Monday, October 26, 2015

Ghost Turds and Peacock Prints

 I was in Iowa yesterday, and I couldn't resist stopping to admire the Halloween cakes on offer at Hy-Vee
 This cake looks how I feel! I hear you Mr Cake Monster I do indeed. Seeing all these ways to incorporate the hole from a tube pan into cake design has given me all sorts of ideas. All sorts of ideas. Let's not go there.
 I think these are angel food beneath the frosting. I could see bringing one to a party, they're rather cute...



...except for this one. It looks like a ghost took a shit.

That's a giant chocolate chip cookie decorated with...well, not skill anyway. If Danny didn't have allergies i'd have brought it home. "Look everyone, I bought a giant cookie with a ghost turd on it!" How festive is that?

Can you believe it is nearly Halloween and I haven't baked anything other than a few apple dumplings? Perhaps I can manage some sort of ghost excrement to bring to the library group on Thursday. I see marshmallow fluff on the shopping list.


 It was so sunny, taking outdoor photos was nearly impossible. Still, I won't complain because every sunny day at this time of year is a bonus. We could have three feet of snow by now.

 Outfit Particulars:

Danny:
Jeans and shirt both K Mart
Shoes-K Mart
Bow tie-Nobbies
New waist carrier for emergency meds-Sheels Sports (best $25.00 I've spent in a while)

Me:
Black/silver blouse-K Mart
Black pinafore dress-Thrift World
"Sleeveless Jacket" (that's what people call them now. I laughed too) New Life Thrift
Grey tights-Walgreens
Boots-Hand-Me-Ups
Dalmation print shoulder bag-I can't remember. Somewhere in Boston in the early 90's.
Silver Mexican bracelet-Goodwill
Silver link belt-had it since high school
Earrings-K Mart
Silver Celtic brooch-antique store in Massachusetts
Lippy-Revlon Jungle Peach (a 60's re-issue that should have stayed in the 60's)
Fragrance-Yendi


"Did somebody say "Ghost Turds?"
No, I said, "Peacocks"
"Oh."


This is one of those dresses that's prettier in person. The colours are richer than the photo would lead you to believe. It has tiny, cap sleeves which I hate (doesn't everyone?) but a cardigan or jacket solves that issue easily. I will always gravitate to a peacock print, or the feathers themselves. 

I dream about peacock-patterned wallpaper. Someday. 
Outfit Particulars:
Peacock print Chadwick's dress-Goodwill
Cardigan-Goodwill
Enamel leaf pin-Hand-Me-Ups
Vintage rhinestone earrings-Hand-Me-Ups
Bakelite bangle-Goodwill
Tapestry Maddy Bag-Goodwill
Shoes-K Mart
Nan Tights-K Mart
Lippy-Estee Lauder Maple Sugar
Fragrance-A little of everything the enthusiastic sales assistant sprayed on me today at L'Occitaine (the Vetiver was really nice for $58.00)
Hair Products-Prell, and VO5, baby. 
Pose like Olive Oyl! Where's Popeye when you need him?

 Well, I gotta go make a ghost turd bake a cake for dessert.

Whew! We got through Monday. Onward!

6 comments:

Bibi Maizoon said...

That chocolate chip cookie decor looks like Casper the uniflagellar & friendly ghost spermatozoon to me.
If you get a chance try Armani Prive Vetiver Babylone- it is DIVINE!
Loving that EL Maple Sugar lippy on you. I love EL's lippies because they're so creamy (rather than waxy) it's like wearing a lip balm rather than a lipstick - yet they are fairly long lasting.
I'm partial to anything peacock too. Peacocks are sacred in Nepal & have their own festival day.
Danny's looking quite elegant for a day of shopping at Hy-Vee.
I made & froze pumpkin puree from our recently slaughtered pumpkin, that's the extent of my holiday cooking.
Did not feel the earthquake in Afghanistan here in Nepal. It was felt by friends & family in Kashmir, Delhi, & Mumbai. Apparently the quake triggered a stone avalanche that killed a teenaged boy in rural Kashmir & damaged several buildings there too. I doubt I'd even notice anymore as we're still averaging a M4-M5 quake every other day here in Nepal.

Beth Waltz said...

Your title for this post is my Halloween treat for the year! (As in, "Now, what on this earth or out of it has she spotted at a thrifty shoppe...?)

Danny's bowtie and meds belt is a look that works for an intrepid explorer of such exotic locales as Hy-Vee. When you guys venture east to Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati, he'll need to add a 40s fedora. We'll find two more for us, so we can accompany him as the Evelyn's (Ankers and Brent).

The peacock print is my favorite find -- a dark background with rich colors that can be worn 9 months of the year! The muted tones of the bag that bring up the golds without being matchy-matchy is a very Helga-esque touch.

Best of luck with the ectoplasmic excrement/bakery goods!

Goody said...

@Bibi

I'll keep an eye out for the Armani as I love a good vetiver. I can't imagine getting used to quakes, though I know people do. I'd be running outside at the slightest rumble-if I knew what it was. In the 80's, we had a small quake in Chicago. We lived in a condo at the time. We were sitting in the kitchen when the dishes in the drainer started clattering and bouncing up and down.
"Oh, that's just the fat neighbour doing aerobics" said my mum, and turned back to her newspaper.

@Beth
Glad I could give you a laugh. Titles are HARD!
You might not think Danny looked so dapper if you knew what the rest of the costume was like. He's had a few opportunities to try it out before Halloween, but he'd already removed the jacket and accessories by the time the picture was taken. You'll have to wait until Saturday to see it complete, but trust me-it ain't pretty.

That particular grocery store was where we witnessed an overall-clad gentleman eating breakfast sausages from the buffet with his fingers, and gently tamping them into his mouth like he was driving a nail into a board. He's become sort of a family legend, and we now call that location the "Sausage-tamping Hy-Vee". And now you know just how exotic a locale it really is. I'm sure you could see similar in Nebraska, but we didn't see it in Nebraska, we saw it in Iowa.

Mim said...

Peacock prints rock. I love Liberty's 'Hera' print.

'Ghost turds' was what my first-ever boyfriend used to call those little balls of dust and fluff that accumulate under things like sofas or wardrobes...

Sue said...

How good do you look in your mini pinafore? REALLY GOOD that's how good. Danny was your perfect photo partner with his white shirt and bow tie, you two must turn heads when you are out and about. Halloween has caught on down here in NZ, mainly because of the retail places embracing it. Loving the ghost turd, and you so should make some.

Goody said...

@Mim
Ahhh, so that's what those things are!
I refuse to even look at Liberty because I have no self-control when it comes to fabric. None. Zero. Zilch. My fabric stash is terrifying.

@Sue
Awww, thanks hon.

We got Halloween from the Irish immigrants to the US in the 1800's (their Samhain/Celtic New Year and the Christianised All Souls/All Saints days). I've always loved dressing-up(obviously)and getting free candy. In recent years it has become less of a children's holiday and just another opportunity for adults to dress-up and drink to excess-like New Year's Eve. We get very few trick-or-treaters ringing the doorbell, which is sad. Despite all the documented evidence to the contrary, people are afraid to let their children out for fear of abductions or poisonings. Statistics don't bear out the fears, but there you have it-the adults are the ones being scared witless by imaginary boogeymen.