October

It's hard to believe that it's nearly the end of October. It's been a good one, though a bit less involved than 2009. Halloween is still near and dear to our hearts - but with a crazy work month we found less time to celebrate. Please don't get me wrong, we've still baked through two bags of flour (Halloween themed of course), watched at least 15 scary movies, spent hours on our costumes, enjoyed two Harvest Festivals, worked it at Doris' annual Halloween party, and have had our house completely decorated since Oct. 1 - plus it's only October 24 we've got a whole week to go. Who am I kidding... we've done it right and plan to have an awesome ghoulish upcoming week. Stay tuned for more exciting photos, including our costumes.

Rocco and I relaxing after the "Super Saturday" activity that I was in charge of. I had two big events for work this week (more pics to come), one of which was a fashion show for 400. It went well, but I'm ready for a nap and tired of thinking about details.

Just had to throw this one in there. Rocco sleeping on his back with his face so scrunched up you can't tell what's going on. hilarious.

The Denver Public Library partnered with the Colorado Ballet for a day of learning Michael Jackon's Thriller. Matt suggested we go and show Denver how it's done. check.

We've made many delicious treats including this to die for butternut squash ravioli. Okay, mostly Matt has been making delicious food - but I've been consuming it and take credit for that much.

Monster milk shake

Fall Apple Pie

That's Rocco and I running down the mountain after a lovely hike

Cute Matt posing in a cave

Harvest Festival number one - don't worry folks it's carbonated grape juice from the kiddie cooler. We kept it real.

They had kids stomp the grapes - again, Matt's drinking grape juice, no heart attack's necessary.

Harvest Festival number two, where we showed the little kids how to walk on old fashioned stilts.

We saw Social Distortion at The Paramount last weekend - loved it! We've basically seen every other band we dig, but this was a first for us. Great show!

So random... but a friend of mine's friend was shooting a Halloween music video - so impromptu I joined and got to dance - zombie style.

Our friend let us have his seats, 4 rows behind home plate. Included with the seats is a private entrance, buffet dinner and anything you want to eat during the game. Matt's not into baseball but told me he could get used to the perks.

We received four free suite tickets to the MMA bout Jose Aldo vs. Manny Gamburan, we also witnessed first hand the devastating kick to the noggin' that dropped the Korean Zombie. Matt was in heaven.

Went to Cavalia. Beautiful animals, acrobats and trick riding. More subtle than other Cirque productions but cool if you love animals, like we do.

Halloween is in the air!

Halloween is one of the best times of the year. It's time to take full advantage of this awesome season by watching some spooky shows. Here's what's in our Netflix queue.

Rob Zombie's remake of the original "Halloween"- I'm not sure how you could improve upon this classic but I'm willing to give it a shot.

Daybreakers- I know it's received so so reviews but vampires and Ethan Hawke, sounds kinda interesting.

The Wolfman- Benicio del Toro isn't Lon Chaney but again, just a little curious.

Paranormal Activity- My old trainer is a large 250lb dude and he said that he was afraid of the dark for a week after seeing this movie. According to Candice, this one is beyond her comfort level.

Shutter Island- Looks a little eerie, which is nice.

Should I see the remake of a Nightmare on Elm Street? Not sure on this one.

With regard to Let the Right One In (a much enjoyed selection from last year), do American filmmakers have to remake every good Swedish movie? Sheesh.

That's it so far. This morning we had a meeting planning out awesome Halloween things to do this month. We'll post more on that later.

As for the perfect cup, one of us was indeed visited by that blessed messenger of chocolate, while the other experienced a nice but less than perfect cup. Disappointed but not defeated, I'll wait and see what the perfect cup Gods have in store for next year.

Shipping Off to Boston

The fourth Jones girl trip took place last week; we saw incredible sites, shopped, ate delicious food, laughed hard, and had a wonderful time. The boys trip is annual and usually consists of hunting in Nebraska, getting up before dusk, sitting still in a cold area, and eating tator tot casserole. I like being a girl.

We chose Boston for the destination, which we were all completely impressed with. It was cute and clean with incredible history, great shopping, and tasty bites! Here we are pictured below at the Atlantic Fish Company, all dressed up. We ate there our first night and it lived up to the hype. Everyone was basically licking their plates including our cheesecake bananas foster dessert plate. mmmm

After Dinner at the Atlantic Fish Company we cruised a bit and found a fun candy store. Joni purchased Ginger a Johnny Depp pez dispenser that she was quite pleased with! He is actually on her make out list, so it worked out nicely. A cozy street is pictured below. Fortunately for all... many streets looked like this.

Boston Commons was beautiful, and the people really utilized the space by hanging out there in groves, playing live music, running, walking their dogs, etc...
We did the Freedom Trail while we were there, which consisted of 18 unbelievable historic American sites. Below is a picture of the second oldest grave yard in America. Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, and many other historic notables were buried there.
Here we are in front of the oldest book store in America. Thoreau, Emerson, and others all published books there.
Christine got so excited at Ye Olde Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in America, that she got a bloody nose.
There were adorable brownstones everywhere, so I thought I would just throw one in there as an example to the cuteness that is Boston.
We all look so good I can't tell who's bronzed (except I suppose the thigh high spats give it away)

To the Death.

We toured the U.S.S Constitution, which they're going to sail in 2012 to mark the anniversary of the war of 1812. Loved every minute of this tour, it was fascinating.

Doris is ready for battle.

I was basically in charge of the whole thing, steering and all.

We spent some time in the Italian District which is also adorable and full of eateries and pastries. We braved the line that went out the door at Mike's pastries, and below is our result. Hazelnut Canoli's, Neapolatin's, snicker's cheesecake, and a Florentine. It was quite tasty. Good thing we had walked many miles that day.

We took a train to Salem - which is only 17 miles North East of Boston where we learned about the witch trials, and the Puritan settlement. The trolley tour was particularly fun and all encompassing.
The witch dungeon museum did a re-enactment of one of the trials - totally fun, but followed by a tour of a dungeon they recreated to mimic where they held the "witches" awaiting trial. That part was interesting, but executed a bit like a haunted house, and they proceeded to have someone under a blanket that scared you at the end. hilarious.
We thought it wise to pose on stage before the witch re-enactment, but mid pose, the curtains opened... we awkwardly ran to our seats giggling like school girls.
This home is from the 1600's and belonged to one of the judges from the witch trials. It was fun to see inside, particularly to see the books. There was a children's book talking about the alphabet , with example associated, and it said things like "the wolffe howleth".
This was an actual monument they built for the people accused of and killed for being "witches". Each of the stone seats had their names and date they were killed. At the entrance to the park on the cement it read their last words, which were all similar to "I am without guilt". It's so sad and ridiculous.
Our last day in Boston we went shopping near Copley Square. It was blocks of brownstones with stores on the bottom two floors. I could've spent a lot more time there.
We had a custom purse party while there. LOVED IT! Basically, you pick out a style of purse, pick out the fabrics, and they mail it to you 3 weeks later.

There were a lot of options, it made it tough.

We had an absolute ball, and look forward to future girl trips!

Places I'd rather not go

1. Singapore

2. Saudi Arabia

3. Korea

4. Philippines

5. The "stans"

6. Somalia

7. Mongolia

8. Western Africa

9. Angola

10. Sudan

11. Chad

This and that

First off, labor was bitchin' and spent here in beautiful Colorado.

Highlights included: Seeing Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy for free. Good show, we've seen them a few times before. Couldn't remember how to swing (only one lesson) but we nevertheless, worked the dance floor like it needs to be worked. We need to get our swing going at the Mercury cafe again.

Homemade lasagna and fresh peach cobbler

Homemade Eggs Benedict

Tour of Hammond's Candy Factory

Rock Band Fiesta

Hiking Silverthorne

Finishing 4th season of Dexter-straight up called the ending.

Hiking Dinosaur Ridge

Yes, those are real-dinosaur tracks

Saw "Inception"-Christopher Nolan is a freakin' genius. Bring on the next Batman, please.

Seeing Brett Michael perform "Every Rose Has it's Thorn" live-it was a tearful moment.

Gaining mountains of fat from frozen twix bars and other desserts.

In other news, today I made peach jam. It was surprisingly easy and delicious.

Lately, these songs have been making me happy

The King Khan and BBQ: "Lonely Boy"

Candice has been into She and Him lately. I should also note that she hates hardcore music.