I really love dressing up, so Halloween is my kind of holiday. Even though I love the ghouls, candy, fun, and chilly weather my favorite thing is still dressing up. I’ll use any excuse to put on something silly and unflattering or change my hair color, length or texture.
The only problem is that I always have to out-do myself from previous years. Recently I’ve gone as a party-crashing Kamikaze … literally, with a cardboard-box airplane (which, I realized after being booed, is not PC); a Poo Burglar with toilet paper stuck to my shoe, a robber’s mask, a bag of Tootsie Rolls and a pooper-scooper (I used said pooper-scooper – it was clean – to grab people by the seat of their pants); and an elderly woman decked out in Frosty the Snowman earrings, Christmas wreath socks, Christmas tree-sequined suspenders and a candy-cane turtleneck (I was pretending to be senile and thought I was invited to a Christmas party…get it?).
Okay, maybe I’m not as funny as I think I am, but I really love thinking of costume ideas and making it work. Plus, it’s fun and cheap! This year I’m stressing out about what to be. I keep trying to convince my husband that we should go as Billy Mays (the OxyClean guy) and the Shamwow! guy. That way we can be just as loud and annoying as we are normally, but maybe make a few bucks hawking cleaning products.
So what are you going to be for Halloween?
Jackie is editor of
Quality + Design, the
Angie's List newsletter.
She's currently owned by three Great Danes named Silas, Eppie and Augustus Merriweather as well as two angry tabby cats, Bob and Polly. Her favorite album is anything by Radiohead.
Angie’s List is rating medical services, and since we’ve been writing about medical related issues on the Blue House Blog, I thought I’d share my recent experience.
I had to take my mom to the doctor on Tuesday. She’d been having sharp pains in her stomach and couldn’t sleep due to the discomfort she was experiencing. My grandmother and I kept trying to get her to go to the hospital, but she decided to hold out and wait for her appointment with her doctor.
I couldn’t understand why she was purposefully prolonging her suffering. Continue reading ‘Belly ache: choosing between family doctor and strangers at the hospital’
Jackie is editor of
Quality + Design, the
Angie's List newsletter.
She's currently owned by three Great Danes named Silas, Eppie and Augustus Merriweather as well as two angry tabby cats, Bob and Polly. Her favorite album is anything by Radiohead.
My husband and I hosted a dinner for some family friends last night. It was the first time they’ve been to our home, so I wanted everything to be perfect. I got home a little late, so I had to run around the house to make quick adjustments and final swipes with the dusting rag. No candlestick could be out of place, no dog slobber dripping down the walls. Continue reading ‘Guess who’s coming to dinner’
Jackie is editor of
Quality + Design, the
Angie's List newsletter.
She's currently owned by three Great Danes named Silas, Eppie and Augustus Merriweather as well as two angry tabby cats, Bob and Polly. Her favorite album is anything by Radiohead.
My eyes are itchy, my throat is scratchy and I can’t stop sneezing. I thought my allergies were worse than usual this year, and I’m not the only one in my household suffering. Gus, my youngest Great Dane, is having a terrible time as well. We’ve spent nearly a billion dollars (maybe that’s an exaggeration) in vet bills trying to find out what’s causing his discomfort.
Gus’s incessant scratching has caused us many sleepless nights, and it seems that every day he looks more and more like a Chupacabra (another reason not to sleep at night). Continue reading ‘Aller-gee wiz’
Jackie is editor of
Quality + Design, the
Angie's List newsletter.
She's currently owned by three Great Danes named Silas, Eppie and Augustus Merriweather as well as two angry tabby cats, Bob and Polly. Her favorite album is anything by Radiohead.
You know the answer to this, right? Hint: it isn’t good intentions … it’s gravel. Well, I have rid my home of its demons. Last week, I had my driveway replaced with concrete. I must admit I was nervous at first. The permanence of the concrete sort of freaked me out. But when it was complete … I was in love. A few days after completion, the gray concrete turned into a heavenly snow-white. It just makes everything look clean, and clean is good.
Now that our driveway is paved, I’m moving on with my obsessions (I promise). Continue reading ‘The road to hell is paved with …’
Jackie is editor of
Quality + Design, the
Angie's List newsletter.
She's currently owned by three Great Danes named Silas, Eppie and Augustus Merriweather as well as two angry tabby cats, Bob and Polly. Her favorite album is anything by Radiohead.
Now that my wedding is over, I’m able to start focusing on my home ‘To Do’ list. Finally. Instead of registering for household goods and crystal, my husband and I asked for monetary donations to our driveway fund. My driveway is less than perfect. In fact it is horrendous. Continue reading ‘Gravel be gone’
Jackie is editor of
Quality + Design, the
Angie's List newsletter.
She's currently owned by three Great Danes named Silas, Eppie and Augustus Merriweather as well as two angry tabby cats, Bob and Polly. Her favorite album is anything by Radiohead.
I’ve lived in my house for nearly two years, and haven’t managed to get much done … as far as gardening goes. The front yard is in decent condition, but the back is lacking. We had fantastic weather last weekend, so I decided to grab the trowel and some gloves and give it a go.
I started in the backyard, which, as you know, is in pretty bad shape due to my large herd of dogs. I bought some lovely ferns to hang in the back, some trellises to mask the unsightly garbage-can area and ground cover to surround our birdbath. After a few hours of backbreaking work, I was able to revel in my accomplishments. Then it hit me … Continue reading ‘Garden of heathens’
Jackie is editor of
Quality + Design, the
Angie's List newsletter.
She's currently owned by three Great Danes named Silas, Eppie and Augustus Merriweather as well as two angry tabby cats, Bob and Polly. Her favorite album is anything by Radiohead.
The thing I want most is a new driveway. I never thought I’d say that, but once you become a homeowner a lot of things change. When my fiancé and I were looking for a house, a paved driveway was one of our “must haves”, but when we saw our home we fell in love and the gravel driveway didn’t seem like such a big deal. Boy, were we wrong. It is to blame for quite a few expensive problems. Ones that I never saw coming. Continue reading ‘Driveway of destruction and death?’
Jackie is editor of
Quality + Design, the
Angie's List newsletter.
She's currently owned by three Great Danes named Silas, Eppie and Augustus Merriweather as well as two angry tabby cats, Bob and Polly. Her favorite album is anything by Radiohead.
As many know — because I tell EVERYONE — I am the proud owner of three Great Danes. While these dogs are rather peaceful and laid back in the house, they tend to be hellions outdoors, and their bathroom habits leave a lot to be desired. I’m sure they would be embarrassed if they knew I was discussing this sensitive topic, but it’s my reality.
Continue reading ‘The yard has gone to the dogs’
Jackie is editor of
Quality + Design, the
Angie's List newsletter.
She's currently owned by three Great Danes named Silas, Eppie and Augustus Merriweather as well as two angry tabby cats, Bob and Polly. Her favorite album is anything by Radiohead.
Okay, the title is a bit misleading … I promise I won’t go on too long about my own troubles. So, here’s the deal: Due to a limited amount of funds, my fiance and I tend to do most of our repairs and projects ourselves. My fiance’s father happens to be one of those guys that knows how to do everything. I mean EVERYTHING. It’s been said that if the world comes to an end, he’s the guy you’d want in your bomb shelter. Let’s face it, he’s a modern day MacGyver.
While it’s comforting to know that we’ll never (knock on wood) need to hire an electrician, plumber or landscaper there are just some things I can’t trust him with. It’s not that he does shoddy work, it’s just that I can’t always appreciate the resourcefulness.
Our kitchen is in desperate need of some remodeling. And while I think it’s just swell that my future father in-law can rig up an apartment heater in our garage using plywood and copper piping … I don’t really want my to leave the fate of my kitchen floor to innovation and quick wit.
I decided (much to my fiance’s chagrin) that we were going to hire a handyman. After the initial shock wore off, we began to compile a list of things that needed to be done and that we didn’t want to “burden” the pops with.
We started with the kitchen floor, cabinets and light fixtures and moved to other areas of the house. We’re also in dire need of getting our hardwood floors refinished, but I caught myself before putting that on the list. Should a handyman refinish your floors? Even if he can, should he? If he’s so good at refinishing floors then why doesn’t he specialize? I mean … I want this done right. Especially if we’re going to pay for it. Is that too much to ask? It seems that the prospect of having one person knock out my projects was a little unnerving. I then realized I may have a control problem, or maybe I’m a bit cheap. All I know is that I found myself calling a familiar number and saying, “Hey Dad, do you happen to have a drum sander?”
Jackie is editor of
Quality + Design, the
Angie's List newsletter.
She's currently owned by three Great Danes named Silas, Eppie and Augustus Merriweather as well as two angry tabby cats, Bob and Polly. Her favorite album is anything by Radiohead.
