Halloween Likes and Dislikes

Halloween is one of those holidays that I'm pretty indifferent to. There are some things I love about it, and others I hate.

Likes:

Candy! I love candy, and now finally have an excuse to have a big bowl of all of my favorites right on our coffee table without looking and feeling completely ridiculous.

Kids in cute costumes for trick-or-treating (cute being the important term... not scary or morbid). There are just too many cute costumes out there for kids these days! (Hello, Pottery Barn Kids cupcake costume that I really wish I could fit into).

Pumpkins, hay bales, scarecrows, etc. used for Halloween decor!

An excuse to have a themed party with coordinating food, drinks, decor, and attire.

apartmenttherapy.com

Dislikes:
Halloween horror movies (and horror movies in general)! I truly dislike anything having to do with scary/horror movies. Yes when I was in middle school I braved the Blair Witch Project with the best of 'em, simply to fit in, but haven't watched a scary movie since! I do not understand why/how people enjoy being scared. Why are there now 6 SAW movies? Who wants to see disgusting and horrifying things like someone being forced to saw off their own leg? I will never understand it!

The fact that any girl/woman over the age of 13 attempts to use Halloween as an excuse to wear something inappropriate and well, whore-like! I understand looking cute or a little sexy, but I'm so over the naughty nurse and playboy bunny costumes!

Candy corn and candy pumpkins! Although I love the excuse to have small bags of peanut butter M&M's on my coffee table, I absolutely hate the taste of candy corn and pumpkins... despite the fact that they're cute!


Do you guys really like Halloween? Some people love it more than Christmas, I'm kind of bleh about the whole thing!

Happy Early Halloween!

-CAwife

TGIW

You may not have used the acronym TGIW before, but Thank God It's Wednesday! Wednesday has literally become the highlight of our week because of Modern Family. I know I talk about TV a lot, and that I do watch some pretty mediocre TV, but this show it nothing short of genius. If you haven't watched it yet, you absolutely must.

Modern Family leaves CAhusband and I laughing out loud every week. CAhusband has even called it, "by far the funniest and most well written comedy on TV."

Enjoy a clip from last week's episode that was one of my faves (I finally figured out how to put a YouTube video in Blogger, so you'll be seeing a lot more video clips).

-CAwife

Oh, I Wish I Could Bake

How stinkin' cute are these little leaf cutouts from Williams Sonoma?

I really wish that I had some talent in the kitchen, because I would love to buy these to make the cutest fall-time pie on the block. Who cares that I truly hate pie, other people love it, and I could get some major props for making such a cute pie!

Images from Williams Sonoma, Fall Forest Pie Cutters, $18

-CAwife

Random Notes

So, I've been a little absent from the blogosphere this month, and more so over the past week. Call it a lack of inspiration or laziness, but I just haven't had that spark to actually write anything lately.

Here are some random notes, or random things I've been thinking about

-I'm in love with my new steamer that Nick surprised me with! Steaming is way better than ironing, and requires so much less effort...it's amazing. Just getting out the iron, ironing board, and spray starch is enough to make me want to scream, let alone going back and forth (again and again and again) to get out the horrible wrinkles that I accidentally created by leaving something in the dryer too long. God bless the TOBI steamer that Costco started promoting!

-On that same laundry note, I have a pile of clothing about 30 items high that need to go to the dry cleaners... bleh! I hate taking stuff to the dry cleaners because despite how nice it is to have all of your nice clothes back in those plastic bags perfectly straight- the $100+++ it'll cost to get it that way has left me procrastinating!

-Now that Halloween is almost over, I've got Christmas on the brain. I figure I must wait until at least Nov. 1 though to start my official Christmas list, but just you wait, before you know it the brat in me will be posting my every wish and desire right here on this little blog!

-Now that we're married, does this mean it's acceptable to send out Christmas cards? Ooooooo, I sure hope so!!!! Stationary and all things with pretty paper have always been an obsession of mine, so now the search for super cute Christmas cards has begun! A picture is necessary, but I have a feeling everyone is so sick of our wedding and engagement pictures that those just might not do! Hmmm..... where's that super good photographer, future brother-in-law when I need him?? The good news, I already have everyone's addresses in a nice little spreadsheet left over from the wedding!! : )

-I have officially sucked at reading books lately, and I absolutely MUST finish my current book and read the final Twilight book before New Moon premiers on 11.21! Yes, Twilight is weird, totally addicting, and embarrassing to read in public all at the same time, but oh well, I'm hooked! I feel like I need to finish the whole story before I see the next movie, and for some reason after reading the first 3 in rapid fire succession, I never got to the 4th!!

-Happy Tuesday everyone!

-CAwife

The Great Puppy Debate

CAhusband and I consider ourselves to be avid dog lovers! The minute we got Reilly, CAhusband automatically started pining for another puppy, or what he referred to as "Reilly's baby sister," while I held strong in my one dog approach. Reilly is nothing short of an attention hog, and gets a little jealous, so I never wanted her to feel left out and abandoned by a cute little pup; however, my views have changed since our move to CA. Reilly spend all summer at CAhusband's parent's house, with their dog Sam. The two really bonded, and I know Reilly was really sad to leave him. Once we got to CA, we had to live with my parents for a few weeks while we waited on our furniture to arrive, and Reilly formed another bond with my parents little Lhasa-poo Gus.

Now that we're almost settled in our new place, Reilly just seems a little lonely. She loves other dogs and every dog she sees she wants to play with! However, she has HIGH anxiety about walking at our new place. There are dogs that many owners leave out on their balconies on the upper floors that Reilly cannot see, and when we walk, they hear her collar rattle, and start barking furiously (or so Reilly thinks). Reilly does nothing short of freaking out every time this happens, and literally pulls me home with all of her might! Now she simply refuses to walk in all of these directions (4 out of 5 possible ways to go from our door) because she knows another dog lives that way and might possibly bark at her. We literally CAN'T get her to walk without taking her to my parents house, where the streets and trails are usually void of other barking dogs.

Now you're probably thinking, if she's so afraid of dogs barking, what makes you think she wants a baby sister (of the canine version, of course)? Well, she's a dog park fanatic and loves every dog there. She plays very well with them, and everyone comments about how well she does with other dogs, especially the little ones. Also, her anxiety about walking around our place completely subsides when she has Gus (my parents dog) over to walk with her. It just seems like she's afraid without a buddy by her side.

At this point, we've agreed that we do want to get another dog, but are being very particular about our choices. Due to Reilly's arthritis that will only worsen as she ages, we don't want to get another hyper and playful dog. Reilly can't turn down playing no matter how sore her leg is, and the last thing we want is a dog that will act like a puppy for 5 years, and will aggravate her leg more as she ages. If this wasn't an issue we would hands-down be getting another boxer!

CAhusband and I each have our front runners, seen below! I bet you can't guess which of us is in favor of which dog... ha!

CAhusband desperately wants an English bulldog, I think mainly in hopes that the pup will learn to skate board. I can understand his love for this breed, but just can't decide if this would be the best choice for us. They are cute though, in that ugly kind of way! : )

Now, myself on the other hand.... I desperately want a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel! I think they are just so darn cute I can't stand it. CAhusband, however, is appalled at my choice of such a girly sissy dog!

What do you think?

-CAwife

JCrew Bridesmaid Lust

I'm absolutely in love with this new JCrew bridesmaids dress. So much so, that I think if I were getting married next summer, this would definitely have been the dress for my bridesmaids (in black of course).... although I wouldn't have been able to wear it myself! I don't think this dress (available in many other colors) screams bridesmaid too much though, so maybe I could just get it to wear to a fun party? I'm hoping this dress sticks around and it released in more "summery" colors in the January-spring rollout. Preferably, before I hate JCrew so much that I quit... I want to get this baby for 50% off!

-CAwife

We've Been Married Three Months!

It's hard to believe that we've now been married for 3 months (and a day)! My new SIL Christina mentioned that her wedding photographer does a monthly blog post about how married life is going with each month, and I thought it was such a great idea, so here we go....

In our 3 months of wedded bliss we've accomplished a lot, but still have a LONG to-do list of things we need to get settled!

What we've been up to:
-We've successfully moved to CA, and have gotten somewhat settled into our new apartment.
-CAhusband has started his job, and is acclimating to the real world nicely.
-I failed at the teaching job search (thanks to CA's budget completely neglecting education in this economic crisis), but have found peace by working at JCrew (simply to support my shopping habit). At this point I'm not sure how long I'm going to be able to take the retail hours, but it's working for the time being.
-I've started cooking a lot more than I ever thought I would, and haven't caused any food poisoning... YET. Luckily, I've really gotten pretty positive reviews so far.


The goals we haven't quite accomplished:
-Furniture!!! We still haven't purchased a single piece of furniture, but now have a looming deadline with CAhusband's parents planned visit in January. I'm so glad that we actually have a deadline for when we simply HAVE to make some progress.
-Unpacking! We still have about 6 or 7 boxes that remain to be unpacked. Obviously they're full of stuff we haven't used yet, so maybe they should promptly be taken to the trash?
-Wedding pictures! I haven't done anything with our beautiful wedding pictures besides put them on Shutterfly for family to view. We haven't printed a single one, and (GASP) I haven't even out them on Facebook, hah.
-I have kind of temporarily halted the job of changing my name out of sheer frustration with the process. I WILL FINISH THIS SOON!

By our 4 month anniversary I'm really hoping to have at least one significant furniture purchase, have ALL boxes unpacked, have my name officially changed with all necessary parties, and fill our empty frames with wedding and engagement pics! I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!

-CAwife

Our Engagement Anniversary

Today marks exactly one year ago that CAhusband and I got engaged! It's hard to believe that one year ago, the wedding planning hadn't even started, and that now the wedding is 3 months past (more about that tomorrow on our 3 month anniversary). It's crazy how fast time flies, and how far we've come in that one year!

On a less sentimental note, please pray that the Boilermakers don't completely humiliate the Purdue name again today : )

Enjoy your Saturday everyone!

-CAwife

Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are, is one of my all-time favorite children's books! When I first found out they were making it into a movie, I was a little disappointed. The last thing I wanted was for someone to take a great book that kids actually want to read, and turn it into a movie, thus taking away the desire to actually read written words on a page (hello, Harry Potter). I have to admit though, that after seeing the previews for this movie, I cannot wait to see it. Something about the way they recreated Maurice Sendak's "wild things" is simply amazing! They look so cool, and the previews make the whole story seem magical.

So much focus on the "wild things" recently really makes me miss teaching. All kids love this book, and I'm pretty sure I would have focused an entire weeks unit around Where the Wild Things Are in honor of today's premiere! I also think I would have gotten one of these super cute t-shirts to wear for casual Friday. Aren't they perfect for an elementary school teacher?
I think this second one is really perfect! : )

I really wish I could go see this movie ASAP, but in all reality it will be a while. If anyone else sees it, let me know how it is!!! Happy Friday everyone!

-CAwife

Say It Isn't So

Hello, my name is Tracey, and I'm the craziest Biggest Loser contestant ever! Everyone finally had a chance to vote me off last night, and what did they do? They let me stay!!!! Oh, are they going to be sorry, because my insanity WILL continue. I will continue to win every temptation and take control of the game.... oh you'll be sorry!

(Pardon, my rant, but when the blue team lost last night, I was so relieved and just KNEW that Tracey was going home. Boy, was I wrong. Did anyone else think so too?)


-CAwife

I'm New Here, Wanna Be Friends?

It's pretty common for me to come home from work (JCrew) and have the following conversation with CAhusband.

CAwife: I'm such a loser.

CAhusband: Well, yeah, I know.

CAwife: No, seriously, at work today I met my future best friend.

CAhusband: Ohhhh reallllllly?

CAwife: Well, this girl came in, she's about our age, she picked out all of my favorite clothes in the store and was super nice. We really hit it off, and I just really wanted to say, "I'm new here, wanna be friends?" From talking to her, it seemed like we would have lots in common, I REALLY DO think we could be friends.

CAhusband: You're right, you're a loser

Now, all humiliation on my part aside, I find myself thinking this and having this conversation with Nick several times a week. I feel like there must be people out there (mainly the CA desert, because well, I do have friends, they're all just too far away) that I can become friends with, but how? You can't just meet a random person in a store and say, "You look like fun, you're probably normal, AND we have the same taste in clothes. (Notice how deep of a person I am) Wanna hang out?"

I mean seriously, what would you say if someone said that to you?

I'm stumped... I totally want to make some friends out here, but really don't want to get laughed at or be humiliated! Maybe these super cute, letter press calling cards are the answer? Hah, maybe not? They are cute though aren't they?

-CAwife

A Wonderful Virginia Wedding

CAhusband and I got back late last night from one of the best weekends ever! We enjoyed a wonderful wedding weekend with close family and friends, and simply had a FABULOUS time.

Charlie and Christina's Virginia wedding at the Boar's Head Inn in Charlottesville, VA was nothing less than spectacular! The leaves were changing, the temps were mild and perfect, and everything fell into place for a perfect wedding with southern charm.

Needless to say, we went out every night, drank lots of wine, and celebrated Charlie and Christina. All in all, the weekend was perfect. Sadly, I sucked at taking pictures, but here are some good ones below....

1. Christina, myself, and CAhusband out at The Virginian Thursday night. Didn't really plan on rocking head to toe JCrew to the bars, but oh well, if it must be done, there's no where else I'd fit in better than at UVA.

2. CAhusband and I out after the rehearsal dinner Friday night. I'm really wishing I got a head to toe shot of my outfit, because I really loved it! Oh well....

3. All of the Mrs. Sursas! Wasn't Christina was such a beautiful bride?

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!

-CAwife

Happy Birthday Tracey!

Katie, me, Tracey

Today marks one of my best friends, Tracey's, 24th birthday! Tracey has always been one of the best friends I could ask for, and I know I couldn't have made it through college without her love and support!

Happy Birthday Tracey! I'm so sorry I can't be there to celebrate with you, but hopefully we'll see each other soon!

I hope you have a great birthday!

Love you and miss you!

-CAwife

I'm Heading to DC and Virginia!

Can I just say I've been looking forward to this coming weekend for about 9 months now!!!

Charlie and Christina's wedding weekend is finally almost here, and tomorrow I'm flying out to help Christina (hopefully) relax a little bit and help with any final prep before CAhusband joins us later this week! We will spend some quality time in DC, before heading to Virginia on Thursday morning.

I may be absent from the blogosphere for the rest of the week, so if you don't hear from me, I'll be back with some fabulous pictures on Monday!!!

Christina (the bride-to-be) and I this summer!

CAhusband, me, Christina, and Charlie- New Year's Eve 2008!

Happy Monday!

-CAwife

Fall TV Week- Thursday Night Shows

Well, I think we all know that Thursday is the best TV night, so it should come as no shock that on Thursday we DVR more TV then all other nights! Since, no one's a stranger to the wonderful TV that is Thursday night, no explanation is necessary...

Flash Forward

ABC:
Flash Forward (new show, REALLY good, see pic above)
Grey's Anatomy
Private Practice

NBC:
SNL, Thursday Night Weekend Update (I still don't really get this, but it's funny)
Parks and Recreation
The Office
Community
(Although the SNL thing is funny, when is 30 Rock coming back????)



Oh, Thursday nights are so wonderful that our DVR is now 100% full, and we will spend literally all weekend catching up on all of the TV goodness that we couldn't stay up late enough last night to finish.



This post officially marks the end of Fall TV week, because nothing good is on Friday or Saturday!

Happy weekend everyone!


(I work all weekend, but I hope everyone else will enjoy theirs! No worries though, Tuesday starts my Sursa wedding whirlwind and I can't wait!)

-CAwife

Fall TV Week- Wednesday Night Shows

Here are my Wednesday night faves:

Mercy (NBC, 8 p.m.)- Although this show is a blatant Nurse Jackie knock-off, CAhusband and I both really liked this show! The main theme of the show if that nurses are the ones who really run the show in a hospital. This show is good because it has some funny parts and some drama. The main character is adjusting to life after being a nurse in Iraq, and has some major drama coming back with her.

Modern Family (ABC, 9 p.m.)- Can I just say, this show is HIL-AR-I-OUS! Like, laugh out loud funny! You have to watch this show! Modern Family shows 3 different kinds of families, that are all actually one big family!

Cougar Town (ABC, 9:30 p.m.)- I won't say that I love this show, but it definitely makes you laugh. Not quite sure that I'd watch it if it wasn't on after Modern Family, but it's cute and I love Courtney Cox!

I don't watch GLEE, but have heard so many good things about it, I'm wondering if I should start? Actually I think my Wednesday is at a max, but I've seen a few minutes of it here and there and think it looks like something I'd definitely like!

I've also watched Eastwick (ABC, 10 p.m.) and it's kind of like Desperate Housewives in Salem (I'm talking witchcraft). It's okay, but I'm definitely thinking this one will get canceled!!

-CAwife

So Sweet!

from Pottery Barn Kids

Now that it is October, I feel it's finally acceptable to start talking Halloween! Is this not the cutest little Halloween costume ever? If I was a little girl, I would most definitely want to wear this cute little cupcake costume... heck, I wish they made it in my size, and I'd wear it this year for Halloween!

Truthfully, I won't be anything for Halloween this year, but maybe we'll at least have Trick-or-Treaters for the first time?

Happy October!

-CAwife