Halloween Week 2013

Halloween week seemed to sneak up on me, but I have to admit, it was a good week!  At work we had a chili-cook off to celebrate Halloween and raise money for the 7 Loaves Food Pantry.  It is truly a great cause and we beat our record dollars raised last year! (2012 - $505.00 / 2013 $616).  There are several categories that everyone votes on, and this year I won the "Kooky Concoction" award (most unique)!  This was the first year I entered a chili and I decided to compete with a white chicken chili.  When I decided to enter, I realized that I've never made chili before!  Every self respecting Texas woman needs to know how to make chili!  I guess that's one of the things that inspired me to enter this year.

This a picture of my final presentation.  I laugh at that description, but I seriously think the presentation is one of the reasons I won any kind of category.  My chili was called "Ghostly White" and I had a few extra garnishes to help boost my votes (lime, sour cream, mozzarella cheese, chives, red pepper, and cilantro).  I won a Chili's gift card and a decorated potholder that is mostly my "trophy" to hang on my desk.

Most of the chili entries were super hot so I was excited to have my new water glass!  I might have an obsession with water cups.  I just love the mason jar look!

After the cook off, Jordan and I hosted a few friends at our house.  This is a tradition that started when we first moved into our home.  Our first Halloween, I really wanted to pass out candy, but Jordan had to work that evening.  Everything worked out though because I had my friend, Jenn, over to the house and cooked her dinner.  I discovered that I hated answering the door to the scary costumes and she didn't mind it, so the arrangement was perfect!  Good company, wine, and spaghetti!  The tradition has grown since then, and Thursday was just as much fun as years past.  Our friends, Mallory and Nathan, also joined us so it was great to catch up!  We had more than 60 trick or treaters!
I don't have any pictures of Halloween evening, but I do want to share a picture of my new Halloween towels (from Target) and our Halloween lights that I made last year (orange lights with white and orange tulle). 

The next morning, Jordan and I did a little shopping.  We stopped at an iron works store and found the coolest candle holder.  We didn't buy it but maybe someday will try to find something similar.
This was $35.00 and very unique.  I've driven by this store more than a 100 times and I'm glad we finally stopped by!  From the outside it looked like a tiny store but actually had a huge selection of iron pieces.

Friday I was very excited to get my hair done.  It was very much needed and felt better afterwards.  Here is a less than stellar selfie but there you go.  My hair seems to be changing over time.  It doesn't seem to be as dry as it used to be, but now it seems a little thin.  At any rate, it always feels healthier with the split ends cut off.


Saturday morning Jordan surprised me with some Fall flowers.  They are beautiful and a lovely treat!  He always seems to find flowers that last forever!  

Sunday, we did some shopping at a near by mall where I got this white scarf.  It's surprisingly warm and I love the fringe.  I might have purchased the same scarf in another color.  I should probably be careful with that purchasing theory.  I tend to go overboard if I like something and buy it in every color...

I was also excited that I got a chance to wear my boot socks this weekend!  I made these from an old sweater several weeks ago and finally got to wear them out. 

The rest of the weekend was reserved for a craft project.  It's always been the "master plan" to make a quilt of our old college t-shirts.  Jordan and I had many great years in school together and our fraternity and sorority had several events together.  The quilt is a big project, so this weekend we did some planning to see how big the quilt would need to be and what shirts would go where.  You can consider this a sneak peak and I'll do a post on the quilt when it is close to finished (don't count on that post right away).

Lastly, I'll leave you with a picture of Goose.  As per the usual trend in our household, Abby is in need of a hair cut (again).  I'm beginning to think that she could have gone as the mad hatter for Halloween.  Wild pup!

Happy November to all!







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