Party Wednesday: Last Minute Halloween Party

            So you waited until the last possible second to throw a Halloween party.  You have less than a day to throw something together to make this a decent party.  I have included quick decorating, food, and costume ideas for you to do in a few hours.  But let’s face the facts, you are just going to sit around and watch scary films, drink beer, and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters.

Décor

                        We have to keep this quick so run down to the store (target, Wal-Mart, some place) and buy up all the spider webbing/cobwebs you can find.  Also buy cheese cloth, black table cloth, black construction paper, black paint, and a lot of pumpkins.

            When you get home, string up the spider cobwebs all around your house, place the table cloth on the table (duh) and down the middle of the table make a runner out of the cheese cloth.  If you have extra cheese cloth you can hang them around your house as well.

 

http://www.marthastewart.com/853609/decrepit-dwelling?czone=holiday%2Fhalloween-center%2Fhalloween-center-decor&gallery=275513&slide=853609&center=276965

            With the pumpkins if you don’t have time to carve them out you can always paint faces on them or paint them entirely black.  It is also good to have pumpkins ranging in different sizes so you can stack them on top of each other for a center piece.

            Have a lamp shade, well with that construction paper you can cut out and tape on bats, cats, what ever scares you on to your lamp shade.

            Now you yourself need to be in costume, but what do you wear?  Well if you have an expansive closet and some imagination you can figure something out.  If not then here are some easy quick examples that will help you for 2013:

The Bum

Sexy Ghost

Miley Cyrus

Zombie

Food

            Pizza Mummies

http://spoonful.com/recipes/pizza-mummies

Spider Dip

http://blog.eventup.com/halloween-appetizers/

Erie Empanadas

http://www.divinedinnerparty.com/halloween-party-appetizers.html

Crispy Candy Corn

http://www.marthastewart.com/933581/crisp-candy-corn-treats?czone=holiday%2Fhalloween-center%2Fhalloween-center-pumpkins&gallery=923430&slide=933581&center=276965

Drink

Pumpkin Ale

Hard Cider

Pumpkin Pie Spice Punch

http://www.hgtv.com/entertaining/pumpkin-spice-halloween-punch-recipe/index.html

            This is just for the last minute blog… I mean last minute Halloween party.  Chances are you and your buddies are going to sit around and drink so why not look like you put some effort into your house for them.  Like always I would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions on what I should do for the next Party Wednesday; or have pics you would like to share just send them my way.  See you Friday for some ranting or whatever. 

See you on the other side

Bitch’n Friday: How To Survive A Cold

            Well that damn sore throat finally turned into a cold and I felt like shit the past couple of days.  I didn’t really feel like writing today, aside form the cold my awesome boyfriend bought me a 3Ds XL for anniversary/Christmas gift and all I want to do is play Pokemon X.  But for you my lovelies I shall write a brief survival guide to a cold/ how to get someone to sympathies with you.

 Step 1, you just got the cold:

            Once the cold has come with the gross dripping snot, watery eyes, and hunched over body; it is time to hunker down in a warm dark corner of the world.  In this case your bedroom.  If it is a really nasty cold call in sick from work, if you do this you have to sound really raspy and clogged up.  Also if you share a bed with a partner make them sleep somewhere else, you need them healthy so you can use them as your nurse slave.

Step 2, gather the essentials

            When you have cleared out your space and time on your calendar to be hunkered down for the next couple of days, it is time to gather the equipment/medical supplies.

1: warm bed and blankets

2: twp to three boxes of tissues

3: a large paper bag for used tissues

4: large thermal mug full of hot tea and honey.

5: 6 can of chicken noodle soup.

6: TV with a game counsel or cable so you have something to watch and fall asleep to.

7: get a cat or dog to be your cuddle buddy.  If you don’t have a soft furry friend then a       stuffed animal will do.  

8: drugs, lots of drugs

Step 3, get your loved one or roommate to become your nurse.

            This might be a bit hard for some people but with the right look and attitude you can get them to be your errand boy.  First you have to look sicker than you really are.  I know you may feel like shit but sometimes the outward appearance can fool some people.  So you will need to grease up your hair and dishevel it, put white powder on your face, and dab a little red blush on your nose.  Next wear old bath robes, long sleeve night shirt with sweat pants and shuffle around (in slippers) around the house moaning.  Try going into the kitchen and bang up some pots drop cups and utensils.  Eventually they will want you out of there and escort you back to the room and fix you with whatever you need.

Step 4, rest

            This may seem simple, but in today’s society where we need to be connected to everyone all the time it drains you.  So, this may be hard but turn off the phone, computer, tablet, and whatever else connects to the internet.  If you need to email for work limit it to 15-20 minutes in the morning and 20-30 in the afternoon.  Remember you are trying to be rid of this cold fast and quick. 

            It’s ok to lay in bed and sleep or watch old movies.  The more you sleep and rest the faster the cold will go away.  Do not forget to drink lots of fluids.  Hot tea is the best since it will help break down the mucus in your throat and nose.  Dinking flat sprite or 7-up is good as well. 

            Just remember the only way to be rid of a cold is to stay in bed with your warm blankets, and just rest.  Between dinking like a fish and resting you should be rid of your cold fast.  Sorry this is a bit wordy but if you made it this far then give your self a high five.  If you have tips of getting well leave them in the comment section below.  See you Monday for what will probably be a boring Monday wrap up.

See you on the other side.

Party Wednesday: 50’s Halloween Party

             I just want to bring back some good old family Halloween.  Back to when times were simpler and the decorations were cheesy.  Let’s step back in time, grab your poodle skirts and sweater vests and swing back in time.

Décor

                        I just wanted to keep it simple and feel like you have walked threw your parents or grandparents house.  Halloween back in this period wasn’t as big as it is today.  People were more likely to dress up than to go all out on decorating, but it is important to decorate for this theme. 

            Using paper cut outs of black cats, pumpkins, and witches.  I would tape them all around the room you are hosting in, you can never have enough.  You can also make a daisy chain of paper pumpkins or bats along the walls as well.

  

http://gliha.blogs.com/materialarchive/2009/10/vintage-halloween-decorations.html

How can you go wrong with carved pumpkins?  I say buy a lot since your décor is very minimal and place them outside, on a window sill, floor, table, you name it there is a carved pumpkin.

  

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/holiday---celebration-recipes/halloween-recipes/how-to-carve-a-pumpkin

Next step is a game section.  You can do pin the tail on the cat (really fun when you are drunk), some ring toss, or you can do a bobbing for apples.  Just be sure to have some towels lying around incase your guests get a little to wet.

  

http://streetscenevintage.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-best-kind-of-halloween-costume.html

For your table you can either do a simple black or orange table cloth or you can go a little bit chees…err….festive with a pumpkin or more themed table cloth.  For your centerpiece pile on those carved pumpkins or add more paper craft black cats or skulls. 

  

http://www.topdreamer.com/20-ideas-halloween-table-decoration/

Flatware use Halloween themed paper plates, cups, and black plastic utensils.

 

http://www.vintagehalloween.com/vintagebeistle.html

Top off the evening with some vintage Halloween music.  I found a site that has a YouTube links to various 1950’s Halloween songs: http://my50syear.blogspot.com/2011/10/14-october-1957-halloween-songs.html#/

And how can we forget about the appropriate costumes to wear to our 1950’s Halloween party:

For the girls:

  

http://midcenturyliving.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-costumes-1950-1969.html

For Boys:

Food

            Mummy Wraps

  

http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/2383540-Pigs-in-a-blanket-Halloween-mummy-wrap-

Dead Man (Rumaki)

http://www.thenakedkitchen.com/holiday-rumaki/

Black Cat Cheese Ball

  

http://www.hungryhappenings.com/2011/10/i-created-this-recipe-last-halloween.html

Candy Apples

  

http://www.justataste.com/2011/10/candy-apples/

Big Bowl of candy from the 50’s

Drink

Apple Pie Martini

  

http://celebrationsathomeblog.com/2010/11/autumn-cocktails.html

Tom Collins

  

http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/tom-collins-drink-recipe

Sinner (Gin and Sin)

http://www.in-the-spirit.co.uk/cocktails/view_cocktail.php?id=126

Big Mac Daddy

http://www.in-the-spirit.co.uk/cocktails/view_cocktail.php?id=31

            With this party you should return to your youth or your parent’s youth of joy and whimsy with out the entire scary adult world to hinder you.  I just want to take a moment and say THIS IS MY 100 POST HERE!  I have been posting since January and it has been an interesting experience thus far.  Thank you readers or bots that come to my page regularly.  You all have helped me get up to a little over 1300 views as of now; lets see if we can break 1800 before the end of the year.

See you on the other side

The Epic Sore Throat Continues…

            Holy cow, the last time I had a sore this long was when I had strep and I was coughing up blood.  Lucky for me I am not coughing up blood and the soreness usually goes away by the time the afternoon starts.  But this is, what, week two and it is getting old.  I think it’s a cold but the stuffy nose part has turned into a nasal drip that is irritating the shit out of my poor throat.  Fingers crossed that this goes away soon.

            Well for the better part of last week I was desperately trying to finish up the single player on GTAV, which I did and you can read my review here.  I wanted to finish before I left for my two day excursion to my parents house.  I was house/animal sitting for them while they went up to Bellingham for the day/night.  It was weird and really eerie to be alone in a big house out in the middle of the woods when the fog wouldn’t lift and all you have for protection is a small winger dog and an old lab that doesn’t get off the couch. 

            But I lived and came back safe to the city… which you would thing it would be less safe than out in the country, but horror movies have told us differently!  Well now I’m back and have started playing Diablo 3 on the Xbox, I have never played any of the other Diablo games but I did play WoW back in the day.  So far I like in and the dungeons seem to generate differently with each new character.  I only wish the dialogue would vary for each.  Might have to do a review when I’m done.

            Coming up this week is another party Wednesday, totally forgot that there are 5 Wednesday s this month, so I will have to figure something out for next week.  If you lovely 5 people who watch me have any suggestions please leave them in the comments below.

            See you on the other side

Game Review: Grand Theft Auto V

            I have finally finished Grand Theft Auto V!  Holy cow it is a long game, but worth it for the pay off in the end.  I will be focusing on the game play, sound/design, and overall story/characters in the main game, sorry no online review yet.  There might be some spoilers, your have been warned!

Game Play

            The control for the cars and other motorized vehicles in the games is very well done.  For some one who hates driving in games because the cars usually go off the road after one bump into an object, that is saying a lot.  Now some cars are worse than others but once you have found a well balanced car (or pimped out a car enough to handle turns and breaking) it makes driving easier. 

            However, I have found the controls for aircraft to be a bitch.  The only thing I could really fly with precision was the helicopters.  Sure there is flight school but I didn’t really want to spend 2 hours (that is how long it would take me to complete the whole thing) learning to fly planes.  Thankfully there aren’t too many missions where you have to fly a plane.

            The fighting and shooting mechanics they are ok.  It is better to go into the setting menu and switch your sights to complex.  That way you can have a circle and a dot instead of a tiny little dot that you can barely see what you are shooting at.   Combat situations are easy to get threw as long as you stay in cover and switch to Trevor (when available) to use his special powers.

            Speaking of special powers, each main character has there own unique skill/power.  Michael is the ability to slow down time to doge bullets and precise aim (Max Pain style); Franklin is handy with cars so he has the ability to slow down time while in the car to make tactical driving chooses; Trevor can go into a berserker mode where time slows and he receives no damage while in this mode.  I found these to be very handy on missions and general walking around.

            Over all the game play mechanics are done well and once you have grasped them, you can fully immerge yourself into the game.

Visuals and Sound

            The visuals are stunning.  From the first moment you are walking on the beach and you watch the sunset, you know this game is going to look alright.  The lighting in this game is very well done, from the sun glares to neon lights; everything is properly lit and doesn’t seem out of place.  The water and sand looks like water and sand and not some copy and past texture.

            Although there are cases where the textures are copy and past, the shops that you cannot go into the “windows” look like poorly copied ads placed on the graphic.  Also if you are riding around in the hills or look at a patch of grass the texture looks like something out of a last gen counsel. 

  

            As for sound I literally had an orgasm when it came to the background sound design.  The layers and right mix of traffic noise and air was overwhelming.  It is refreshing to go to different parts of the city and get a different soundscape for each part.  Even on the beach near the city you could still hear the roar from the traffic. 

            The dialogue from the main cast was well done, it pays to have an excellent cast, but I felt the background extras became a little to repetitive.  The sound effects for the vehicles could be little more divers but overall everything was covered. 

            Overall the visuals and sound are stunning, and you can easily get lost for house in this gigantic sandbox just driving or what I like to do, sail around the map.

Story and Characters

            This is a long, long story line, as it should be with three main characters.  While I found the story to be moving at a good pace where I never felt board, I did find the story to be a little too predictable.  Once all the major players in the game had been introduced you could easily see the setup and ending roughly half way threw the main story.  Don’t get me wrong it is still a good story, but predictable. 

            Side mission story lines boarder on the ridiculousness but funny.  It is a nice deviant from the main story line and gives the player more experiences that you can do in the world.  I particularly love Trevor’s freaks and strangers missions. 

            The characters themselves are very complex and diverse in there own unique way.  You can easily identify where they came from, brought up, and became the person they are to this day.  As for the others characters outside of the main 3, every single one is flat and a stereotype.  The men fall into douche bag with penis envy while the women fall is a raging ball of PMS and sluts looking to score a high paying dick.  It would be nice to see some type of diversity in the next game.

            Final thought on the game, it was well written, visually appealing, and has a very high replay value.  Few things would need to be fixed for example a few of the textures, more complex villains and side characters, and better controls for flight.  But this was a fun game to play and I for one can not wait to dive back in to explore more of this world.

See you on the other side.

Party Wednesday: Witches’ Coven

             With the surprising rise of witches back on TV (Witches of Eastend and American Horror Story: Coven) I just thought it would be appropriate to celebrate.  Let’s turn that lively home into a dead/ haunted one and invite your coven over for dinner.

Décor

                        For the décor I wanted a more elegant setting, like the head witch has invited the coven over for dinner.  The main colors are going to be black, white and accents of red.

            For lighting normal white lighting will be fine but be sure to add black candles, candle holders, and a fancy black chandler to tie back in the horror feeling.

http://fancy.com/things/339215684544238197/black-candle-holders-with-black-candles

http://www.cheapchandeliersinfo.com/black-chandelier/elegant-gypsy-chandelier-with-black-bead/

                On a mantel or stand alone shelf, place a focal point of some black picture frames (they can contain a freighting picture inside or an old creepy looking photo) with some black candles holders and black cloth draped over it.  The photo I found has used some black crows and white pumpkins, you can use that as well or in place of the pumpkins you can add skulls.  I would recommend skulls.

http://www.craftberrybush.com/2012/10/mini-halloween-house-tour-with.html

            Along book shelf’s, add some black bottles and clear one with some witch’s ingredients in them.

http://www.the36thavenue.com/2012/09/diy-halloween-poison-bottles.html

  For the food table, keep it simple with a black runner with a mesh white runner on top.  For the center piece have elaborate candelabra, or go with a bird cage painted black with a skull and a crow inside.

http://www.minimalisti.com/decoration/09/sinister-halloween-table-decorations-and-bizarre-bar-ornamentation.html

For the flatware, use black utensils, for the plates find something unique and creepy and use red cloth napkins. 

https://www.jossandmain.com/Haute-Halloween-20-Piece-Montana-Flatware-Set~HALL1080~E2353.html

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/halloween-medallion-plates/

Don’t forget the goblets!

Food

            Green Goddess

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/extra-green-green-goddess-dip

Pumpkin Soup

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pumpkin-soup-pumpkin-seed-50400000116276/

Roasted Crows (Quails)

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-quail-with-cranberry-orange-pecan-stuffing-10000000258813/

Witches hats

http://www.trendytree.com/blog/witch-hat-cookies/

Drink

Witches Brew

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/brew-ha-ha-punch-10000000257698/

Bubbling Brew

http://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity-lifestyle/articles/halloween-entertaining-guide-witches-brew#slide-2

Eye of Newt

http://homebars.barinacraft.com/post/11879209928/black-pumpkin-mold-halloween-cocktail

Hocus Pocus

http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Beverages-Cocktails/Orange-Hocus-Pocus-Fizz

            This should give your coven something to talk about until the next get together.  As always if you have a party idea or would like to share one of your own themed parties, send it my way and I will put it up on my blog.  Next week is the last Halloween themed party.  Don’t be sad there will be a party theme each month; just keep an eye out for them.  Come back Friday where I will give you my review on Grand Theft Auto V.

See you on the other side

Sore Throat and Cool Things

            Wasn't feeling sick these past couple of days so sorry of the no update yesterday.  Good news is that I haven’t recived a runny nose (yet); bad news is that I keep getting this sore throat in the mornings.  And no, I don’t smoke.  It came on Friday afternoon and by Friday evening, I couldn’t swallow, talk, and I was hacking up mucus chunks.  Sounds pleasant, but the best part was I could not go to sleep until some time after 2 am.  Come the next morning, my throat was a little sore from the hacking up but over all ok.  Very weird.

            Another thing that happened last week was that my man went on a business trip to Dallas with the leads in his division, leaving me home alone with the cats and the city.  Let’s just say I kept myself busy trying to finish GTA 5 (still not done) and playing with makeup that turned my bathtub into a clown murder scene.  But upon his arrival home he gave me a beautiful gift from the Texas’ state fair. 

From the Fair

            I just want to make a couple of announcements from some things coming up this moth that I am excited about.

            First off have you checked out The Wolf Among Us yet?  It’s a done by the same company who did the Walking Dead, Telltale games, based on based on Bill Willingham's Fables comic book series.  The sorties take place before the comic book and will consist of 5 episodes.  The first one is out now on all platforms but you can play part of the first episode for free now on Xbox and Playstation. 

            The second thing I wanted to mention was… BRAVEST WORRIORS IS BACK!

Well to be precise it will be premiering the second season on YouTube this Thursday.  I cannot wait to watch it!  I love catbug and I want to make a mascot suite in his form and wear it to conventions.  However that would be a lot of time and money and I sure as hell don’t have the money to make it.  One day cat bug I shall be in you!

            That was totally not weird… anyway be sure to come back tomorrow for Party Wednesday as we continue our month long Halloween themed parties.

            See you on the other side