Helter Skelter

Happy Halloween all! I hope everyone had a super special holiday filled with tricks, treats, and everything in between. I for one spent the evening with my four best friends, busting out all kind of dance moves to Lil's dad's massive amounts of music and establishing ourselves as the oldest crowd of trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood.
"Please take one."

Then Janice Joplin arrived and it was really a party!

Mmm, adult treats? Yes, please!

Shooting Sarah was extra fun due to the stand-out elements (including amazing neon striped tights, a striped hat, and polka dotted dress) of her witch costume. Although, to be honest, her incredible photogenic-ness doesn't hurt either!

Waaaatch out...it's the witching hour!

From left to right: Daphne & Velma, Miss Esmerelda the Witch (hey Sar, is it okay if I named you?), and Janice, of course

Trading ensued...the Almond Joys proved to be very unpopular and they were offered in favor of M&Ms and Hershey bars. I think Lily didn't even want anything in exchange for the Almond Joys; she just wanted to get them off her hands! The most popular commodity was probably the Butterfingers or Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. In this particular trade-off, Sarah is mid-saying "Suckerrr" as she simultaneously snatched Lineth's tootsie roll and held onto her own lollipop. It might just be one of my favorite photos from the evening!

I went as a girl (my name is Sharona, but my friends call me Lisa) going to a prom in the 80s. The best comment of the night was from a really sweet guy sitting in front of his parent's house who said "I think my date wore that to prom!"

After we gobbled down delicious chicken fajitas made by Lily's dad, we flipped through the channels looking for a good Halloween movie. This one's description particularly amused me and the acting was so atrocious it really looked more like a comedy than a horror film. We ended up settling on watching part of a Family Feud episode and the end half of Bring It On: All Or Nothing.

***

All in all, it was an awesome Halloween. Next year might be the year of dirndls or Backstreet Boys...who knows?

Photoshoot Monday

Photoshoot Monday: It strikes again! After a successful afternoon with Annie the week before of......

1) volunteering at our local thrift store,
2) going to her house
3) photographing like mad
4) snacking on the ever so delicious combo of Challah bread and white grape juice
5) uploading photos
6) determing how much pasta is really fit for two hungry people

and
7) heading off to evening theater rehearsal
...........we decided to repeat! I joined Annie in her amazing gig at the thrift store on Saturday. We spent our morning sorting through expired items and putting them away to be sent to Goodwill...the perks of this being that we get to see some fab items that, at half price, cost next to nothing (which happens to be exactly in my price range!) I walked away with a bag full of about six or seven items for just over $20. We were both surprised to find that the three hours we spent there really just flew by and I think both of us walked away with some fabulous purchases.
On an entirely unrelated note to this post, I've been listening to 'Let The Sunshine In' from Hair on repeat this evening. I don't know if it's after hearing Ronald Reagan's quote: “A hippie is someone who looks like Tarzan, walks like Jane, and smells like Cheetah" or just because I heard a song that sounded like it on the television, but I sure do feel like dancing around waving my hands in the air!

Thrifted skirt, Secret Treasures leggings, Gap shrug from Annie, Bozzolo shirt, mom's belt, shoes, ring, and earrings

Major props to Annie for all the shots! And if you haven't already, be sure to check out her post for more photos. Photoshoot Monday really is a grand tradition.

Well, now off to study for a major math test on logs. I've been working really hard lately, so wish me luck! (And let me know if any big exams/essays/auditions/what-not on your end are coming up so I can send the good luck wishes back your way, too!)

Happy 6.022 x 10^23 Day!

Oh, our dear Avogadro. Did you ever think that your "little" number would ever make for such a big celebration?

In any case, happy birthday Mr. Lorenzo Romano Amedeo Carlo Avogadro di Quaregua e di Cerreto! (And you wonder why 6.022 x 10^23 is such an enormous number...just look at the name of the guy who invented it!)
I came home from some extra help in math (I know, on a Friday afternoon; you can't tell me I don't know how to party!) and had to hurry up and get ready for the football game. Instead of setting up my camera and tripod, I decided to just grab my computer and put the webcam to use! So, apologies for the eh-ish quality of these!
I have someone to introduce to you, and that is my twin. She's usually nearby but doesn't often appear in photos (camera shy.)
Secret Treasures leggings, mom's Eddie Bauer jumper, Annie's lace top, ring found on kitchen counter, gifted earrings, thrifted shoes
I think I was thinking of Pepper and Chips's post when I made this face!
I look a little worried here...possibly concerned about the outcome of the football game?
Well, in the end, there was really no need to fret. We won 21 to 0, and more imporantly we (the marching band) are still undefeated! After the game, Sarah, Lil and I piled into the backseat of Lily's dad's convertible along with Wink (Lil's dog) and drove to the closest Chinese restaurant. I swear I still smelt like dumplings and fried rice until I showered the next morning. (Though not going to lie, a Chinese restaurant is really not the worst thing in the world to smell like!)

Well, I really must...HEY, wait a minute...AVOGADRO? Is that YOU?! What are you doing here, buddy?

Oh, OH fine. I see how it is. I'll pledge some allegiance to you...ahem...

"I pledge allegiance to the mole, and to the science from which it comes, one SI unit, extremely divisible, with micromoles and millimoles for all." -R. Thomas Myers

Well put, sir!

I Think I'll Adopt E.B. White

I announced to my history teacher today after walking into class that I was wearing shoulder pads. We then went onto discuss vintage things/shoulder issues/her daughter's thankfulness to have my teacher's clothes at her disposal, etc. for the next couple of minutes. Mrs. B was wearing a Halloween themed blouse complete with ghosts and bats that I am not ashamed to admit that I would most likely (definitely) pick up at a thrift store. I think she's my style twin.
Well, I come home from a literary magazine meeting today to absolutely gorgeous lighting. I couldn't resist taking a couple of photos or two...or 132...
Oh! For your intellectual pleasure, the first time American television utilized instant replay was in 1963. (Another tidbit of information I learned on the bonus question of a business law test.) I guessed 1978...well, at least I was only 15 years off! I mean, a kid actually guessed somewhere in the late 1800s. Yes, indeed, instant replay was used before television...mm, right, you learn something new everyday?
Today, a girl in my Selected American Literature class gave a presentation on Melville. At the end, she informed us that you can actually adopt him! She then said "Sylvia...who's the one you love again? E.B. White? You could adopt him, too!" Well everyone in my class knew what THAT meant. (I have a slight (i.e. rapidly growing) obsession of him ever since we read his adorable Thoreau remembrance essay.) And besides that, Charlotte's Web? I could read that book about a million times/already have read it about that many times! Anyway, unfortunately my hopes and dreams were crushed when I got home and realized that only select poets were available and up for adoption. Well, at least I could always adopt Billy Collins...
You might not be able to tell, but these earrings match perfectly with the colors in the blouse. I was wearing them when I went thrifting on Saturday and found this shirt (actually one of the parts to the three piece set), and both Annie and I agreed it must have been fate. Knowing I shouldn't tamper with what the Gods were telling me, I had them hold it for me and got it on Monday.
Thrifted blouse (w/ shoulder pads!), Secret Treasures leggings, ring found on kitchen counter, borrowed earrings & boots from mom's (because what outfit would be complete without taking at least one thing from my mom?)

The Friends Hat

This hat makes friends; I guarantee, it's the most personable, mysterious, inviting, inanimate object you will ever meet. After taking the PSATs, Annie, Jess, and I piled into a friend's car and drove to the thrift store in town at which Annie volunteers. It was there that Jess found this oh so magical hat. After purchasing, she got three compliments walking through a grocery store. Three compliments in about thirty minutes of owning it: that's pretty impressive!
(She's a proud owner!)
And the ultimate test: it looks good against brick walls! (But then again...what doesn't?)

By then, Annie and I still hadn't eaten, so we went to the restaurant around the corner to get lunch and hot chocolates. Mine had overflowed onto the saucer, and I told Annie and Jess how I have an Iranian friend who drinks tea by first pouring it into the saucer to cool it down and then moves onto the actual cup. Annie had to snap a picture when I explained to them what I meant. After waiting outside for what felt like eternity to our starving stomachs, our food finally came. By that time, about five different people had exclaimed how crazy we were for sitting outside. But really, it was one of those lovely, crisp fall days and besides it seemed like inside the half the population of our town was crowded into the luncheonette for an afternoon snack. In any case, the food was worth the wait! I got salmon on fresh salad & pita and bought Jess a chocolate milkshake. For that she generously said the hat could be communal and then let me wear it when we met a friend for coffee. (The Starbucks barista fell in love with it. So let's recalculate here...four compliments in an hour of that hat's new life...that's still not so shabby!)

The hat must have been telling a very funny joke. After sipping down a completely delicious pumpkin spice latte, Chris and I walked over to our local playshop, a small theater in which professionals and non-professionals alike put on plays and musicals. My dad designs absolutely fabulous sets for them, and Chris and I both performed As You Like It there this summer.

The playshop is a really great old building and would be such an amazing place to live in with about four of your closest friends for a month in the winter. Besides being surrounded by woods, there's a waterfall nearby which basically means that when walking out of rehearsal you can't quite tell if it has started to pour or if it's just the perpetual sound of the running water. (And on top of that, there's a quite personable little chicken who frequently pops in to say hello!)

Did I mention that Chris should be a model when he grows up?

All in all, taking the PSATs was not nearly as bad as I anticipated!