Parties Make a House a Home

Our place is still fairly messy after our Halloween/Harvest party on Saturday night. Josh was so gracious in letting my inner-Martha come out... Garlands of ghosts, a bouquet of branches, foliage-bedecked mantle, paper bats.... Yes, I very much enjoyed putting this party together.

It felt like "home" – I guess a big part of my post-college life in Seattle was PARTIES! Theme parties, house parties, holiday parties, parties celebrating the life and death of pop stars... This is what my friends and I did. We're good at it. So it meant a lot that I was able to spend some time and money (which we're not exactly "rollin" in) to throw a party. I did feel guilty at moments, thinking "this is such a frivolous thing to be doing."

But in the end, I know it was worth it. All of Josh's classmates came, most in costume, and I think everyone had a wonderful time. I know I did. I can't believe though that I forgot to take a picture of myself in my mime get-up! Granted, my face looked pretty scary. The caramel apple punch I made was a HIT. Cheddar cobwebs were good too. Highly recommend that ish.

A sneak-peek into what my exciting days look like

Now it's back to non-party mode, which involves anxiously searching for freelance writing jobs, anxiously thinking about how to become a freelance illustrator (less thinking and more doing would help), struggling with the art I create, and on a positive note, being the best susie-homemaker there ever was (which unfortunately does not provide any sort of monetary income). Yep, that's what my days look like currently. Vacuuming. Sending resumes. Cooking. Wondering where to find a legit place to print my art because everything is so much harder to figure out in the Europes. Grocery shopping. Producing uninspired doodles.... SORRY I'M BEING WAY TOO DOWN ON MYSELF. Snapoutofit, Allie.

This week, Josh will be going to another design conference in Antwerp, Belgium on Thursday through Saturday. It's an hour train ride away, so I'll be going on Friday to see the city (AKA eat Belgian fries, chocolate, and beer) and the man of my dreams. His name is Josh Oakley. And he is my future husband. THE END.