. You definitely need a buddy ... or a third arm! 

Currently in ...

I haven't done one of these "Currently In..." posts for a while ... so I thought I'd document how I'm feeling.

October was a fun month! Work slowed down a smidge and I had two weekends of no Gopher football games to spend time with my family and friends. Andi and I closed down the cabin, and traveled back to Nebraska to meet my new baby cousin Lauren.

Also in October ....

Current Books: I'm in the middle of a few books this month. I was given a Kindle a few weeks ago by work and it's reinvigorated my interest in reading before bed at night. I love it! It's so easy to read on and Kindle books are cheap, cheap, cheap. I'm still reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (although I haven't made any progress with that book this month. Andi and I listened to the new Tucker Max book Assholes Finish First on the car ride home to Nebraska. It was super funny! I also just started reading The Red Tent a few nights ago. And finally, I am re-reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility just to brush up on my charting skills. Phew!

Current Play List: I've been really into country lately and streaming Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Keith Urban, Kenny Cheney and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus on Pandora Radio.

Current Guilty Pleasure: Shopping. It's something I usually do very little of (clothes at least) and this month, I've been into shoes and scarves and buying tons and tons of baby clothes for all the new babes in my life.

Current Color: Black and this just in ... gray.

Current Drink: This month I've been drinking Honest Tea Kombucha. It's a organic fair-trade drink with live active probiotic cultures. It takes good and does good things to my body. I'm into the Berry Hibiscus.

Current Food: I've been eating lots of junk food this month. Pizza, frozen burritos, nachos and burgers. Not the best news to report, eek.

Current Favorite Shows: Love, love, love television this month. Too many good shows to mention. The season finale of Mad Men was AMAZING, How I Met Your Mother mirrors our life in a major way and continues to make me smile and I'm digging The Good Wife this fall, too.

Current Wish list: I have lots of things on my wish list lately. Maybe because Christmas is around the corner and I'm keeping an eye out for things to ask for. I also wish for healthy, happy moms and babies for my cousin Jen and girlfriend Val.

Current Needs: Buckle down and save some money for the holidays and winter travels. Andi and I have a few trips we're planning for November, December, and February and the holidays are my favorite time to spoil my family and decorate my house to the nine's. I want to have some cash put away to do so.

Current Triumphs: Things are FINALLY slowing down at work and I feel like I've made it through the busiest time of the year. The holidays are right around the corner .. and then vacation ... and family ... and yummy food. I can breathe!

Current Bane Of My Existence: PMS. Why must you make me feel so roller-coastery.

Current Celebrity Crush: I'm in love with Kourtney Kardashian's long black hair. Does that count? I'm crushing on it big time.

Current Indulgence: My Kindle. It's so cool and fun to use. Love it.

Current Blessing: All the healthy, beautiful babies coming into the world. I'm beyond thrilled for all those having little ones. Also, my girlfriend Mel and her upcoming nuptials. So much to be thankful for this month.

Current Outfit: You know it ... sweats, a long-sleeve t shirt and slippers ... because it's about that time in Minnesota.

Current Excitement: The holidays! I almost died when I saw all the holiday decorations in store-front windows this weekend. Looking forward to decorating my house, the first snow and cooking turkey dinner with Andi's family and Christmas shopping galore.

Current Mood: Happy. Life is good in our little family.

Current Link: I got nothin ...

Retail Therapy

I've had a bad string of luck with shoes lately. First, the heel of my boot broke at work the other day and I was forced to hobble around the rest of the day with this:

Not cool. Not cool at all.

Now, my go-to pair of comfy black kitten heels has been worn down to the metal heel. All the slipping and sliding they cause me to do down the hallways is nothing short of a safety hazard!

So I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon shopping for shoes online and found a few pairs I'm excited to arrive on my doorstep!

First, I bought two pairs of kitten heels for work. I like the Madden Girl heels because they're comfortable and give enough height in a heel without being too over-the-top for work. Considering I'm not even suppose to be wearing heels at work, I feel like this is all I can get away with.

Madden Girl Upscale Pump from DSW

Madden Girl Jazminee Vintage Pump from DSW

... and I treated myself to a cute new pair of boots for fall/winter. I haven't tackled the skinny leg jean craze yet (they look so weird on me!) but I can easily wear these with dresses or under my boot cut jeans and work pants.

Sam & Libby Profess Boot from DSW

DSW had some great deals on shoes. I got $10 off just for leaving a comment on the pair of broken heel boots and they always offer free shipping on purchases over $35. That qualifies for practically every pair! I feel a little ornery for buying three pairs of shoes this week (eeek!) but every girl deserves a treat once in a while, right?

Wave your flag

The next wedding gift I give will be a homemade flag you fly when you're not to be bothered by your partner. At my house, yesterday would have been one of those banner days. I woke up feeling all PMSish and knew every encounter crossing my path would lead to tears, me being pissed or a heightened sense of glee. Do you ever have those days? No one understands what it feels like to be a woman except women, you know?

Andi went fishing/hunting with a buddy on Sunday and I felt all bent about him being gone. Normally, I don't care when he takes his little man-cations. Actually, half the time I like it because it means I get to eat whatever I want for dinner, my house stays clean and I can work or blog or shop or whatever. But yesterday was different and I felt it all day. I have this neorotic way of working myself up inside my head. The more I dwell on something, the more upset I become and worse it seems until I literally feel like the idea is clawing its way outside of me.

After my husband came home last night I noticed he, too, was moping around. I'm not sure if it's possible for men to have PMS (or some other abbreviation that sums up their feelings) but I think he had a case of it. I asked him why he was down and he shrugged his shoulders. He asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner and seemed annoyed I didn't want to eat the fish he caught earlier in the day. We made different meals and ate in silence. Needless to say, it was one of those evenings where each of us should have thrown up our respective flags and bid adieu until tomorrow. Every word we said came out wrong. I made some snarky comment about never seeing him lately and he went to bed.

Of course today, those crazy thoughts are gone and I just feel stupid - stupid for making such an issue out of nothing. My PMS flare up has cooled and I'm left with this uneasy feeling. Last night was one of these times we should have gone into our respective corners. Today, I feel like my insides mirror the rainy fall weather and I'm jarred at the fact we wasted such a perfectly good night on being moody bump-on-a-logs. A night where we were actually home together for once and it's a missed opportunity. Shame on me for being so pathetic.

Halloween Memories

I'm a Halloween hater.

There, I said it.

While many of you are pulling together the final touches to your Halloween costumes this week, I'm patiently waiting for this holiday to pass. I enjoy the fall season and decorating my house with pumpkins and wreaths but make no mistake, you'll find no giant blow-up spiders and fake cobwebs in my yard - oh no!

Halloween and I have never agreed, even when I was a little girl. Listen to these traumatic memories - oh the scorn of my youth!

• Once when I was in elementary school, we painted our pumpkins instead of carving. We decorated their faces and made pigtails out of yarn. Mine looked just like my Cabbage Patch Doll; I was so proud of my work. A few days later, we came home to find our pumpkin splattered in the street in front of our house. I cried until there were no more tears left. How mean can neighbor boys really be?
• Every Halloween, my family went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, then met all my cousins at my grandparents house. We'd go downstairs and dump all of our candy into this giant coffee table bowl. Despite my mom's warnings as she yelled down the stairs, I'd always eat way too much candy. And every year I'd throw up on the car ride home. My poor mother...
• One time we came home from my grandparents and our dog had vomited all over the living room. Apparently my parents left a bowl of candy on the steps and he helped himself to the lot. That was an extra fun year for my mom.
• One year in Middle School, I fractured my foot a few days before Halloween and was forced to wear a "boot" with my Gypsy outfit. Not cool at all. I still laugh at those photos - I looked ridiculous.
• My sister loves Halloween and every year my mom would help her pick out a cute little costume. Once she was a bubble bee; another time, a cheerleader. And every year as we were putting on our costumes she'd proclaim: "I want to be a DEAD cheerleader!" "I want to be a DEAD bubble bee!" So my dad would break out his old face-painting stuff and give her just what she asked for ... blood and death all over the face of his five year old.

Maybe it'll be different some day when I have a little munchkin of my own to dress up in cute little costumes. My friend Ellie believes every kid is cuter in costume. She vows to dress up her future kiddos every chance she gets and I can't argue that fact. The little Superman I saw out shopping yesterday made me smile.

This little trip down memory lane has made me realize Halloween's not all that bad. Looking forward to having my own little gremlin someday and starting our family traditions.