Tag you're it--Spooktacular version!

Hey there!

I just got tagged by Dawny of Sassy Little Nails to do a Spooktacular tag! I love tags like this, and this is the first time I've been officially tagged to do one, so I'm very excited! Thank you Dawny for thinking of me!! :)

Here are the questions:

1) Do you still Trick or Treat?

No, I'm on the other side of things now. I decorate the house and hand out candy. :)

2) Do you like going to haunted attractions?

Yyyyeeessss!! Once I drove to a haunt over 4 hours from my house because it had such an amazing reputation. It was totally worth it, it was the best haunt I've ever been to. I try to do at least one cool haunt every year, and also used to love going to our local corn maze until it closed down. :(

3) Favorite Halloween treat you look forward to getting?

I am one of those weirdos that loves candy corn and looks forward to having it every year. :)

4) Favorite Halloween movie?

Oh, this is a tough one. I like Rocky Horror Picture Show (as my last post suggests, lol). I like Hocus Pocus and Practical Magic.

5) Favorite scary movie?

Another tough one! For a really long time, I wouldn't watch scary movies, but then something changed and now I love them--but only at Halloween time, how weird is that? Anyway, I think I'll always have a special place in my heart for The Blair Witch project, because I am one of the few that actually did get scared by it. I adore Scream, and The Ring freaked me out!

6) Favorite costume you wore as a child?

My mother let me wear her native american outfit from when she was a child. There wasn't much choice involved, because we couldn't afford a different costume for me, but that was okay. It was a cool costume and I felt special wearing it, because it had been hers.


7) A costume you would like to dress up as if you could go back to your childhood?

Back then I would have wanted to be a fairy princess. Now I'd only be a fairy princess if she's also a serial killer and is covered in blood.

8) Do you decorate your house for Halloween?

Absolutely, if I can. My job used to require me to have to teach sometimes on Halloween, so I wouldn't get to be a part of the Halloween festivities. But when I can, I do--both for parties and for the kids on Halloween. I try to do whole scenes and haunts, because I loved the houses that did that when I was young. And I love the community aspect of Halloween--in what other holiday do strangers come to your door and ask for something, and you give it?  I love just looking down the streets and watching the kids shriek with laughter, running from house to house. It's one of those nights when the people get together and decide by common agreement to be good to one another. And that's a beautiful thing.

9) Do you have a festive background on your phone or computer?

Not for Halloween, but thanks for reminding me to go find one...brb...

10) What are your plans for this Halloween night?

Hopefully I'll be able to decorate the house, dress up, and hand out noms to the kiddies. :)


11) If you have a pet what would you like to dress it up as (if you don't have a pet, you can say your sister or brother)?

Cat's don't take kindly to being dressed up, but this year for the first time, I have a dog!! She's a fairly big dog, and I want to dress her up as a pumpkin! Original, right?

12) What is your least favorite sweets you would never want to receive when you go trick or treating?

I'm pretty much a candy fanatic. But anything banana flavored, I'm likely to take a pass on. Don't get me wrong, I love actual bananas, but that's one flavor that the candy companies haven't really managed to make work yet, imo.

13) Favorite Halloween decoration?

Blood! Gore!!

Seriously, though, I think my favorite Halloween decoration was the year my husband and I blocked off all of the doors in our hallway and turned it into a stone dungeon with a guillotine tableau at the end of it. We had bloody heads, and knives and things hung from the ceiling with invisible wire--it was pretty darn awesome, even if I do say it myself.


14) Favorite Halloween song?

While I love me some Monster Mash, my all time favorite Halloween song is Monster Rap. I heard this when I was very young, and spent most of my life trying to find it. Last year, thanks to the joint miracles of Google and YouTube, I was able to find it again...and now I pass on to you this gem of awesome cheesiness:

(Source) 

15) Favorite Halloween makeup look? (insert picture if you can)

My favorite changes constantly, but this year I want to try to do this:

(Photoshoot from my Short Film "Sallydoll" Directed By SASCHA ALEXANDER GRENNER.)

Like Dawny did, I'm going to give a general tag out there to all of you--If you do it, please post a link below, I'd love to see it! But specifically I'm going to tag the following lovelies:

1) Charismatically Polished
2) Liesl Loves Pretty Things
3) Secretary's Nail Art
4) A Girl And Her Polish
5) Macabre Manicures

Thanks again to Dawny for bringing me into the fun, and I hope to see some of you pick this up and run with it, 'cause you all know I love talking about Halloween!!

Hugs and deliciously scary chills,
M.

Dirty Little Secrets Tag

Hello!

Recently Inky Whiskers did this Dirty Little Secrets Tag that I really enjoyed, and invited us to self-tag if we wanted to. So I decided to do it. :)

1) What TV show do you secretly watch?
>.>
<.<
Real Housewives of New Jersey. I'm half-Italian American from the East Coast. These are my people! I am both proud and ashamed...But always fascinated, lol.
>.>
<.<

2) What is your worst bad habit?
Sometimes I forget to turn off the light in the Red Room of Pain when I'm done. KIDDING! Seriously, I am horrible horrible horrible at the phone. I turn it off for meetings and forget to turn it back on and I miss texts and calls and don't get them for hours. It's really annoying to my friends and I don't blame them.

3) What do you secretly like the smell of?
My cats. People talk about how bad cats smell, but that's not true--they're thinking of the litter box, which is totally dependent on the human to clean it. Cats naturally have no smell--it's how they survive as hunters, because if their prey smells them, well, the game is up; this is also why they are such fastidious cleaners, because they have to get rid of the smell of anything that gets in their coat. That said, I love burying my face in my cats' fur. It's like smelling the cleanest fur glove you'll ever find. :)

4) What are you secretly lusting after?
I'm pretty open about the things I lust after, and there are many of them, lol. But I guess the one I don't really talk about a lot is that I'd really like to have a relationship with my half-sister. I didn't know she existed until a few years ago, and I've tried to get a relationship going, but it hasn't really gone anywhere. I've come to accept it, but it still makes me sad.

5) What song do you secretly know all the words to?
Spice Girls Wannabe.

6) What is the most expensive thing you own? Do you regret buying it?
The uninteresting answer is my car (and no I don't regret buying it cause my work commute is 2 hours each way, lol). But I don't think that's the spirit of the question. The most expensive frivolous thing I own is my ruby necklace. I didn't buy it, so I can't regret buying it. It was a very treasured gift I got when I graduated with my Ph.D, and I adore it.

7) Who is the one 'non-famous' person you'd secretly like to meet (blogger/youtube related)?
Without hesitation, Andrea Plasmaspeedo. She cracks me up, and I can't imagine anyone being able to be sad for a minute around her. I'd love to hang out with her for an evening. :)

8) What is your biggest pet peeve?
Okay, get ready to board the train for crazy town, 'cause I'm about to take you on that ride. There are a couple of expressions that people get WRONG constantly, and it drives me up the flippin' wall, because if you stop and think about them for a second, it's clear they don't make sense the way most people use them. One is when people say 'The proof is in the pudding'. No, no--no it isn't. Not even a little bit. 'Cause what the hell does that even mean, anyway?! Did a team of forensic experts hide the blood-stained knife in pudding? No, that's just ridiculous. The proper expression is 'The proof of the pudding is in the taste'. And that makes sense--the proof of how well you made the pudding is how it tastes!! But that's nothing compared to how crazy I get when people say 'Have your cake and eat it, too'. No. NO. NOOOOOOO. There is no trick to having your cake and then eating it. In fact, you have to have it before you can eat it, logically. The trick is EATING it, and then still HAVING it. The proper expression is 'Eat your cake and have it, too'.

I know, I know...Calm down Michelle. Yes, you're right. It's culturally accepted in the U.S. to say 'Have your cake and eat it, too', even if that makes no sense. Deal with it, Michelle. And here's a funny story about that, which shows I'm clearly on the wrong side of this cultural more. You remember the Unibomber? In the manifesto that he wrote, he used the phrase 'Eat your cake and have it, too', and forensic linguists who were studying it noted that he used the non-traditional form that very few Americans use, and found this noteworthy. Later when his family, who suspected he might be the unibomber, brought some of his letters to investigators, one of the things that helped them get a warrant to search his premises and such was the fact that one of the letters also contained the non-American wording 'Eat your cake and have it, too'.

Yeah. That keeps it in perspective for me, lol.


Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed seeing how crazy I am, lol! Like Inky, I'm not going to tag anybody, but if you decide to do this, I'd love to read it--please let me know in the comments if you do. :)

Hugs and plenty of cake and pudding for the having, eating, and tasting,
M.

Seven Deadly Sins Tag!

Back when we did the Seven Deadly Sins for Polish Days, Lariesa of Me, Myself, and Polish did a fun post that included a Seven Deadly Sins tag, and welcomed other bloggers to use the tag if they wanted to; you can see her original post by clicking here.  It has taken me a while to get it scheduled in, but I finally have it!


1.  GREED: What is your most expensive nail polish and what is your most inexpensive nail polish?
 Well, my most expensive nail polish is China Glaze L8R G8R, which goes for about $40 on eBay. However, I was lucky enough to find it in a dusty hunt for $5. :)

Most inexpensive: I have a ton of polishes that I paid nothing for. Most of these are Wet n Wild or Sinful Colors; for example, there are often $1 off Wet n Wild coupons in the newspaper, and I wait until they go on sale for $1 each. Then I pounce with my coupons and go to town, lol! I also am a huge bargain hunter and take full advantage of Sally Beauty red tag sales + coupons. The only thing more awesome than a pretty polish is the same polish for free or really cheap, I say! It takes a while, but now you know part of the secret to how I've managed to build up my stash. :)

2.  WRATH: What nail polish do you have a love/hate relationship with?
Butter London Wallis. I adore the color of this polish, but for some reason Butter Londons don't get on well with my body chemistry and it's a fight to get it to look anything but ragged. Well worth the fight, but still.

3.  GLUTTONY: What nail polish brand makes up the biggest chunk of your collection?China Glaze. This is my go-to brand because they have an amazing selection, are on top of most trends, have an incredible formula (most of the time--there are exceptions) and they are very affordable. It also helps that I can usually get China Glaze for $3 or less, often a lot less during Sally's red tag sales. And, they're cruelty-free!! What more can a girl ask?!

4.  SLOTH: What nail care product do you neglect due to laziness?
Full routine manicures. Between work and keeping up with challenges, I skip taking the time to do a full, routine manicure as often as I should. 

5.  PRIDE:  Which manicure are you the most proud of?
Probably my Inspiration Sunrise manicure. It may not be my best manicure, but it was a huge achievement for me at the time, and was the first moment I felt like I could actually produce manicures other than just simple stamped manicures. You can see it here. :)

6.  LUST: Which nail polish is at the top of your wish list?
Ooo...so many...but the one that I want but will never have is OPI La Boheme. First of all, it is way too expensive. Second of all, OPI isn't cruelty-free. I really, really, really wish OPI was cruelty-free!! Hopefully someday, and hopefully sooner rather than later.

7.  ENVY: What do you see other nail bloggers doing that you wish you could do?
Water marble with ease. When I tried it I was hopeless, plus I can't deal with the mess. >.<

Thanks for reading! What are your Seven Deadly polish sins? If you do the tag, please let me know  by linking in the comments, I'd love to see! So yes, this is an exception to the no-links-please rule. Feel free to link it so I can come read! :)

Big hugs,
M.