Daily Gratitude

Every other November or so, I've attempted to blog each day of the month about something I'm grateful for, or at least blog a photo of the day, which...in a round about way, would be something I'm grateful for in one way or another otherwise I wouldn't have photographed it. Since I didn't blog much in October, I'll start this month off with a compilation of things that happened in October that I'm happy that they happened. hehe!
A quick stop in Solvang with my cousin after our trip to the desert.

Mission Santa Ines is in Solvang so we had to stop and check it out while we were there.

My next "Farm Fresh to You" box contained:
1 sugar pumpkin, 1 red pomegranate, 4 fuji apples, 1 eureka lemon, 4 d'anjou pears, 5 kiwi, 1 bunch carrots, 3 bunches of kale (yikes!), 1 bunch butter lettuce.
Ok...so...I've never made kale before and now I have 3 bunches of them! I was suppose to get beets, but they're on my exclusion list so they substituted kale for it. Previously I'd had a few bites of kale salad and one of my closest friends love it, so I was up for the challenge. I found 2 recipes online and they were..."okay". They weren't great but they weren't bad either. I was pretty indifferent to them. Kale is pretty bitter, so it's not a simple flavor. The 1st recipe was an Orzo with kale and feta. The 2nd was aRoasted Yam and Kale Salad. Anyhoo...after making these 2 recipes, I decided to put kale on my exclusion list. I'd eat it and even enjoy it if someone else served it, but it's not something I chose to prepare myself.

Before going to the World Series, the Giants had to beat the Cardinals for the National League Championship. We didn't have tickets, but we live close to the ballpark. When when knew (or at least had a good idea) that they'd win the game, we went to the stadium to celebrate with all the other fans. But during the 8th inning, it started raining cats and dogs. That didn't stop the celebrations! We were headed to the World Series and everyone was on a baseball high.

Learned how to make artisan caramels from a cute DIY workshop here in the city.

Even though Halloween was upstaged by the parade, there were still a lot of people dressed in costume, wandering the streets during the parade.I'm not sure if my favorite is the girl with fantastic Dia de los Muertos makeup, or the smoking Jesus. Probably the smoking Jesus because he posed for me.

Prepare yourself...this is pretty scary...
but I'm grateful that Ginnie helped me discover PicMonkey.com...they had special halloween photo editing effects that turned any image into vampires, witches, zombies or Day of the Dead. So much fun the play with!

And for today...
Woke up to this view this morning. Obviously I wasn't in The City. :P

On the Table October

I haven't posted anything on the table since June so I thought I'd do 3 photos in one post...

On the coffee table. A new acquisition that I got at the Harvest Festival, handmade from an artist in Oakland. His inspiration was Van Gogh's Starry Night.

On the table at the chocolate shop. This amazing chocolate shop has a menu item of 2 pieces (or 4 or 6) and coffee of your choice. I was tempted to never go to starbucks in the city ever again. Their chocolate is the just about best i've ever had, but their coffee isn't up to par.

On the hideway dining table. Addressing my halloween cards.

Halloween Recap

Hope you all had a bewitching halloween! It was nice having it fall on a Saturday, wasn't it?

Our annual block party and parade started at 4pm.There's always been a good turnout, but this year there seemed to be twice as many people as there were the previous years. I'm sure it's because it was the weekend and more people were home rather than still at work.

The parade was lead by the 12-and-under costume winners. Of course, 2 of them were Starbucks cups. Any guesses how many Starbucks we have within a 1/2 mile radius from our house? 5.This year, we had 2 bands!

My favorite - the Tall Flags:They hold a spot near to my heart because in high school, I was part of Tall Flags:Now if that doesn't send you into a fit of giggles, then you've got a broken funny bone. Head to the ER, stat.

After the parade, we went to the parentals for dinnerand helped hand out candy...as well as eat some, too.

On our way home, Jimmy suggested going into the city. Of course, I'll never turn down a trip into SF...even if the Bay Bridge was broken. Since we were coming from the parentals, it was the bridge we needed to go in. So we took the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge instead and stopped at Fort Baker to enjoy the orange views.then headed to Twin Peaks for a mountain top view of the city lights.It was the clearest of nights and surprising warm, too - It was 1am and half the people were in short sleeves, and short costumes, too. lol.

The night wouldn't have been complete without a drive through the Castro on Halloween night. Halloween in SF is a Big Deal and the biggest parties are in the Castro. Unfortunately, a few violent shenanigans have happened in the past, so they've canceled city sponsored events and increased official presence, which seemed to keep the crowds calmer. By the time we drove through, it was around 1:30a.

There were still lots of people, but most seemed to be heading home and there was no evidence of any shenanigans of the unhappy kind. You can't end Halloween without at least one Elvis sighting. You saw him, didn't you?
_

Happy Halloween!!

The witches fly
Across the sky,
The owls go, "Who? Who? Who?"
The black cats yowl
And green ghosts howl,
"Scary Halloween to you!"
~Nina Willis Walter

The Eve of All Hallows' Eve

Tomorrow is Halloween. Are you ready for the tricks and the treats?
_

Disney Halloween

I got all caught up in the election, then I caught a cold and next thing I know, it's a week later and I still haven't posted the pics from my Halloween getaway to Disneyland.I've gone to Disney a lot this year, but this was the annual girlfriends trip. We left the bay area early Halloween morning and were in the park by 2pm.

We decided to to go to California Adventures first because it closed at 6pm.
I love how they decorate the parks for Halloween and Christmas. They totally get into the spirit of things!

Before the end of Halloween night, we watched the fireworks and rode on the Haunted Mansion ride that was totally decorated in the Nightmare Before Christmas.


Disneyland even had a section of the park decorated for Dia de los Muertos.


Mickey is dressed in his festive autumn colors as he leads the band down Main Street.

No matter how many times I go to Disneyland, there's always something new to see.
_

Everyone hail to the pumpkin song

Boys and girls of every age
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?
Come with us and you will see
This, our town of Halloween
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night
This is Halloween, everybody make a scene
Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright
It's our town, everybody scream
In this town of Halloween
I am the one hiding under your bed
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red
I am the one hiding under your stairs
Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
In this town we call home
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song
In this town, don't we love it now?
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise
Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can
Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll scream
Scream! This is Halloween
Red 'n' black, slimy green
Aren't you scared?
Well, that's just fine
Say it once, say it twice
Take the chance and roll the dice
Ride with the moon in the dead of night
Everybody scream, everybody scream
In our town of Halloween
I am the clown with the tear-away face
Here in a flash and gone without a trace
I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?"
I am the wind blowing through you hair
I am the shadow on the moon at night
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
Halloween! Halloween!
Tender lumplings everywhere
Life's no fun without a good scare
That's our job, but we're not mean
In our town of Halloween
In this town
Don't we love it now?
Everyone's waiting for the next surprise
Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back
And scream like a banshee
Make you jump out of your skin
This is Halloween, everyone scream
Won't ya please make way for a very special guy
Our man Jack is king of the pumpkin patch
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
_

Get Spooked!

Coming by my house on Halloween?

You'll be greeted by this cool banner:
It was the project that Phin taught at stamp club last month.

Very fun to make!

Got to use a bunch of halloween stamps that I've been collecting over the years.

So come on over for lots of treats!
Although I won't be here...
I'll be at...
Disneyland!
How'd you ever guess?
_

More photos from the Halloween parade

Halloween 2006

Click on the photo above and it'll bring you to my web album to see more pics from my neighborhood Halloween parade.

Ginnie asked what I dressed up as. Well...I dressed up as a photographer who just jumped out of the shower and had wet hair. :-) Maybe next year I'll put more thought to my costume.

Street Parade

I gushed about this last year, but I can't help but blog about it again because I just love how my neighborhood gets together every Halloween for a friendly street parade. The parade starts 2 doors down from my house and the parade is lead by a local high school band. Following them are families and friends, enjoying the halloween spirit and seeing all the kids dressed up.

Happy Halloween!

Bone-jour

submitted to Macroday - Theme: Halloween

A Pooped Pup

Trick or treating overload. Poor pup.
submitted to Pxite - Theme: Halloween

This is Halloween

Boys and girls of every age
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?
Come with us and you will see
This, our town of Halloween
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night
This is Halloween, everybody make a scene
Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright
It's our town, everybody scream
In this town of Halloween
I am the one hiding under your bed
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red
I am the one hiding under your stairs
Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
In this town we call home
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song
In this town, don't we love it now?
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise
Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can
Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll scream
Scream! This is Halloween
Red 'n' black, slimy green
Aren't you scared?
Well, that's just fine
Say it once, say it twice
Take the chance and roll the dice
Ride with the moon in the dead of night
Everybody scream, everybody scream
In our town of Halloween
I am the clown with the tear-away face
Here in a flash and gone without a trace
I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?"
I am the wind blowing through you hair
I am the shadow on the moon at night
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
Halloween! Halloween!
Tender lumplings everywhere
Life's no fun without a good scare
That's our job, but we're not mean
In our town of Halloween
In this town
Don't we love it now?
Everyone's waiting for the next surprise
Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back
And scream like a banshee
Make you jump out of your skin
This is Halloween, everyone scream
Won't ya please make way for a very special guy
Our man Jack is king of the pumpkin patch
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

Neighbors

Every halloween, my neighborhood throws a family street parade. A local high school band comes and leads the parade down the entire length of the street...a whole 2 blocks. Sounds short, but it's the perfect length for tiny tots who still need to go door to door to gather treats. I just love how everyone gets together and...well, acts neighborly! Pretty cool for a city who's population approaches 1 million.
I overheard that one of the neighbors went through 8 pounds of candy last year. We don't come close to going through that much but I love answering the door to all the ghosts and goblins.