OH EM GEEE IT'S HALLOWEEN!!!

That’s not sarcasm, guys.

I am a total Halloween nut. It’s killing me a little that I won’t be able to throw a Halloween party for awhile because I live in a basement.

The upside is that we will be attending a (horrifying) Halloween party in a cabin in a remote forest on Saturday night, so that’s good? And if I don’t make it out alive, you will know why.

This place is so far out in the boonies that it lacks an address.

Let me reiterate…it LACKS an ADDRESS! Directions actually include “Turn left at the old fire truck, turn right at the fruit stand” or something. So that's going to be memorable.

Our costumes this year are pretty good, though mine really only exists to complement Tom's. So if I walk around by myself people will be like, "Hey, what do you SAY?!"

I know that makes no sense right now, but it's a hint ;) I will post our costumes next week.

Tonight will include homemade chicken tortilla soup, (AKA my first time using a crock pot!!!! Big moment in grown-up-ville!)chocolate-covered pretzels and grape cider witch's brew.

[Soup recipe here and brew recipe here.]

Then I am going to dress as a witch and hand out candy to the young bloods from a real witch's cauldron that Tom's dad found.

I also basically dressed as a school teacher for work today. Pins, earrings, necklace, black feather hair piece (that one is just fun to wear..)

So for a little extra Halloween magic, here is one of my favorite songs (kicks in at 1:35.)

Happy Halloween!

Onward & an update

This week, no matter how hard I tried, I felt like I could get NOTHING done. I did achieve a few exciting things, like offering to volunteer writing for a local chamber of commerce. Bonus...chambers of commerce have tons of connections. And I really miss covering local businesses in articles.

Other than that, I just felt...stuck. Waiting in the balance. And I didn't want to start anything until everything else was sorted out.

But it's Sunday now, and I always feel like Sunday is a sort of reset button. This week, I want to live my life, instead of waiting for something to happen.

Forward motion tends to beget more forward motion. So the name of the game this week is "onward."

In the meantime, I am going to self-publish a book this week as an e-book, so wish me luck in that process!

Anyway, here are some photos of life recently! I am really excited to post some wedding updates Wednesday. And I can't believe Halloween is Thursday already, whaaaatttt???

Here are some photos of our impromptu bonfire last weekend. Sorry for how blurry they are, but they're still kind of cool and creepy.

Thomas, harnessing the (weirdly purple?) power of fire.

Riley as a hotdog. This is my favorite part of Halloween haha.

And just in case you wanted some inspiration and/or wanderlust, my friend showed me this video, and it's incredible.

Have a spooktacular week!

Wedding Bells Wednesday: DIY Ring Holder

I have always enjoyed when bloggers post about their wedding plans.

I found it very helpful, and still do, so I decided to make a series of my own. Hence, "Wedding Bells Wednesday!"

But there is something you should know...our wedding will be in October.

2015.

As in...two years from now.

Therefore, this will be a pretty sporadic thing for the next year or so. But we're jumping right into planning because places are ALREADY BOOKING UP! Two freaking years in advance!

So. There is a pretty big update I will likely have for next week. For now, a craft.

I have been crafting a lot. I am still working part-time and obsessively sending resumes. But it's just not nearly enough to keep me satisfied. So when I'm not planning the next ten years of my life, worrying about things or reading the news, I craft.

(Yes, post-grad life is really strange.)

I saw something like this two years ago on Pinterest. Even though it was a long ways away, I knew I would need this when I got engaged. Obviously, you can use it for other beloved rings too.

Because 1) it's cute, 2) I lose EVERYTHING and 3) I wanted a place to put my ring while I clean, sleep, shower, etc.

Therefore, I crafted this nice little home for my ring!

And since we've been out of town a couple times, I made a travel version as well. It's smaller and more durable, and the support in the back has a magnet on it, so I keep it on my dry-erase board for now.

I plan on making versions of these for my friends when they get engaged because they really have been very helpful. 

SO. Want your own little ring frame? Here's what you need!

-Frame (I got mine at the dollar store and Target dollar section)

-Paper or thin fabric for the background

-Pins

-Cork board (I found 5x5 squares of it at Michael's)

-Decorative additions, if you wish

It's really easy to put together. You just and measure the paper/fabric and cork you need, take the glass out of the frame, and put the paper/fabric and cork in its place. The cork fits pretty snugly, but it works. Adding the pin takes some maneuvering. But that's all there is to it!

I mean, you could also just keep your ring in a jewelry box, but where's the fun in that?

*******

Happy crafting!

The Waiting Game

This week is intense.

After what was a fabulous weekend, this week for me is all about waiting on two interviews I had last week. After a string of unsuccessful and disappointing interviews all summer, I got to interview with both of my dream companies on back-to-back days.

So this week, it's all about the waiting and never letting my phone out of my sight. But I've got faith one of these will pull through.

The worst part is I keep dreaming about it every night! Luckily, in the dreams I get the job (there is one I REALLY want), but now I'm worried about letting my subconscious down. Thanks for the pressure, mind. Thanks a lot.

So about this weekend! It was full of festive fun, and the weather finally felt like fall. (I like to speak in alliterations.)

Friday we went out to this delicious family-style restaurant to celebrate Tom's parents' 28-year anniversary, and spent the rest of the evening being completely stuffed and sleepy.

On Saturday, Tom and I drove out the farm to visit some family. My aunt owns a martini bar out there, and she was hosting a jazz dinner that night. So of course, we were extremely well-fed.

Yes, that is my mother. No, she does not look old enough to be my mother. When I was 15, someone thought we were sisters. 

Tom and I like to coordinate. Because we are nerds. Note the striped shirts and leather jackets.

Sunday night, one of my friends was in town. So we had a Sunday night sleepover complete with beer, pizza, cupcakes, and staying up way, way too late. I was exhausted at work yesterday, but it was totally worth it! 

She gave me a gift basked filled with bridal magazines, highlighters and sticky tabs, a book of wedding planning lists, a picture frame, ring pops and a mug that said "Soon to be Mrs. *Tom's last name here." Isn't that awesome?! Gift baskets are my favorite. I proudly carried my mug all around work yesterday.

And yesterday afternoon, I almost died putting up more Halloween decorations.

Just before leaving work, I had this sudden urge to decorate more. So after a trip to Michael's and the dollar store, I came home ready to decorate the front porch.

Except....

That is apparently where ALL the spiders live. In fact, (I hate spiders, so I'm going to freak out writing this...) there were egg sacs all over the place, and one of them was in the process of hatching. I kid you not, baby spiders were coming out of it. That was a little too genuine Halloween for comfort, so I figure I'd just spray the webs with a hose. Easy, right? 

WRONG.

Those things are resilient! So I decided the spiders could keep the front porch, and I'd decorate indoors.

Also, how come talking or writing about spiders makes you feel like you have them crawling on you? I mean really.

Well, when I went to put the hose away on the porch, I wiped. OUT.

It was one of those things where you're standing, and it happens so fast that you have no clue why you're suddenly on the ground. So I have a couple nice battle wounds from getting in the holiday spirit. At least it paid off.

Happy Tuesday!

An exciting week

This week is crazy.

After getting engaged Saturday, I have all sorts of stuff coming up, including an interview for a job I really want on Thursday. 

My version is "crazy" is definitely different now from what it was like six months ago when I was in school, working two jobs and getting maybe five hours of sleep a night.

Now I have a week with a doctor appointment and a job interview and I'm like "SLOOOOOW down, this is nuts!"

Ahh, post grad life.

In other news, I really want a French Bulldog. I have been watching these videos on repeat.

And these:

Sorry this post is pretty much useless, but it's one of those days, you know?

Happy Tuesday!

Our engagement story!

So yesterday...

this happened.

And it was definitely one of the best days EVER.

So, in an effort to remember exactly how it played out, I am going to write it down!

I had a feeling October would be the month Tom proposed to me, so I vowed to do my nails every weekend this month. Luckily I only had to do it once:)

We woke up bright and early yesterday morning to have breakfast at the pumpkin farm.

This place has THE BEST apple cider donuts ever. So we had those, I had a Chai tea and Tom had a hot caramel apple cider. Not important details, but whatever.

We then roamed around feeding goats and things (my favorite part of the pumpkin farm) and then we hopped a wagon to ride out to the pumpkin patch. 

This was no ordinary pumpkin patch.

This was the king of all pumpkin patches.

We walked as far as we could, up to the very edge of the pumpkin patch. Right there ^^^^

And once we were there, Tom starting saying something about being lucky we found each other (I got nervous and said something cool like, "Yes, like finding the perfect pumpkin in the patch.")

Then he knelt down, got mud on his pants, and asked me to marry him! To which I said yes, of course. 

He presented me with this:

Which was so incredibly perfect. Because I absolutely love fall, pumpkins, Halloween, and anything related to all of those things.

After the pumpkin farm, we headed back to Tom's house to relax and share the news before packing up and heading off to a surprise destination for an overnight stay.

Turns out, Tom had booked the room at the Stoney Creek Inn, where I had always wanted to stay!

So we spent the night eating, drinking, lounging around and having a wonderful time.

Free celebratory cake from the restaurant

Champagne and chocolate, courtesy of mom and her boyfriend

And here is a video of us basically explaining our day and being excited...

DSCN0323 from Heather Swick on Vimeo.

Eventually I'll do a post about our preliminary wedding plans and things, but for now, we're just enjoying being engaged :)

I couldn't be happier. Truly, Tom has one of the kindest hearts of anyone I've met, and he is my best friend and soulmate. I can't wait to marry him!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend <3

Halloween, hay bales and hives

This weekend was the kind of weekend where I got my car stuck in the mud, cut my finger on some plastic, broke out in hives and lost the recipe I needed.

It wasn't bad by any means.

Just...one of those, you know?

So I had this Sunday marked on the calendar for awhile, now. I designated it "Halloween decorating Sunday!"

So I did. It was glorious. Michael's had a 40-50% off sale on a bunch of their Halloween stuff. Luckily I only bought two things...

We also attended a small, lovely wedding on Saturday and had a grand time.

The weekend in pictures:

Brownies with frosting and Oreos, and piece already gone.

I have a story about this hay later...

My first DIY wreath!

Happy Wednesday!