Running from the Law: Haunted Halloween Costume Party

Monday, November 8, 2010

Haunted Halloween Costume Party

Hello!  Sorry for my absence over the past week.  Sometimes real life gets in the way of my blogging life, you know?  And  this puppy doesn't write itself!  Things have been busy in my neck of the woods!  And I have totally been slacking on keeping you informed on them.  Please don't hate me.  I promise to make it up to you with about a million picture-heavy posts over the next few weeks.  Ok?  Can we be friends again?  Love you.

Anyway, one of the reasons I've been so busy lately is because of Halloween.  Ryan and I throw the "Baddest, Most Kick-ass, Amazingly Fun, Wild and Crazy, Spooky, Scary Spectacular Haunted Halloween Costume Party on the Face of the Earth."  I'm working on getting the title trademarked. 

If you don't believe me, just check out the food.  Yes, those are cupcakes....I made about 487 of them.  Then I ate 435 of them and put the rest on the table for the guests.
I don't want to brag or anything (ok, maybe I do), but I have the best recipe for icing in the whole-wide world.  It's light and fluffy and creamy, with just the right amount of sweetness.  Perfection.  My friend Claire's sister is a pastry chef and I stalked/called/emailed/harassed her for months and begged/bribed/pleaded/threw temper tantrums, etc. for the recipe got the recipe from her. 
We also had Devilish Devilled Eggs.  With red pepper horns, of course.
And Halloween Candy Bark.  OMG, I can't get over how good this recipe was.  I'm not even a huge fan of some of the ingredients (I'm just not a salty-sweet kinda girl) but this was about the best dessert I've ever made.  I can't take credit for it though - I got the recipe HERE.  It's unreal how good it is.

And the bark wasn't even the best thing.  I didn't get a picture of it, but in that hot tray was a giant batch of Jalapeno Popper Dip, served with toasted bagette slices.  I died after eating it.  I came back to life periodically throughout the night, but only to eat more dip.  I've never had so many people ask me for the recipe on anything I've ever made.  This dip was such a hit.  And now I will share it with you - click HERE.  Do yourself a favor and make this dip ASAP.  But please have a few dozen friends over to share it, otherwise you'll eat the whole thing yourself.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

Here are a couple pictures of the decorations in the house.  It took me about 10 hours to get everything up and ready.  It'll take me 4 months to take everything down.
This spider terrifies me every single time I walk into my kitchen.  I almost had a heart-attack Saturday night when I went downstairs to get some water in the middle of the night.  I really need to put it away.
In the front yard, we set up a graveyard.  We had tombstones illuminated with a red light and tiki torches leading up to the front door.  Spooky Halloween sounds are playing on the stereo.  And this year we added a fog machine.  It was pretty damn cool.   We did the same thing the next night for the trick-or-treaters and had a few childen say we definitely had the scariest house on the block.  A couple kids were even crying on the sidewalk because they were too afraid to come to our door.  Bwwaaaahaahahahahahaha!  It was awesome. 
We also converted our garden in the backyard into a cemetary.
And now for the costumes!  Are you ready?  Hold onto your horses...

I was so impressed with Ryan's costume.  If you can't tell what he is, you obviously haven't seen Tropic Thunder.  Hello Les Grossman.  When he told me he wanted to do this costume I was skeptical, but knew if he could pull it off it'd be fantastic.  And he totally pulled it off!  I love it!
A few of our neighbors stopped by to check everything out.
My friend Iris drove 5+ hours to come to the party.  She's the best!
We had Batman and Octomom.
Ryan's aunt and uncle came as hippies. 
Peace out.
A young William Wallace and his wench, Murron.
Ryan's parents were from the Snuggie commercial.
Payne Stewart and Snookie.  GTL Baby.
Wilma and Fred Flintstone.
And I was Sookie Stackhouse from True Blood. 
Thank you Kelly at Mrs. In Training for the costume!  It was a big hit!
Below, Johnston was a ........., ummmmm......, well......., a Master Baiter. 
Pretty clever.
He won the costume contest for Best Individual Costume.
The fabulous Jenna was Elvira.  If you haven't read Jenna's BLOG yet, it's a must-read.  She's battling breast cancer AND growing a baby in that belly!  She's about 5 months pregnant and she's absolutely amazing!
Henry was a drunk sorority girl.  Hilarious. 
I wish I had a picture of the back of this costume because it was fabulous (i.e. lower back tattoo and exposed thong).
Here we have Elin Woods and a swashbuckler.
Claire was a butterfly and Alice (who really is pregnant) was 16 and Pregnant (complete with backpack and plaid skirt).  So funny!
Below, Anna (on the right) and her husband were a pair of Chilean Miners. 
They won best costume for a couple.  Outstanding!  I barely recognized her (Alice didn't)!
And of course, what party would be complete without the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Il and Spiderman?  Not ours!
My sorority sister (and college roommate) Traci and her husband rode thier Harley to the party.  Somehow I don't think this costume was much of a stretch for them, but I loved it!
Remember Teagan?  These are her adorable parents.  Love them.
Another fantastic couple's costume was this one. 
Kirsten was a taco and Kasey was Tequilla. 
They even walked around forcing shots of tequilla on anyone that would take one.
Like Iris.
And Ryan.
And me, of course. 
Luckily we didn't get a picture of that.

My friend Stephanie had to come to the party directly after meeing with clients, so she grabbed a blonde wig and a stuffed dog and was Elle Woods, Legally Blonde.  I think she could pull off the blonde!
My brother's friends were Captain Kirk and an alien.
I loved this costume. 
My favorite part is that he had green paint smeared all over his face. 
Fabulous.
Joe and Jenny were NASCAR drivers. 
Other than the Snuggies, they were the only ones that stayed warm all night.
Smart.

I seriously adore my friends. 
I'm so blessed to have a great group of friends from my sorority...
From law school...
From the restaurant I worked at in college...
And the girls I've meet through Ryan...
I am one serioulsy lucky fangbanger.

Judging by the fact that we didn't go to bed until well after 4 a.m., I think the party was a success.
I already can't wait until next year!
Word.

22 comments:

  1. OK, Ryan's costume? Cracking me up! Awesomesauce. Also, I love your house. It's darling. I'll be moving in next week, K? K. And, I can tell you this because we're friends--so, I've had one single Christmas decoration up since last December. That's almost a year. I realized that yesterday when I was attempting to stary the holiday decor. So, even if it takes you four months to take down the Halloween decorations, you don't have anything on me.

    PS. I'm seriously taking down that decoration today and then putting it up next week. Just to annoy my husband. Wife of the year, obviously.

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  2. OMG, that party looks amazing! I've been kind of MIA in the blogosphere but I'm still alive! And damn, lady! You are like Martha Stewart! I can't believe you made all the food yourself! And the decorations?! Can we be friends in real life? I am so impressed!

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  3. This is an awesome Halloween party! I impressed with the detail and time you put into it. You should have a second career as an event planner.

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  4. Wow that looks so fun! And what great costumes!!!!

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  5. Oh my gosh you all sure do know how to throw a Halloween bash!! Loved all your decorations and the food! CUTE idea for the deviled eggs!

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  6. Um, it's official. You ARE Martha Stewart. I'm totally blown away by those decorations and all that food!!

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  7. Daisy is doing good! Thank you for the well wishes!! I am sure your baby will be in good hands and be back to normal soon as well!! Keep me posted on how the surgery goes!!

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  8. Why did we leave STL???? This post makes me miss you guys so much. See you in one month!!!

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  9. WOW, I'm wishing I'd been there! All that food looks incredible.

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  10. I was Sookie for Halloween too!! I loved it because it was basically regular clothes so I was comfy & I've decided that ALL future costumes must have an apron - that thing comes in so handy!! LOL

    Awesome costumes all around! I love what you did to your steps too. I say leave the rope lighting & just put evergreen garland around it for the holidays. Worry about it in Jan. ;)

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  11. Looks like a great party. The mice on the stairs sorta freak me out. ;)

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  12. So fun! I've never been big into Halloween because I didn't grow up celebrating it, but it makes me change my mind when I see you guys having so much fun with it!

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  13. I am in shock and awe over the decor and spread! So much incredible orange and black- your guests are so lucky to come to such an awesome party! I adore seeing everyone's costumes. It's always so nice to see creative costumes. The party I went to had many, but also a lot of the garden variety Party City "sexy fill-in-the-blank". Blech to those!

    I can't wait to try the jalapeno dip. I also really want to make the Halloween bark, but as my face has been decidedly more round than usual as of late, due to candy consumption, it will have to wait.

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  14. What a great party! I was Sookie Stackhouse this year, too!!

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  15. Looks like a fun one! We were at a party and my friend Melissa was the beer KEG chick and I saw some Chilean miners too. My 5 month preggo friend was 'Walk of Shame' and her hubby was a Waffle House Manager. They stayed in character the whole night which was so funny!! Your house looks darling! Great job decorating- both inside and out AND the cupcakes! :)

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  16. Les Grossman!!!! That is the perfect costume! I love it, and I'm a huge True Blood fan so I love your costume too!

    (Too many exclamation points? Haha)

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  17. That is a pretty darn impressive party! Such creativity in costumes!

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  18. Seriously - what an incredible party!!!!! I am loving all of the costumes...everyone was so creative.

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  19. I LOVE your husabnd's costumes! Your in-laws and the sorority girl were hilarious too!! Looks like your party was awesome and yay for great friends!!

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  20. You look adorable! I love how the costume looks on you - the bite mark is the perfect touch!

    Such a cute party :)

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  21. everything about this party is AMAZING--the decor, the food, the costumes! so fun!!

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  22. When he told me he wanted to do this costume I was skeptical, but knew if he could ... partycityteens.blogspot.com

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