Category: holidays

farewell 2011

Posted by miss alix – 31 Dec ’11

The end of the year is truly upon us and only a few hours remain of 2011. It seems everyone is excited about the new year and things to come as am I. 2011 was a major turning point for me as it is the year that Shawn and I got married. A lot of other cool stuff happened too. I see a little roundup of the year coming in next few days.

I’m sure that 2012 is going to hold many magical things as we already have a few things planned, and after our little winter vacation I’m feeling inspired and content.

Generally speaking I’m not much of a resolution type of girl, but I do have a few this year, both big and small. On the small end, I want to keep track of the films that we watch this year, so I can look back at the end of the year. On the slightly bigger end, one of my other goals is to live life more simply.

Many things will be happening on the blog in the next few weeks. I have lots of lovely photos from our recent trip to share and hopefully there will be a bit of a redesign in the near future.

Wishing you you all a wonderful new year!

Much love,
Alix

special delivery

Posted by miss alix – 21 Dec ’11


A few weeks ago, this lovely Bunny organized a gift exchange for any bloggers/twitterers who were so inclined to participate. I jumped at the chance to join in and give something to one of the internet folk who I chat with on a regular basis. I was excited to give a gift to someone I admired or perhaps find someone new out there on the web to appreciate. Everything was chosen at random, but I have to say, I got really lucky. While I was extra enthused about the giving aspect, I didn’t think too much about the receiving half. Until last a few nights ago.

On Monday night, in the midst of busying myself with last minute pre-holiday things, the doorbell rang. When I opened it, much to my surprise, there stood Becca with a gift in hand. Strangely, I immediately knew who she was and was filled with happiness and excitement. Just by chance, my gift giver is my sort of neighbor.

On top of meeting someone with a blog I admire, I got a really adorable gift. How cute are these owl pot holders? LOVE THEM.

Then yesterday, I saw this post from Liz about the gift I sent her as my part of the exchange. So much happiness.

As a girl, who’s always been a little shy and introverted in real life, it brings me so much gladness to have found people on the the internet to relate to. I am thankful that I am able to connect with people out there who inspire me and have been able to turn that into genuine friendships. I know it sounds pretty sappy but I feel like many of the writers of blogs that I read and readers of this blog are my dear friends, even if we’ve never met.

So thanks for being here, you all really mean the world to me.

Thanksgiving 2011

Posted by miss alix – 27 Nov ’11






I can’t believe our tiny Thanksgiving break is almost over. It flew by in what seemed like a matter of seconds. I suppose that’s what happens when you have lots to do over a few days. We started off our celebrations at Madeleine Bistro for a four course Thanksgiving feast. We’ve been to Madeleine’s for the past few years but this meal topped them all. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a delicious Thanksgiving meal in my life. Everything was exquisite. Next year we plan to have Thanksgiving at our house and I hope we can make something even just a fraction of how good this meal was.

We spent the rest of the weekend with friends and family relaxing and eating lots. I did very little cooking considering. I made this wonderful green bean casserole and an apple pie. Yesterday Shawn was in a short film so I had the day to myself. I spent it watching British period dramas, knitting and sewing. It was pretty nice to not have to worry about work and projects for a whole day.

When I was a kid, after every school break I would make a list of all the cool things I did in my time off filled with movies I’d watched or things I’d made. This year if I made a list, the two biggest things would be finishing the binding on our wedding quilt (which took FOREVER) and hanging up some clothes that have been sitting in our bedroom for about a month. Pretty simple, but a major relief to have finished at the same time.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. What would you put on your list?

Pumpkins

Posted by miss alix – 2 Nov ’11








I know Halloween has past, but I couldn’t help but share a few of the amazing carved pumpkins and decorations we saw this year. Oh and an adorable black cat.

November is here and already our month is full of big things. Over the next few days we’ll be trying to see as many film as possible at AFI Fest. There is such an amazing selection and so many that I want to see, I can’t wait. Then, in a few weeks our two good friends, Baxter and Alicia, are getting married. Hooray! Then it’s my birthday. Then it’s Thanksgiving. That’s pretty much all of November! It’s going to be a busy month.

Halloween Tidbits

Posted by miss alix – 30 Oct ’11


October has almost come to a close and we’re having a very relaxed final weekend. It’s nice to celebrate without feeling pressure to indulge in too many festivities. In fact, I haven’t even truly made a costume this year.

I did realize I never shared all of our decorations, like our veiled lady, which I think we’ll keep up for the rest of the year as well. Or our floating pumpkins.

We spent Friday evening watching more horror movies while I made a black velvet cape for Shawn.

I’ve had the same black cape for the past 14 years and it’s served me well (I even wore it to our wedding), now Shawn has one of his own that will surely last longer as my sewing skills have improved in those years. There is something wonderful and comforting about being able to shroud yourself in a cloak. I hope to make more, different capes to wear on a more regular basis.

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We wore our matching capes to the Hallovegan event at Verdugo bar this year. I was pleased that they played The Shining all evening. Not to mention the delicious vegan food they had.

Looking forward to going to check out one of the most beautifully decorated neighborhoods in Los Angeles tomorrow. It’s so exciting to see all the kids trick or treating. Can’t wait to dress up some kidlets of our own.

Vegan Zombies

Posted by miss alix – 26 Oct ’11

Just wanted to share this fun video Shawn made, since it is full of flesh eating zombies, very appropriate for this time of year.

Oh, and I think it’s cool.

Halloween Movie Party 2011

Posted by miss alix – 24 Oct ’11

This weekend we had our 4th Annual Halloween Horror Movie Marathon. When it started out a few years ago, it was just a sleepover where we’d watch scary movies, but has since turned into something much crazier, as we watch horror movies for over 24 hours straight. Watching horror movies for so long with so little sleep definitely does some strange things to your mind and it starts to feel like you’re living in a horror movie yourself.

So here’s a glimpse into what it’s like… Get ready for a lot of photos.

To set the stage, we turn our living room into a screening room, blacking out all the windows and adding some creepy mood lighting. We even brought our spare bed out to add some comfy viewing spots.

We continued the creepy lighting throughout the apartment. Here are the beginnings of our snack table. Snacks are vital for getting though the night.

We hung a velvet curtain to keep the light from our kitchen down since there isn’t a door. Dining room chairs were moved to the living room for extra seating. We had about 15 people throughout the night, although only a handful made it till morning.


Initially Meeme was excited about the party, hanging out on our new carpet. She and Mochi got scared though and spent the rest of the evening watching movies in their own room. They particularly liked Beetlejuice.

We made our bedroom into a second screening room for our friends who don’t like scary movies as much as we do. Everyone toughed it out though and the cats had the room to themselves.

This hallway is definitely horror movie material.

So we’ve set the stage, shall we get to some of the treats?

I had to make sugar cookies as it has become a yearly tradition. This year I opted for pumpkins to go a long with my pumpkin theme.

Shawn requested that we make some healthy things instead of all sugary treats and we came up with some  scary looking drinks. While kale, celery and ginger juice, might be fairly common, it still has the look of a strange brew.

Or how about some blood? I mean, carrot beet juice.

There were popcorn balls made with Dandies.

Apples with caramel sauce for dipping.

There were pita chips with black bean dip and hummus as well as crostinis with spinach dip.

I ran out of time before guests started arriving and hastily frosted the pumpkin cookies. Not too cute but still deliciously sweet.

As a later night snack, I made some quesadillas jack-o-lanterns. I found some green cactus tortillas and knew they would be perfect for a Halloween. During the night we also made tons of tofurky dogs with lots of toppings, pizzas and even coffee cake. Oh and lots of coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

Kim stopped by and brought these amazing lady fingers. How creepy?

Like I said, we watch straight through the night and well into Sunday. This is the remaining 6 of us some time on Sunday afternoon. Jenny L., Shawn, Me, James, Jennifer Y. and Kyle. Without a doubt this has been the best year yet, so much fun! Already I can’t wait till next year.

Want to know what we watched? Here goes:

  1. Coven
  2. Phenomena
  3. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
  4. Amityville Horror
  5. Martyrs
  6. We Are the Night
  7. Harpoon
  8. Troll II
  9. Sheitan
  10. Dead Snow
  11. The Burning
  12. Rosemary’s Baby
  13. The Shining
  14. Silence of the Lambs
  15. Cannibal Holocaust
  16. Sleepaway Camp
  17. The Lost Boys
  18. The Company of Wolves
  19. The Hunger

In fact, we’re still watching as I write this…

Bat cupcakes

Posted by miss alix – 19 Oct ’11

While technically speaking I’m no longer in the cupcake business, I had a special request for some bat cupcakes and I just could not turn it down. Especially with Halloween coming up, I couldn’t miss an opportunity to try out some bat decorations.

I spent a long time practicing drawing bats in frosting and but every one felt like something was missing. I was about to give up and go another route when I realized what it was. Eyes! They needed eyes. I grabbed some sprinkles and very carefully placed two tiny beady eyes on each bat.

They manage to still be a little cute without being cartoonish. These would be perfect for a Halloween party or just for some who liked bats. Just imagine a dozen of these little guys at a party.

I’m debating making cupcakes for our Halloween gathering this weekend, as I make cupcakes every year. Maybe I’ll make ones with pumpkins on top. What’s your favorite way to decorate cupcakes?

Halloween Pumpkin Mantle

Posted by miss alix – 17 Oct ’11

Generally speaking when it comes to Halloween decorations, I lean more towards the actual scary than the cute. On the other hand, I love pumpkins and I knew for our mantle I wanted a ton of pumpkins.

I bought a handful of fake pumpkins from the craft store (they never go rotten!) and went to town. I thought I’d stick with a black and white theme and at first I was tempted to make them pretty with patterned stencils, but was inspired to paint cute faces on them when we found a light up pumpkin at a Halloween store. We turned that one into a makeshift light putting it on an antique tripod.

Of course with the black and white theme, I was able to incorporate the ghosties I made.

Look at that happy pumpkin face! They were all painted with acrylic paint we had laying around the house. Pretty simple and pretty fast.

This is the just the beginnings of our decor. We have some more creepy awesome stuff that I’ll share over the next weeks. Not to mention that next weekend is our horror movie marathon and all the treats and decorations that go along with it. Can’t wait!

horrorthon

Posted by miss alix – 3 Oct ’11

October is our season of horror movie watching. We try to pack in as many films into the month as possible. If you’ve been reading Cute and Delicious for awhile, you hopefully know about some of our past movie marathons. This year will be our fourth annual and we’re already planning what films to show. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

This weekend, we got the month off to a great start by attending the 4th annual Horrorthon at the New Beverly. Six movies, plus a handful of curated trailers, all in one night. The theater was packed but we managed to score some great seats in the center front. Our friend and fellow movie enthusiast, Jennifer, joined us for the evening.

So what did we watch?

Beyond the Door
Creature from the Black Lagoon (in original 3D)
Hell Night
Brain Damage
The Pit and the Pendulum
Horror Planet (aka Inseminoid)

Almost all the films were new to us (except Creature from the Black Lagoon). Beyond the Door was my favorite of the evening by far as it was totally a mash up of The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby, but a strange nonsensical version. It was cool to see films I hadn’t even heard of and even better to see them with an excited audience.

By the way I am always looking for horror film recommendations to expand our collection. What are your favorites?

halloween costumes

Posted by miss alix – 30 Sep ’11

It’s the last day of September which means I am declaring it officially time to start talking about Halloween. I’ve even changed my header in honor or my favorite holiday.

First order of business is costumes. I always try to plan ahead so I can make my costume but then can’t decide until the last minute where I scramble to make something overly complicated and end up making myself crazy. Yet again, I’m stumped this year.

Looking back at the last few years, I’m really happy with my costumes, in fact, they’ve been some of my favorite.

at the farm

Last year I was a prairie girl. The coolest thing about this costume was that it was super comfortable and totally re-wearable. I knew I wouldn’t have time to make a costume so I bought a lovely vintage dress on etsy.

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In 2009 I had big ambitions that I would make an intricate Marie Antoinette dress, including a corset. I never finished it. It managed to get it to a wearable state but never made the hoop skirt that went along with it. This project nearly broke me. Despite not totally finishing it, I was still really happy to have a fancy and yet really creepy costume.


In 2008 I was a bat. I have wanted to be a bat for many years as I have wings already built in. This costume was a simple, black, shiny dress with an open back. It was easy to make just by draping. I added gloves, thigh highs and mask to finish it off.

Possibly my favorite costume of all time was this dear costume I made in 2007. Knowing in advance that I needed something I could wear on a bike ride, I made a super comfortable cotton jersey dress, spray painted the belly white and added ears and a tail. I also made the cape Shawn wore with his pumpkin head costume. It was one of the best Halloweens ever.

So what’s next? I’d like to go with something traditional and scary. Maybe something with horns? I much prefer things that are creepy than cute or sweet. I also love getting the chance to wear makeup and masks.

What are you going to be for Halloween? Do you make your costume or buy it? Let’s brainstorm ideas together!

craft night

Posted by miss alix – 29 Sep ’11

Oh it’s almost October and I can hardly contain myself. Every day when the sun goes down a little earlier and the air is a little crisper, a feeling of elation passes over me. I adore fall time.

I’ve already been plotting decorations, and last week a few lady friends came over for some crafting.

With Halloween on our minds, everything we created had a sort of holiday theme.

A gaggle of ghosts were born. Or unborn? Not sure with those ghosts.


It was nice to spend the evening with some lovely women and talk about anything while we worked on our little projects.

At the end of the night I had a few ghosties of my own, and a dear little spider.

I can’t wait till our next craft night…I foresee pumpkin carving!