Nightmare on Golden State Street

My creepy (in a good way) friend April and I had so much fun at our joint birthday party back in April that we decided to co-host another party--our annual Halloween bash!

Have you ever tried to entertain 65 people? It takes a lot of decorating and work. Here are my homemade meatballs getting ready for the oven.

Here's the base for my tomato bisque

And poor Dobbie's worst nightmare...the halo is back on. He got an infected bite near his business, and had been licking it like crazy. I came home from an appointment and knew something was immediately up when Lance and Dogface were both gone. I hightailed it over to the vet, where a very surprised Lancer was weirded out to see me. Mamma's instincts don't just work with kids with 2 legs, ya know. Lance could *never* ever have an affair. I would know in 2 seconds--not that he would try, just sayin. I have good instincts--maybe I should be a PI!

And I was sooooo tired. I threatened to not do the village-I really wasn't going to. At midnight, the night before the party, I freaked out and pulled out a few pieces. Nothing like in the years past--like Diet Village.

April's creative and talented bro Brian helped us with the theme and invite--this year we went with "Nightmare on Golden State Street." AKA you're worst nightmare. Bring on the creative costumes!

It started out with another grody cake. It was an anatomically correct torso, which meant the heart was red jello and weeped when it was cut.

Our yard

The barfing pumpkin dip

Poltergeist kid, arachnaphobe, and a dead Alice.

Looksi who showed up in my mirror--Eddie!! He can't wait to see me on November 20th.

Ghastly duo...

Banana...accompanied by a hungry monkey.

Mom jeans and a teenage boyfriend.

Oh, poor Sharla. New Moon was canceled. This is a close second for my worst nightmare.

Party People

Man with a nasty bug...

Sarah, being her parents' worst nightmare. PS--this is the magical German Girl dress I wore right before Lancer proposed!

Unwelcome guest...

And then on to my costume. Check out the pants--I went as a crazed NKOTB fan....

...with a restraining order from Donnie. MY WORST NIGHTMARE. And, just for the record, these are NOT real pants.

Pete and Julie--I accidentally touched his worst nightmare--blech.

Spencer Pratt, donning a creepy blond beard, Googling himself. Sadly, Heidi was AWOL. I suspect when we see her next, she will have a new rack.

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Electrocution victim. From the rumors, though, I hear she's prone to burning things down with dutch ovens. Believe what you will.

Lance as King Tut, cursed boy ruler who died at a young age. He's commanding his minions to build a pyramid for him.

The cursed and restrained couple...worst nightmares come true.

Jon and Kate...and Kate. Love the do, ladies.

2 Jons, 2 Kates. Nothing but trouble. Do the right thing and return the money, Jon.

Goblin and creepy clown

The Terminator and a mauled jogger

That's all folks! Can't wait for next year!

If I had time to post, I would

But I don't, so this is what you get. Please forgive me. It's been party central here for the last 2 weeks, and I have two more back to back parties this weekend. What was I thinking?

This party girl is quickly turning into a party pooper from sheer exhaustion.

PS..will anyone really be disappointed and/or angry if Spooky Village doesn't appear by Friday? It's still in the shed and I need sleep.

What's a Little Breaking & Entering Among Friends?

Kristine came up with a fabulous idea a few months ago--a weekend at a beach house in Santa Cruz. Sign me up! The weather was a bit on the blustery side, and I was feeling a little on the lay around in pajamas side--good match. All in all, it was a great weekend that got off to a bit of a rocky start. I'm starting to wonder if I'm a GNO curse.

Here's Kristine going for the key in her pocket

Here's Kristine not getting in the door because the owners of our amazing house had accidentally deadbolted the door from the inside. The deadbolt has no key. After some serious negotiations with the owners, we got permission to break into the house.

The kind neighbor came over with a hammer and some rugs to help us bust into the garage.

I volunteered to break and enter, having been the only one in the group with experience in doing so. Don't ask. I posted this photo to shame Sharla, WHO SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER THAN TO TAKE IT.

One leg in

Dropping down to the garage floor

We're in!!

A few necessary items--trashy magazines...

...and craptastic movies and the karaoke machine. I love me some Dirty Dancing!

We kicked off the evening with some tasty fondue. **Someone** may have caused me to giggle during their prayer by praying that we would have a "super fun weekend."

Cheese fondue and pizza fondue followed by chocolate fondue. We were stuffed.

Here's the beautiful morning on our deck--killer view!

Hanging out on the couches in our jammies...

...by the roaring fire!

Saturday night we had a taco bar with all the fixins.

No taco bar would be complete without my cheesy white trash dip. It's delish.

Here's our poor hack job on fixing the window. At least we tried.

Bye-bye gorgeous and spacious beach house!

And bye-bye to 4 lovely girls--thanks for a fun and relaxing weekend. Maybe next time I will get dressed and leave the house. But I truly enjoyed my time on the couch watching Mean Girls with you and eating copious amounts of food.

They Say It's Your Birthday...

Overheard in the bathroom today

Grandma: Wash your hands--you don't want to get swine flu!

Kid: I just did!

Grandma: No, you didn't wash them long enough. They said on the news you have to sing "happy birthday" while you wash them.

Kid-sticking hands under faucet: Happy Birthday! (Bonus points for the kid--technically, he did what G-Ma asked)

Grandma: No, you have to sing the whole song from start to finish. Stick your hands under the water and get more soap. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Ryan, happy birthday to you!

Kid/Ryan: It's my birthday??

Grandma: No.

Kid/Ryan-now crying: You just said it was my birthday! WAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Grandma: No, it's just to time the hand-washing. It's not your birthday! Your brithday isn't until next June.

Kid/Ryan: But you said it was!! WAHHHHHHH! I want presents!! WAHHHHHHHHHH.


That's what you get for listening to the evening news and their "super helpful" tips on swine-flu avoidance, folks.

P.S. Happy birthday Ryan! you know, in June. Sucks to be you!

Totally Cool or Cool as Ice?

Easy Rider and I are having a bit of a disagreement. Please cast your vote and let us know which one wins this round.

Lance seems to think this is a good looking jacket:

But, I think it looks a little Vanilla Ice. You feel me?

Red, black, and white just seems to 80's to me. Lancer says he trusts my taste, but I can't tell if I'm on the right track with this one.

Please weigh in. Word to your Mutha.

Pub Grub

Our fun, adorable and now OLD friend (just kiddin' girl!) Amber celebrated the big 3-0 and had friends up to HMB to celebrate in style.

Our first stop was Cameron's Pub and Grill. It's this crazy British-style pub full of collectibles. It's a trip.


What would a birthday be without a little karaoke?? Here's Lance covering "Just a Gigolo" by Diamond Dave. It was a crowd fave--video footage possibly to come.

The birthday girl busting out a little Abba!

We did a "great" Bon Jovi song--no really, it was great. And by great I mean terrible--but we had fun and committed. There's nothing worse than people who half-heartedly sing and complain they aren't great singers over and over again. Most people suck--just get down and have fun!


Next, we raided the roll of quarters and hit up the game room--old school pinball, arcade faves, and a jukebox that took my money but never played my songs. I was too lazy to get my $2 back.


What would the night be without a little pub grub? I would kill for some fish and chips, but it's a no-go for me. I settled for some chili and a chocolate banana milkshake that I split with Lancer. Why have I not been drinking these for years?? It was so tasty.


Cameron's, like the rest of CA, has to adhere to a strict no-smoking law, which we all love. They circumvent it by having an outdoor double-decker smoking bus from London in the front yard. We couldn't resist checking that business out.



After Cameron's, we headed over some classier fare at The Ritz. We chatted by the fire, drank cocoa and tea, and watched the waves crash. We were hoping to do s'mores outside by the fire, but it was far too windy and far too cold. Inside was just fine with this little lass.

Happy Birthday Lady!

Twugs from D-Dub

Your eyes do not deceive you--that's truly **the** D-Dub giving me a shout-out on Twitter this evening. Virtually tucking me in and giving me a Twitter hug, better known as a Twug.

I saw that he was on so I launched a full tweet assault on the man, trying to goad him into responding to just one of my clever and crafty messages. Clearly, timing is everything because it finally worked!!

That only took 6 months, countless tweets, and the complete and utter annoyance of everyone following me on Twitter. I'm sure they think I will stop--but let's be honest--it only fueled the fire.

Next goal: getting him to follow me

Next-next goal: Conversing with him regularly, and making other fans jealous

Next-next-next goal: Meeting the man (and legend since 1988)

Next-next-next-next goal: Total world domination

I'm a gal with big plans. Watch me run like the wind.

God bless Twitter.