where have i been

Ooo I know, I know. I went MIA. Let's blame my quarter-life crisis that began over a year ago and never stopped.

I'm going through a career change as well. I'm in the percentage of Americans that is underemployed and either way overqualified for poor jobs or under-qualified for the career jobs that I desperately want.

So for now looking for work. Hasn't gone well so I am choosing to take the time to start my own business. I have been working on my new web site but it has taken months because of coding. It's like I hit a brick wall in my brain every time I want to get it online. BUT! This also means I am moving my blog to my own server. Good-bye Blogger! Hello WordPress (Which is the reason why my blog still isn't online. Oh, this is a head-ache.)

It's not ready yet, but follow me on Twitter for some updates! I'm @chalacharlie

my december 2011

Went to a tree farm; cut down my own tree. I love Pennsylvanian woods!

I really do recommend Buchanan Farms. Super nice people.

Did my own holiday baking.

Celebrated a coworker's birthday.

Love my coworkers; only thing keeping me to this job as of now.

Also had my own Christmas party with my coworkers. (No pictures available.)

til the countdown

Getting ready for Christmas! Y'know, so many people bah humbug it, but you know what helps? Getting away from the commercialization of it all for a year. Live overseas from October to January, it wipes the slate clean. Sure, Korea had decorations and things, but Christmas was more for lovers than a family holiday. Plus, I spent it last year by myself in Guam. So bring on the music and the movies and the lights!

But not the shopping. I am severely financially limited.

Not quite sure how to start off the holiday blogging, so before I do, I'll tell you what I watched today. Some Like it Hot with Marilyn Monroe. I figured I'd do some background research before seeing that new movie, My Week With Marilyn. I always avoided watching this particular movies of hers. I can't explain why, but it turns out I loved it! The costume student in me kinda screams at the inaccuracy of the costumes, which I would assume they would be able to reproduce better in the 1950s as it was closer TO the 1920s... but hey. Whatever. It can be overlooked. (It was mostly the hair and make-up that got to me. That is NOT how they set their pin curls in that era! Hmm.)

I love Marilyn. The poor thing had many demons, but she was smarter than most people realize. What I love was her passion for equality, which I love finding out about old Hollywood stars. Like Clark Gable, for instance.(Look that one up.) It was Marilyn who helped launch Ella Fitzgerald's career as it was Marilyn who insisted that Ella perform at a certain upscale venue. Marilyn herself promised to buy tickets for front row seats to cause a media frenzy, and it did!

"I'm just not that smart." OH SISTER, I KNOW. Musicians and artists, good grief, they are the devil.

happy halloween!

So finally, it's the big day, my favorite holiday!! Luckily I have the day off so I'm just going to watch scary movies and cook the creepy recipes from the holiday magazines I collected. Usually I have a great weekend along with the holiday, but I suppose everyone's going to have an off year sometime. So I'm going to reminisce about Halloweens past!

There was my first year in college, where I went on a haunted walking tour and won a night in a haunted hotel room by myself!! It was beautiful, but nothing happened.

Another year and I went to Disneyland for their Halloween celebrations.

There was another year where I threw a fantastic Halloween party at my apartment!!

The following year, same place same party. But with way better food and David Bowie!!

Another year found me working in a costume store for Halloween. The best thing about was getting to dress up to work everyday. Fun job.

Then of course last year I was in Korea and it was loads of fun. My kids dressed up, their was a party everyday, and the night out was super fun. Although I was Katy Perry, most Koreans thought I was Lady Gaga haha.

zuul, zuuuuuul

My bakery is awesome, don't get me wrong. But I had to grab one and show you one of our Halloween cupcakes.

It's supposed to be a spider, but my coworker Cleveland said, "Psh, a spider with 6 legs!" I thought it looked more like this:

Haha! The pumpkins and ghosts ones are way cuter, trust me. Also I got my jack-o-lanterns carved. I carved a skull, Ghostbusters logo, and the pumpkin from Plants vs. Zombies.