Winner, More Halloween, and Gratitude Day 1

I was soooooo tired last night that I decided to leave the drawing until this morning. Some of my friends have done cute photos of their name-drawing process but I realized that I left my camera at Kerry's house dangit!, so you'll just have to trust me that I wrote out all the names and then drew one randomly from a hat (okay, it was just a bowl). Aaaaaaaaaaand the winner is: Wendy! Send me your address and at some point this week I'll get the necklace out to you! :)

Saturday night we went to a super-fun costume party across the street at Steve and Roxanne's! Jason and I didn't know what we were dressing up as until about 40 minutes before the party... nothing like procrastinating for a costume party for Pete's sake! A quick trip to CVS on my way back from the gym netted me some 50% off wigs and face paint, and Jason was off to the races as an Undead 80's Rocker, complete with my leather motorcycle pants tight leather pants. I decided to be a Punk Butterfly since I had this awesome wig and the wings & antennae in my big box o' costumes. Too bad you can't see my sweet tights and motorcycle boots and all the safety pins in my skirt! :)



Of course normally I do the ol' red-eye treatment on every picture ever taken of Jason, but I think it works in this photo, don't you? Isn't he scary? Jeez Louise!

Jason's costume was greatly improved when our neighbors MaryAlice and Mark loaned him a guitar. :)


Gotta love that Sharpie'd shirt! "Rock & Roll Forever!"

Neighbor Mark is such a "Chick Magnet"! Pirate MaryAlice and I are really "drawn to" him. :)


Nina won the best costume contest... can you tell what she is?


Ohhhhhhh yes, that would be a "One Night Stand." Don't you just love the lampshade?

Last but definitely not least, the beautiful and lovely Roxanne was a charming witch (and hostess). I'm so glad this lady is my neighbor! :)


Steve and Roxanne's friends (and our neighbors!) are so much fun, it was a great party! And boy oh boy were we glad for that extra hour of sleep!!! We woke up early to head over to Kerry and Mike's house for a fun day of wine-tasting on Sunday. But since I left my camera at their house I'll have to post photos and write about that later this week! :)

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When my friend Jilliene recently told me about an exercise her mentor gave her to help feel gratitude, I thought it would be a perfect exercise for me to do. I haven't blogged about it but I've been struggling lately; moving back from Italy into the political hotbed of the D.C. area for one of the most controversial elections in history is taking a friggin' toll on me. Both candidates are spending a ridiculous amount of money here in Northern Virginia and I've felt completely bombarded by ads on TV, radio, phone calls to our home, etc. It brings up so many issues--as it should, of course--but some things are too depressing to think about very much. Like this stupid war and my friends who are deployed, two of whom died. Like the wives and families left to try to carry on while their husbands and fathers (and brothers and sons) are being shot at, or, God forbid, to try to pick up the pieces after they're gone. Like all the money spent on this bailout that could have been spent on so many other things that are important. Like my friends who have been laid off because of this economic crisis and are struggling. Like two dozen other things that are fighting for space in my brain lately.

So a shift in thinking is a swell plan, and what better way to do that than to focus on all that is wonderful in our lives? And there is truly so much for which to be thankful. So the "rules" are this: each day for a week I will list 20 things for which I'm thankful, never repeating anything. By next Sunday I'll have a list of 140 things I'm thankful about and I'm quite sure that one of them will be that by then the election will be over! :) Jilliene started on Friday and Stella is also starting today. Jen is also grateful but is listing things for 27 days! If you decide to join us in our gratitude journey, post a link in the comments section so we can see.

I am thankful for:

1. Good friends and neighbors who are becoming like family to Jason and I. :)
2. My aunt and uncle living so close and being able to enjoy that fully (while it lasts). :)
3. The internet and the way it connects me to my "tribe" of artist friends.
4. L.L. Bean's Wicked Good slippers.
5. Having plane tickets home for Christmas.
6. A friend who goes way out of her way to help me save money starting my new hobby. :)
7. My Bialetti espresso pot.
8. A full weekend with three activities with friends and family which somehow didn't push me over my introvert edge. I didn't even come close to the edge. That's big, and awesome!
9. Jason's friend (and mine) John finally being done with Marine Corps training and coming back to work with Jason (after a full year of being gone)!
10. A freezer full of food.
11. My gym (which is close by and only costs $12/month).
12. The communication Jason and I have had with each other lately, especially about tough stuff.
13. My camera and my ability to learn more about how to make it capture things the way I like.
14. Hot showers.
15. That I was able to attend Inspired this year.
16. Amazon.com's used books.
17. Fall and the changing, gorgeous colors.
18. Our dishwasher. (You can't fully appreciate a dishwasher until you've lived without one for three and a half years!)
19. Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking.
20. Laughter, and my husband who causes so much of it to happen in our home.

See you tomorrow for 20 more things. Remember to vote!