Read Me at The 3Six5 Project!

The 3six5 is a crowd-sourced blogging project that is attempting to capture 365 writers' experiences during one year. Chicago has its own local offshoot and the participants range from night club entrepreneur Billy Dec to shabby-chic style maker Tereasa Surrat (Found, Free and Flea; A Very Modest Cottage.)

Here's my contribution, about a trip to the costume store. As always, thanks for reading!

Decorations

Happy Halloween! Look what I made! I'm not crafty in any way and actually, my work here was more assembling than creating but look! Look how cute the little owl is and how spooky-pretty are the black and purple paper chrysanthemums! I curled each one of those petals and let me tell you, that's 72 of those suckers per flower. Randy was calling me Sisyphus near the end, but I found the whole mindless curling process relaxing. Hold the blade of a scissors against the paper petal with your thumb, secure the center of the blossom with your other hand and pull. Instant curl! So satisfying. I also got a green square boxwood kit that uses the same technique from Paper Source - I can't wait to start on the December wreath!


And looky looky at these cute retro Halloween stickers I got from Uncle Fun!


And these. Mia helped with the styling. Don't you love them? Very Ranken-Bass, or should I say Franken-Bass? Snort!

Evil Scientist and Witchy-Poo detail.

Mother Nature is hard at work making her autumn decorations too.

I Love

I love my Cleopatra Halloween costume! I want to wear it all day, even though Halloween's not until Monday. I want to walk around in my flowy white gown that gives me great cleavage and my black heavy-banged wig and tell people little factoids from Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra bio. OMG, I'm turning into one of those crazy teacher ladies who impersonate historical figures to make History Come Alive! No, I really just like the fake bling bling.

You know what I love even more than my Cleopatra costume? Hearing the doorbell ring while I'm checking out the fake pearls on my headdress. And remembering the garage door replacement guy is scheduled for today.

Sunday Morning Gratitudes

Thanks to you, Chicago Marathon runners who brought such beauty to our first look out the window this morning with your mass of flickering legs against the morning sun and who brought such inspiration when we got to the edge of your stream and called your names and made you smile.

You sucked up the sounds of the city as you poured by and left in your wake a strange stillness as I trotted a little fraction of your distance down the canyons of Michigan and Randolph. Thank you for providing a little adventure for us later as we tried to get off the island you made out of the Loop.

Thanks to you, sweet and funny doorman at the Merchandise Mart Holiday Inn who was determined to find us a way out of the labyrinth of pedways and stalled escalators and back hallways and service exits and down to Kinzie, the only street allowing passage under the runners.

Thanks to Publican for a fine salty brunch and to Alma for the idea. Thanks for making Randy so happy with the wine-poached eggs on his Benny and thanks to Randy for letting me steal the spicy raw beets from his Bloody.

Thanks for the Sunday morning memories of Saturday night, Chicago Blackhawks. Your national anthem spectacle, your twin Zambonis, your hilarious between-period obstacle course for toddlers on skates, all made fans of my girls at their first game. And thanks to dear sweet husband who took the girls while I got to head out appropriately alone to In The Next Room or the vibrator play at Victory Gardens.

And thanks to you, Sarah Ruhl, (formerly of Wilmette!) for the sweet and funny poetry you conjured out of the subjects of electricity, 19th century clinical vibrators, and the discovery of love between a husband and wife.