Halloween

If you know me personally or have been to my home- you know that  I dig decorating for the holidays.... 

ALL  OF THEM..... as a matter of fact.

Halloween is my number one favorite,  followed closely by Christmas and then Easter-

The other 3-4 decor looks are default because I can't NOT decorate.....{pardon the double negative}  but Halloween has a special place in my heart- and holds as many bin spaces in my garage as my Christmas decorations!

My birthday narrowly missed Halloween by just a few minutes - so pretty much every birthday of mine has had a Halloween theme- and I'm totally fine with that- because ever since childhood- my birthday is actually two days of celebrating and who doesn't like to have a two day party???

Seriously- oodles of candy followed by birthday cake and yummy fall comfort foods...

Uhmmmm.... hell yeah!

I am crazy late in posting these- and I really scaled down my decorations this year

{YES- this is the scaled down version} just because I'm trying to crank out everyone's fall images.

But I did want to share a few shots with you all. 

I'm anxiously awaiting next weekend so that I can re-create my home and put up the Winter Wonderland....

Stay tuned!

xoxo Didi V

My daughter Onika giving me her best 40's babe look

My youngest daughter Gabbi strutting her peacock princess look

Even the powder room and kitchen get some spooky love....

 And if it stands still long enough- it gets draped in something.....

 

Halloween

Take a "stab" at what my favorite holiday is..... LOL!

I tend to go a bit overboard when it comes to Halloween....

I love to decorate both the interior and the exterior of our happy little suburban home... and at the end of the decorating day- if it hasn't run away on it's own- it's been decorated. 

My house this year was once again dripping in Halloween and  the creep-tastic!

I'm sure it's because I'm and All Saints baby- so pretty much every birthday I've ever had has been Halloween based... and I love it!  I've been collecting decor for years... and now that my kids are getting older- I can start to bring the dramatic rather than just the "cute"...   And this year, they were really able to help, create and cook and it is making the holidays just that much sweeter.

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Gabbi is and always has been a horse nut- so when Onika found several components of an equestrian outfit at our favorite 2nd hand haunt- it was as if the costume Gods were trying to tailor the perfect costume for my girl this year.

Not surprising that Onika wanted to be a Vampiress- again.... {for the umpteenth year in a row...} just with better accessories.... LOL-  Oh well- she rocked it.

We had a fun little get together with friends and neighbors and rocked the pre-trick-or-treat snack and the post-frozen children dinner.... witch's fingers, chocolate chip cookies, home-made chili bar, spiced apple cider and a jack-o-lantern pizza.... goodness on a plate!

I even got in on the action as a sugar skull pulled from el Dia de la Muerto lore.  I had fun with it- but felt bad- I scared the pants off of several little ones who came to "twik o tweet" my house.... they were definitely NOT ok with whatever I was and where the heck was Mrs. Miles at?????

Hope you all had a fab Halloween!!!

{and now... back to work for me}

xoxo Didi V.

In the garden of good and evil.....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I'm not sure if anyone understands the way my brain works most days.... and I'm sure that my kids certainly did not Saturday morning.... but after a little bit of prodding.... they decided to humor me.... and I'm so happy that they did....

I have wanted to go play in the gorgeous old section of the cemetery in Everett on Broadway for years..... it's incredibly beautiful- the gravestones are enormous and ornate, with wonderful moss invading the nooks and crannies.  The trees are Jurassic in size and the leaves are falling in a perfect orange and gold swirl all around on the emerald grasses.

{we paid special attention to stay on the paths and to walk the rows carefully- we wouldn't want to be disrespectful-

 just appreciative of the beauty around us there}

It was magic as far as the lighting went- sunny as the fog lifted... so it was dreamy and soft

....mmmmmm.....

And of course- I'm biased... but I got to work with two of the prettiest girls I know!

It was so funny to look back at how we spent the morning... because the rest of the day- was spent in sweaty gymnasiums in basketball gear- looking NOTHING like they had a few hours earlier....

I guess Lisa Leslie's book title says it best...

"Don't let the lip gloss fool you..."

Because they played like total rock-star jocks all day!
What a great day with my kids.
xoxox Didi V.

And now... back to our regularly scheduled workload...

Hauntings and Happenings.....

Just popping in quickly with some of my own hauntings and happenings here at Che Miles.... fall is absolutely one of my favorite times of year... the color and crispness, trips to the pumpkin patch, spiced cider, Carmel apples and pumpkin spice lattes!!! Crisp fall air, fallen leaves, the smell of a wood fire in the fireplace.... mmmmmm....... And I L-O-V-E to decorate for fall and Halloween- as you can see my house is dripping in it... inside and out!

We've also had an inordinately large amount of salamanders, snakes and frogs this Autumn... which makes my kids ridiculously happy... {did I mention that I live with Dr. Doo-Little I & II}

So life here at the Miles house rolls in and into basketball and book reports and pondering who will be what for Halloween.... I'm snapping away like a woman with her hair on fire trying to take advantage of the weather before it goes to... {well you know what I was going to say} winter mode.... I may make it out of hibernation from behind my monitor soon....and come out and be social.... but 'til then- have a great day- make the most of it! Mwah! xoox Didi V.

Halloween fun

Halloween-

Ghouls & goblins, witches, villains, angels, princesses, and even a Bo-Peep... we had them all! We even had a pretty anatomically correctly carved melon- literally and figuratively..... you want something done right- you go to the pros........the good Dr. Morin carved the brain from a melon and covered in cherry juice and it was a huge hit- What started out as a couple of us neighbors doing a pre-func turned into an all out party and good deal of chaos- topped off with monsoon weather. It's the first night I've ever trick-or-treated with a golf umbrella, that's for sure.... But we had a ball- rotating houses for a different acidity at each house and food here at ours.

There was a pinata, a donut drop, apple bobbing, fishing for eyeballs, and a treasure find in the hay- topped with lots of great snacks and tons of pizza!

This shot of Bo-peep was one of my faves...

Ahhhh- the bucket-o-apples for bobbing- I'm grounded- I pulled all the stems out.... bad aunti,.... bad aunti..... (heeeeheeeeeheee)

Storm Troopers and a Skywalker....

Indiana Jones even made an appearance....

Annie stopped in- her twin brother, however, could not be stopped for comment.....

This cute little gator was having a shy moment...

Medusa was givin me the eyes.....

Meanwhile her brother the great spider... was looking for his next meal- and the occasional eyeball that popped off his costume.....

Little lady bug was just as cute as a bug...

The donut drop was harder than anticipated and messier than hoped for some... but always good for a laugh!

Oni was vampire-licious as we made a break for taking their pix in between cloud bursts and time to take off and go trick-or-treat!

The usual suspects found at my house on almost any given weekend... love these girls to pieces!

Gabbi- be afraid, very, very afraid....

We hope you had a grand Halloween! xoox D