1. Halloween Party Photo Dump

    November 3, 2014 ♥ Posted in: Food, Geek Events, Journal by Kristina Horner

    Hello, lovely blog readers! I know we’re well into November by now, but I still wanted to share with you a few photos of our Halloween party. Halloween is a big event around here for my housemates and I – we’ve thrown a party each Halloween since 2008; it’s automatic now. Halloween rolls around, we throw a party. It’s always big, loud and tons of fun.

    This year’s didn’t disappoint! We turned on those black-lights, cranked up the tunes and opened our doors!

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    This is the one day of the year we actually put our built in bar to use! This is where we stuck chips and all the various bottles of booze, mixers and beer.

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    This was the ‘fancy drinks’ table. We reused our Unicorn’s Blood recipe from last year’s Harry Potter party (Blue Hawaiian Punch and whatever vodka you have lying around) in our punch fountain, vodka gummy worms (dear lord these were strong) and radioactive green test tube shots (pineapple juice, sour apple shnapps, dragonberry rum and a few drops of green food coloring).

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    This was our food table! This year we had the Mummy-Rollups (weenies wrapped in crescent rolls), graveyard dip (standard 5 layer dip with tombstone shaped “headstone” crackers) and orange pumpkin-shaped rice krispies treats.

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    IMG_7474 Finally, it wouldn’t be a party without good ‘ol Aragog. It felt like old times, having our little spider friend watching over the festivities.

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    How was your Halloween? What did you do? What’s your favorite Halloween snacks or drink? let me know in the comments, and I hope your Novembers are off to a great start!

     

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  2. I Made This: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds!

    October 28, 2013 ♥ Posted in: Food, Kristina Makes Things by Kristina Horner

    I’m not even going to be bashful about this one – I am awesome at roasting pumpkin seeds. I learned how to make them from my mom years ago, and now I’m always that drill sergeant during pumpkin carving barking at everyone to “save your seeds!” It’s well worth it though, because no one seems to complain much when we have a huge amount of roasted seeds on the counter for the week around Halloween.

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    Making seeds is super easy. This is all you will need:

    • Freshly scooped out pumpkin seeds
    • Olive oil
    • Johnny’s Seasoning (or sea salt)
    • Parchment or wax paper

    When you’re carving your pumpkins, keep two bowls out: one for guts, and one for seeds. Sorting them as you go is a lot simpler. After you’ve completely finished your lovely pumpkins (one thing at a time here) take the seeds into the kitchen and pick out any remaining bits of pumpkin guts. This step is obnoxious, but pretty important.

    Next, dump your seeds in a strainer and run them under cold water. This will help make them less slimy and should separate any pumpkin that you might not have caught. Once they’re as clean as you can get them, pat them dry with a paper towel and prepare your baking pan.

    I lined a pan with parchment paper, as see above. Then drizzle olive oil on the paper before dumping your seeds on top, making a single layer covering the entire sheet. Add a bit more olive oil on top, then sprinkle the entire sheet with Johnny’s seasoning (or your favorite substitute – you may also use sea salt, garlic salt; anything!)

    The whole tray goes into the oven at 325 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes, or when they seeds get nice and crunchy. Remove them from the tray and enjoy! They’re particularly good while warm.

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    How do you cook your pumpkin seeds? Or are you one of those people who (gasp) throws them away? Let me know in the comments!

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  3. Never Too Early to Start Halloween Planning

    September 21, 2013 ♥ Posted in: Journal, Nerd Topics by Kristina Horner

    Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday. My housemates and I always throw our group’s Halloween party, I never miss a year when it comes to carving pumpkins, and I’ve already started looking up corn mazes. Not to mention, costume planning.

    Some people have made fun of me for starting to plan my Halloween costume in September, but it’s never too early! If you plan on ordering anything for your costume online, you almost HAVE to start early, since shipping can sometimes take upwards of a few weeks!

    I’ve never been one to just buy a pre-made costume from one of those Halloween Super Stores that pops up in the month around Halloween, so this kind of foresight is important if you want to make sure your costume is awesome. Which I do. This year I am planning on being Barbie from Toy Story 3. Because of course I need another excuse to buy a skin tight body suit.

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    Now I just need to convince Joe to dress up as Ken. We’ll see about that. He’s been struggling against it since I first asked him, about a month ago.

    I’ve honestly been thinking about this costume since LAST Halloween, when I opted for a team costume rather than doing something solo. Last year’s costume was one of my favorites though, so I don’t regret it.

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    In honor of all the exciting Harry Potter related news lately as well, I think we’re going to add some big Potter elements to our party this year. That means breaking out the Harry Potter cookbook, concocting some excellent themed drinks, etc. I’m pumped.

    I guess there isn’t a huge point to this post, aside to talk about how much I am anticipating everything that surrounds Halloween, and how it’s all right around the corner. I’m curious if anyone else already knows what they’re dressing up as, or have started working on said costume? Let me know in the comments, and I will keep you updated on how the month goes!

     

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  4. Look #18: Say Hello to Fall!

    September 17, 2013 ♥ Posted in: Fashion/Beauty, Journal, Outfit of the Day by Kristina Horner

    I guess it’s still technically summer, but lately when I’ve been going outside – it doesn’t feel like it. I love the sun and the beach and short denim cutoffs as much as the next girl, and I’m really not ready to let summer go… but I won’t pretend there isn’t a little growing excitement to pull out my scarves and legwarmers and sweaters and pumpkin spice candles. Come on. I can feel it in the air… can’t you?

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    This was the first outfit I’ve worn this year that I felt was decidedly fall. It wasn’t for any specific occasion… just for the anticipation of things to come. I’m wearing a red leather jacket I picked up at Forever 21, a lacy crop top and floral pants from Target, and my yellow Tieks. The headband is from Claire’s, of all places. Hey – don’t knock good accessories!

    I can feel summer projects winding down and fall projects picking up. My Extra Life sense are tingling, my NaNoWriMo fingers are itchy, and my Project 4 Awesome muscle wants flexing.The air of festivities is upon us, and I can’t wait for Halloween parties and Thanksgiving gatherings and holiday celebrations – and of course, most of all: the very best festivals in World of Warcraft.

    I thought I would mourn the loss of summer a bit more, especially with how little time I was actually able to spend in the sun this year because of Job Hunters, but this time of year makes me feel so alive that I really just feel happy and anticipatory and ready to spend some quality time with my friends and family and everyone in between.

    What do you most look forward to about fall/winter? Which holiday is your favorite? Which party makes you the most excited? Let me know!

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