Halloween Afterglow

Welcome to Day 1 of NaBloPoMo, or as I like to call it, HolyShitIForgotINeedToGoPostSomethingBRB. I really enjoy writing, but give me a deadline and it almost immediately becomes a yucky chore. So I do this month to challenge myself and I do it in 2020 because why the hell not? It’s a healthy outlet that I will add to my pile of leftover Halloween candy and leftover Labor Day booze (that’s a thing right?). Also, I figure that this healthy activity gets me out of things because now I just hole myself up in my room (ok, the bathroom) and yell SORRY, CAN’T! I’M BLOGGING!

Without any further ado.

I am basking in the Halloween afterglow, you guys.

We saved it, and I’m so glad.

Halloween is my very most favorite, but my expectations were appropriately low because hashtag dumpster fire. As you know, I usually make or put together as much of the costumes as possible. I don’t like to buy the premade costumes cuz that feels like cheating.

While my kids are still young and impressionable, I also try to wrangle my living companions into a family group costume and this year was no exception. Because I wanted to do something easy, I convinced my kids that we could all be The Incredibles. Sure, it’s been done, but it would be fun to be a superhero family who runs around putting out dumpster fires! Plus, I figured it couldn’t be too hard to find some red clothes and slap on some black masks.

Well….after some online shopping and price comparison, I realized that buying all the materials to make 4 Incredibles was going to cost about 2-3 times as much as the premade ones. Soooo, I found myself giving in because 2020 has sucked all my energy. I filled my Amazon shopping cart with the costumes we’d need and then I headed to the local Halloween popup store to see what they had. I called my husband from the store sounding frantic because I was second guessing what I was about to do; my husband probably thought I had been in a car accident or something.

Me: Brian! The store doesn’t have all we need! I’ll need to get some on Amazon!

B: Then do that.

Me: But what if they don’t fit!! And this one’s too expensive! Do the kids even want to be The Incredibles anyway?!

B: Just come home. Are you okay?

Me: I’m not okay! Nothing about this is okay! Do we need any more fake blood? Maybe I’ll just use my own.

B: What? Put down the knife and come home. I’m hanging up now.

The takeaway here is that 2020 has also zapped my ability to make any kind of decision.

It’s true that originally my kids wanted us to be characters from Frozen. We haven’t done that Disney movie yet for Halloween, and my kids are still obsessed. I had originally vetoed the idea because there was no way I’d be able to make all those costumes during Covid when I can’t spend hours at Goodwill like I usually would. But. Now I was considering…gulp…buying premade costumes. I was this close to pulling the trigger on the premade Incredibles when the ghost of Covid Halloween came to me and said, hey. hey you. put down the knife and look at me. first of all, there is such a thing as too much blood in a Halloween display. please. let’s keep this classy. second. you’re allowed to buy premade Halloween costumes during Covid. I give you permission. make your kids happy.

And that’s how I was finally able to buy an Olaf costume for my son, an Anna costume for myself, and spruced up an Elsa costume that had been given to us for my daughter. My husband was to be Kristoff, but those costumes were super expensive, and so my mom came to the rescue! She bought a quarter zip black jackety thing, took out the zipper and sewed on the fake fur and burgundy trim. We used the same fabric for his chic burgundy sash. Lastly, my mom fashioned some awesome curly-toed bootie out of felt and fake fur that strapped on over his normal shoes. He added a black beanie and bam! We were set.

As soon as these decisions were made, I felt so much better. Not only were we gonna be what my kids actually wanted to be in the first place, but I realized that I was gonna get to play a Disney princess for the first time in my life!! And not just any princess – one of my favorites!

What was better still was that we were able to plan and enjoy socially distant Halloween fun that made the holiday feel just as fun and festive as any other year. I helped plan and execute a mini parade where families watched from their parked cars, and on Halloween night we did a treasure hunt fully masked with some friends.

One thing that continually brings me hope during Covid is how humans refuse to give up. So many of us are making the most of this situation and we’re finding the most creative ways to still have fun and be as safe as possible.

Are you, are you, coming to the tree…

A dumpster fire, you say? Let’s all sit around it and roast our fucking marshmallows. I hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween!

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Day 1

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Halloween 2019: We can fly!

Y’all know that Halloween is my fave holiday, right. (Just search the keyword in my blog if you don’t believe me.)

It’s the best, really. It’s that one day when you get to dress up like someone else, even act like someone (or something) else, and you get to parade around and get free candy and you don’t have to buy gifts for people or sit on some fat guy’s lap.

Earlier this year, when I was starting to plan for costumes, I figured my 5 year old might have more of an opinion and that our days of me being able to pick out family costumes were over. I know the year will eventually come, but THIS, my friends, WAS NOT THAT YEAR.

Both my kids were super agreeable to a family-themed costume again this year, and so I gave the kids a choice between The Incredibles and Peter Pan. We had other ideas in the running, but these two were 1) movies the kids had seen, and 2) costumes that were easy enough for me to put together, because mama don’t do pre-packaged costumes if I can help it. The kids chose Peter Pan, and we were all very excited!

One of my favorite tales of all time.

Daddy was Captain Hook, and he had a lot of fun putting his costume together. Most of the pieces were from Amazon, a few from Goodwill, the sword from the Halloween store, and some frills dug out of the costume box from previous costumes (the feather for his hat, the sash around his waist, the lace at his wrists). One kid even came up to him and asked if he was Captain Hook. “Yar, you be right!” he replied. The kid then asked, wide-eyed: “…the real one?!” Priceless.

I was Wendy Moira Angela Darling, and my costume was the most boring of the group, but I still had fun. My dress was from Goodwill, and I used ribbon for the trim around my waist and the bow in my hair.

My oldest was Peter, and I had fun making his costume. Like I’ve done in previous years, I ordered the exact shades of green clothing from Primary. His shirt is actually a dress that I cut up. My mom made his felt hat and felt booties that covered his normal shoes, also his fabric belt. His dagger was from the Halloween store, “because I want to sword fight with Daddy!”

My baby girl was Tinker Bell, “I can FWHY!” We already owned her Tink dress for dress-up, so that was a no-brainer. I found her wings at Goodwill (which matched PERFECTLY) for two bucks (!). I got her ballet flats at Target and my mom made the fuzzy white poof balls that I just pinned to the shoes. The finishing touch was figuring out how to form her thin hair into the smallest cutesy bun, and I let her wear some pretty pink blush on her cheeks. I really wanted to add some glitter “fairy dust” to her hair and/or face, but restrained myself. My present self thanks my Halloween self. It would have been super cute though.

…second star to the right and straight on til morning!!!

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Winter is Coming, but first- Halloween!

It’s time for my obligatory Halloween post, you guys.

For those of you who breathe air, you probably already know how much I dig Halloween.  If not, please search “Halloween” on my blog and read up about all my old DIY costumes.

This year was special because it was our first All Hallow’s Eve as a family of four!  I was brainstorming Halloween costumes even before I was pregnant, because priorities.

You probably know my rules: the costumes have to be specific (like actual characters from a show and not just ‘a pirate’), they have to be relevant (not outdated. And for the record, Star Wars is NEVER outdated), and they have to be mostly DIY, not bought all prepackaged.  My partner and I were debating between two costume ideas: Ghostbusters (we’d be the busters, the kids would be ghosts) or Game of Thrones.  GB would be much easier to make, but less relevant.  GoT was much more relevant, but harder to scrape together.  Welllllll, once we saw the season finale of GoT, our minds were made up.  Just in case, this is your official SPOILER ALERT if you’re not caught up on Game of Thrones.

Once one of the dragons bit it, I turned to Brian.

“This is it!!  There’s only two now!  It’s PERFECT!”

Two dragons = two children.  Therefore, I am the Mother of Dragons.  The Breaker of Chains.  Khaleesi.  Daenerys Targaryn.

“And you can be Jon Snow now because they’re a thing!  But we’ll just overlook the aunt/nephew situation.”

I enlisted the help of my mom to make this dream come true, and Halloween history was made.

Faces blurred to protect the innocent

 

I found my dress at Goodwill and my friend helped me chop off the sleeves and change the hemline.  I bought fabric at the fabric store (!) to match the dress and made a very makeshift cape.  The boots and leggings were already mine.  The wig was bought online and I actually braided it and styled it myself.

Brian’s wig was bought online.  He’s wearing a cheap black shirt with a kid’s plastic shield pinned to the chest bought at the dollar store with two black belts criss-crossed across the whole thing and fastened in the back.  He’s wearing a black furry pimp coat from Goodwill for bulk and a black cape over it.  Pinned to the black cape is a furry black scarf because Jon Snow loves him some fur (BUT NO ONE UP NORTH EVER WEARS A HAT! WTF?!).  He grew a beard for the occasion and finishes off the look with the only black boots he owns, his rain boots.  Because #pacificnorthwest.

My mom really came through for the kids’ costumes.  First we bought matching green shirts and pants, and then my mom made the felt hats, capes, and socks/claws.  I love how the hats and capes are exactly the same, just different color schemes.  Dragon sib-lings! And my son’s claws are on oversized green socks that fit right over his shoes. Cutest fire-breathing dragons this side of Westeros!

Now let’s go conquer up some mystical kingdom, shall we?

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NaBloPoMo Day 4

 

The Force is Strong with this Halloween

You all know by now how much I love Halloween, right?

This year was my son’s third Halloween, and my first Halloween being pregnant.  What a fun challenge – I got to figure out a family costume that included my growing belly!

It had to be current, relevant, and easy enough to make or put together for cheap.

After floating around a few ideas, we decided on a Star Wars theme. I’d only ever done Queen Amidala in high school and I don’t think Brian had ever donned a costume from a galaxy far, far away, so this was gonna be fun!

We’d talked about doing D as Yoda and Brian as the Luke-who-carries-Yoda-around-Dagobah for last year’s Halloween, but I can’t remember why we passed on that.  Since D was just barely walking at that point, it would have been pretty perfect; I would have made a pretty awesome Leia, too.  I suppose, looking back, that the lure of the crazy circus election at the time was too good to pass up.  Little did I know that dressing as Hillary and dressing my kid up as Trump would be so scarily on point just a short (long?) year later.

Anyway, I digress.  This year, I couldn’t be a pregnant Leia.  That would be weird.  And not when my babydaddy was dressed as Luke.  Even weirder.

Soooo…..my baby bump dressed as the Death Star.  And there you have it, a pretty cool growing-family Halloween costume was born!

Being a Halloween purist, I put these costumes together (with huge help from my mom) instead of buying them premade.

I drew the Death Star freehand with black sharpies.

My mom made D’s Yoda hat (which he loved!), his robes are just big t-shirts, and the light saber (not pictured) is from the Dollar Store.

All of Luke’s gear is thrift store finds, we just cut off the sleeves and cut strips of fabric for his super stylish gators.

Overall, we had a great Halloween!  The weather was great (read: not raining) and D enjoyed trick-or-treating enough that we stayed out for about an hour.  It was actually me needing to go home at the end, because this Death Star needed to pee and rest her pregnant feet.

I hope y’all had a great Halloween, too!

May the Force be with you, Psychos.

Happy Belated Halloween

You guys know how much I love Halloween.

And so I couldn’t let it go by without concocting some sort of costume for myself, babydaddy, and nearly 3 month old little duck.

If I had my act together a nanny and tons of sleep, time, and money I would have made Brian be a sexy pilot (because he already is one), I’d be a sexy flight attendant (because I aspire to be one), and Little Duck would have been a sack of peanuts.

Maybe next year.  I’ll just have to stop feeding Dylan to make sure he’s still tiny and able to fit in said peanut sack.

For this year, I decided to go easy.  The D-man would be the cutest Pumpkin Spice Latte in the whole world and Brian and I were baristas.  It fit because Dylan is sweet, expensive, and we made him with love.  And extra foam.

First I looked on the Starbucks website to see if I could buy the green aprons that the employees wear, but I needed an employee number in order to do so.  Nards.  So I went to Amazon and tried looking there, and found some for like $60 soooo I decided to make my own.  I just bought green aprons and ironed on the patches that I found on Amazon.  I also found the cute iron-on Starbucks logo that went on Dylan’s plain white onesie.  I glued a real Starbucks sleeve (I’m authentic, y’all) to some ribbon and tied it around Dylan’s cute waist.  I drew the drink option boxes and such on the back of the onesie freehand.  My friend helped me sew the foam for around his neck, and my mom made the pumpkin hat.

Boom.

 

Happy belated Halloween, y’alls.

One doodle that can’t be undid

I wanted to share with y’alls the Facebook pregnancy announcement I made because it was just too awesome not to share.

Any ideas for family Halloween costumes?  We’re already in the planning stages.

Priorities, Homeskillit.

Halloween in District 12

Happy Halloween, Psychos!

As many of you know, Halloween is my all-time favorite holiday.  For those of you who don’t know, go here and here and then come back.

Last year, I was overcome with sadness because wedding planning had taken over my life and sucked time away that should have been spent making a brand new Halloween costume.  I was forced to reuse an older costume, but I vowed that I would get back into the spirit this year, and this woman keeps her Halloween vows.

Behold, my interpretation of Effie Trinket from The Hunger Games:

May the odds be ever in your favor!

My awesome partner was Peeta Mellark from The Hunger Games:

I smell like doughy heaven

For my costume, I bought the dress at a thrift store, I bought the amazing wig at a Halloween store (worth every penny), and my mom helped me sew the jacket so that I’d have appropriately shiny fabric and puffy sleeves.  Indeed, those sleeves are stuffed with tissue paper.  I got the flowers at the fabric store and pinned them into the wig, and pinned one on each shoe.

For the makeup, I actually used this old, bright pink blush because the color was perfect.  It’s on my eyes, cheeks, and lips.  I bought some tinsel eyelashes and cut them to look more shapely and dramatic.

Happy Hunger Games!

For my partner’s costume, he bought the District 12 shirt online, and from what we can tell, it’s exactly like the one in the movie.  Then he added some black workout pants and black shoes and his natural charm, and BOOM, you got some hunky dude whose warm arms smell just like freshly baked bread.

Bet you never knew there was a secret fling between the two, right?  I mean, how else did Peeta actually make it through the games?!

Love is hate

Have fun this Halloween!!!  How do you celebrate this fantastic holiday??

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Guess what?!  I just brought more crazy to Facebook!  I wasn’t even sure that was possible, but I dream big.  Liking Psychobabble on Facebook is like putting on a nice, snug straightjacket to give yourself a hug!

Hello, Gorgeous!

My photographer said that the 40s could be summed up with an “Oh, my!” and a skirt twirl.

…we’ll see if that comes through in the photos.

*I am wolf-whistling at myself as I look at this*

Thems victory post-war birthing hips.

Basically, I was born in the wrong decade.  My hips belong in the 40s and 50s and my feminist brain belongs in the 60s and 70s.  And I think I lost my ovary in the Great War.

Anyone call for…..a pilot?!

This is like the best picture ever.  Brian’s inner child was squealing with joy like a greased pig who just outran Christmas dinner.  That, and he looks damn sexy.  Coolest part: there was no wind while this pic was taken.  Whaaaat.

I look forward to the professional images, because if we look this amazing on my iphone, we’re going to look like frickin old movie stars and shit.

Best part for me: I think I ended up looking a lot like my grandma.  Must unearth a picture of her for comparison.

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Don’t forget, Psychos!  Send me emails to tell me how you’re gonna turn my online wedding to Shirtless Ryan Gosling into a drunken love circus!  I *just* found out he’s Canadian – what the what?!  I didn’t know they made beefcakes that beefy.   Deadline is March 31st.

This is not a blogpost.

I have zero energy today, and so this post isn’t really a post.  It’s a nonpost, an anti-post, if you will (will you?).  But I wanna post something, because I haven’t posted in a while.  So here’s a post.  Or not.

Brian and I are getting ready for another photo shoot this weekend – if the weather holds up, that is.  I am sooper excited because it involves Brian flying us around in an airplane, me getting to be a ham in front of a camera, aaaaaaand dressing up.  Like, in a costume.

We went and got said costumes last weekend and had a ton of fun trying them on, and I also did a trial run with my hairdo.

I feel the need…for victory rolls!

That’s right, bitches.  This is gonna be rockin’.

Also, consider this a reminder for all y’all who want to be a part of the online wedding action to be had this spring and summer:  I NEEDS THE EMAILS!  Please email me a little description of how you’re gonna wow and amaze me performing your chosen role in my online wedding to Shirtless Ryan Gosling.  Deadline is March 31st.  I think.  psychobabblepants at gmail dot com.

Also also, I am working on a real post.  A funny one.  When my body decides it no longer despises energy, I’ll throw it on up here.  Bible.

Deuces.