Dickson Dream Home: Spooky Daydreaming

Hm... isn't daydreaming usually pleasant? But it can't be nightmaring because it's daytime. Ok ok, today I have been daymaring.

I've finally caught Halloween fever! Oh don't worry, I've been working on our costumes for weeks. But I'm finally getting into the Halloween spirit! Took me long enough... Halloween is one of my favorite holidays!

Today, I was walking home from school, and as I passed our neighbors' yard, I admired all of the Halloween decorations that positively coat their front yard. I began daymaring about all the things I would love to do... someday... when we have money to spend on frivolous things... *Sigh* I fear it's the eternal struggle.

So, because our house won't be adequately decked out this year, I decided to post some of my dream (or mare) decorations here. Welcome to the Dickson's Nightmare Manor of Horrors. Mwahaha!!!... Sorry. Carried away.

Upon entering our spooky abode, you will come face to face with a foreboding knocker.

In the entryway, you are greeted by a buffet covered in sinister looking terrariums. Full of everything from creepy giant spiders, to stacks of miniature skulls, to unidentifiable plants floating in sickly colored liquids.

via: Country Living 

 You then walk down a hall, lined with old family portraits. But wait, when you glance back at them, they've taken on a ghostly form!

Seth and I saw some spooky portrait holograms when we were grocery shopping this week. Set in antique frames, they would be a perfect haunting element for any Halloween home.

 Everywhere you go, candelabras cast eerie shadows all around. 

What is so great about Halloween is that almost anything can look spooky, if staged right. Especially if you have pieces that are antique or worn. For example, put tall black candles on an elegant antique candelabra, and you've got the perfect light source for any haunted house. 

In the dining room, you find the table piled with gilded pumpkins and gords, and lined with fall leaf garlands. 

The centerpiece is a huge floral arrangement full of deep fall-colored flowers, accented with dark feathers and draping strands of black pearls.

 The wall above the sofa is covered in a collection of masks, staring down at you.

These masks can be bought, or very easily made. In high school, we had a masquerade themed dance and we all made our own masks. Just use those plastic dollar store masks, cut them to the shape you want, then use acrylic paints. Splotched metallic paint looks great on top of a deeper color. Then accessorize with feathers, glitter, ribbon, or whatever else you have lying around. If done well, they can look very expensive.

 Ravens are perched sporadically through the house. 

 And of course, everything is adequately covered in cobwebs.

 As you exit, you must walk through rows of  tombstones and ancient statues, lit only by the glowing jack-o-lanterns at their feet. 

Ideally, there would be big spooky statues in the forms of angels and demons. Inspiration here was drawn from Phantom of the Opera.

Happy Halloween Season! 

Now I'm off to work on our completely DIY costumes... they're taking so much work. But they'll be worth it. The unveiling will be coming soon.


PS: aren't you so happy I've broken out of my lazy blogger-video posting rut? I am :)

*amber* 

My (not so) Secret Hobby

So... basically anyone who knows me will soon come to realize that I LOVE weddings. No seriously, I am obsessed. I worked at a reception center when I was 13 and I think that's where it all began... I saw all kinds of weddings. I even worked at one on Halloween that was completely decked out and everyone had to wear costumes. They had a creepy grim reaper organist and a cake covered in bugs and cobwebs everywhere and the lights dimmed and the bride, dressed as a zombie bride or something, emerged from a cloud of fog. It was intense. I missed trick-or-treating but SO worth it! Haha when else would I have an experience like that?? I love creativity in weddings so when it came time to plan my own, I had a complete BLAST. I didn't do anything outrageous but most of the creativity for me came from putting together a wedding that was affordable but I would still look at years later and remember as beautiful. You can see pictures of our reception here.

Anyway, part of me thought that after I had my own wedding, some of my obsession would wear off. WRONG. Now I just know more about wedding planning which has possibly made the obsession worse. I love when I find something creative or unique that someone has done for a wedding. Today I found a good one that I just wanted to share. You can read the original story here, (Copywrite: Joann Goddard at A Cup of Jo) but here's most of it. (Plus I just LOVE the artwork.)





"Illustrator Guy Shield knew he wanted to propose to his beautiful girlfriend Liz, but he didn't know how. Then, late one night, an idea struck him: He could draw a comic strip that would look normal, but, when folded up, would cleverly spell out "Will you marry me?"

"Guy covertly worked for days, weeks, months on the comic, and finally, during a trip to Bali, he was ready to pop the question. "When the day came, I was a nervous wreck," he says. "After necking a beer at a nearby bar, I laid the piece across the hotel bed and asked Liz to fold it together." As she read the final message, he brought out the ring and dropped to one knee."

How Cute is that??? I know... props Guy Shield.

*amber*

The Big Reveal

Drum roll please... dududududududududududududududududuDUDUDUDUDU! Tadah!!! Yes indeed, we were Mario and Princess Peach. For those of you who don't know, Seth LOVES the game Smash Bro's. And his character is Mario. Mine is actually Kirby, but I decided not to be a big pink blob; as cool as my beloved character is. Instead, I opted for Mario's love interest, Peach. Although I went BLOND and wore ALL PINK which are really... well not at all me, I thought the costumes turned out great!

As noted by my previous post, yes my costume was made out of my sister's old dance costume. Then I found a pink satin sheet that I bought for my bed years and years ago but never ended up using (it served as a makeshift curtain for a while) and used my incredible sewing skills (ha!) to craft a skirt. Then all I had to do was attach my turquoise broach to the front of the dress, fix the turquoise earrings that I made, turn my brother's old frog prince costume crown into a Princess Peach crown, and find some long white gloves at my mom's house. Alas, I did have to buy one thing. The wig, because the blond wig I had belonged to my sister and was too small. So there you go. I actually really liked the wig (as weird as it was to be blond) and some of my family members told me that I should go blond. Um.... no. Thanks. haha

Seth's costume was, strangely, trickier and more expensive. We found the overalls online at JC Penny's because overalls don't exist ANYWHERE anymore! Not even the DI! Then the red shirt and white gloves from Target (thanks mom,) and I bought the hat online (even though, when it came, it wasn't the one I ordered, argh.) For the finishing touches, he wore his brown shoes, I made the little M emblem for the hat, added the cartoon-ish design to the gloves, and put big yellow buttons on the overalls. Oh, and we found the mustache at my mom's house for the party the night before. On Halloween, I drew one on him that looked like the real Mario mustache.

Yep, I love costuming. Alot. I get really into it. I always have my costume picked months before Halloween (if I haven't decided the day after Halloween the year before.) There is one problem however. I wish Halloween came more than once a year. I have SO many costume ideas (that would be so easy!) and no way to use them. Tonight, for example, I realized I could (and did actually) pull together an awesome Audrey Hepburn ensemble using only things I already have!
Problems: Halloween just ended. I already have at least 3 other ideas for next Halloween. But I need to find a place to wear it to! Seth and I were trying to figure out if there was a way we could have a costume party or something.... ugh, it's just too much fun!

Anyway, that's my little shpeell about our costumes. Sorry for the rant, I sort of have a passion for it. Next time, I'll write about what we actually did for Halloween, and maybe post some better pictures of our costumes. Sorry, no pictures of our Halloween party, my camera is dead and her charger cord is missing :( Sad day. Oh, and perhaps next time, I will thrill you all with yet another passionate rant about the sad demise of Halloween. In the meantime, I have a test to study for and a warm bed calling my name. Goodnight, and happy weekend!

*amber*

2 Months! New Yummies! 1 Week! and Dancing!

Wednesday was our 2 month anniversary!!! Holy cow, it seems so crazy that we've been married for 2 months! In some ways it feels so much shorter, but in some ways it feels like we've been married for years. To celebrate, we headed up the canyon to see the leaves because it was a sunny day and we wanted to enjoy what was possibly one of the last nice days of the fall. However, by the time we got up there, the sun had sunk behind a cloud. But we still had fun driving through the canyon looking at leaves and waterfalls. Then we went out to dinner. Can you believe it? Seth had never been to Macaroni Grill! Tragic, I know. So we decided to remedy that problem right away. We had a good time and some yummy yummy food. After dinner we stood up and... BAM! You know how people always say they feel like they're gonna pop? Well, after dinner, I was literally SURE I was close to popping. I don't know how my stomach let me get away with eating that much (we had two loafs of bread, an appetizer, a pasta entree each, and a big piece of super rich chocolate cake. And several refills of water.) Oh my goodness, my stomach was filled to its maximum capacity. I couldn't even eat the mint I got at the end of the meal because I was sure it would send me over the edge. WOW. But hey, I'm just getting prepped. Thanksgiving, here I come :) Anyway, it was a great anniversary and it was so nice to just get out of the house and go on a nice date again. I love you so much sweetheart! Happy two months!

Second item on the agenda (the topics follow the title. And I AM limiting myself to 4 paragraphs. I always get carried away writing on this thing) is that last night, Seth and I had an absolutely WONDERFUL snack. Before he got home from work, I decided to whip up a little treat from a new recipe. Here's it is in case you want it. I would have posted pictures because they even LOOK yummy... but alas they were eaten too quickly... So here you go!

Raspberry Coconut Bars

3/4 c. Butter

3/4 c. Brown Sugar

1/4 c. Granulated Sugar

1 c. All Purpose Flour

2 c. Sweetened Coconut

1 1/2 c. Quick Oatmeal

3/4 c. Raspberry Preserves

Preheat oven to 375. Beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until fluffy. Add flour, 1 cup coconut, and oatmeal. Mix together. Set aside 1 cup of dough. Press remaining dough evenly over bottom of a 9x13" pan. Spread raspberry preserves over the dough. Crumble remaining dough over the preserves. Sprinkle 1 cup of coconut over the dough. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.

You can eat them as bars or here is my suggestion: Once they are cooled and have been cut, reheat a square. Top with softened vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries. (We didn't have the raspberries but I was fantasising about them and I'm positive they would be amazing. It's good with just ice cream too.)

Third, and crucially important item: ONE WEEK TIL HALLOWEEN!!! Ok people, it's crunch time. Make sure your costumes are ready and your houses stocked with candy. I love Halloween, can you tell?? I LOVE dressing up and part of me wishes Halloween came more than once a year so I could use more of my awesome costume ideas. This year, Seth and I are being... oops! I can't tell you. I like to keep my costumes a surprise. However, here are some hints. It has to do with one of Seth's favorite games. And for part of my costume, I will be wearing my sister's dance costume from when she was 10. Here it is (Alyse is the one on the right.)

Ok ok, yes I am wearing a 10 year old's costume. So what?? Don't judge me! Haha but have you guessed it yet? I doubt it. Today we are going up to Sandy and I will have access to my mom's sewing machine so I can finish our costumes!

Speaking of dance costumes, but mostly dancing, the reason we're going to Sandy today is because I am practicing with my sister! Last year, I was able to choreograph her solo. It was such a fun experience and amazing to watch her grow as a dancer. Here is a video of her solo last year. It is to "The Call" by Regina Spektor.

(video coming soon. my computer likes be crazy sometimes.)

Anyway, I am SO excited to be able to choreograph again this year and I think our idea for this year will be awesome. Today should be a good indicator. I miss dancing a lot so choreography is SO much fun for me. I'm so excited! And tonight, Seth and I are going to Odyssey's Thriller up in Salt Lake. If you haven't heard of it, it's a Halloween show put on by Salt Lake's (arguably) best contemporary dance company. The show is AWESOME and I go every year. Exciting crazy day. Whoo! Happy Saturday everyone, I'm off to finish up a normal weekend's worth of stuff before we have to leave. Toodloo!

*amber*

Our Little Friends.....

I HATE bugs. Hate em. Just so you are aware, this post is not about adorable babies dressed as some of the cuter members of the insect family (I was a ladybug for my first Halloween too... aww... how cute). It is about the harsh reality of these nasty nasty little creatures that love to torment humans. I couldn't bring myself to post a picture of one of those because even the pictures give me the total heebe jeebies. Yep, it's been one of those days...

This morning I woke up at 5:30 for one of my early morning writing sessions. I stepped out our bedroom door and blearily, looked around the room. A small movement caught my eye. In the crack between the tiles in our entryway was an earwig or some kind of long, disgusting creature with lots of wiggly legs, squirming around. GROSS! I watched it for a minute and it wasn't really going anywhere, so I just kept my eye on it. Then another movement caught my eye. About a foot away, was a potato bug, crawling on our carpet. I took Seth's flip flop (the one designated for bug killing,) and rolled that rolly poly right back onto the tile. When it finally gained the courage to open up from it's safe little ball again, alas it was on its back. I watched it struggle for a long time but it could not flip over no matter what it did. I began to feel sorry for the little guy, but I wasn't letting him out of my sight. Needless the say the writing wasn't going so well. Turns out I am a very diligent bug sitter.

As I watched my two little companions, yet another movement caught my eye. Seth and I have been aware of the small crack under our front door for sometime. However, we have never actually seen bugs get through it. I think we thought it was too small (but I was pretty sure that was where my two friends came from, seeing as they were right in front of it.) WRONG! From under the door popped a little ball, it almost looked like a little seed. Then the seed opened and another potato bug started crawling toward the carpet. This one was smaller. Perhaps the bigger one's baby, come to find its mommy in our house? More carefully, I rolled this one onto the tile as well. When it finally opened it was stuck on its back too. Poor poly bug. Although it was kind of funny that they both somehow ended up on their backs.

These three new acquaintances kept my company until Seth woke up. I showed him our little zoo. He went straight to the bathroom, grabbed a wad of toilet paper, smashed all three into it, and flushed them down the toilet. All the while I was protesting and dealing with my inner conflict of attachment to my new friends. However, once the reality of their deaths set in, I realized that they had only acted helpless to win my love. After that, they probably would have swarmed and done who knows what gross things buggies do. Evil little tormentors, evil.

After my only class of the day, Seth and I headed home from school (9:00 am) to make a yummy omelet. We realized that we were out of sour cream! So I rushed to the store to pick some up. On the way back into our house, I saw another nasty. We have these little eight legged friends that live in our entryway. They are actually not that small and look EXACTLY like black widows except they have a white spot instead of the red hourglass. They scare the life out of me. Imagine if one of those got in our house... joarjhflkanfnanlkasdnf AHHHHH!!! I would probably faint. And then wake up and be sick. Anyway, we've found three of these so far. I opened the door, yelled for Seth, he came running and heroically slayed the beast. So scary.

Later in the day when Seth was at work, I decided to take a shower. I started to water to let it warm up. When I decided the water was sufficiently warm, I opened the shower curtain to find a BIG BROWN SPIDER swimming for its life! Oh yes, we also have these brown spiders in our house. We have seen them many times. Our first was before we actually moved in to our house and were hanging out watching a movie. Since we had no furniture yet, I laid down on the floor. I felt something moving against my arm. I jumped up and saw one of the spider scurrying away. EWWW! Since then, there have been many more encounters. Anyway, back to the issue at hand, I skillfully used what little movement our shower head allows to manipulate the spider down the drain. Then I turned on the tub faucet full blast and scalding hot, just for good measure. Then I put in the plug and proceeded to take my shower. Yes, the shower filled up with water, but I wasn't taking the chance of having that little nasty come swimming back out at me.

However, on a more positive note, I KILLED A SPIDER TODAY!!! I can never do that. I am so afraid of them that I can't even kill them (as you may have been able to tell by my waiting for Seth to kill all the other bugs today.) When I was younger, I made my brother kill the spiders in my room. When he was older and less gullible, I bribed him with small toys, candy, even money. But today, I faced my fear. True, I was several feet away from the spider. And also true that there was no way the spider could have actually gotten to me. But regardless of circumstance or argument, I did it. I feel so accomplished.

In conclusion, bugs are gross. They love to taunt and torment me. If you see one, stay away. Or find a boy to kill it. The end.

*amber*