This is Halloween, this is Halloween...

I hope you all have a spooktacular day! (I'm trying to be as cheeseball pun-ish as possible)

Fantasyland Friday: The Living Room

Ah yes, the formal living room, sitting room, parlor, whatever you want to call it. In my fantasyland dream house, it's across the foyer from the office, (I much prefer an open floor plan). Again, I would love lots of windows, perhaps a large bay window with a built-in for extra seating, perfect for framing a glowing Christmas tree in the winter, I think this may root back to my childhood. I loved just sitting in my parent's living room around the holidays, looking at all the the different ornaments on the tree my mom had collected over the years, while snow drifting down from the sky, silohuetted against the golden light of the streetlamps. A fireplace would be lovely as well, for stockings and cozying up with a book on cool winter nights. And built-ins on either side for extra display and storage.

Other than Christmas, the formal living room was pretty much the most boring room in the house growing up. It was where the nice furniture was, as well as the piano which I dreaded having to practice, and the room was usually reserved for sitting through home teacher visits. But since I am my mother's daughter, I would love to have a piano in my formal living room someday, perhaps framed in the bump-out bay window the rest of the year (is it too morbid to call dubs on the parent's piano sisters?). I am all about hardwood floors of course, after renting for so long, I really just see carpet as one big dirt and bacteria sponge. And I love the idea of an ecclectic mix of furniture pieces for the front living room that aren't as adept for lounging and comfort. Like a chesterfield sofa, a backless sofa to keep the eye-line open, and perhaps a pair of wingbacks flanking the fireplace.




Of course, comfort is always paramount, and I always prefer a calming, neutral color scheme with a balance of textures and materials ranging from leather and unfinished wood, juxtaposed with a silver leaf dresser or nailhead trim.

Why I Love Halloween

I am one of those people. I'm a card-carrying, candy dealing, costume-planning, Halloween supporter. It may very well be my favorite holiday. And as I stumbled across some serious 'haters' (for lack of a better word) today here and here, I felt the need to defend my holiday, and I chose to blog about it instead of leaving a nasty comment or two on these articles ( I don't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing I actually read them).

So, why do I love Halloween? To borrow from the incomprable John Hughes, "in the simplest terms, in the most conveniant definitions" I love Halloween because it's fun.

As Christmas has become more about spending ridiculous amounts of money on gifts that people don't really want or need, and the stress of dividing time between families and trying to please everyone, it has lost a lot of it's appeal. I still LOVE Christmas, don't get me wrong, and it is probably my favorite holiday overall, but there is no denying it is a stressful time of year. It's the most wonderful, and yet, worst time of year if you will. And therein lies the beauty of Halloween.

No one stresses out about Halloween. You can spend as much or as little as you want on a costume (D.I. anyone?), and no one really cares if they see you on Halloween. You are free to be and do as you please. Whether that's dancing the night away at a party, attending the local ward trunk-or-treat, or just staying home and having a Netflix marathon.

In a broader context, Halloween also doesn't carry the kind of social pressures that other holidays can. Take Valentine's Day for example, it's almost impossible to not feel like a complete social outcast or loser if you are single. And even Thanksgiving and Christmas can be really hard on someone who is lonely. I'm just sayin', you never hear about suicide or depression rates going up around Halloween. And there is no awkward moment when you count down to the New Year, wondering whether the creep next to you is going to try and kiss you, or conversely, feeling left out because you have no one to kiss.

Halloween is the only day of the year where I can dress up like a Goonie and not be judged :) Halloween allows us to wear a real mask, as opposed to the emotional one we may put on for other holidays. To quote Oscar Wilde "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth." (anonymous comments on a Youtube thread anyone?) There is a certain freedom that comes from wearing a costume, people tend to say and do things they never would normally (and yes, that can certainly be both good and bad). But from my own experience, I have met amazing people and started life-long friendships from things I've done and places I've gone on Halloween that were outside my 'norm'.

You get to hang out with friends and watch scary movies, or go trick-or-treating with your sweet nieces and nephews. You can unabashedly watch Hocus Pocus over and over. You can wear jeans to work if you plan your costume accordingly. You can get lost in corn mazes and try carving unwittingly hard jack-o-lantern patterns. And it's the only time of the year when little kids can knock on the doors of complete strangers and receive a treat, which when you think about it, in this world--is really quite remarkable.

Sure, I may be biased. After all, the first time Brody and I held hands was when we were watching Arachnophobia with some friends, and our first kiss was after a night that we had gone to a haunted house together. But I think it's fitting :) and for these, and countless other reasons and memories, I'll always love Halloween.

The Local Vernacular

Every place has it's own language and customs, and DC is no different. I used to think Utah had a lot of abbreviations, (or as my college friends used to lovingly say 'abbreves'), but DC is the official land of acronyms, (which really shouldn't be that surprising, considering D.C. itself is an acronym) but it's insane, there is an acronym for just about everything.

Here is just a sampling of some of the acronyms I've learned so far; HOB, SOB, EPA, DOE, DOJ, OMB, DOD, MACT, CSAPR, CAIR, CKRC, OSHA, NAR, EEAP, DCA, BWI, T&E, LDA, NOX, SO2, PM, CIS, NESHAPS, NSPS, WCMA, WCSC, PRG are you annoyed yet? Because that's just what I can remember off the top of my head.

Another thing to note if you ever visit, always stand to the right on the metro escalators. If you want to walk up them or pass people, go on the left side (just like driving). People will get seriously annoyed if you are blocking the left side traffic.

"The DC bump". Brody and I had a sort of bapitsm by fire with this one. It was our second morning in the city, the day we were moving in. We had just parked in front of our new building and were talking in the front seat of our car when a guy parllel parking in front of us totally bumped our car. Yes, while we were sitting in it. Really?! So after giving him a 30-second window to get out and apologize, naturally I walked right up his window to let him know because surely he must not have realized, "Um, you just hit our car." I informed him with what I hope was a blatant you-moron look on my face. He shrugged and said "sorry" in that I-really-couldn't-care-less tone. Our car was totally fine, but I was still bugged. But apparently it happens a lot, I've seen it maybe 6 times since then while walking around.

Potomac Fever. The elusive "Potomac Fever" refers to people who move to DC and completely fall in love with it. I'm pretty sure Brody had a case of it on his mission. It typically refers to people who initially plan on living here short-term, only to still be here 30 years later with roots firmly planted. I have no doubt our families back home are praying we don't catch this one ;)

K Street. It's a thing. All the big lobby/law firms are on K Street. Yours truly works on K street.

The Beltway. The beltway is the 495 freeway that makes a complete loop around the District. If you live "inside the beltway" than you can really say you live in DC. It's also the one with the fantastic view of temple when you are heading west on the northern end of 495.

For me, the craziest thing about living here is how you kind of forget where you are, until you are crossing the street and look up to check the traffic only to see the Washington Monument glowing in the sun. Or if you are on a walk with your hubby and non-chalantly look down a side street, only to unexpectedly see the back of the White House. Pretty awesome.

MLK memorial

We finally went and saw the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial yesterday. Despite the hordes of people, it was a cool experience and the memorial was beautiful (as was the weather)

First, we stopped for some dinner at Bobby Flay's

then walked over to the mall