Super Fun Pre-Halloween Weekend!

Sure, it's Wednesday, and I'm only now getting around to writing about our weekend, but at the rate I've been going, I'm just glad I'm posting!

Last weekend, the Mister & I drove down to our old stomping grounds, Norfolk and Virginia Beach, to have a super fun pre-Halloween weekend.  The first purpose of our trip was running the Anthem Wicked 10K, which is a super fun costume race.  This is my third year in a row doing a Halloween-themed race for my birthday and I have declared it a tradition!

Ahh, he's got me!

Drac makes sure the Mister gets a good night's sleep!

Matchy McMatchersons over here!

The Mister was able to leave work relatively early Friday afternoon and we hit the road.  Remarkably, we didn't hit ANY traffic and made amazing time.  Our first stop was the Expo at the Convention Center in Virginia Beach to pick up our packets.  I've been trying to take more photos when we do fun things and the Mister was willing to indulge us.  I think the shirts this year are way nicer than last year's!

After we got our packets and did a bit of browsing at the Expo, we headed over toward Norfolk to go to one of our favorite restaurants, Luna Maya, that we dearly miss.  We nommed on so much delicious food it was kind of ridiculous.  Then we headed back to our hotel to  get in a good night's rest before the race.  I forgot to get any photos before the race, but I am impressed at how great my costume looks after a 6.2 mile run!

Post-race selfie! We were the TARDIS and the 10th Doctor from Doctor Who, fyi!

Blurry shot of me & Richard Simmons!  This guy rarely broke character, it was awesome!

Ms. Frizzle & her Magic School Bus!  I was bummed that they didn't place in the costume contest!

Full shot of the TARDIS costume!

Extra special touch!

I love doing costume races because it makes the running part that much more bearable if you have something amusing to look at.  This was the longest distance the Mister has run since high school and I was running a bit injured, so checking out people's costumes was a big help!  Unfortunately, not too many people got our costumes.  Mostly just the cool nerdy high schoolers volunteering.  There was one girl who was handing out PowerBars who pretty much lost her shit, especially when I turned around to show off my Bad Wolf grafitti.

We stayed for most of the after-party and enjoyed our three free beers and then stumbled down the beach back toward our hotel lunch and showers.  We had lunch (in our costumes!) at our favorite fancy sandwich shop, Taste.  I joked with the Mister that it was no wonder I gained 10 pounds after moving in with him...there were so many awesome places to eat in Norfolk!

We spent the rest of the day bumming around and had dinner with some friends.  The next day we slept in and had a super yummy (but surprisingly spendy) breakfast at a place called Pocahontas Pancakes and then hit the road for the finale of our Super Fun Pre-Halloween Weekend.  Busch Gardens Howl-O-Scream!

I totally intended to take way more photos while we were at the park, but then I forgot.  But I made sure to get a photobooth photo because last time we came, we didn't get one.  It's my favorite souvenir!  We had so much fun at Howl-O-Scream, but we wish the scary stuff started a bit earlier.  We did all our favorite non-scary attractions early in the afternoon and then we were left sort of just wandering around for two hours before the haunted houses opened up.  But man.  Once they did?

Have I ever mentioned that I am a TOTAL baby about scary things?  Like, I don't watch scary movies or scary TV shows.  Even some episodes of Doctor Who are too scary for me.  But I was like, Yeah!  Let's go through these crazy haunted houses!  We got through four of the six they offered before we needed to hit the road (it was a school night, after all!) and they were insane.  I screamed.  A lot.  To the point where I finally just warned the people behind us in line.  Everyone, especially the Mister, had a good laugh at me.  I was totally an easy mark for the ghoulies because they'd see me clutching the Mister's arm and cowering behind him so they all came at me.  I felt bad for the ones who I screamed at right in their faces.  Oops.  I wonder if they are provided with earplugs.  I certainly hope so!

Even more fun was that, after dark, there were ghoulies just wandering around the park, creeping up on people to scare them.  It was super fun to watch other people's reactions.  And of course, the Mister laughed at me every time I jumped or screamed.  What can I say?  I startle easily!

That's all I've got for now.  Tomorrow is my birthday!  The big 3-0.  I'm planning to write up a recap of my 30-by-30 list (short version: didn't accomplish much of it) tomorrow.  Until then, Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch!

You guys, it's October!  October is my favorite month, not just because of my birthday though.  You see, Fall is my favorite season.  And sure, September is the official beginning of fall, but September is just like August Plus.  But October is when the leaves really start changing colors and when the weather gets a little crisper.  And I love me some crisp weather.  It means I can start wearing boots and sweaters and scarves and jackets, but I don't have to wear a coat.  It's the best weather for running.  And for doing fall things.  Like going to the pumpkin patch!

Yesterday afternoon, the Mister came home from work early so we decided to take a drive out to Belvedere Plantation to get some pumpkins.  I've been dying to do something Fall-like and this was pretty high on my list, but we got rained out last weekend.  Well, last night could not have been more perfect, weather-wise.  Although I should have listened to my original instincts that told me to bring a sweater.

But even though I was a little chilly, I looked darn cute with my pumpkin!

And the Mister was handsome, as always.

We felt a little awkward when we first got there because it is totally geared towards families with kids and as yet, we are child-free.  But after a while, we ran into a few other child-free couples out on a Friday date night and felt a little more comfortable.

With it being Fall and all, the sun began to set and the moon to rise pretty early in the evening.

The pumpkin patch is lit up on Friday nights, but we decided to get the pumpkin picking out of the way first thing.  There were really so many awesome pumpkins.  We were super impressed with the quality.  We each found a few awesome pumpkins a piece, but settled on two 18 pounders.  I'm pretty excited to carve them up and also to roast the seeds!

Most of the activities were geared towards the littles, but there was a Maize Maze so we decided to hit that up.  I had never actually been in a corn maze, so I was excited to give it a try.  The Mister thought it was a haunted corn maze, but I was happy it was just a regular one.  It was a little confusing what we were supposed to be doing, besides finding our way out.  There were these checkpoint signs and we only ever found Checkpoints 3 & 4 though some people we ran into claimed to have found Checkpoint 5.  Eventually though, our hot cider was long gone and my fingers were frozen so we decided to give up the ghost and go back the way we started.  The Mister's inner Boy Scout was a bit upset at not having conquered the corn maze, but we still had a lot of fun!

All in all, we had a great time and it was a super fun Fall date night.  I would definitely go back again next year.  And seeing as how we went out to the patch and picked our own pumpkins, I'm going to go ahead and declare this as "Berry Picking" as far as my 30-Before-30 list goes!

Stalker Songs

Have you ever had a song stalking you?  Like, you hear it everywhere you go?  And I don't mean a Top 40 song-of-the-summer because that would be like saying that the guy in the next cubicle is stalking you because he is always at work when you are.  Now, if he were also always at your dry cleaners and also always in the tree outside your apartment, then yes, he would be stalking you.  But anyway.  Back to the original question of stalker songs.  Because lately, this song has been stalking me:

I have heard it three times in the last week or two.  I remember this song was HUGE in the early nineties but listening to it now, I am so confused as to why.  Perhaps it's because it is a total earworm.  Since this song started stalking me, I've been walking around singing it to myself.  Except then I start singing THESE lyrics:

The only clips I can find skip the first part of the song which goes, "I am sitting on the sofa, there's a TV in the corner..."  Anyone else a huge Nick at Nite fan as a child?