Monday, October 31, 2011

Monday List #18-Halloween Costumes

Happy Halloween readers! I love Halloween, so much fun and so spooky. Over the years I've hosted and attended some fantastic costume parties. So in the spirit of Halloween I am sharing my favorite costumes. Whether you are observing the day before the Catholic's All Saints Day or Samhain, the Gaelic feast to mark the end of the harvest or the Festival of the Dead, enjoy the last day of October and let me know if you experience anything supernatural as the veil lifts.

5. Halloween 1993. My son's first Halloween, I dressed him up as a dragon. Seriously the cutest thing EVER.












4. Halloween 1987. My senior year in high school. Costume party/Homecoming dance. I had a great wig.













3. Halloween 2006. Yup, I was Angelina Jolie. Lots of baby dolls and a great pair of high heels.












2. Halloween 2008. Beth, Dog the Bounty Hunter's Wife. My fake boobs were awesome. They were the party favor of the night.












1. Halloween 1997. The year before I had been to New Orleans and was antiquing in a dusty old shop on Magazine Street when I found a Victorian era dress stuffed in a corner. It was a dark purple dress with a long sleeve, high neck black lace dress over it that buttoned up the back. Absolutely the sexiest dress I've ever bought, the dress completely covers the body from neck to feet but you can still see the shape of the body through the form fitting lace overlay. Too create a costume, I went to the fabric store, bought a large straw hat and covered it with a long piece of black lace and applied tall feathers to the top. The lace veil over the hat covered my head and shoulders completely hiding my face. It was fun to wear and I won many costume contests in Chicago bars that year. I still have the dress although it's stored due to it's age and the fragile state of the lace overdress. Somewhere at home I have photos but below is a picture of a Victorian mourning outfit that looks similar to the costume I wore.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Chicago's Newberry Library

A few years ago while I was working on my Masters in Library and Information Science I did research at Chicago's Newberry Library. The Newberry is a non-circulating research library that is open to the public and home to an incredible collection of maps (over half a million) and specialized collections including European Renaissance, Chicago history, music and genealogy. If you happen to live in Chicago the annual book sale is a not to miss event.

Fans of author Audrey Niffenegger's book The Time Traveler's Wife will recognize the Newberry as the library where Henry worked.

Here is a short video on the Newberry, enjoy it book lovers.


Friday, October 21, 2011

October Update

Hi readers. As it's my birthday today and I've got a busy day planned this is going to be a short update. I wanted to share with you a video I created for the ILA Video Shootout. For more information on the Video Shootout, check the Facebook page and video submissions on the YouTube page.

As a present to myself I bought the new 11 inch MacBook Air. This beautiful little laptop weighs less than 2 pounds, is as thin as a magazine and is the perfect computer for traveling. For the ILA Video Shootout I had about 10 minutes to capture video on my iPhone and then about 30 minutes to learn iMovie on my new Mac and create a video. What you see below if my first iMovie.

So I'm signing off readers to start enjoying my birthday. Thoughts on the last year...I started my 40th with a trip to Paris, went scuba diving in the Virgin Islands, spent Christmas with my family in Florida, visited my sister and her family in Denver, bought a new house, started a new job, fell in love and finished my 40th year off with a trip to Spain and Africa. How will I top that at 41? Starting with a lovely weekend, my parents are visiting and we will go antique shopping, relax at home, enjoy Chicago and hang out with my son and my partner Paul. Happiness is the greatest gift of all.