I went to where the people were on a Saturday night...

Today is Halloween! I'm much more excited about it this year than I usually am. I grew up in a home where Halloween was not really celebrated. I wasn't allowed to Trick-or-Treat, but my brother and I were allowed to get dressed up and go to the church Harvest Festival and get giant hand fulls of candy out of a treasure chest. There was a bonfire and roasted marshmallows. One year my brother got hit in the face with a flaming marshmallow. In any case, it was really fun, and though we never had Halloween decorations or the whole door-to-door thing, I never really missed Halloween. As I got older I regarded Halloween decorations as tacky and never really got the hubbub. Like the past few years, I have to work this evening. This year though, my work is requiring us to dress up. I was a little annoyed at the forced gaiety at first, but now I'm feeling pretty into it. I'm dressing up as an elf. I got pointy ears at Party City, I'm making ghost and pumpkin shaped cookies to take into work, and earlier in the week I spent an evening watching the scary movies I wasn't allowed to watch when I was a kid. And now I'm sort of getting it. Halloween is fun. I'll be doggoned. One of my favorite shows is Ace of Cakes, the Food Network show that follows the folks at Charm City Cakes in Baltimore. Here's what they made to celebrate the holiday.

Cute Overload

I got a kitten. I've never really had a pet besides fish, so I don't really know what to do with her. I'm not really an animal person, but lately kittens have just really been getting to me. Their faces crack me up. Also, I think the idea behind being a single woman living alone with a cat is that the cat is there because the woman is lonely. And while I may get lonely at times, it is almost never ever because I live alone. I cherish my alone time, and it's a little weird to have another living being around all the time. But who could resist this face?



So, I'll learn to share my space. As long as she stops pouncing on my face at 3am.

Like Gavin Degraw, I don't wanna be anything other than what I been tryin' to be lately.

Today I ventured out to Wal-mart. As I was browsing through the Health and Beauty aisles, I was approached by a woman who asked if she could take a minute of my time. I probably grimaced as I politely said yes. The first thing she asked me was what I did for a living. After telling her I was a waitress, she explained that she was with the Mary Kay Leadership Program and would like to give me her card. Remember Mary Kay? The gaudy makeup, the pink cars, and every aunt and cousin and friend from church peddling that crap and trying to give you make overs. I'm sure they must have tried to update their image for the twenty-first century sometime in the last few years, but still, eww no. She continued that most people only think of the sales side of Mary Kay and don't really think of the leadership side. I am of the opinion that one shouldn't try to lead something that they've never even done themselves. In other words, I want absolutely nothing to do with what this lady's saying. However, I'm being polite and it can't hurt to take her card. But instead of handing me a card, she pulls out some paper and asks for my phone number so she can call me and talk all about Mary Kay leadership to me. At this point, I politely apologized and explained that I didn't want to give my phone number out. Her response? "Well, have fun being a waitress." And then she took her cart and huffed off. Out of the Wal-mart makeup aisle. All I could think was, "Wow. I just got passive aggressively dissed by the Mary Kay lady." So this is what it's come to.

I love my mom...

Lately I've been a little bummed. At times, more than a little bummed. Today was my first do absolutely nothing day off in a while. I've been in my house most of the day, but for the bit of time that I was out, I noted that it's absolutely gorgeous outside in that warm but crisp almost autumn way. Also, I started working on the crust for my Pushing Daisies inspired Pear with Gruyere pie, and that's got me super excited to see the outcome. Also, the measuring and mixing relaxes me. However, the absolute best part of my day came in the mail. As I mentioned I've been a little sad and discouraged lately. When I went to the mailbox this afternoon there was a letter from my mom, which is nice to see anytime. Even better than a normal old letter though, it turns out it was one of those musical greeting cards, which btw, I think are the most hysterical things on the planet. The one my mom picked out for me had a little aerobics girl on the front and it said, "You've got the will. You've got the skill." On the inside it said, "All you need now are some leg warmers. Go!" AND IT PLAYED "WHAT A FEELING" FROM FLASHDANCE!!!!!! A more perfect card could not exist. And then there was a little note telling me that I'm a great person and that things will be okay and she loves me. And that's one of the many reasons I love my mom. Tonight's karaoke night, so I'm pretty sure the day will remain awesome.

Dear Catastrophe Waitress

Over the past two weeks I quit one crappy restaurant job and started another. The new job seems a little more laid back, but since I overlapped my training for the new job with my last two weeks at the old job, I've just worked, worked, worked at things I don't care about, and I am tired. I feel all out of whack. I haven't really read any books or baked anything or really done any hanging out with anyone. These are things I need to feel sane. Oh well, who's ever really completely sane? Here's an article that speaks to my heart.

Blaaaahhhhh....

I watched the VMAs on MTV last night. It was the twenty-fifth anniversary and was supposed to pay tribute to past winners and landmark performances and honor future landmark videos. That whole idea may have worked better if there were actually any videos on MTV anymore. Just sayin. Anyway, here are my thoughts after actually sitting through most of the show.

1. I am very old. I don't think Katy Perry or her Girls Gone Wild lesbian antics are the least bit relevant or interesting. Also, her rendition of Like a Virgin sucked. Hard.

2. The Jonas Brothers are total dreamboats.

3. Lil' Wayne and T-Pain?!!!! Yes, please.

4. I am so very happy that Britney Spears looks like she's on the path to not crazy anymore. She looked like she was on her very best behavior, and with three wins, it's obvious that everyone just wants her to be okay. Crazy Britney is fun to read about, but not so fun to actually think about.

The show was for the most part pretty boring and kind of weird. Russell Brand and Jordin Sparks arguing about purity rings anyone?? Also, inexplicably, I kept wanting Miley Cyrus to perform and was disappointed when she didn't. Maybe I'm not old, maybe I'm thirteen.

In the words of my friend Lee, "Tusken Raiders need love too."

This weekend was Dragon Con, which is arguably, my favorite weekend of the year. While this giant gathering of any and all things sci-fi, fantasy, and pop culture is too expensive for me to actually buy tickets to, it's still super fun to go and see everyone dressed up in their costumes. It makes me so happy to see everyone so excited and so decked out and devoted to their favorite characters. I'm pretty sure my face is gonna be sore from smiling so much. I think over the next year I should donate a percentage of each of my paychecks to a special savings account that is devoted to Dragon Con tickets and costume expenses, so that next year I can participate. There were celebrities from my favorite shows that I didn't see, and Dr. Horrible and Buffy sing-a-longs that I didn't get to attend. Speaking of celebrities, I kept seeing girls last night dressed up as Kaylee from Firefly, one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite shows. I was pretty unimpressed with their costumes. Anyway, as I was standing around people watching, I saw this girl standing about five feet from me. I was admiring her dress and shoes to myself when she turned around to walk inside. To my complete shock, it was Jewel Staite, the actress that played Kaylee. She was so close and I wanted to say something or ask for a picture. However, I got completely starstruck and just stood there slack-jawed as some official looking guy ushered her away really quickly. Oh well, there was my brush with fame. Here are some of my favorite moments from the weekend.




Me and Dr. Horrible!!!