Today I hung out with three of the funnest people in the world. I am happy.

We trekked to Connecticut today to get some stuff out of the old house before the new tenants move in on December 1, and while we were there, we also went grocery shopping. Because everything is so much cheaper in Connecticut, we kept holding things up in the air and going, “Look at the price of THIS! It’s practically free!” We were gleeful filling our cart with bargains, and packed the car to bursting. We also stocked up on liquor for the weekend, because we have a ton of friends flying in from out of town to stay with us, and we don’t throw lousy parties. It’s all so much cheaper! If you need to move to New York City, make sure you have some cause to drive up to Connecticut a few times a month; you’ll save tons on groceries.

I’m a huge fan of homemade, cheap or free costumes that rely on creativity, rather than a purchased costume that looks cheap and is actually expensive.  I wasn’t planning on being anything for halloween but the spirit caught the best of me as I was getting ready for the parade, and I pulled together a costume last second.  I think it came out pretty good.  I went as a mad scientist,

and Rob revised his tried and true ninja costume, which I think is hilarious.

His ninja costume is really a tee shirt, and my rocking mustache was made from a few bits of scarf fringe that I crazy-glued to a piece of scotch tape. The hair is all my own… it really does get that big.

The parade was awesome, but LONG, and we had to get there early to get a good spot meaning we were there for several hours.  I forgot how deeply I hate the standing around, crowds, cold and waiting of parades.  Next year we plan on being IN the parade; the revelers marching seemed to have way more fun.

Sarah Palin was a popular costume.  One was walking around with her boyfriend dressed as a polar bear that had been shot, another saw spotted a stranger in a moose costume and they instantly staged a photoshoot together.  Several were walking around, pausing every few minutes and squinting into the distance shouting, “Hey Look!  I can see Russia!” and many of them had tiny devil horns poking out of their Sarah Palin wigs.  I love New York.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Halloween!

For the first time in a million years I’ll be carving a pumpkin without Jen. So sad! We would always carve while watching the greatest movie ever.

A few weeks ago we went “family pumpkin picking” with Rob’s parents, sister, nephew and niece so we could get Rob’s parents to pay for our pumpkins spend time with the family, and I got a huge pumpkin with the intention of making it a jack-o-lanteren.  I’m not sure what I want to carve into it, though, and I’m kind of tired, and almost don’t want to be bothered.  Because I was raised believing that Halloween is a holiday of THE DEVIL! and is therefore FORBIDDEN! and will send you TO HELL! if you celebrate it, I don’t have a lot of sentimental attachment to doing Halloweeny stuff.  I do plan on venturing out to the city tonight, though, camera in hand to capture the shenanigans.  There are rumors of a remake of the Ferris Buller’s Day Off parade scene in the Village.  I love this city!

Today in Park Slope (a charming Brooklyn neighborhood that looks like Sesame Street) two equally scruffy hipster dog walkers met in the middle of an autumn-leaf-and-rain speckled sidewalk. Each of them was walking a sizeable motely crew, and the two groups collided, intertwined, and tangled their leashes all together as everyone sniffed everyone else. The scruffy hipster guy and the scruffy hipster girl tangled together, too, and began laughing as they tried to sort themselves out again. It was exactly like a scene in a mid-90′s romantic comedy.

I hope they fall in love.

I finally got back to the Brooklyn Flea this weekend after wanting to go for several Sundays and not being able to find the time. We came home with some small treats.

First we found a tiki mug that had been part of a pair. The vendor told us she was trying to sell the duo but one had been dropped and shattered earlier. The survivor had a really big chunk that had broken off and been glued back on, and the crack was still really visible. Because of all this, his price had sunk to a steal at $5, and we took him home.

We also bought some mini pins. Rob got a $3 mystery pack of four from Karen’s Monsters who sells both the squishy monsters and photos of them on pins, and I picked out six from Becky Johnson at sweetiepiepress.com.

My favorite find was a photo art print. I needed oooone more piece of art for this one spot in my house, and I was thrilled when I found it at the Anniebee booth. Her photos are done with vintage cameras and are of vintage things. I was pretty excited flipping though her work, and selected an 8×10 of a duo of “freaked out looking” vintage deer.

This is another one of my favorites from her, called “Robot Heads are Good for Dancing”.

It was a pretty good haul, not too expensive. Brooklyn Flea takes place every Sunday from 10am to 5pm—rain or shine—at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, on Lafayette Ave. between Clermont and Vanderbilt Ave.