Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone has a Happy & Safe Halloween!

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{Movie Review} Hereafter

After much deliberating, hubby and I decided to take in Hereafter once we were done with our combination celebratory birthday lunch of shumai, sushi, and tempura ice cream dessert (which, by the way, was absolutely delicious, as always).  Unfortunately we didn't have much options since we are a few weeks shy of the major box office movie release date known as Thanksgiving weekend.

Hereafter was directed by Clint Eastwood and staring Matt Damon as a blue collar worker with special abilities to communicate with people in the afterlife.  It also follows a French journalist, Marie Lelay who escapes death from a tsunami; and a young British boy named Marcus, who is grieving the loss of his twin brother.  The three of their lives intertwine as they search for answers.

I have to be brutally honest....the movie was a bit slow.  There were some good scenes, especially the interaction between Matt Damon's character, George, and Melanie (played by Bryce Dallas Howard), George's culinary class partner.  Without giving away much, there was a scene performed by George and Frankie McLaren that moved both, Mr. Man and I to tears.  These two young boys are very talented and ones to watch out for.

My final thoughts?  This is a movie that you can wait for on video.  The storyline was one many of us ponder....Is there life after death?  But it is definitely a 2 hour movie that is best to watch at home on a rainy day.

{DIY} Queen of Hearts Scepter

Lil Miss (or Lil Diva as we like to call her when she gets demanding) loves to ask for my help in choosing a costume for Halloween.  Having been that kid who went shopping for costumes late due to monetary constraints growing up, I always ended up with a costume that wasn't my first choice.  I vowed when I became a parent, I would make sure my children would always have their first choice costume.  I am "that" parent that sets out to purchase her child's costume in late August.  Lil Man was easy....he wanted to be Captain America.  His only request...."I don't want to be the muscly one mom.....just a plain comfortable costume."  Fine, I appeased him, much to my dismay.

Finding the perfect costume for Lil Miss is so much fun!  I scour through the endless costume choices online and then bring my selection to her for the final verdict.  This year?  She will be a cute and girly Queen of Hearts. She and I both looked online at the props and saw this one. 

We loved it.  What we didn't love was the price.  $20?!!? plus shipping for a ribbon decorated dowel with cards? No way.  I looked at Lil Miss and told her, I can make this for at least half the price.  Lucky thing Lil Miss reminded me she needed her prop on Monday....I ran out to the store to purchase the necessary items.

A lot of the consumables (glues, trimmers, heart punch, glitter glue, white acrylic paint, red and black cardstock) I already had at home.  I ended up purchasing: Dowel, deck of cards, Red, Black, white ribbon (didn't end up using the white), and gold ornate jewelry.

 

How Did I Do It?

*I started off by painting the wooden dowel white. *Since the center of the gold ornate jewelry was blue, I used my red glitter glue to change it to a more appropriate red.  *I removed the Jack, King, & Queen of Hearts cards out of the deck and adorned the hearts and the letters with red glitter glue as well.  *I let them dry overnight to insure they had dried thoroughly.  *Next morning, I hot glued the red ribbon candy cane style around the white dowel. *I adhered the black ribbon around the bottom where she will hold it from.  *I then took the red wire ribbon and tied a bow to where the black ribbon meets the white dowel portion.  *I secured it from unraveling with a dot of hot glue.  *Once that dried I attached the now red centered gold ornate jewelery to the center of the bow. * I attached the King and Jack off centered to the back of the dowel, and then adhered the Queen centered to the front of the dowel. * Finally, I added the framed red heart to the bottom of the Queen of Hearts card where it meets the dowel.

And this is the final product:

 

My $8 take on the Queen of Hearts Scepter.

{Friday Five} Looking Forward to....

1} Surprising Mr. Man with a Heath Bar Trifle in celebration of his birthday today.

2} A combination birthday date of Sushi & a Movie.

3} Baking cupcakes.

4} Helping my two slip into their costumes & taking them Trick or Treating on Halloween.

 5} Bidding October a bittersweet goodbye till next year.

Wednesday Words of Wisdom

Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work.

- Oprah Winfrey

{What a Bargain} In Search of the Perfect Peacoat

Two years ago, I decided I was through with carrying around the last 15 pounds I had left to shed from having my Lil' Man.  Since I had already had much success with the Weight Watchers diet after giving birth to Lil Miss, I knew once I put my mind to it, I would accomplish my goal.  Within 6 months, I was back to the weight I was during my University years.

This was a huge accomplishment.  Although I was extremely excited about dropping 3 dress sizes, my pocketbook was in dire distress.  I couldn't wear clothes that were literally falling off of me.  This meant I had to start acquiring a new wardrobe.  Of course one of the priciest things to replace is outerwear.  Living in the Northeast where we have to wear a coat or a jacket on an average of 7 months out of the year, means we usually have about 4 different types of them in our coat closet.  Last year I replaced the dire essentials....my everyday coat and jacket, and my dress coat.  I decided to leave replacing my peacoat for this year. 

I have been scouring all the websites looking for the perfect one in style and value.  I had seen several updated stylish looking ones which I was tempted to buy but decided against it thinking "The ruffles are cute, but will I eventually say, I want a classic looking one?"  Over the weekend, I went shopping with my mother and came across the one pictured above.  I was instantly drawn to the camel color.  The coat priced originally at $129.95, was on sale for 40% off making it $77.97.  Great deal, right?

Well, keep in mind, I am the bargain shopper.  I remembered I had a store coupon for $35 off the purchase of $75 or more at home.  I decided to call Mr. Man and send him on his bargain shopping mission.  I took a picture of me modeling the peatcoat, jotted down the style number, told him where I kept the coupon at, and sent him on his way.  When the cashier rang Mr. Man up, she even exclaimed "Wow, this is an amazing bargain!"

Final cost for my new peacoat? $42.97

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Where Did the Weekend Go?

It's hard to believe, it's already Monday!

Here are my weekend highlights:

* Took an early bus into NYC to visit my hairstylist to get a much needed haircut.

* Met up with my Mom and had a shrimp scampi over linguine lunch in City Island.

* Accompanied Mom to a happening birthday party.

* Sent Mr. Man on a mission to pick up a peacoat at an amazing price. (More on the tomorrow!)

Even though I am a city girl through and through, one thing that I definitely became accustomed to about living in suburbia is the quietness of the evenings.  All we hear here by the shore at night are the sounds of crickets. In NYC however, specifically where my mother lives, I was awoken every 30 minutes by the sound of the NYC Transit Bus approaching and departing from the stop across the street.  I also heard the firetrucks, police cars, and individuals arguing with each other as they walked by.  So, needless to say, I was happy to get a restful night's sleep after a fun filled weekend.

Hope everyone has a great week!

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