Gymbo Sale

Gymboree's Circle of Friends Sale starts tomorrow and goes through Sunday. Use the code CFFRIEND or CFCIRCLE and get 30 percent off of your entire order.

JillyBean needs some new PJs. These are pretty cute with Christmas around the corner:

Sweet Ending

Even if your candidate didn't win yesterday, there will always be cupcakes. At least I don't recall Obama campaigning against such sweet delights.
JillyBean and I went to Cappellino's Crazy Cakes this afternoon, a new bakery at the Downtown Mall. It helped melt away our disappointment.

Happy Election Day

Rock the Vote

Don't forget to cast your ballot on Tuesday. And if you're still undecided, follow JillyBean's suggestion.

Halloweeve

Tomorrow is Halloween and we're super excited around here. JillyBean has been practicing her "trick or treat" the past several days to ensure that Beanie Mom and Beanie Dad get a great stash of sweets this year. After all, it will be the last time we get the candy since I'm sure that she'll figure it out next year.

Jilly's costume is sort of a mish-mash of stuff. She really isn't anything, though a friend said it seems like she could be a bug. So we decided that she's a JillyBug. Beanie Grandma found a super cute black cape last year at Cracker Barrel that has eyes that light up. We've paired with a purple and black polka dot dress from Hanna Andersson along with some purple and black striped tights, also from HA, and a headband with bug antennas on it from Gymboree that she won't wear.

We plan to start the festivities with trick-or-treating at The Lawn, part of UVA's historic Academical Village . It's a tradition with the students who live there to hand out candy to kids. We went last year, when Bean was only 6 months old, and it was a blast. It will be even more fun this year since she'll be able to walk around herself. After that, we plan to go to do a bit more trick-or-treating with one of Bean's Buddies in his neighborhood. Bean is the only kid in our neighborhood so it wouldn't be too much fun for her here.

Girls' Night In

Tonight was the first of what will surely be many "Girls' Night In" events with Beanie Mom and JillyBean. Beanie Dad had to work since Jay Z was performing, so JB and I put on our PJs a bit early, popped some Kettle Corn, heated up some of our CSA's fabulous fresh apple cider, kicked back on the couch and watched Toy Story. It was a lot of fun. Jilly LOVES popcorn and really dug the warm cider. It's funny because she hasn't had juice before so this was a bit of a treat.

She got to bed about an hour later than normal and was completely wiped. She didn't even want to read a story. I was afraid that she'd be a bit wired after the cider and Kettle Corn, but she appeared to be pooped.

I can't wait for us to have more evenings like this. It was fun cuddling on the couch together. Her sweet side really showed as she would scoot close to me and throw her arms around my neck and kiss me on the cheek. I doubt she really "got" the movie, but she seemed to realize that this was a special event. It also was the first time that she has actually sat through an entire feature length film. I really wanted to watch The Devil Wears Prada (because I can watch that every day and also because Beanie Dad and I watched Adrian Grenier in Season 4 of Entourage last night), but figured that we should hold off on that for a couple more years.

Twisted Pumpkin

Kappa Prep had posted a yummy looking Martha Stewart recipe a couple of weeks ago and I made it for dinner last night - penne pasta with creamy pumpkin sauce. Yum! The only strange thing was getting past the idea that the sauce wouldn't taste like pumpkin spice like I'm used to having in a pie or pumpkin bread. You know how your brain is used to something being one way but it isn't so it takes a bit for you to get used to the new thing? That's what it was like with this recipe. Still, it was a success and something that will be made again.

The deviation that I made from the recipe was not garnishing it with the toasted rosemary. A couple of reviewers didn't care for it so I passed on it, too. I did toast/fry it as the recipe says just to have the flavor, but tossed it out.