Something Wicked This Way Comes

Happy Halloween! Today seems like a good day to discuss my favorite witch. I read "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire a few years ago and loved it. The book tells the story of "the life and times of the wicked witch of the west," aka Elphaba.

Found on amazon here.

 Henry and I saw the musical "Wicked" (based on the novel) for the first time at the Kennedy Center this summer. A lot of people are familiar with the song "Defying Gravity" from the musical, which I expected to be the highlight of the show for me. Instead, my very favorite part came near the end: a song called "For Good." I still cry almost every time I hear it! Here are the lyrics:

(Elphaba) I'm limited
Just look at me - I'm limited
And just look at you
You can do all I couldn't do, Glinda
So now it's up to you
For both of us - now it's up to you...

(Glinda) I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

(Elphaba) It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you

(Glinda) Because I knew you

(Both) I have been changed for good

(Elphaba) And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the thing I've done you blame me for

(Glinda) But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share

(Both) And none of it seems to matter anymore

(Glinda) Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood

(Elphaba) Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood

(Both) Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better

(Glinda) And because I knew you...

(Elphaba) Because I knew you...

(Both) Because I knew you...
I have been changed for good. 

If you want to hear the song, listen here (I couldn't find any good videos from a production):

 

The message of the song is such a good one, and I feel so lucky to have all of my friends and family in my life - they've certainly changed me for good. So this Halloween, be a good little witch and share this with your loved ones.

IHWSH - Coats

Baby it's cold outside... or getting there at least. Our fourth "I'll Have What She's Having" is celebrating coat/jacket weather. Here are some that are on our wish lists this year:

Katie's Picks:
1. Mossimo Pea Coat
2. Old Navy Faux Fur Vest
3. Old Navy Pea Coat
4. J Crew Hacking Jacket


Jayne's Picks:
5. Topshop Tweed Boyfriend Coat
6. Madewell Plaid Passporter Coat
7. Zara Flap Pocket Coat
8. Fossil Tanker Jacket

My Costume is a Little Corny*

To follow up on Jayne's post from yesterday, my favorite costume of the past...

COUNT DORKULA!

Count Dorkula and friends in Seattle, 2003 (the Angel, the Fountain, and the Khaki Ghost.)

This costume was fun to wear and easy to put together. I wore:

- A vampire cape

- Vampire Teeth

- "Dorky" glasses with tape around the bridge

- Lopsided pigtails

- A pocket protector

Abbey's fountain (pictured above) is a great idea too - she put her hair into water "sprouts" and taped pennies all over a blue shirt and pants.

In college, one of my best friends/roommates Beth and I dressed up as Shooting Stars:

Another easy costume:
We made star crowns out of birthday crowns from Party City using star garland and precut stars also from the party store. Then we just taped/pinned stars to our outfits and carried around water guns all night.

Another one of my favorites was from grad school. I can't find photos, but my sister and I dressed as "Fancy Pants" (I just pinned sequins, lace, and bows all over my jeans) and "Smarty Pants" (we pinned packs of smarties all over her jeans). Low cost and low commitment!

Here are some other random Halloween pictures from throughout the years:

I worked for Rubbermaid right out of college and created this high fashion look for a fashion show at a Wal*Mart near Seattle.

Jayne as an adorable bunny and me in another amazing costume sewn by Mom!

Bzzzz.

And last but not least, I dressed as a can of Mello Cello for my 9th grade orchestra concert. I played the...cello. Good guess. And then Sam followed in my soda-licious footsteps and dressed as a can of "Scooby Dew."

*Throughout middle school and high school I owned two halloween shirts:
-One said "My costume is a little corny" and had candy corn all over it - I also carried a giant candy corn mask around with this shirt at some point.
-The other said: "Bone to be Wild" with a skeleton on it. I wore one of those headbands that make it look like a bone is sticking through your head with this shirt. It was hard to be the coolest kid in school, but someone had to do it!

Custom Costumes

I don't think I've ever worn a store-bought costume in my life, at least not the entire costume. This is probably mostly because I am always putting it together at the last minute and the store doesn't have any left. It also stems from the fact that my mom made our costumes when we were growing up, and that I really enjoy doing a play on words more than just being a character.

Katie and I decided we wanted to share some of our costumes from over the years (you may see some of hers tomorrow...).

Deviled Egg:

This was my senior year at IU, and I stole this idea from Katie... easiest thing ever! Just cut out a circle of yellow felt and pin or glue it to a white shirt, then add some devil accessories!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow:

I didn't execute this as well as I could have, but it's really easy to put together. Just find a cheap white hat and write "Somewhere" on the bill, then wear - in this order - something red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple from head to toe. I had red earrings - kind of hard to see. Color blocking trend to the max. My friend Abby Misegades pulled an adorable costume out of her closet too, as you can see. Cutest bee ever!

Village People:

This was another one of my Halloween adventures with my awesome Dallas friends. We dressed up as the Village People. I'm on the right as the "military guy". I think I volunteered for this role because I knew I could reuse the outfit as "GI Jayne". I found a really big shirt at a local Army and Navy store and altered it with scissors. I also picked up a canteen and a hat. I think, while they're all good, the winning costume has to be Josh as the "construction guy". Love it.

Here is the photo we were trying to pose like (not quite the right order, but pretty good, right?):

Harry Potter:

This was with my team at work - everyone in our area did movies, and I think we put together a pretty convincing Harry Potter show... (although we didn't win any of the contest categories - everyone goes all out at Fossil). It's easy to see who's who, right?! I'm in the middle, as Harry. A scary look for me... people were doing double takes all day. I printed out the crest to pin on my sweater, and drew on the lightening bolt. I found the glasses, scarf and wig (I think it was called the "teen heartthrob wig") at Party City.

Toto:
(not pictured, because the only photo I had was too embarrassing - mouth wide open singing and all that)
I dressed as toto when my high school show choir selected Wizard of Oz as the theme my senior year. I word a black unitard, black cat ears (they looked like totos ears though), a blue ribbon around my neck (as a collar), and... the real kicker, a basket around my waste as though I were sitting in it. My mom cut the bottom out of it for me. We also added checked fabric around the edges of the basket - it looked pretty much exactly like this! ;)

Image found here.

Some others just for fun:

Katie and I as Snow White and Dopey, posing in front of our grandparents' fire place as we always did when we stopped by. My mom made both costumes... surprise, surprise that I was Dopey, right? I loved that thing - wore it for like three Halloweens in a row I think.

 Our brother Sam as a lego block, made with a cardboard box, solo cups and a red sweat suit. Genius (and adorable)!

Katie and I again. I think this was when our parents got back from Hawaii, not Halloween - but this is always a good costume option if you live in a warmer climate.

Good luck costume hunting (or creating)!

Gangsta's Paradise

I saw these in a cute little DC shop (Wake Up Little Suzie), and now I want to order one of each and mail them to all of my friends: The Original String Doll Gang.

 There are 135 more awesome gangsters, found here!

Pumpkin Brewster

I baked my first pumpkin pie this year, and it made me even more excited about fall (that and I got to use the adorable pie dish Katie gave me). I love anything pumpkin flavored... we picked up some pumpkin ale recently (hence the title Pumpkin Brewster, what Dac called me as I was drinking it) - it was delicious!

Buffalo Bills Pumpkin Ale

Pumpkins are one of my favorite things about fall, especially because they're orange. Seeing as orange was my wedding color, I clearly love it.

Image found here.

Orange adds a fun splash of warmth to a room or an outfit. Here is a little collection of some orange stuff I dig...

1. Le Creuset Dutch Oven
2. Madewell Poetess Top in Spiced Orange
3. Satchel in Neon Orange - Modcloth
4. Storage Box - Container Store
5. Open Arm Chair
6. Jasper Conran Wedgwood collection
7. Orange felt ottoman - cb2
8. Orange Dot Punch Placemat - cb2
9. Anthropologie Dress
10. Ted Baker Acrylic Box Bangle
11. Round Lacquered Box - Container Store

And here are a couple pumpkin treats I want to make:

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

Pumpkin Rice Krispies

Happy pumpkin season!

IHWSH - Etsy Greatness

Etsy is a gigantic playground for people who love cool stuff - an obvious theme choice for our weekly "I'll Have What She's Having." We love clicking away at our favorites - makes for easy referencing when it's time to give a gift or make a wish list. Here are some of the hot goods we've spotted recently:

Katie's Finds:
1. Polka Dot Pouch
2. Lampshade
3. Literary Lites
4. You're My Hero Print
5. You Are Awesome Prize Ribbon

Jayne's Finds:
6. Technicolor Chevron Print
7. Cake Poms
8. Bold Yellow Clutch
9. Neon Pink and Periwinkle Crystal Necklace

We get to hang out together this weekend in Indiana for Shanda and Matt's wedding... and then AGAIN next weekend for Phil and Mary's wedding. Best thing ever!

Good Reads

The Book Thief:
This book came out in 2007, and I don't know how I missed it until last month. Hands down one of the best books I have ever read.

The Paris Wife:
This historically-based novel tells the story of Ernest Hemingway's first marriage, set mostly in Paris in the 1920's. The characters are beautiful and flawed and I couldn't put it down.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag:
Flavia de Luce is the star of this "mystery" novel (the second in a series; the fourth is coming out soon), set in England in the 1950's. She's a sassy eleven-year-old who loves chemistry and outsmarts most of the adults in the story. It is fun to read and I just love Flavia! (Update: lovely reader Megan pointed out that this is actually the second book in the series. I do recommend starting with the first, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, here on Amazon.)

Room:
The narrator of this novel is 5-year-old Jack, who has spent his entire life held captive in one room. The story really draws you in - it's hard to put down before you know the fate of Jack and his "Ma."

Bossypants:
I thought this book was funny and I love learning more about the TV world and Tina's work on Saturday Night Live. I laughed out loud a lot, although at times I also thought she was trying to hard to be funny when I would rather just learn more about her story. I still enjoyed the book and I bet you will too.

These are my latest favorite books - I always love to get recommendations because if I just wander in to a bookstore I often get overwhelmed choosing between the 20 books that "look good." Anyone have any good recommendations for me? I'd love to walk through my secret bookshelves door...

Photo Source

and curl up here and read all afternoon:

Image from House Beautiful

A Billy Sook

I don't think you're ever too old for Shel Silverstein - have you read his book Runny Babbit?

(found on Amazon)

He just randomly switches the first letter or two between two words that follow one another. It's the less annoying, more funny version of pig latin. You will also find some important life lessons in there. Here are a few of my favorites (Hint: They're not as good if you don't read them out loud.) I added what I think the message is, and my own "illustrations"...

On not caring what other people think:

Runny's Hand-New Brat
Runny got a present -
A lovely hurple pat.
He put it on and pasked his als,
"What do you think of that?"
One said "Ooh, it's storrible!"
One said, "Yuck - it hinks!"
Now Runny Babbit never asks
What other theople pink.
(In the book's illustration, his friends are quoted saying "Had bat, pal," "Hupid lookin' stat," and "Hilly sat.")

Carrie's fearless fashion (image found here)

On looking before you leap:

Runny's Jig Bump:
Runny be quimble,
Runny be nick,
Runny cump over the jandlestick.
But now - what smells like furning bluff?
Guess he didn't hump jigh enough.

These guys just go for it, not seeming to think about the fact that people will see it, or that they will have to watch it later (or maybe they just don't care). Either way, it's entertaining for me. (Image found here)

Also, I just found this on Pinterest... are these little kids really dressing like the J. Shore cast?!

(found here)

On Keeping Things Funny:

Runny's Heading Rabits

Runny lent to the wibrary
And there were bundreds of hooks -
Bistory hooks, beography gooks, 
And lots of bory stooks.
He looked them over one by one
And guess which one he took - 
A bience scook? A boetry pook?
Oh, no - a bomic cook!

A couple funny things... 

1. A video I can't stop watching/laughing at:

2. Hover cat.

(found here - thanks for pinning Mere!)

Wasn't that fun? Probably been awhile since you've had story time. I saw that Shel came out with a new book about a month ago called "Every Thing On It." You know I will be buying that...

Just In Cases*

I am celebrating today because yesterday I got my new iPhone 4s! I am a very lucky lady.

In honor of my new phone, some of my favorite iPhone cases:

1. Scales
2. Stay Classy
3. Pink & White Stripe
4. CC Skye Leather Stud
5. Game, Set, Match
6. Zig Zag
7. Personalized Multi Chevron
8. Rugby Stripe with Monogram

Anyone else get a new phone lately? Favorite cases? Favorite apps? I just started playing Words With Friends, could be trouble.

*The title is my very favorite line from my favorite movie, Love Actually. See the clip here:

Any Way You Frame It

Sometimes empty frames can be more striking than filled ones. I think they add a great vintage touch – on your wall, as a “tray” on your nightstand, in a wedding photo (or any photo)…

Some Empty Frame-spiration:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

I wanted something white on our accent wall to contrast the blue, and Dac actually suggested empty frames (way to go husband!). So we hunted some down at the antique store in our neighborhood. We spent about $10 (and that included a vintage book or two) and took home four frames we liked, none of which were white to start with. So of course I started by painting them white... 

Then we laid them out on the floor to see what arrangement we liked best before hanging them on the wall. Hanging them turned out to be very easy - they were light so it just took a little nail for each. The progression...

We want to find a few more smaller frames we like to continue adding on, but we're happy with this little cluster for now. The white against the wall is really nice and clean. 

My face "framed" at the farmer's market this past weekend:

Happy Monday!