Halloween

Halloween was very low-key this year. Last year, we couldn't do much of anything as for as Halloween activities, because Jonathan's cousin got married that day. But if there's a good excuse to "miss" Halloween, it's that! So we still had those costumes ready to wear....








When we got to Yer Man's, a local bar hosting a Halloween party, we see Giacomo dressed as this...










Scary bartender, eh?

Popeye doing "Thriller".

The next day we went over to Brooklyn. Here is Johnny enjoying his Halloween Oreo. By the way, his black eye is part of his costume LOL. He was a boxer for the day.





Doesn't it look like he's going off to a fight here? So cute!



I didn't feel like dressing up again so that sticker was the extent of my holiday cheer.



This house in Erica & John's new neighborhood was decked out nicely.


Remember that picture over the summer of Johnny sniffing flowers? No? Here's a refresher.



Here he was...still sniffing flowers...


Hehe. I find it to be so adorable that he remembers to sniff the flowers. Now that's a charmer! Even his mommy is most amused.




How cute was this Frankenbaby?


That concludes Halloween for the year. It may not have had the high excitement of last year's wedding but it was just the right kind of fun I was looking for :-)

Anthony & Gina's Engagement Party

If an engagement party is a glimpse into a wedding then it is safe to say, Anthony & Gina's wedding is going to be SO nice. First of all, I am a sucker for fall weddings. You really can't go wrong with autumn themes, the mild weather and subtle Halloween hints (i.e lots of candy!). They had the party at Pop Diner, which at first you wouldn't think would be a good place to host an engagement party but it was actually (like I said before) so nice. I had a great time. I've never been so excited for a wedding before! And I'm not just saying that because I'm in it ;-)

Anthony & Gina

Gina with Elisa and Delina

Anthony and his adorable niece, Kayla.

Anthony with John and his future brother-in-law, Victor.

Our table.

Eggs benedict!

One of my favorite candids from the afternoon.

The cake was so good...but the spelling left little to be desired. Anlhony 8 Gina?

LOL! Leave it to David. (One of the groomsmen).

So sweet! Love this picture of them with their moms.

With their maid-of-honor and best man.

Five on Friday

1. I got my tickets to see Elf the Musical for November 10. This is my birthday present to myself so I purposely made it my birthday week. I hope this doesn't disappoint! Besides that, Jonathan and I are headed to Boston for a weekend next month. It's a good time to turn 25! :-)

2. CUNY said their decision will be sent out to me within two weeks...and that was last week. Excited to know if I will be spending the next year studying something I love to do for fun.

3. I have already started my Christmas shopping. This year, I have a set idea of what everyone in my family (and a few others) are getting. I made sure it's something specific for each person to enjoy. Trying not to get too many gift cards this year, even though it's an instant pleaser!

4. The weather here has been zany. Seriously, high 70s (almost 80s) the past few days and then wham, today, it's back to being cold/chilly. Don't you just love bipolar weather? I hope the day I shoot Anthony & Gina's engagement photos, we have perfect fall weather. Their engagement party is tomorrow (they'll be married a year from the 30th!) and I am really looking forward to all of it. It's my first time being involved in a wedding party :-)

5. Speaking of Boston, this is why I'll be heading to New England for a nerd-tastic weekend. Harry Potter 7 Part 1 also comes out the day we arrive. Oh yes....nerdtastic indeed!!!

Catching up with October

Paranormal Activity 2 was SICK! I went in expecting not to be scared at all (nor very impressed) like I left after seeing the first one last year. But Tiffany, Jared and I all agreed this one was much better. It's a prequel to the first film and explains what happens in the 60 days before the events from the first movie. I'm still a little creeped out as I type this because I'm using the computer in the basement and on top of that, I'm all alone in the house, at the moment. Needless to say, I'm ready to get out of here, LOL. The kicker from last night was that the only available screen left at midnight was in IMAX. Talk about super sized frights. I have to say, because it's paranormal activity and you don't actually see anything or anyone (well, except a shadow at some points), it just amps up the chills. Just earlier I thought I heard the TV call my name, haha. I need to get my mind off this movie!

Here are some things that have happened lately.

One night, a week or so ago, Jonathan, John and I decided to go to the piers in Long Island City to shoot some pictures. There's a GREAT view of the Manhattan skyline there and it's a nice place to just kind of chill or walk around.

It was a very cold night. Poor John got sick as a result of it (never go there without extra layers).

But earlier that night we had a chance to fill up our bellies with exceptionally delicious German food at Manor Oktoberfest.

How pretty does my sister look with her new haircut? :)

From another day before the piers visit, I was at an outdoor marketplace in Madison Square Park where I had a neat glimpse at the Empire State Building.

The city is alive with all things Halloween.

Just a bit too creepy.

A stroll in the city with the girls usually results in some camera shyness.

She's so pleasant.

I like to think this photo sums up Tiffany and Robyn's relationship, LOL

I laugh every single time I see this picture.

And of course, there's been plenty of Johnny time this past month.

The Girl Who Blogged

Lately I have been engrossed in Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy. It started off with stumbling upon a copy of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and being hooked within the first few pages. I wanted to give the book a chance, whether I liked it at first or not, because of the hoopla surrounding it. That and I was curious about the movie because of all the casting buzz. And now that I've finished The Girl Who Played With Fire and am halfway through The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, I can say that it's one of the most intriguing storylines I've ever read. The first one doesn't have much to do with the second and third (the latter two are more alike in storylines) but most of the characters are the same and in the first book you come to understand the bond between Blomkvist and Salander. Casting Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist was a great choice. He fits the image I have of him. And I'm really curious to see what Rooney Mara does for the character of Lisbeth Salander. Out of all the books I've ever read in my life, Salander is probably the most interesting character of them all. Even though she's kind of crazy (but not the kind of crazy people think she is), you really root for her. You want her to kick butt all the way until the end. Well, at least I do. But it's characters like her and Blomkvist and several others I've encountered in this trilogy that inspired me to put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) and start writing again. I also love that all three books were translated into English. I would love to see what the books look like in Swedish. I wonder if I could get a copy through Amazon? (Maybe I'm the crazy one).

My parents celebrated 25 years of marriage yesterday, which is amazing. 25 years...can you imagine? I wonder what this world will be like when I hit that milestone. Will blogs still be around to write about it? Maybe everything will be electronic by then and paper will cease to exist. Maybe we'll finally get those flying cars they've talked about since Back to the Future made it cool ;-)

Speaking of 25...I am about to turn a quarter of a century in a matter of weeks. Talk about SCARY. Not scary as in "5 more years until I'm 30!?!?" but more like, did I do everything I wanted to do by then?

Maybe not but I did, however, get a lens I had my eye on for months now. It's a basic macro lens, the 50mm but it takes GREAT pictures. Here are a few test shots I started with.