happy halloween! 

i made a pilgrimmage to the joann fabric super store yesterday and came home with all types of goodies. first off i have to say that the new scrapbooking sections of craft stores are absolutely overwhelming. you have never seen so many cool patterns and colors and styles in one spot. i stood in awe for awhile and then walked around in circles for the following twenty minutes trying to decide which cool stuff to take home with me. after alot of hemming and hawing i decided on a scrapbook and some wedding papers to make a guest book for the wedding. i also picked up some other little craft things...some new soft fuzzy yarn to make a winter hat and some other paper products to make luminaria. it was such a successful trip that i needed a nap. OHHH...other good news. i had my first belly dancing class yesterday at the old town school of folk music. there are not many times when i wish that i had bigger boobs and hips but i would have been nice to have a little bit more to shake!! today my upper back is a bit sore from the "undulations:)" that we did! it was really nice to shake some of the dust off and move my body around. also, we get to were this hip scarves with little coins so they jingle and we are also going to learn how to use the veil...very mysterious......

just about the coolest idea ever! a hat with buttons for your ponytail to peek out, mittens with flip tops for the important fingers and a scarf with a hidden pocket! girl32 rocks

www.girl32.com

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my favorite "glam band" in high school was slaughter. i thought they were awesome, handsome and talented. i had all their cassette tapes and even got a vhs tape that followed them on tour. i could not get enough. i am thinking of this now because someone in my neighborhood loves slaughter too!! i cant even believe it! just last weekend i heard someone drive by blaring "fly to the angels" in their car. i ran to the window to check them out but didnt catch sight of them. a couple of weeks ago, however, i heard the same song from the same bad soundsystem and quickly poked my head out the window to find an old red camaro...how fitting!!...looking for a parking spot on the street. then this afternoon while doing a bit of work on the patio (enjoying the last few nice days of the year) i heard the song blaring from the camaro AGAIN!!! it totally cracks me up. i mean, the first time was shocking! the second time was fun....but really...how often can you listen to that song....i mean it totally sucks and is only good to listen to for nostalgic reasons! NOT FOR PLEASURE! what a great neighborhood!

im thinking that i havent done anything too crafty lately...lots of real life stuff going on. i should spend more time pretending and dreaming and playing.

• i like to play airplane with mjk...as long as i get to be the airplane:)
• i like to take pictures with my digital camera because the impatient me likes to see them right away
• i like to cut things up and use glue sticks...or better yet...glue guns! (but i always make a mess!)

the bedroom! it needs some work but we had an old shower curtain there before! a drastic improvement. 

the living room 

things i learned this weekend

1. if it calls for baking soda in a recipe you cannont substitute pancake mix... its gross!
2. older apartments require one to be very "creative" when it comes to hanging things on the walls.
3. while the design crew from extreme homemakerover will not be asking me for my help anytime soon, my own apartment is starting to look pretty great!

its so warm outside that it just can't be october...but it says so on my calendar and my calendar is usually right about those things...like the date...anyhow...mjk and i are still battling our colds. mine is mostly an annoying head cold that makes me sneeze a lot and feels like there are cotton balls stuffed into my brain...i have been wondering if they could be allergies but since mjk is sick too i figured that would be too much of a coincidence. my hope is that by the weekend we will both be back to normal. we have gotten some positive feedback from family members and out of towners about our save the date cards. it is nice to feel like all your efforts paid off! and plus we were just so proud of ourselves. in other wedding news, mjk and i met with the rev. from the church we want to be married in. it was an interesting meeting. we went to a restaurant by his house...not too far from ours...and talked about a lot of things that we are not used to talking about ...what our religious beliefs are, why we want to get married, why we want to get married in the church...questions i was no really ready for. of course, i should have known better i mean what else would he want to talk about. but it was still strange. since it is a multidenominational church they really dont turn anyone away but we have to make the decision if this is the man and the place and the style with which we want to get married. i must say it is more fun trying on all those dresses but this is a very important decision. speaking of dresses did i mention that i bought one! i cant remember if i already posted that somewhere, but i did. yippee! also i met with a florist yesterday from the shop fleur in logan square...a recommendation by my brother. the woman that i met with, kelly, was very nice and very responses to the ideas that i had. she promised to have a quote to me by tuesday with difference pricing options and variations. i am excited to hear from her. she is a bit funkier than the other florist i met with and maybe she will have some new ideas for me! i guess that is about it. mjk and i are celebrating our one year anniversary this weekend...very exciting...and today is his third anniversary at his job! good work!

all kinds of interesting things are going on around me this morning. i just found out that there was an "L" train derailment last night and that some of the stops are closed. to get to work this morning i would have to take a shuttle bus in between some stops...ewww...so i will drive today! fireman tom has returned from new orleans duty and i am interested to hear his stories and experiences down there. you hear all the news stuff but it is never quite the same as hearing in person from someone who was there. mjk and i spent the weekend sniffling and largely being miserable...not a lot of fun. on saturday however, we did try to go to a party but quickly found out that we were old dorks. did you know that cool people dont start their parties until 10pm? maybe i should have known but silly me dragged mjk onto the "L" at 8pm thinking that was a fine time! after i made a few calls i realized my social faux pas so we turned around and spent the evening drinking at the huettenbar! probably not the best idea for two sick people but it was fun nonetheless!