This is because we have two BIG birthdays this month. First, Mimi, my MIL turns 88 on the 18th, and then my darling Doc turns 64 on the 28th. Usually his birthday makes him a little glum, but this means only one more year until he gets Medicare and he can retire!!! So he is excited for this year. I am one year behind him, and I am already excited.
Birthday festivities will be covered in my next edition, but for this post, let's start with my preparations for Halloween. This year we will not be doing the haunted bookcase. The grandkids have no more room for books. Instead, I have designed a scavenger hunt. The scene is being prepped:
Scary critters galore!!!
Also some skeleton hands reaching from a couple of the houseplants.
I will be planting clues around the front yard and front rooms of the house. Probably 4 clues total. They will lead to the mother lode - the baskets!! The kids still love getting a big basket filled with junk from the Dollar Tree. I love that they love that.
Here is Pandi inspecting the haul.
Four baskets in total - Joseph, Benjamin, Calista and Preston. Pandi approved.
Here are the spoils divided up.
Calista got a purse, a makeup bag, some lotion, lip balm and a nail polish, a cross stitch, some socks, some hair ties, and a Dia de Los Muertos mask.
The boys all got the same things: a foam plane, a plane making kit, some dinosaurs, a super stretchy man, a glowy whirl-a-copter, a woodshop kit, some bubbles, a giant magnet and a plaster block with a prize inside.
All four will get $1 bills tied up with ribbon also. Everything turned out great !!
Doc and I got a catalog from the Vermont Country Store. We ordered everything we that sounded good. We got:
Liquor Fruitcake Slices - delicious. These didn't stand a chance.
Chocolate Cream Drops - assorted flavors, also incredibly delicious.
Liquor filled dark chocolate bottles - they are big. It's like a whole shot in a candy bottle. Fantastic.
And as yet untried - the Harvest Cake. I will update you when we try it.
So I mentioned that I would be redoing the front porch. Here it is, all spruced up for fall.
And the clump got fixed up also. More herbs than flowers.
And Bud, our Eastern Redbud, got new red chips in his planter.
Look at the beautiful roses that my bushes have been producing !!
For some reason they have been going wild lately. It has rained three times in October, so I hope we will finally be having a nice wet winter.
The Pacific Air Show was scheduled for October 1st - 3rd. We got a letter advising us that the jets would be practicing for the whole prior week, from September 27th. As I did my daily lunchtime walk, I could see them (and hear them).
This view is from my office window.
They made all kinds of contrails in the skies of HB.
Sadly, we had a rupture in the oil pipeline off our shore, so the last day of the show was cancelled. The news had these dire estimates about how damaging the leak would be, but it turned out to be much smaller than originally thought. The crews had it cleaned up within a few days.
Another baby on the way !! Claudia, who used to work in my department, is having her first baby, a girl who will be called Stevie.
Claudia is a big Halloween lover, so once again Karla made her a fabulous balloon arch (with eyeballs).
She got lots of great gifts.
Lots of cute snacks as well.
I have been cooking a lot as usual. I made these mini pies, since I saw the little graham cracker crusts at Aldi.
I made Dutch Apple, blueberry with fresh blueberries, and fresh strawberry. They were well received.
This lunch was particularly delicious - mushrooms have been hard to find, so this sauce with white wine was devoured instantly.
I got my Ipsy bag. Of course it is Halloween themed.
Inside, from top to bottom:
1) The Balm "Let's Bolt" highlighter powder
2) Blume Day Dreamer Cleanser - already using this
3) Camelina and Strobe Luminizing Primer
4) Lottie Wing Woman Liquid Eyeliner - I usually give liquid eyeliners to Claudia.
5) Tatcha Dewy Skin Care Cream
Next week is Infection Prevention Week - hospitals do a lot of celebrating various disciplines with a special week, and next week is for my profession. So our Care Coordination Team made this adorable gift !!
I love the tiny succulent.
Time for outfit review!!! Way back on a colder day, September 27th, I wore a knit pencil skirt with a cashmere crew neck sweater. Nice belly. I am well fed.
This hematite necklace matched perfectly.
The next day, a tried and true dress. It is from North Country and has the ruching detail from a few years ago that was so popular and flattering. I wore it with this moonstone statement necklace.
On September 29th, it was warm again, so I tried my yellow tie front top with a yellow skirt.
Same jewelry as when I wore it in Tucson. The top works with either pants or skirt.
On September 30th, I wore a piece that I got at JC Penney. Doc likes to go to the mall to go to Book Off, so I go along and look in Macy's and Penney's while he is there. I got this piece thinking it was a tunic, but it's actually a dress.
I like it a lot - very elegant and understated. It cost $8.
I wore pastel Austrian crystals and an amethyst pendant with it.
On October 1st, a Friday, I wore a very casual look. This outfit is joggers from Old Navy with an embellished cowl neck top from INC.
On top, an ivory satin bomber jacket from Tommy Bahama. I was comfy and casual for the Air Show up above me and Claudia's shower later in the day.
On Monday, October 4th, it was warm again. I wore my raspberry slacks from White House Black Market with a tiered tank top from Ann Taylor.
I wore two costume necklaces - the shorter one is Givenchy, and the longer one is a lariat that you can tie numerous ways.
It got a little chillier on October 5th, so I wore another favorite outfit - this Tom Ford dress has a beautiful placed print.
My lavender suede shoes are from Sam Edelman - they don't get out a lot, but they are great shoes.
On top, a jacket from INC that is leather on the front and Venice lace on the back.
The jewelry was my mom's and it is so delicate and pretty.
On October 7th, I wore a vintage hippie style dress.
I busted out my Tahari boots for the first time this year.
I wore a gob of garnet jewelry - some was my mom's and some were gifts from my mom.
On Friday, October 8th, I wore a cute mini dress that I got at Kohl's a long time ago. It has a jeweled belt that is too big for me. I still need to fix it.
The Tahari boots worked well again.
I wore a velvet Ann Taylor belt, a tassel necklace from INC, and my regular favorites - Hermes CDC, gold link bracelet and gold necklace.
This is the first wearing of my Neiman Marcus store brand leather moto jacket for the year. It has now gotten chilly enough in the morning (low 50s) that I need a jacket for the trip to the office.
The weather this week has been schizophrenic - it rained twice and it will be 84 degrees today !! On a colder day, Monday the 11th, I wore an olive jumpsuit that I got at Savers.
Underneath, a gold lurex tank from St John.
With this, I wore a mustard suede belt, my CDC, a beaded cuff, and this costume necklace that I absolutely love with anything in the olive color family.
On Tuesday the 12th, I decided to glam up a bit. This dress is Kate Spade. The fancy embellished shoes came from the Spiegel catalog of many years ago.
Hard to see, but I wore a necklace of moonstone and blue topaz that has a matching ring.
On top, a silver lurex duster from Style and Co.
Wednesday was the last cool day before the weekend warmup that we are expecting. I wore some Limited slacks that are grey with a pale blue pinstripe.
On top, a sweater from INC that is a nubby boucle knit with sequins woven throughout and a chiffon ruffle at the hem.
My costume necklace is from Lucky Brand, and the little plumeria made of abalone is a gift that Preston picked out for me when he and his family were in Hawaii a couple of weeks ago.
Yesterday, I wore a polyester shirt dress from Forever 21. It is rust with black piping.
I wore brown tights and suede platform boots with this outfit. They are from Nordstrom.
On top, an uncut corduroy jacket from Sunny Leigh.
It has a very cool ombre pattern, going from black to light orange.
And today (84 degrees) I wore a lace skirt from Ann Taylor with a pink and black top from some thrift store somewhere.
The usual suspects as accessories - Ann Taylor belt, CDC and gold link bracelets, plastic waterfall necklace ( a favorite that I wear a lot) and Valentino shoes.
Well we have caught up. This weekend, we are having a birthday party for Mimi. We are having ribs.
We are also going back to the mall for some shopping. I don't have any huge grocery shopping or yard sprucing to do, so mostly fun all weekend.
We are going to have pavers put on our driveway and will also be redoing the hardscape in the backyard around the pool.. A company is coming for an estimate tonight. I got one estimate for a high end rescape, but I don't want to pay $40 K for the job. We will be getting other bids, for sure.
So stay tuned for all the escapades of the Holtzman crew!!
