trick-or-treat via technology.

we waited on the front patio with a frenchie and a bowl full of candy but only saw a handful of trick-or-treaters. we never see many, but that's okay because we did have one special cowgirl pay us a visit tonight via skype... miss jayden, our niece in san diego showing off her costume and sugary loot. she was the cutest cowgirl and we hear her big brother was quite the caterpillar. it's nights like these i really love technology.

boo.

happy halloween.

today seems like the perfect day to give pumpkin a chance.

i love the smell of pumpkin candles but don't think i like pumpkin flavored things.

maybe i do. i dunno, but this fall i'm going to give them a try. as soon as the leaves start changing, it feels like everyone around me is giddy with excitement for pumpkin spiced lattes, pumpkin pie and seasonal pumpkin beers.

i kinda wanna be one of those people. i'm going to try.

{image via flickr}

annual horror classic.

as mentioned here, my company has a lot of fun with our halloween's "horror classic" bowling event. this year we randomly assigned teams and it was up to each team to come up with a theme - for legit prizes of course. on friday the awesome costumes were revealed before an afternoon or beers and bowling. it was my favorite horror classic and i had fun being a gnome. i thought it turned out pretty damn cute, plus it's super comfy. happy halloween!

 

 {angela the haboob & me the garden gnome}

{an arizona haboob and weather newscaster. remember the haboob (here)?}

 {the "gutter gnomes" team}

{mail order brides}

 {white trash wedding party. the bride's baby bump is real!}

 {roller derby girls}

{dancing with the stars rejects}

{sheriff joe arpaio and his chain gang}

{the winning team... these statues are in the lawn of our company's high rise building}

{ben, the photographer statue and his homemade cardboard camera}

 

{highest female bowling score - for the second year in a row. $125 spa gift card}

pizza & games with the boys.

on friday afternoon my dad, little brother and odie (steven's pup) pulled into phoenix for a weekend visit. we kicked things off with pizza, wings & salad at LGO followed by a good old fashioned family game night. steven and danny vs. teri and bill for a couple fun rounds of cranium. the game provided some really good laughs as we debated sUshimi vs. sAshimi, the famous first words of moby dick, whales, laundrOmats, julia child & celine dion charades and us vs. china execution rates but in the end dad and i won. duh. nice try, boys. 

 {danny: "dude, i know i'm right." steven: "really? i don't think so, but whatever..."}

fiesta friday.

danny's office is having a salsa contest today and we all know ting loves him some salsa. 

he buzzed over to food city and came home with a bag full of fresh ingredients to make his secret recipe. 

considering his fingers were burning for hours after the preparation, 

i'm going to go out on a limb and say there are plenty of jalapenos in there (and tasters should beware). 

no seriously, we looked up a home remedy to take out the sting (fyi: rubbing alcohol, milk, oil or vaseline)

¡buena suerte!

omg, so freakin' cute.

my girlfriend lacey jaye just sent me a little halloween message with this photo....

freakin' adorable. i love it. i do have to say that one of the parts about having a baby i'm most excited about (again, in the future) is watching their relationship with our frenchies (since we'll always have them).

do you have big plans for halloween?

working at an ad agency means you dress up at work. tomorrow's the annual Horror Classic Bowling event and this year we're doing "team themes" but i can't reveal what exactly since it's top secret and the competition is fierce. (past years here & here)

the rest of this halloween weekend we'll be enjoying with my dad and little brother who'll be in town!

our little garden gnome.

i love seeing more and more of my friends jumping into the blog world.

the newest addition is miss lisa, the gnome-mad. 

the "about me" section on her blog explains it all perfectly...

i'm loving the concept of a hip blog about all things botanical and am majorly impressed with her gorgeous photos, layout and logo (her husband reed is a budding architect with mad design skills)!

be sure to add gnome-mad to your daily reading.

danny's sole-mates.

during this shopping spree, ting bought the pair of oxfords he'd been eyeing for a while. 

and after just a month, it's clear they were meant to be. 

danny's found his dress shoe solemate.

{oxfords from allen edmonds}

a day just for me.

our company has the old use-it-or-lose-it policy for vacation days and as the end of the year approaches, i surprisingly have a handful of days still available (clearly, we have a very generous time off package). it's the first year we haven't taken "a big trip" that's eaten up a bunch of my days, so last week i decided to take monday (today) off.

it's pretty awesome. it's very rare for me to have a day off to just be at home and do anything that i want (i think this may be a first since my days are usually reserved for trips). i have grandiose plans for this day -- too much -- so i'm trying to focus on one thing at a time.

you see, i have a big 'ol list of photo projects that i've been wanting to get done and most of them simply require me, my laptop and time. so, that's the goal of today - spend time working on these things (perhaps even complete one?!). i've got three episodes of project runway on my DVR to play in the background, a pot of coffee and a cuddly pig on the couch. pretty awesome.

a lakeside wedding.

we spent this past weekend in nevada to celebrate the wedding of danny's cousin eric to his new bride, jaime.

we flew into reno late friday night and stayed at the atlantis resort & casino with danny's parents and grandma. on saturday morning we headed up to zephyr cove on lake tahoe for the wedding ceremony before heading back to sparks, nevada for the reception.

it could not have been a more gorgeous day. the sun was shining, the water was crystal clear and there was just enough crisp in the air to remind you it was a fall day in the mountains. the ceremony on the lake was followed by a super fun reception back in sparks, nevada where family and friends danced the night away.

{the ceremony site}

{sweet little scout, one of danny's cousin's sons}

{danny lakeside with his parents}

{meme}

{two of the ring boys... dominic and scout. could they be any sweeter?}

{aunt debbie & uncle tony watching their youngest son say i do}

{jaime & eric}

{it's not every day you're wearing heels & oxfords in the mountains}

{after the ceremony, we went to the hyatt at incline village for a drink on the water}

{spotted in the paring lot. a sign?}

{couldn't be a more perfect setting for an afternoon glass of wine}

{the view from the cocktail hour & reception site in sparks, nevada}

{danny, vicky and vicky's sister, deborah - the mother of the groom}

{vicky and uncle tony, father of the groom}

{the little boys were loving the ice cream machine & shirley temples}

{jaime's (the bride) adorable son}

{the grandmas of the wedding}

{time for toasts - i love that dominic is toasting with his dad}

{little scout never let that glowstick out of his sight}

{such a pretty bride}

{i love everything about this photo. all the kids (and danny) huddled at the glass looking in at the first dance}

{danny gettin' down on the dance floor with meme}

{danny, the dance floor king}

{angie & meme. angie is mom to adorable dominic and scout}

{beautiful night views of all the city lights}

{loved the fire pit outside the reception room}

{aunt debbie's DIY rose pedal cones to toss at the bride & groom}