Couple's Costumes

I love doing a good couple's costume, and the last time I did a costume without a partner was about 7 years ago. This was mine and Keith's only couple costume. He was a WW2 GI and I was WW2 era Wonder Woman. I made the costume myself, and keep it around as a back up to this day. However, the year after this I met Lauren, and Keith was (not sorry to say) booted and Lauren and I have been doing a couple costume every year since. Our ultimate dream costumes are Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn (her as Ivy and myself as Harley) but we are saving that for a day when we have more money and time, so we can do it justice. Or injustice. Haha villain joke.

This was our first joint costume, and truthfully the nerdiest. We went as Frank and Ollie, 2 Disney animators. Hardly anyone knew who we were, though luckily we partied with some Disney fanatics that night and won the costume contest!

The next year we went with a simple Cowboy and Indian theme, and were ninnies and only took this very up close, grainy picture. One day we'll learn to take good photos of our costumes.

This was my favorite, Jesse and Heisenberg! We spent the day slipping people bags of "blue meth" (actually blue raspberry rock candy) We don't think we'll ever be able to top these costumes, at least not anytime soon. A fellow classmate almost called UPD on us when they saw us going into the womens' restroom!

We are both big Scream fans and decided a good party costume would be to go as victims of Ghostface. It was so much fun throwing fake blood at each other, and we even had some friends dress up as Ghostface and pretend to kill us throughout the night.

And now this year. Han Solo and Chewbacca: Lady-fied. A cute and girly Han Solo has been on my Halloween to-do list for some years now, and I finally did it! Lauren's costume was so wonderfully fuzzy it was hard not to hug her all night. This year we were turned into an awesome trio with the addition of our close friend Megan as Boba Fett! So much detail went into her jetpack and I'm sad we didn't get a picture of it. One day we'll learn... hopefully. She gave us all lady nicknames; Hanna Solo, Babe-ba Fett, and Chewbaccita.

I'm already excited for our costumes next year! Happy Hallow's Eve!

Jack-O-Lanterns!

Pumpkin carving is one of my favorite holiday traditions. Going to the patch, picking the perfect pumpkin, gutting it out and making it into a classic face and then roasting the seeds. So much good comes from it, and there is some sort of wonder and magic that never fades when it comes to pumpkin carving. Personally, I am a fan of classic jack-o-lantern faces as opposed to scenery or pop culture references, so my pumpkins may not be the most fancy, but they have a nice nostalgic quality.

This year Lauren and I wanted to re-create the pumpkin from Halloween (1978), and I think we did a great job! After all the mess was cleaned up, I roasted the seeds. This year I made cinnamon sugar and garlic cayenne pepper flavored seeds.

Daria and Jane Style

With these two there wasn't even much to change to make work in the real world. They've got it pretty much covered. I tend to spring for more feminine looks with maybe one piece that has masculine touch, so the challenge with this was to make them a little more feminine. I think a fitted top for Daria (orange and green just don't work as well in real life) and scalloped shorts for Jane did just the trick! Those boots are key, and so comfortable too.

Daria and Jane by rachel-silva featuring a long sleeve jacket

Top Five: New Music

Ok so my last post just sent me into a crazy spiral of new music binging. So I'm going to make a list of artists, albums, and songs that I am currently LOVING. 

1. Dead Language by The Flatliners

2. Self Title by Widowspeak

3. song: Pompeii by Bastille

Lion King meets Florence and the Machine.

4. Unreleased by Lana Del Rey

This one is a little sad, because it was leaked before being released and so it will stay unreleased. I have been relying on YouTube to hear this stuff.

5. Song: Born a Wise Man - Wilhelm Scream

Partycrasher is due to be out November 5th! I can't wait.

Kishi Bashi

Kishi Bashi is an artist I just found out about from a friend, and I haven't been able to stop listening. This song is one of those songs that brings me back to our wedding day, and reminds me how lucky I am to wake up with my other half everyday. It's a mushy day.

Widowspeak

(us at The Chapel!)

When I first met Keith I spent a lot of my time going to local music shows, but since school picked up in a large way a couple years back the shows I go to have been few and far between. (The last one I went to got me a concussion) So when my friend Megan introduced me to the band Widowspeak and told me they were playing at The Chapel in San Francisco, I hopped right on the opportunity! 

The Chapel is an awesome venue I had never been to before, and looked like it could have actually been a church at one point. I got a nice beer, ate some amazing fries, got to spend time with good friends, and listened to good music the whole way there, at the show, and the whole way back.

I also did a drawing of the singer, which you can view here.

This is one of Widowspeak's singles, I love love love this video!

On a side note, while walking through Valencia St. to get to the venue, I spotted this CHICKEN PURSE. Complete with chicken coin purse. Needless to say, this is going on my Christmas List.

Top 5 Halloween Candies

It's time for a long overdue Top 5 list, and since there is a giant fish bowl full of candy staring me down in the office right now, I am making this one about Halloween candy. I miss trick-or-treating so much that I may consider having children just so I can do it again. (KIDDING. children are not for candy... children are not for candy...) Anyway, I was thinking about all of the candies I would flip out over when I was younger, and which ones I was willing to trade anything to get my hands on.

1. Candy Corn
As pictured above with the title- I feel like Candy Corn is a pretty polarizing candy, but I always have and always will love it with an unhealthy passion. Every year I get the "Autumn Mix" with the chocolate corn and the pumpkins. I can not get enough of this candy, or anything themed after this candy for that matter.

2. Blow Pops

Bubble gum was probably my favorite type of candy as a child, which made me a bit of a frustration with teachers (story of my life). But when you combined bubble gum with something else, like a freaking LOLLIPOP I was just taken. I traded all of my tootsie pops for these bad boys, and I would do the same today.

3. Crybabies

Like I said before, bubble gum. Love it. Sour bubble gum? I'm never eating real food again. Just give me crybabies. I still buy these for myself on a regular basis to this day, they lose their flavor fast but I love them. 

4. Crunch Bars

One of the best chocolate bars around in my opinion, nice and simple with a little somethin-somethin. I think these are best in their miniature form.

5. Pop Rocks

These were a bit of trick-or-treating rarity. If anyone got this in their bag, they were the prettiest girl at the ball. My sister and I used to eat these and try to see who could make the loudest popping sounds. My favorite flavor is blue raspberry.

Walking Dead Cupcakes

This past weekend was the premier of the new season of The Walking Dead, and is one of my favorite shows to watch with friends. It inevitably sparks very long conversations about what we would do should a zombie apocalypse actually happen. I made these cupcakes for the occasion! Since I made these cupcakes for the Breaking Bad finale, I've been on a bit of a themed baking kick. I need to start looking for my next project!

I made a variation of Martha Stewart's Red Velvet cupcakes, and frosted them with my own cream cheese frosting recipe. I made half of them into little brains with corn syrup blood, and the rest into graves, some of which marked the site of dead characters from the show, and others with quippy little sayings. My favorite was "I told you I was sick!"

Pumpkins and Friends

This weekend we went to our first pumpkin patch of the season! I did some research this time around because the pumpkin patch I used to frequent as a kid has taken a turn to be more of a blow-up jumpy house arena than about the pumpkins. So I found one in south San Jose; Giordano Farms! They had such a huge selection of gorgeous pumpkins to choose from, a miniature corn maze (meant for children but we went in anyway), and my favorite part- Bunnies. I practically had to be dragged away from the bunnies. It was unseasonably warm, but we broke out our flannel anyway. Lauren and Megan found some of the most picture perfect pumpkins I've ever seen (which I ironically don't have any pictures of).

Keith and I came home with 4 pumpkins in all, my favorite being a beautiful snowy white one.

I know some people like to use blogs as reference for shopping, so if anyone cares to know-

Flannel shirt: Thrifted   Skirt: H&M   Cowboy Boots: Thrifted   Purse: Urban Outfitters

5 ways to channel Ariel in everyday life.

In all likely hood you were (and still are) obsessed with Ariel just like I was as a kid if you are reading this. I would not go to sleep until my mom put The Little Mermaid on, I had a water bed because I wanted to live in the ocean like Ariel did, and over half of my clothing had her face on it. Well now that I'm older, I am no less of an Ariel fan girl, but somehow wearing anything and everything with her face on it isn't quite cutting it anymore.

So how can I keep a Little Mermaid essence alive in my everyday style? When I was a teenager I dyed my hair bright red, but now I need something different. So here are five ways I  like to channel Ariel in my everyday life.

1. Let your hair run wild and long. Embrace the messy look! Part of Ariel's appeal is her free spirit, and free-floating hair. We can't live underwater, but we can let our hair blow in the wind, and some seashell barrettes make it all that much better.

2. Purple Eyeshadow. I picked up this eyeshadow at the drug store, based solely on the fact that it looked like the purple of Ariel's seashells. This isn't the only purple out there that can work, I have a few others but this one is my favorite. So until I find a dress with purple seashell patterns over my boobs, I'm going to wear this eyeshadow.

3. Coral Lipstick. Aside from the fact that coral is from the ocean and is therefor related to Ariel, this color feels so right for her. I tend to lean toward the more red corals than the pinks or oranges, because they are more similar to her lips.

4. Seashell details. This purse is already on my Christmas list this year, how much better can it get? You mean I can actually keep my stuff in a seashell? Sign me up! Seashell barrettes, seashell compact mirror, seashell shoes, seashell seashells, I don't care! Just bring on the shells.

5. Be Confident. The main thing that we all love about Ariel is her head-strong personality. She knows what she wants and she goes for it full force! So even if you don't have purple eyeshadow, a prince charming, or the most amazing singing voice, if you are confident and strong you will be channeling Ariel in the best way possible. 

image courtesy of

The One Ring(tone)

Image Courtesy of

This weekend I found that I was having a very difficult time relaxing. I couldn't understand why, I didn't have any deadlines, I had painted a reasonable amount (which is something I often feel guilty about not doing enough of), I didn't have anywhere to go, and by all means had enough time for whatever I may have wanted to do. Perfect weekend conditions, but still, I could not relax. 

I tried many different things, I watched a movie, painted, read a book, tried to take a nap, and went on my smart phone. Went on my smart phone again. And again. It was almost like I was checking it repeatedly hoping there would be some sort of epiphany or text message waiting for me, telling me I could finally relax. No such thing ever happened. 

So as I went back to reading The Fellowship of the Ring (because it's that time of year) and came across this paragraph in which Bilbo debates leaving the Ring behind; 

"...And yet it would be a relief in a way not to be bothered with it anymore. It has been so growing on my mind lately. Sometimes I have felt it was an eye looking at me. And I am always wanting to put it on and disappear, don't you know; or wondering if it is safe, and pulling it out to make sure. I tried locking it up, but I found I couldn't rest without it in my pocket."

I couldn't help but immediately draw connections with the way I was, and often find myself, feeling about my cell phone. Always checking it, even when it hasn't notified me of anything, feeling uneasy and bothered when I find myself without it.

Recently my best friend went on a tour of the Disney Animation Studio, and they would not allow cell phones. So they took them away at the beginning of their tour. She later said she found herself always reaching to check it, only to discover every time that it was not there, and that she felt uneasy and uncomfortable without it.

In this way, our "One Ring" is our cell phones. It isn't news that people develop an unhealthy relationship with their smart phones, and the battle to "just turn them off" is ever waging, but this snuck up on me. In the past I would have said that I was not unhealthily attached to my phone, but I do not think that is still the case. So immediately after seeing this dialogue in The Fellowship of the Ring, I turned my phone on silent and put it in another room across the apartment.

I "threw it into the fire" and was finally able to relax. I am going to try to do this more often now.

Benefits of Being Under the Weather

Today is a weird day. I have to admit I'm not feeling my best right now, I've been a bit under the weather for the past couple days, though I do not want this to affect my overall attitude! Being sick can sometimes bring people way down, but I'd like to see it as an opportunity to catch up on some of the leisures in life I would not normally have time for. Yesterday I was pretty much completely bed-ridden, so I watched Grease for the first time in about 13-14 years. I also watched the Katy Perry Documentary and I thought it was quite good! I love a good documentary, and this one has amazing visuals so I recommend it even if you aren't the biggest Katy Perry fan (like myself, I have 3 of her songs. Though now I am anxiously awaiting the release of Prism.) 

So, after work today I intend on drinking massive amounts of tea and curling up on the couch and watching another movie. I hope you all have a fun (and healthier) weekend!

Happy Friday!

Baking Bad

This past Sunday marked the end of, what I consider to be, the greatest television show ever made. And when I say that, I mean quality. Breaking Bad is a work of art, made by so many talented and very skilled people. We've watched the show as it aired with our group of close friends, and have experienced the whole journey together. So for the finale, we had a get together. Our friend Paul drove up from LA, and our friend Matt drove down for Tahoe, and we were surprised by a visit from our friend Jacob, who we rarely get to see these days! It was a small reunion of sorts, and the perfect way to see the final episode. I made Breaking Bad themed cupcakes for the occasion, and was thrilled with them! I used Martha Stewart's Yellow Butter Cupcakes recipe, which I dyed blue, and my own Whipped Cream Frosting recipe. I then decorated them with black decor frosting, and blue rock candy in cotton candy and blue raspberry flavors. 

Yeah Bitch, Cupcakes!