Simmer Till Done » halloween

Wordless Wednesday: Halloween

Marilyn — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:26:41 +0000

A few words anyway: while prepping Miss Undead, Josie said “I want the makeup to look, you know, like she had a lot on and then it smeared for 100 years.” I told her the quickest route would be to turn 42, stay up very late, then check the mirror at 7 a.m.

And your Halloween?

Parties and Paneling

Marilyn — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:33:21 +0000

I had a lot of Halloween weekend parties in our wood-paneled basement. Here I am on November 2, 1975, thinking I did a swell job looking like Minnie Mouse.

When did Minnie ever wear a green turtleneck? Also, I’m not trying to hang myself with that necklace. As I recall it’s a Mickey Mouse necklace, of which I was inordinately proud, enough to hold it up for the camera. My friend Karen is a fortune-teller. You can tell because she’s wearing a head scarf and big earrings, universal fortune-teller gear.

One year later, another costume party. My friend Debbie and I went as Elton John and Kiki Dee, who were on all our radios singing “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” Debbie got to be Elton, in a purple satin jacket and glittered glasses, and I was stuck being Kiki, in my everyday culottes and knee socks. During our “performance” Debbie got carried away and sang the whole song, even the Kiki parts. Stuck with dumb stripey knee socks and no solo, I cried at that party and made everyone go home. And that’s a shame, because if you were lucky enough to have a Halloween birthday party in a cool paneled basement, with a dad who brought down pizza boxes and a mom who wasn’t sure about spreading frosting but did it anyway, the least you could do was let your guests (excluding Elton) stay for cake.

Birthday Weekend: Zombie Cheerleaders, Cocktail Music and 1,000 Blintzes

Marilyn — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:39:59 +0000

I share a birthday with Marie Antoinette – November 2 – and in my younger years I took this to mean I was destined for cake and royalty, only to eventually learn that it just might mean the chopping block. Early November always puts my birthday somewhere between Halloween and Election Day, and never more so than this year, when the weekend began with candy and ended with cocktails, politicians and blintzes.

Friday, 4:30 pm: In a blinding show of supermarket strength, I improbably stick to my own advice – “never buy candy you like.”

I hate Milk Duds.

Friday, 4:45 pm: making pom-poms for Josie’s “Undead Zombie Cheerleader.” First, be sure to make a frantic, yelling stop at the grocery store about two hours before said costume is necessary.

At the store, pick up one black plastic tablecloth for $1.26. At home, rip it in half (Death’s not neat), then roll up each half tightly and secure the top with rubber bands. Use a scissors to slash up each pom-pom below the rubber band, then tie with orange ribbon and pull out all the strips to “fluff” them out.

And you’re ready to go! The Undead Pep Squad never looked so good.

Saturday: baking for the annual Blintz Brunch & Bake Sale on Sunday.

But what’s this? Early birthday present! Greg & Josie thoughtfully give me a new camera, which allows me to taken even closer close-ups of coffee cake, cherry filling and wet dog noses.

Saturday evening: off with friends to see Waitiki, a live South-Seas retro cocktail music spectacular at Lawrence’s historic Liberty Hall, complete with tiki bar drinks and not one but two onstage gongs. Amazing.

A show that managed to somehow be both mellow and wild, and all broadcast live on NPR. I ordered a “Shrunken Skull” cocktail, and given the large amount of rum vs. the dangerously small size of my brain, one was enough. Rock on, forty-one year old.

Sunday morning: Josie waits tables at the Lawrence Jewish Community Center’s annual Blintz Brunch, an enormous community-wide event, a blintz-lover’s paradise and a politician’s hand-shaking dream. There were were plenty of them on hand, too – congressmen and state senators and school board members, all there to buy chocolate babkas, kiss a few babies and eat thousands of cheese blintzes. Greg and I took our traditional posts at the Bake Sale table.

Anything look familiar?

Monday morning: Bleary-eyed and full of sugar. Look, it’s like we shared the whole weekend – and if we had, you’d also have my cold, and be hacking your lungs out right now over hot tea and roses and birthday cards. I think what I’d really like is a gift-wrapped pot of chicken soup.

I leave you with the cool sounds of Waitiki – have a great week, don’t eat too much leftover candy and don’t forget to vote!

Evening update: Just look what Fedex brought from my dear pal Jean today, a veritable hodgepodge of gifty delight -

Now here’s a girl who knows me: stickers for the Anglophile, “M” cards for the paper freak and a vintage pear painting, for, you know, the pear-lover that I am. Nothing like a birthday that keeps on giving!