Let the Holidays Commence

September 22nd, often called the Autumn Equinox, is traditionally considered the beginning of fall, with December 21st marking the beginning of winter. But I have to say, traditional though I may be, that just never quite sat right with me, in large part because I am a Christmas enthusiast and couldn't quite reconcile the idea that winter decor would have to either A) be placed around the house during the fall, or B) wait all the way until the week of Christmas.

Just no.

So crazy though it may seem, I long ago decided that autumn should start at the beginning of September, and winter the beginning of December. Thus, it is by no means crazy that I should begin setting out fall decorations September 1st.

And what are fall decorations if not merely a gateway decor for Halloween, am I right? So yeah, I may or may not have already begun hauling out my Halloween decorations, and I feel not one iota of shame. (Note: I am also one of those annoying people who puts out Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving.)

So I guess what I mean to say - if you're still with me here - is yay, the start of what I like to call Holiday Season (the magical time of year encompassing Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Years) has begun!

My husband and I celebrated by watching one of my favorite Halloween-adjacent movies tonight, the delightfully gruesome Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. Gotta love a good fairy tell retelling with automatic weapons, sibling action-duos and best of all, witches.

The Best of TV's Thanksgiving Episodes

It's Thanksgiving, a day for giving thanks, eating way too much food, and doing what Americans do so well . . . watch television (whether it be football, the Macy's parade, or cheesy holiday movies). In honor of this auspicious holiday, I've compiled a list of what I consider the greatest Thanksgiving related TV episodes. 

The Best of TV's Thanksgiving Episodes:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 4 episode 6 - "Pangs"

Perhaps one of my all time favorite Buffy episodes ever, the Scooby gang must battle the ghosts of some severely pissed off Native Americans hell bent on vengeance. With the return of Angel and a blisteringly sarcastic Spike, it's definitely one of the series' greatest hits. 

Best line: "Bear, you made a bear. Undo it! Undo it!"

Gilmore Girls - Season 3 Episode 9 -  "A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving" 

Any of you other Gilmore Girls fans out there celebrating the Netflix revival of the series? I can't wait to see what they have in store for us. But can it possibly live up to one of the funniest GG episodes of all time? We'll see. Four Thanksgiving feasts in one day? No problem for this mother and daughter duo. 

Best line: "Well, you caught me at a good time, ladies. I've already gone through the five stages of grieving. Denial, anger. . .I don't remember these two, but they were served on the rocks with salt!" 

How I Met Your Mother - Season 3 Episode 9 - "Slapsgiving"

I've always loved the way How I Met Your Mother starts a bit in one season and carries it on throughout the course of the series, and no bit is more memorable than that of the slap. Marshall's hand, Barney's face. Fantastic. And the best slapisode? Why Slapsgiving, of course. 

Best line:  What is this feeling, that's put you in your place? A hot red burnin' on the side of your face. You feel the blood rush to your cheek, the tears that fill your eyes. And your lips are trembling, but you can't speak. You're tryin', oh, you're tryin' not to cry. You just got slapped, oh, across the face, my friend. You just got slapped, yes, that really just happened. Everybody saw it. Then everybody laughed and clapped. It was awesome. Wait, you just got... slapped.

Friends - Season 4 Episode 8 - "The One with Chandler in a Box" AND Season 3 Episode 9 - "The One with the Football" 

My friends and I all get together every year and have our own "Friendsgiving" in which we eat turkey and pie, and then waddle our way to the TV and laze away the rest of the day watching Friends Thanksgiving episodes. We all argue which one is the best (my friend Sami would be shocked I'm not writing about the Brad Pitt episode), but I can't ever decide between "Chandler in a Box" and "Football", so I nominate them both. Not just the best Thanksgiving episodes of the series, but possibly the best episodes of the series all-together. 

Best line: "Is everybody else seeing a troll doll nailed to a two by four?"

And there you have it, my favorite Thanksgiving TV episodes. There are many more I'd love to mention, but I'm in a food coma from everything I ate today and this was as much as I could manage. I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween

Wow, it feels like it's been ages since I've checked in on the blog-o-sphere. I've missed a lot in the last month while I was on a brief maternity hiatus. But I'll be back to regularly scheduled blogging in November (or at least I'm keeping my fingers crossed that's the case). But for now I'm wishing you all a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! I hope it's spooktacular!

^^^ The reason I've been missing 

out on blogging lately. 

Too cute to be mad at, am I right?!

12 Movies of Christmas

It's Christmas time, the most wonderful time of the whole year! And with the metaphorical Jack Frost biting at my nose (metaphorical because it's only about 68 degrees where I live - much too warm for snow), I am feeling the Yuletide spirit. So in preparation of my favorite holiday, I've got my TV queued up to some of the very best films this season has to offer. And what are they you might ask? Without further ado, I give you . . . 

The 12 Movies of Christmas:

1. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
2. Die Hard
3. Elf
4. Home Alone
5. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
6. Love Actually
7. Rise of the Guardians
8. All I Want for Christmas
9. Fred Claus
10. The Santa Clause
11. A Charlie Brown Christmas
12. Muppets Christmas Carol

What about you guys? Any Christmas movies you like to watch every year? 

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is the day we collectively as a nation sit around watching football, eat too much food, and most importantly, remember the things we are thankful for. I myself am thankful for so many things. My friends. My family. The husband I still can't quite believe I get to call my own and the six books I've been saving for holiday reading. 

I'm also thankful for a nice home and a warm place to sleep during these cold, November nights . . . a blessing so many in this country live without. I would like to urge everyone in the spirit of this holiday of gratitude to think about giving back. Organizations across the country are collecting food, clothing, and warm blankets for those in need. If you're feeling blessed this year, take some time to give a little back. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

Note: If you're looking for ways to make a difference this Thanksgiving, check out this site. You can type in your zip code and find organizations in your area that are looking for volunteers and donations. 

It's-A Mario Party

I'm sorry to see the end of October, and with it, the passing of Halloween. The sun may be setting on my 20's, but I'm still child-at-heart enough to love dressing up for the holiday. Every year my friends and I go to the Houston Museum of Natural Science's Spirits and Skeletons party, and this year was no different. 

With our critical success last year with as the cast of Firefly (check our costumes out here), we knew we had to come up with something spectacular if we wanted to continue our upward momentum and outdo ourselves for 2014. And thus an idea was born. 

It started out with this . . .

A few refining details . . .

The we added a little paint . . .

And voila, we were ready to go Mario Kart-ing . . .

From Left to Right:
Princess Peach, Mario, Toadette, Yoshi, Waluigi and Luigi

My husband and I as Luigi and Princess Peach.

Don't we look awesome? It was a lot of work making those karts, but we are nothing if not committed. And by god if we didn't have the best costumes at the party (which, by the way, I hear reached over 8,000 guests). We were stopped over and over again to have our pictures taken by our many admirers, and even had fellow party-goers helping us pop each other's balloons (I survived the night with one balloon still remaining). 

It was a blast! Anyone else have any great costumes this year? Or go to an amazing Halloween bash perhaps? 

Zombie Cookie Extravaganza

I was feeling a little sad last night -- it was the would-be 29th birthday of a friend of mine that died two years ago -- so I asked my husband if he'd like to make Halloween cookies with me. I looked forward to using my new zombie cookie cutters for the first time. So we got all the supplies together, busted out the cookie batter, dyed some icing a delicious shade of green and got down to business. Here's a taste of the finished product:

Hmm, I probably need to work on my pastry decorating skills. Anyway, after a while we got a bit more creative: 

The heart was mine -- a gift for my husband. The spider was his creation, a tribute to his rampant arachnophobia. And then, to my great displeasure, I had to abandon my culinary creations and head out for a late night soccer game. I left him in charge of our "son" Freddy, a zombie toy I gave him when we first started dating. When my soccer game was over and I checked my phone, here's what I found waiting for me. 

"Freddy getting started."

"Outline."

"The Skeleton."

"Freddy is good."

"Father and son watching Avengers post-cookies."

Needless to say, it cheered me greatly. My husband is the cutest! I hope you come up with some fun, Halloween related festivities to celebrate this spooktacular holiday! 

The Best of TV's Halloween Episodes

We're already more than a week into October and I haven't written a single post on Halloween yet! I'm behind on my holiday festivities (or rather, I'm behind on my blog - my apartment has been decorated since September).

Every year I have a series of Halloween activities I like to complete before the big, spooky day - carve pumpkins, watch Hocus Pocus, eat waaay too much candy. And of course, make my way through the best Halloween related episodes of my favorite TV shows. This year I thought I'd be a bit more organized and make a list of what I consider the 'best of the best'. Here goes . . .

The Best of TV's Halloween Episodes:

1. Bones - "The Mummy in the Maze"

I love this episode of Bones. Watching Booth and the squint team dressing up for their annual Halloween party as they team up to find a missing girl and take on a killer clown (a real challenge in light of Booth's Coulrophobia). It's one of the best.

2. The Office - "Halloween"

I simply love the antagonistic relationship between Jim and Dwight, and nothing shows it off better than a Halloween episode. With Dwight's elaborate 'Sith Lord' costume and Jim's more creative 'Three Hole Punch Jim', hilarity ensues.

3. The Big Bang Theory - "The Middle Earth Paradigm"

What could be funnier than a handful of scientists in their nerdiest costumes amid a sea of inebriated slutty nurses and chest baring ex-boyfriends? Not much, I'd say.

4. Community - "Epidemiology"

I'll admit I was late to the Community game, and frankly didn't have that much interest in the show. That is, until my friend insisted that I watch the Halloween episode in which the study group and their classmates get transformed into zombies. How could I possibly resist Troy and Abed dressed up as Ripley and the Alien? After that, I was hooked.

5. Castle - "Vampire Weekend"

The season 2 Halloween episode was just the right blend of spooky, funny, and touching. But Nathan Fillion's Castle dressed up as a "space cowboy", aka. Mal Reynolds, aka. Captain Tightpants makes my heart grow three sizes in my chest, just like the Grinch. I simply could not love this episode more. Side note: He absolutely gets my vote as they winner of The Best of TV's Halloween Episodes costume contest.

6. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - "Halloween"

There are so many things I just love about this episode. The deliciously evil Spike. Catty Cordelia. The first glimpses of the Willow/Oz relationship. And most especially, Buffy the Butt-Kicking Vampire Slayer transformed into a weak, dimwitted aristocrat. Its one of the greatest Buffy episodes and Joss Whedon at his finest. 

7. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - "Fear Itself"

The show is so great I had to give it a second episode. This Buffy episode takes haunted houses to a whole new creepy level, with a dash of Anya in a "terrifying" bunny costume to lighten things up. A must-not-miss for the Halloween season. 

I've definitely got a lot of TV viewing to do to get ready for Halloween! Not to mention finishing up my costume for the annual Houston Museum of Natural Science - Spirits & Skeletons Party. I just can't wait for All Hallows Eve! Only 22 days to go . . . 

Saint Patrick's Day!

Today is one of my very favorite days of the year . . . the day of the Irish . . . Saint Patrick's Day!!!

Side note (and in a pointed reprimand for all my Facebook friends who posted photos of themselves wearing green, captioned "St. Patty's Day" this past Saturday), today is Saint Patrick's Day. Saturday was the Ides of March, the day best associated with Caesar's betrayal and resulting death (beware). 

Today is the day we celebrate the Patron Saint of Ireland by wearing green, bedazzling ourselves with shamrocks, keeping an eye out for leprechauns, and in generally thanking the Lord that we (those of us lucky enough to hail from the Emerald Isle) are Irish! So whether you already celebrated this past weekend with some green beer or went to a St. Patty's parade, don't forget to wear some green today in celebration of all things Ireland! 

Zombie Valentine

When Valentines day rolls around, you've got to do something special for your someone special. Some buy chocolate, some buy teddybears holding hearts or jewelry. But I have different ideas. When Valentines day rolls around, I show my fiance how much I love and care for him by preparing him for the zombie apocalypse. In case he ever asked something like this . . . 

So I gave him this . . .

And this . . .

Yeah, I know. Best fiance ever. When the time comes and the zombies rise up, we will be prepared.

Insecure Writer's Support Group

It's the first Wednesday of the month and time for Insecure Writer's Support Group! If you're looking for support, encouragement, and helpful writing tips, be sure to check out the group at our brand new website (see here).

It's now officially December, my favorite month of the year, and I have to admit that I'm suffering from a severe case of Holiday-itis. I don't really want to write. What I want to do it make (and eat) Christmas cookies. Shop for presents. Go look at Christmas lights and sing holiday carols. And of course, my favorite Christmas activity, go see The Nutcracker Ballet! Which incidentally I plan on going to this coming Sunday.

So how in the face of all this holiday spirit am I supposed to concentrate on diction and grammar? Or something as mundane as active voice?

I simply do not know. If anyone has any advice for curing Holiday-itis, do let me know. Until then you can find me hanging ornaments on my Christmas tree and watching some truly suck-tacular Lifetime Channel holiday films. 

Halloween Howl-Fest: WINNER

With the dawn of Halloween, so too comes the end of this year's Halloween Howl-Fest. It's been a real blast. And now, for the last and final time, here's how the bracket shaped up. Are you interested to know which film was the winner? Take a look . . . 

That's right! The winner was the 1984 hit, Ghostbusters. Surprised? Excited? I know I was. Ghostbusters has long been one of my favorite movies. And after several weeks of voting, has proved itself Halloween Howl-Fest champion. Three cheers (or should I say howls?) for Ghostbusters!

However, I have to admit, as much as I love Ghostbusters (who couldn't love a movie with such sage advice as "When someone asks if you're a god, you say YES."), I have to admit that there was one other movie I really thought would win. And according to your responses, some of you felt the same way. So my friend Andy suggested that I might consider having a Zombie Champion, aka. a movie cut in one of the earlier rounds that "rose from the dead". . . so to speak. 

Needless to say, it's an idea I felt more than appropriate for this event. So I went through all your comments (from ALL the Howl-Fest posts since the very beginning), and found that there were two movies in particular that people felt were unfairly killed off. And how fortuitous, one of them happens to be my absolute favorite Halloween movie. Want to know witch, I mean which, films win the title of Zombie Champion? 

And what a coincidence; both films are about nemeses that rose from the dead. The perfect Halloween Howl Fest: Zombie Champions. 

Well, I hope you've all enjoyed my Halloween Howl-Fest. I certainty have. And a big thank you to EVERYONE who voted, and in particular to those who voted round, after round, after round. I loved hearing your comments and learning more about everyone's spooky movie taste.  

Oh, and one more thing . . . HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween Howl-Fest: The Finals

Well, we've finally made it to the last round in my Halloween Howl-Fest. "This is it. Don't get scared."(Sorry, channeling on of my favorite Christmas movies now. Wrong holiday.) 

Anyway, we've come down to the final two movies. Witches versus ghosts. He Who Must Not Be Named versus Who you gonna call?. And it's time to decide which films is going to go all the way. 

I'll be sad to see the end of this Howl-Fest. It's been a lot of fun. But all good things must come to an end. So cast a spell . . . I mean your vote, and let me know which movie you think deserves to win this year's Halloween Howl-Fest!

P.S. On a separate note, are there any other movies you wish had made it further? I know there are a few I am devastated about. Take one more look at the bracket and let me know if there are any films you think we slashed too soon . . .

Happy Monday!

A Firefly Halloween

I'm taking a moment to briefly interrupt this Halloween Howl-Fest in order to share with you the most epic of Halloween costumes. Two years ago I was Alice from Resident Evil. Last year my friends and I all went as superheroes. But this year. Oh, this year was epic. Because this year we went as . . . 

The Cast of Firefly

Wash, Captain Mal Reynolds, Jayne, Zoe and Kaylee

My Fiance and I as "Mal and Kaylee"

Mark as "Jayne" (and of course, Vera)

Andy as "Wash" (and his dinos)

Tina as "Zoe"

                           

It was without a doubt one of the best Halloween costumes I have ever been apart of. Of course, I wish we'd had Book, Inara, Simon and River as well, but we were awesome as the original crew of the Serenity. We had over thirty people recognize us, and nine people ask to take our photograph. I hope you all had as much fun for Halloween as we did!

[Oh, and don't forget to check back tomorrow for the Finals Round of the Halloween Howl-Fest.]

Halloween Howl-Fest: Semi Finals

I have to admit, I've been secretly rooting for these Top 4 films since the beginning. They're some of my favorite Halloween flicks, and I'm thrilled that they made it to the Semi-Finals. The problem is, now I don't know which two I think should be knocked out. Good thing it's up to you guys! Take a look . . .

So, which movies do you think should move on? Will it be family friendly witches, or one of the greatest horror films of all time? A team of four against an angry hoard, or . . . well, another team of four against a different type of angry hoard? Only you guys can decide! Happy voting.  

Halloween Howl-Fest: Quarter Finals

Well, we finally made it to the Quarter Finals of this year's Halloween Howl-Fest. Are you interested to know which teams . . . I mean films, made it into the Top 8? Take a look at which movies you voted as the most haunted, spooky, terrifying and flat out awesome of this bracket!

So, what do you think? Any surprise dark horses? Movies you wish had made it further? I have to admit, I kind of thought (and hoped) Hocus Pocus would sweep the whole thing. But there are still eight awesome films to vote for, and only YOU can decide which one will go all the way. So cast your vote and let me know which four should make it to the Semi Finals!

Happy voting!

Halloween Howl-Fest: Monstrous (Round 3)

Well, I can't say I'm shocked at the outcome of this one. With the exception of Hellboy and The Mummy (which went back and forth), the votes were pretty well stacked in certain movies' favor. Take a look at the Top 4 Monstrous movies . . . 

These are some pretty great movies you guys have picked - it's going to be tough to narrow it down to just two! Let me know which films should move on. And don't forget to check back MONDAY to see which films from the Magical, Supernatural, Undead and Monstrous conferences made it into the Quarter Finals. 

Have a great weekend!

Halloween Howl-Fest: Monstrous (Round 2)

It's been interesting this week, with the addition of the triple-header. I thought it might split the votes a little more, but nope. There were three runaway wins on this one. Take a look at which films made it into Round 2 . . .

And don't forget to check back Friday to see which movies made it to the next round!

Halloween Howl-Fest: Monstrous (Round 1)

We've made it to the final conference in my Halloween Howl-Fest, and it's a killer! Well, not literally, but some of the characters sure are. For this round we're dealing with monsters, everything from ghouls to werewolves. And for the first time in this challenge, we'll be looking at a couple triple-headers (aka. three movies going against one another instead of just two). Remember, you can still only vote for ONE of the three movies. 

Take a look below and let me know which movies you'd like to see make it to Round 2 . . .

I hope you all have a monstrous Monday! And a special shout out to the best cousin in the whole wide world. Happy Birthday Allie!!!