yarn embroidery and too many parties

my halloween costume...


i'm feeling really bitter about halloween right now.
first (and not that big of a deal) cause: costumes.
jp and i had planned to go as jack the ripper and a victorian prostitute (his next victim). jp decided he didn't want to do that. ok, fine. we couldn't agree on any other couple's costumes, so we decided to just go our own ways. adhering to the halloween philosophy of 'mean girls' ("halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it"), i bought the above ridiculous "sexy rag doll" costume. essentially, slutty raggedy ann. only it's not that bad. well, it didn't seem to be until i paid for it, had it shipped, and tried it on. it is so much shorter than i ever imagined. and it would be one thing if the skirt was formed to my body, but it's got this cute little poufy petticoat that makes it, well, poufy. so i definitely needed something to be worn under it that would be ok to be seen (e.g. not a thong!). i get the bright idea to buy little white boy shorts and sew ruffles or lace on the legs and embroider my name in yarn on the ass. i'm crafty, i can handle this. go to kmart last night to pick up supplies for jp (he's going to be a lumberjack, so red and black checked flannel and thick suspenders) and to buy lace or something ruffly. kmart has no such adornements. try the dollar store next door, and all i can find is this thick red velvet christmas ribbon. ok, i can totally make this work.
so last night, i spent about 4 1/2 hours creating ruffles by folding ribbon back over itself and sewing it to the legs of the boy shorts. lemme tell you, crafty or not, i was cranky by the end. i also managed to embroider 'freya' on the ass, only it's a little too low. oh well, certainly not pulling it all out and starting again! so fine, i have my cute lil' pantaloons and fake eyelashes and greasepaint for red circles and everything. ready for halloween now!

second cause of bitterness
except that we have 3 halloween parties to go to. up until this year, i have ALWAYS hosted the halloween party. our new apartment is not really conducive to large parties (it's just not big enough). so my friend josh is having a party. cool. we decided to go there. well, then our friends rob and dan decide to throw a party too. ok, i can probably handle doing them both. then i get a call from cliff (who i probably haven't seen since the wedding!) and they're throwing a shindig. of course, none of these people are close to each other. we've got dormont, squirrell hill, and shadyside. so now people that were going to go to josh's want to go to rob and dan's and no one really wants to go to cliff's with us. i want to go to all 3, but i also want to hang out with my friends, who are probably not up to the significant amount of party-hopping. not to mention my husband. am i going to end up just driving myself around all night so that i can make sure i see everyone? who gets left out of the equation if i can't do everything? and why must all of these parties happen now? why can't we have 'no reason' parties like we used to, so that i don't feel the obligation to trek across the city 3 different times on the same night? it's so sad that there really isn't the amount of normal hanging out that there used to be, where i would see people on a regular basis. when did we all get so busy? is it the advent of full-time work? it must be. and as if working full-time didn't suck enough, now my social life hurts because of it.

i know, i'm whining. i have no excuse, but i am genuinely upset about this. halloween is such a great holiday! and now it's been ruined before it's even begun.

did i mention i'm also melodramatic?