halloween flashbacks

halloween is coming. which is crazy, because in no time it will be thanksgiving, and then christmas and then 2012. anyway…

apart from the candy and carving pumpkins, halloween isn’t my favorite. i feel stupid dressing up, but i always feel worse not dressing up if others are… so i dress up. my costumes have 2 requirements: 1. cheap 2. well done. if i’m going to take the time to dress up and feel stupid, i better look good damn it (and not in a slutty way. i’m not in college anymore). “well done” is subjective, but to me it means i give it my best try. to meet the cheap requirements, i usually make part or all of my costume – and ryan’s, since we are one of those dorky couples who do couples costumes.

i thought it would be fun (and slightly embarrassing) to revisit the last few years of costumes.

2010: toad and mario from mario kart

there was supposed to be a whole group of mario kart-ers, but in the end it was just the two of us. i loved how they turned out – mario’s crooked mustache and all. (i made the hats, my vest and the buttons of mario’s overalls.) my master plan included making the karts out of cardboard boxes, but ryan wasn’t having it so i didn’t put in the extra effort (they would have made the costumes though).

2007 & 2009: fred, wilma and dino flinstone

i really loved these costumes and how they turned out. loved them so much we wore them twice (since we were in st. louis one year and in chicago with a different crowd the other). i made wilma’s necklace out of styrofoam balls and sewed all three costumes out of fleece, to help us stay warm (and fleece was on sale and cheap). i wish you could see beck’s dino costume better, it was adorable (i even added pipe cleaners for the hairs on his head).

2008: april o’neil & michelangelo from teenage mutant ninja turtles

this year we went back to the university of illinois (my alma matter) for a tailgate, football game and halloween. we had the four ninja turtles and three april o’neils. this costume was a bit harder for me to put together, since there wasn’t much i could make. after much searching i finally found a denim jumpsuit on ebay and dyed it yellow. i finished it off with a belt, socks over my shoes for boots and a homemade microphone. the turtle costumes were great, and the garbage can lids on their backs made them (along with their turtle chests that i made at the last minute). and they were complete with the corresponding (fake) turtle weapons (of course).

2006: dog the bounty hunter and his wife beth

{random other dog on left}

i can’t believe i put these pictures on here, but i can’t deny our all time best and favorite costumes ever. i don’t think we’ll ever top these. though they were quite embarrassing, especially for me (i definitely got a bit liquored up before getting dressed and heading out). fake weapons were purchased, and i made ryan’s vest, the stencils of the logo for the vest and my shirt (the logo stencil was amazeballs) and our badges. i needed some amplification in the chest area, so i filled some pantyhose with microbeads from an old pillow (can’t count how many time i was felt up that night). i love all the details, from the weapons holstered around our thighs to the feathers in dog’s hair to the spot-on sunglasses (that ryan borrowed from my uncle. and i was a bit tipsy as mentioned and forgot to wear mine).

unfortunately (or fortunately) i don’t think we’re doing much for halloween this year, but i am putting together a costume for my work halloween party. i could wear one of my past costumes (though not beth because 1. embarrassing and 2. most of the elements can’t be found anymore), but i saw an idea for a costume and have to do it. i think it will be cheap and easy and will turn out well, but those could be famous last words (it’s my project for next weekend). and of course i will show you how it turned out.

what are you being for halloween this year? do you have a favorite halloween costume of the past?

happy monday.

{justine}

the o.k. (shoe) corral

lamest post name ever, apologies. it was the only thing i could think of, since this is a post about baskets. baskets to hold shoes (but i will say that i think my shoe corral is more than ok).

we don’t have an entry way, or foyer if you will, in our apartment. when you walk in from the hallway, you enter our dining room immediately.

what do you usually do when you walk inside? take off your shoes. so this is what our non-entry way usually looks like:

a mess of shoes (with my purse and umbrellas thrown in the mix too).

i’m not the neatest person (ryan will be the first to tell you that) but the shoes drove me crazy. every single time i came in or out of my place, which is a lot.

to clean up when people came over we would organize the mess by lining up the pairs together. which still drove me crazy since it just looked like a less-messy bunch of shoes.

while we have a shoe rack in our closet, it is already full of lesser worn shoes and it’s just not reasonable to think every time we came in we would bring our shoes to the closet. so a quick, cheap and non-ugly solution was in order. i figured my best best was a large basket and i set off on a search. i shopped both my house and a couple stores.

contender 1:

this one was owned by me already (home goods a couple years ago). i love the color, but it’s small and limits the number of shoes stored conveniently next to the door.

contender 2:

this dark beauty is from home goods. it had a liner in it, but it was ugly. it has a lot of space, with room to add more shoes. but i’m not sure i’m digging the really dark color against the light wall and floors.

contender 3:

a large basket with a lid from home goods. love the size (all the shoes are in there with room to spare) and that you can close it to cover the clutter even more. not loving the little doohickey bead things though.

contender 4:

a gorgeous basket from target. love the color, but it’s one of the smaller ones and kind of smelled funky.

and the winner is…….

……..

……..

the size and ability to close it really sealed the deal. i still don’t like the huge, round beads for securing it closed (which will never be used) but i have already gotten used to them.

and i like it even better moved against the other wall, tucked into the corner.

next problem to solve: the mess of keys and beck’s walk necessities on the sideboard , my purse  and other items laying around,  and dining room chairs serving as a coat rack.

i may have something up my sleeve…

{justine}

2 (and a 1/2) ingredient pumpkin muffcakes + brown sugar cream cheese frosting

fall is the time for pumpkin flavored everything, but i have to admit, i’ve never been a huge pumpkin fan. on thanksgiving i always opt for the apple pie over the pumpkin pie. though as with many food items i haven’t been besties with in the past, i’m coming around and changing my tune.

this recipe, originally from the big red kitchen, has been getting around on pinterest (what a sloot), but the first review i read about it was on erika’s urban grace blog, and i was convinced that i had to give it – and pumpkin – a shot.

is so easy peasy squeezy it’s ridiculous. it’s also healthy (minus the frosting i add). and extremely genius.

the recipe is originally a pumpkin bread, but i baked it in cupcake form. the texture is a bit more dense than airy, so it’s more muffin-like. but i frosted them with a delicious brown sugar cream cheese icing, which makes them cupcake-like. let’s split the difference and call them muffcakes (which sounds kind of dirty).

pumpkin muffcakes

1 box cake mix (i used yellow; spice, chocolate – whatever you wish)
1 15-oz can 100% pumpkin puree (plain pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling)
heaping 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (may be omitted, but increases the flavor of pumpkin)

(note: do not use the oil, eggs or water as indicated on the cake mix. only the pumpkin. this is the genius and healthyness of it).

preheat oven to 350 degrees. mix all ingredients together well. pour into prepared cupcake tins (either greased or with liner). bake for 17-18 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

recipe notes:
-this made me 16 cupcakes. i used a full-sized ice cream scoop to measure into my tins. they rose a lot, so you can fill them only about 1/2 way, and you will get more cupcakes (and you may need to decrease the cooking time a little).
-the batter will be thick and sticky. this is normal.
-i made these again 2 days later for work, and added in about a 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips. yum!

brown sugar cream cheese frosting

1 1/4 sticks butter (10 tablespoons), softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed (optional: an additional 2 tablespoons or so)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 1/2 – 2 cups powdered sugar

cream the cream cheese in an electric mixer for 1 minute. add the butter, beating for 1-2 minutes, or until incorporated. add the brown sugar, pinch of salt and vanilla extract, and beat until incorporated. turn off mixer and add 1 cup of powdered sugar. mix on low speed until incorporated so it doesn’t fly out of the bowl. taste and slowly add more powdered sugar until you reach your desired sweetness. if you want a more pronounced brown sugar taste (like me; brown sugar is my favorite ingredient), add another tablespoon or two of brown sugar (but not too much, it will become grainy) and mix well.

recipe notes:
-this generously frosted 16 cupcakes, and i had some left over.
-i don’t like my frosting too sweet, which is why i love cream cheese frosting. but it can’t be too cream-cheesy either. i like to know its cream cheese, but not feel like i’m eating cream cheese. huh? it makes sense to me. so you may need to add even more powdered sugar, if that’s how you roll.

{look at that gorgeous color!}

when i brought these over to a friend’s house, her mom told me she uses this same ‘trick’ for pancakes — adds pumpkin puree to the dry pancake batter instead of eggs/milk, etc. it would make a delicious fall breakfast! i’m thinking it would go great with a glaze instead of syrup.

these cupcakes are super moist, and have such a great flavor. you can taste the pumpkin, but it’s not too strong. and cream cheese icing makes everything better – especially when it has brown sugar, the most magical ingredient on earth.

my second time making them, i used these totally cute cupcake liners that i snagged at home goods. love them! (but it was hard to not get the batter or the frosting on them, so they’re not the cleanest).

have you tried this 2 1/2 ingredient recipe yet? are you a fan of pumpkin? let me know if you have other must-make pumpkin recipes to further convert me to a pumpkin lover.

{justine}

linked to remodelaholic, mommy by day crafter by night, southern lovely and between naps on the porch

weekend recap {beach and a baby}

(i like alliteration, can you tell yet?)

well hello. i hope you are doing well and you had a great weekend. i sure did enjoy a nice 3 1/2 day weekend of leisure  myself. while i didn’t have columbus day off for a holiday, i did use 1 1/2 vacation days on friday afternoon and monday, since i have some to spare before the end of the year. let’s face it, soon it’s going to be brutally cold, and lately it’s been p.e.r.f.e.c.t. outside, so i took advantage.

warning: there are a lots of pics in this post. i had two very cute subjects!

i can’t for the life of me tell you what i did for the free friday afternoon i had, but i do know that friday night we enjoyed a delicious dinner at one of our new favorite places, las tablas.

saturday i gave myself quite the glitzy, unique manicure (using clear nail polish and glitter for the ring finger).

{glitter nail polish never has enough glitter. this? this is glitter}

then we took a quick drive on lake shore drive to the dog beach (montrose beach) where we enjoyed the ridiculous temps.

later that afternoon we met up at a bar to watch the illinois and mizzou games, and followed up our late lunch there with an early dinner in little italy to support our friend anna, who ran the chicago marathon and raised money (over $2k – wow!) for the american brain tumor association in memory of my father-in-law (she finished, which is so amazing. it blows my mind how people can run a marathon. such dedication! i can’t even bring myself to run a mile…)

sunday i tried to make a dent in my next book club book, the historian. 4 days in i have only made to about page 100, and there’s over 600 pages. book club is in less than 2 weeks, so the math does not add up to me finishing it. i will give it the ol’ college try though.

thanksgiving, our deadline for finishing the table we want to build, is fast approaching so we headed to the rebuilding exchange, to shop their wood supply. they had quite a bit old growth and reclaimed wood, and we’ll be back when we’re ready to buy.

of course i spent some time in the kitchen, and i made the easiest pumpkin muffins/cupcakes ever with brown sugar cream cheese frosting (i was going to include the recipe now, but this post is quite long, so stayed tuned in the next day or so).

{i devoured it. shame.}

our friends brooke and john welcomed their son jack thomas on thursday night. monday we went over for a visit and oh. my. goodness. is he so precious, so tiny and so, so perfect.

i love him. *sigh*.

i wish this perfect weather we’re having and the weekend could never end, but such is life. i will take what i can get.

have a great week.

{justine}