costumes and wine & dine countdown

Scot whisked me off to Charleston over the weekend for my birthday trip.  The weather was perfect, we enjoyed the city, the Francis Marion Hotel was gorgeous, and I didn't end up spending a ton of money on King Street.  Yay, me!  We headed out after work on Sunday afternoon and got up there just before 11pm.  We packed our day and a half full of activities- breakfast at the Hominy Grill, a carriage tour, a tour of the Calhoun (as in John C) Mansion, lunch at the Southend Brewery, a tour of the Exchange house and dungeon, a ghost and graveyard tour, shopping, Ft. Sumter, and lunch at Magnolias.  We left the car in the hotel garage and, according to Scot's step and mileage tracker, walked a total of 25 miles over 2 days!  My calves and legs and butt were all sore, and sitting in the car for the 5+ hours drive back home didn't help!  We still had a great time, got some good photos, and ended the trip exhausted.  

Know the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery?  A graveyard is attached to a church (can't have a yard without a building!) and a cemetery is on its own.

We learned some stuff!

 Calhoun Mansion

 Ft Sumter, approaching on the ferry

 USS Yorktown

Francis Marion hotel lobby

I didn't get up to do my regular Wednesday morning run, but today I did one last early morning before Saturday's Wine & Dine Half marathon.  It went great, my pace was a full 30-45 seconds faster than it had been over the past couple weeks.  I think it's the time change!  It's nice to not be up running around in the dark.

I got my Orange Bird costume done for W&D last week- it was a crazy couple days of making our Halloween costumes and the Bird.  Scot and I decided to go as Obscure Disney Characters and decided on Merlin and Madam Mim from "The Sword In the Stone."  I found a red dress at a thrift shop and I managed to cut and modify.  For Mim's bodice, I found a purple bodysuit at the same store, cut off the bottom below the waist, and put it over the dress.  I must have used a mile of hem tape and duct tape!  For Scot's Merlin costume, we actually found a blue graduation robe at Goodwill for $3!  It was exactly what we needed so the Halloween gods must have been smiling on us.  He got a Santa beard that I trimmed to slim it, then I attached the trimmed parts to the bottom of the beard to lengthen it.  His hat was the tricky part- do you know how HARD is was to find a wizard hat?!?  There was nothing!  He got a foam top hat at Hobby Lobby and I got to work with old foam pieces from a bench cushion, pipe cleaners, newspaper, and lots of duct tape.  I wrapped the whole thing with fabric and pins and glue, then glued white fur around the edge.  I think we looked pretty good!  The whole process was exhausting and tapped out every ounce of my creativity.

 Madam Mim dress before

 Merlin and Mim- notice his stick from the back yard and owl safety pinned to his shoulder!  I used the tulle skirt I made for my Kevin costume during EE to fluff up my dress a bit.  The purple wig is from the party store and I hacked it up with scissors

 LizzyDragon showing off her hobbit feet

 Gnome, Merlin, and the mermaid

Recognize Amy Farrah Fowler from "Big Bang Theory"?

This is my Orange Bird costume!  I used fabric glue to attach the yellow tummy circle and made felt and pipe cleaner leaves.

Now, let me show off my piece de resistance!  I made a cake for the Halloween party.  Here is is:

It's cake, I swear!  It's crumbled white and chocolate cake mixed with vanilla pudding, topped with crushed golden oreos, a bit of green food color, and tootsie rolls.  It was delicious.  I served it with a *NEW* kitty litter box and scoop.  It still makes me giggle.  Enjoy the inspiration in the photo below.