Pre-Halloween H54F

Happy Friday everyone! It's almost Halloween and I'm loving it! Are your costumes ready yet?

1. The weather was absolutely amazing this week! (Of course, it's turned to crap today and will be cold and gloomy all weekend and into next week)
2. The leaves are so amazing this year, I can't stop taking pictures of the trees! (The last two years it's seemed that we've gone from green to dead with little to no color, so I'm loving it this year)
3. I think we'll be carving our pumpkins this weekend! (I love toasted pumpkin seeds)
4. We're doing a big family dinner at my MIL's house tomorrow, and I get to introduce everyone to my favorite burrito recipe! (My mom makes them, and they're heavenly! I'll probably end up sharing the recipe, but for right now I'm hoarding it)
5. Our friend Sara just moved into a new place, so she's hosting the Halloween party this year, tomorrow night! (We'll be going after dinner, of course. Read on to find out what we're going as)

Be sure to check out Lauren at From My Grey Desk for more High Fives!

It's that time of year again!!! The time when you get to be crafty, creative, and play dress-up, some of my all-time favorite activities! This year, is a little lack luster compared to last year, for a number of different reasons, mostly poor planning, but I think it should still be enjoyable. Our costumes are usually a combination of store bought items and DIY, which makes it super fun for me. I know it's corny, but my husband and I usually do "couples" costumes. We didn't start off that way, but I think a pirate party made him realize that we're a much cuter Halloween couple when we actually look like we're matching in some way.

The first year we did it, I went as Princess Peach and he was Luigi, because he's just so much better suited as a Luigi, so we told everyone we were having an affair on Mario. (Sorry, no pic from this Halloween to be found) Our first year in AZ I had a girlfriend in town and he was chaperoning a school dance, so no cute outfits that year, but the next year we were both chaperoning so we had to do something fun. We were pursuing the costumes when we found an muscled Captain America jumpsuit, which Blake just had to have, so we went with a super hero theme. Unfortunately, I had a hard time finding and feeling comfortable in most of the options I found in stores. While we were out to lunch the next weekend I saw a girl wearing a cute mighty mouse t-shirt and it hit me! So my super hero costume was born and I went as Mighty Mouse, which was super easy and super cute, and for a while one of my favorite costumes.

I was super excited when we moved back to KY and were going to be able to go to our friends' Halloween Parties, since his new school doesn't do a Halloween dance. For those who don't know the hubs and me, we're pretty dorky, and love comic books and BBC, so the next two years' costumes should be no surprise!
Meet our version of the Green Hornet and Cato.

Followed by our all-time favorite costume, so far... Dr. Who and his T.A.R.D.I.S.!!!! His costume didn't require much work, but I made mine from scratch and loved everything about it! It was so fun to make and super comfy to wear. (For those who are not aware of who we are, the Doctor is a human looking alien who travels through time and space in a ship called the T.A.R.D.I.S. So yes, I was a space ship, technically, but watch just a few episodes on Netflix, and not only will it all make more sense but you'll be hooked!)

This year, Blake's doing a historical zombie walk for his kids at school, which has resulted in our costumes being Zombie Cesar and Cleopatra. I've made these costumes as well. Like I said, not as exciting or fun as last year's but I'll be sure to share the finished product anyway.

What are you all going as for Halloween? I love hearing other's ideas for costumes!  

A Perfect Night Out Followed By A Perfect Night In

What an enjoyable weekend with the hubs! It started on Fri when he surprised me at the work at the end of the day to pick me up for a date. He preceded to take me to The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner, which is not to die for food but pretty tasty and a fun atmosphere, plus it’s right around the corner from The Actors Theater of Louisville, where we went next to see Dracula! Every year Actors does Dracula, A Christmas Story, and A Christmas Carol for its holiday plays. Blake grew up going to these shows and I had heard so many great things about them, but we were never able to figure out a time to see them when we were in town visiting. Then we moved here and I was determined to go. We crossed A Christmas Carol off the list the first year, but things get busy during the holidays when you have to travel for family so we haven’t had the chance to see any of the others. This year I was determined to see Dracula, and was starting to get nervous that we weren't going to be able to when I realized it was already mid October. Blake saved the day though by going to get tickets on his day off from school and what a happy surprise it was to get to see it. If you ever find yourself in Louisville in October, make sure to carve out a slot of time to see this show, because it’s amazing! It’s in an intimate small theater in the round setting, so you’d never think they’d be able to pull off such great special effects, but there you are, finding yourself asking, where did he just come from!?!? It was a perfect date night!

Saturday was suppose to be an errand running day for me and then we were going to go to see a friend’s band play at one of the local bars…But it turned out to be another great Blake and Natalie alone time day, and it so enjoyable. Blake woke up early to work on his paper for one of hid grad classes. I lounged around like a bum for a little bit after I woke up, then got ready, and went to the kitchen to make some crock-pot chili for dinner. Mean while Blake finished his paper and went up to get ready so that by the time I was heading out the door to run errands he had decided he was going to join me. He went with me while I got my flu shot\and went to my monthly quilt block meeting. Then we had lunch at Panera, it was a cold day which meant I wanted some soup in a bread bowl, yum! Then it was off to Hobby Lobby to get some crafting and Halloween items, and his mom’s house to let her dog out, since she was gone all day in Indiana with a friend. We stayed over there for a bit watching a DVR'd episode of Dr. Who, always fun! On the way home from his mom’s I started to feel achy and get a bit of a headache, so he proposed that maybe we should skip the concert and stay in. I pondered on that, and then he told me we could watch Downton Abbey…SOLD! I’m addicted to that show, and hate waiting till it airs in the US, but now they stream them online after they've aired in England, which means we were able to watch the first 5 episode of season 3!!! So we got home, started a fire in our wood burning stove, I served us up some delicious, warm chili while he hooked the laptop up to the big screen TV, no scrunching around a small computer screen for Downton Abbey, and we snuggled up on the couch to watch all 5 episodes available. It was heavenly. Not a rip roaring Saturday night, but, for us, it was perfect! 

Reaching for H54F

It's Friday again?!?! Man this week flew by. I guess that's a goof thing, right? Except I had a fairly uneventful week, which means I don't have much to high five about. Oh well, here goes nothing!

1. My hubby's been telling me to dress up every day this week for a surprise, but I have no clue what it is! (Of course nothing's happened so far, but today he told me not to look at the bank account, because he knows I do that daily, it's a compulsion from being in charge of our household budget, which means he purchased something from somewhere that would give away the surprise. I'm super excited to see what it is, and why I have to be dressed up for it)
2. It was a double plant adoption week for me! (I told you it was a pretty uneventful week. The tropical one will go in the house and the mums will go in the garden) 
3. I talked to my sister the other night! (I miss her so much, but somehow our conversations tend to be spread out over weeks or even months. I think it's probably because we were never very close growing up, partially because we're pretty far apart in age, almost 6 years, as well as we're at very different stages in life. But it always does my heart good when I get to talk to her so that was a yippee for the week)
4. I managed to run all three days for the full amount of time this week, and Blake's promised to run with me tomorrow! (This could end in one of us being very annoyed, but I love that he supports me enough to set that fact aside)
5. I've been researching food a lot this week and I'm excited to try out this whole freezer meal planning thing soon! (I know it's nothing new, and I've certainly made some foods that I freeze, but I've never really done the all out prep once and have a full week or more of meals ready to go thing. Although, with it getting cooler outside I see some freezer to crock-pot cooking very much appealing to me.)

Sorry no pictures this week, but my hubby just surprised me at the office to take me out so no time. Have a great weekend and check out Lauren's blog for more H54F!