October Daily 2023 MEGAA thread

If you're looking for things to do, Regal theaters will play Hocus Pocus for the 30th anniversary starting tomorrow. I'm not sure til when or if it's the entire month. Tuesdays are $5 if you're signed up with the Crown Club so if you're able to on a random Tuesday that's best imo, otherwise they're $10.

Regal Movies website link about it

I do a fall album too and I don't number anything or worry about order or try to represent something every day. Some activities with great photos take up more than one page. It's very freeing

In my post Mormon/hedonism lifestyle I went to the local coffee place and ordered a drink called Caramel Apple from their cute little chalkboard of fall drinks. I did not realize it was a coffee drink until I asked her as she was making it and it had two shots of espresso, something I've never consumed. I'm not sure I'll ever acquire a love for coffee, but I was hoping the added sugary things would make it great. I don't absolutely hate it, but won't order it again.

I DO love the orange cranberry scone with zest in the orange icing. I was very good and didn't get the smore's cookie. I swear those marshmallows were roasted.

Oh wow, I don't know that caramel apple would be my choice to introduce someone to their first espresso drink! It's a pretty polarizing combination. If you decide to try some more I would recommend a mocha, nice and chocolatey to balance the bitter coffee (assuming you like chocolate) or a pumpkin spice latte type of thing. Both sweet and creamy and rich, not too coffee flavored, but both compliment the coffee better than apple IMO.

A hot apple cider with caramel is probably what you were expecting - yum  

Coffee is definitely an acquired taste... How did you cope with the caffeine? Did you get the jitters? Or are you accustomed to caffeinated drinks?

Ok so I have 2 pages done so far. Day 1 is about a decoration my mom bought years ago (like in '96 or '97) that she then gave me. Day 2 is about the first pumpkin I bought and my love of real pumpkins. Day 3 will be about my pumpkin coffee mug. Day 4 is about some indoor Peanuts/snoopy decor. Day 5 will be about costume shopping. Day 6 9today) is about DS and I getting our flu shots, DS composting, and myself getting a rare treat of McD's fries. Tomorrow DS is going to the car wash with DH and DH is taking DD to a scary movie. So will document that. Day 8 will most likely be about outdoor decorations we have. 

Tonight’s story is about watching haunted mansion and our snacks for the movie.

I have days 1-6 done. I am working on a fun interactive page that will be double sided and used one of the chipboard inserts that came with the album. One the front is a page you untie, and it opens up to reveal a pocket where large tags will be inside with photos of inside decorations. The back side will be for outdoor decorations. Trying to figure out how I want that to be interactive. This will be for days 10 and 11. Today DD went to see A Haunting In Venice.

http://instagram.com/p/CyHPd97gXpz

I am going to work on my Halloween album this month. It is an orange Citrus Twist album. The Instagram post shows my basic plan. My daughter is 6 and I have the 4x6 photos of her costumes already printed and in the pocket protector.

The journaling spot is giving me trouble. What details about the costume would you put? This is my start.

Costume
Year: 2017
Type: Dinosaur
From: Costco

LOVE the ghost rating idea. Like 4 out of 5 ghosts. LOL that is cute and I am saving that idea for the dogs costumes. 

I have not seen that yet. That sounds cool! Is it the moist balls that come in some water or just regular mozzarella?

As for goat cheese, I like it on crackers with either honey or jam. I have had it as an appetizer before with pomegranate seeds and honey. That would be a really good fall inspired page. I have 2 pomegranates I need to deseed today to add to salads. 

I have seen it and wondered if I have a similiar mold that would work and if so, where did I put them? For those who haven't seen it, @aintooproudtomeg has it on her IG, as well as a Hocus Pocus cheese board from last year (I scrapped about that trend in last year's album. Maybe I'll actually make one this year!) and other ideas.

Skull Caprese Salad

I'm failing at quoting right now. Ugh. Regarding the Zombie Walk, maybe you could scrap it anyway with photos from online and mention last year's experience or plans for next year? We have an event called the Witch Paddle in town where people dress as witches/warlocks and go down the Willamette River on stand-up paddleboards (which I am in no way qualified to do.) I plan to go watch, but if I don't, I will probably scrap it anyway to note some of the seasonal fun that goes on in town.

My photo printer broke so I'm waiting for photos to arrive in the mail. I haven't done a single thing except minimally decorate my album cover with creepy googly eyes.

Skull caprese - YES! I have seen it, but not done it. I love that the balsamic vinegar collects in the eye holes and makes them look extra creepy.

Goat cheese - added onto a pizza for extra yum, tossed with various salads (here are some ideas - www.budgetbytes.com/?s=goat+cheese) or just on crackers. I could eat it right out of the package tbh. Or this www.seriouseats.com/caramelized-onion-and-goat-cheese-tartlets-recipe yum. 

Also recommend making an orange soup (carrot pumpkin, or whatever orange squash/butternut? soup you like) drizzling with thinned sour cream then running a fork through the drizzles to make spiderweb shapes. 

Maybe do a search on IG or Pinterest for spooky foods and create a wishlist of things to try making, even if you don't actually make many. People have some pretty creative ideas. Even my local Kroger sends out a flyer full of silly foods to make for Halloween. 

For the zombie walk - that's a total bummer to miss it, but I would still put it in your album. Just steal some Fbk photos and journal about missing out on it. Maybe you can come up with some brainless pun about how you missed it because you were in zombie mode. Or not. You could totally just add a page/card about making sure you don't miss it next year.   

Hopefully more spooky fall activities come your way

I found that I just don't do enough stuff in October to lead up to Halloween to feel like I could make a whole album. Fall doesn't really seem like a big thing here, maybe because our summer is perfect, and fall is a moldy mess, dark and wet. Not a lot of people here are excited to go outside in October compared to in July and August because we don't have disgusting hot summer weather (or central air conditioning). Even the pluviophiles are just excited to stay inside and hide in a blanket fort with their books and a cat while listening to the rain in October. Or at least that's how it seems to me. I still need to get started on the cover for my OD from a few years back. 

I love goat cheese! The previous recommendations are great - I also like it on a burger. 👍❤️

Here’s my favorite pumpkin soup recipe www.budgetbytes.com/spicy-coconut-pumpkin-soup/
(90% of the food I cook is from her site. I never knew I could use up spices regularly until I started following her recipes. She uses the same spices over and over so if you like those flavors it’s easy to stock a limited selection of spices and actually use them all the time.)

I got the spiderweb idea from a Pea years ago;

http://instagram.com/p/BpjQdgFDfV7