Supper Club Potluck: Halloween Edition

Have you been to one of my Supper Clubs?  If you haven't - or if you haven't read about them on here - I explain them in my FAQ section.  Basically, it's a dinner party with friends, which I plan and create... and I always keep the entire meal below 600 calories per serving.

So far, the fare at Supper Club 600 has been a product of my own test kitchen (with or sans Tom, depending on how busy his job is during planning phase.)  It's been great for me because I don't do well when I'm bored, and a regularly-scheduled bimonthly Supper Club keeps me in forward motion, learning new skills in the kitchen, and always trying new things.

But due to some unusual scheduling, I did four consecutive months of SC600, and it exhausted me to the point that I knew if I didn't take a break, I would get burned out on a fun project that has challenged me and fulfilled me in such important ways.

When friends requested a Halloween-themed SC600, I was sad to turn them down.  Halloween is perhaps my favorite holiday of the year!  But I couldn't shake the idea that I really wanted to see my usual SC crew, all costumed to the nines.  So when my usual SC photographer, Rochelle, offered her home up, I didn't turn her down... exactly.  I turned it into a Supper Club Potluck!  That way I would get to enjoy the day with everyone, but I wouldn't have to do all of the usual legwork it takes me to test and create recipes, plan a menu, do all of the graphic design, organize the decor, buy all the groceries, and spend a couple of days cooking for a big group.

So we sent out our invitations, and on Saturday night, we gathered at Rochelle's home to eat, drink and be spooky.  I had such a blast!

I went as Medusa, thanks to a dress by Kische that I found on crazy sale at Nordstrom Rack.   I wasn't able to find a wig or headdress I liked, so I found a Medusa Crown tutorial online.  Using Sculpy clay and nail polish, I built my own crown.  I also used a Medusa makeup tutorial... you can't make it out in the photos, but I made a sparkly snakeskin pattern by using fishnet leggings!

Look, I'm turning you to stone!

Tom went as a meta/deconstructed duck-billed platypus.
This is the most excited I've seen him about a Halloween costume.
Yes, that is a velour track suit.  He ordered it for the occasion.

With my co-hostess, Rochelle the Black Swan.

For our contribution to the potluck, I brought the low-cal pumpkin dip I blogged about last week, and Tom made our signature Barbecue Jackfruit sandwiches.  I also made punch, and I really liked the recipe I came up with -- it will appear on Finishing the Hat sometime soon.

Our guests also brought some scrumptious dishes to share.

Some of which included baked enchiladas, corn bread, roasted root veggies, bruschetta, and queso.
There were also some dessert treats, not pictured.

My favorite contribution was from Lindsay - her peanut butter/apple/marshmallow mouths. SO CUTE!

Rochelle and I had a blast decorating.  We pooled our respective Halloween notions, and put together a couple of fun displays.

Probably my favorite corner - Spanish moss with pumpkins, pumpkin vines,
and the raven that once sat on my father's shoulder for his Edgar Allan Poe costume.

  

My "Black Hat Society" tin sign at the spiderwebby entrance.

  

Spiders and a spiderweb runner

  

Last but not least, my complete Simpsons Treehouse of Horror collection.
I was down in the dumps the year Burger King released these toys,
and my parents cheered me up by helping me collect of of them. 
I'm lucky they didn't release them this year... because I haven't eaten fast food in 10 MONTHS!

  
Our guests had such awesome costumes!

Swine Flu, Pig-in-a-Blanket, Beer Frau, Megan from Bridesmaids,
Medusa & Black Swan.

  
Patty's costume may have been my favorite from that night - every last detail from her Melissa McCarthy/Bridesmaids costume was spot-on.

Do you want a piece of this?

David wrote about his Jared from Subway costume on his blog, Keep It Up David.

Our gloved duo, Steampunk Big Bad Wolf, and Edward Scissorhands

Steampunk Big Bad Wolf was a part of a costume quartet of steampunk fairy tale characters, which was definitely my favorite group costume of the night.  We didn't get a great picture of all four of them together, so I'm sharing one they took.

Steampunk Red Riding Hood, Big Bad Wolf, Mad Hatter and Goldilocks.
Their little costume details were AMAZING.

Sonic the Hedgehog, Wario and Chum-Chum (which is especially cute because
her boyfriend was a storyboard artist for Fanboy and Chum-Chum!)

Our friends above are holding our trick-or-treat goodie bags, which Rochelle and I put together for our guests - including some Skinny Cow candy, some sugar-free Extra Dessert Delights gum, and a bunch of Halloween toys and trinkets to help everybody embrace their inner kiddo.

It was a wonderful night shared with terrific friends - and I'm so glad I took Rochelle up on her offer to co-host!  A big thanks to her, and to all of our guests, for such a fun night.

Now we're already into Thanksgiving season.  Does everybody have somewhere to be on Thanksgiving?  Anybody need a loving home?  I'm not doing an official Supper Club for the holiday, but I'm definitely cooking.  :)

Adventure Wednesday... Texts From (Last) Horror Night

This Adventure Wednesday post is rated H, for fans of Halloween, Horror, and Heidi's writing.

So... here's the thing.  We haven't really told many people, but Tom and I have slowly been developing a screenplay for a horror film.  Horror scripts can be a good toe-in-the-door for screenwriters writing on spec (or, for free/as writing samples) like ourselves.  We also needed a little break from the TV spec writing, and I'm close-but-not-quite-ready to finish my Yoga For Fat Girls spec screenplay.  Plus, both of us dig a really clever horror flick.  So horror it is.

Tom and I first thought about collaborating on a horror script four years ago this Monday - Halloween 2007.  I'd gotten out of work on time (for a change) and Tom came to pick me up for a date.  We had planned to head down to Disneyland to see what festivities were happening, but this was before Disney realized what a goldmine Halloween can be... and the park was closing at 8 PM.  One of us suggested we check out Universal Studios.  We'd both heard they did something called "Halloween Horror Nights," but we didn't know much about it.

When we arrived, the crowds were thick at the gate, so we sprang for a "Front-of-the-Line" ticket, like a Disney Fastpass, but for purchase (and without waiting.)  We walked through the gates... and our lives were never the same.

No, really.  We had so much fun during that first trip that we've gone back to Universal's Halloween Horror nights every year since.  And it inspired Tom - who, in turn, inspired me - to write a horror script.  Tom describes the experience as feeling like you're actually in a horror movie.  The mazes are so well-designed and executed (much like the characters, heh) that you end up feeling like a scream queen, heart pounding, eyes darting from this dark corner to that door ajar, nerves crackling with the fear of knowing that any second, something is going to burst through and scare the living dead daylights out of you.

Plus, I had a photo opportunity with Norman Bates, in front of the really-for-real Psycho house.
What could be more life-changing? He told me I looked like someone he could "bring home to mother."

This year, since we're working on the horror script, we decided to focus on our annual trip to Horror Nights for inspiration and discussion.  We had so many ideas and observations from the mazes that we started to forget some of them, so halfway through the evening, we sat down to text each other our shorthand thoughts.  Here are our Texts from (Last) Horror Night, in bold - with a bit of explanation for each.

**

Things that are inherently creepy: photos, children, churches, dolls, illness.
One of the new mazes this year, La Llorona, is based on a Mexican legend about a woman who drowns her children.  It includes so many inherently creepy visuals and concepts that I bet I'd even be spooked by it without any scare-acters.   It might be my favorite maze ever.  (It might even beat the Halloween maze from 2009, a lovingly faithful tribute to my favorite horror film.)

Misdirection.  
It's the key to surprise.  The Alice Cooper maze made great use of it, placing one gruesome duo at the end of the hallway.  I couldn't help but stare at them - after all, they were gross, and they were going to turn and scream at me or something, right?  But partway down the hall, two other scares popped out at me from either side.  All the scarier because my attention was focused elsewhere.

Big and small spaces.
Opposite use of space can be scary. Very big spaces have all kinds of nooks and crannies from which spooks can emerge... and you can't focus on all of them at once.  On the other hand, in very small spaces... if something comes at you, you have nowhere else to go.  And you're very, very aware of this.

Variation - keep 'em off balance.
For a long-form scare, there must be lots of different kinds of surprises.  For instance, silence or darkness punctuated by noise or light is most effective.  If you repeat the same kind of gag - say, guy jumps out from a door - people will start to suspect the scare and disengage.  You want to keep them engaged - and to do so, you gotta keep them on their toes.

Know your audience.
You need to calculate their fears... what they will be thinking, and how they will be reacting.  Some people might be scared by someone jumping out at them.  Some people might not... so how do you scare them?  One brilliant scare-acter realized that Tom and I were smiling at him, not scared by him.  So instead of moving on to someone else, he changed his tactic.  He walked straight up to us and stopped inches away from our noses.  We stepped to the right, and he mirrored us.  We stepped to the left, and he mirrored us without stopping.  This was actually far more unsettling than any jack-in-the-box startling.  And a good horror film should have as much "unsettling" as "startling."

A single, iconic villain.
One very creepy main antagonist will always be scarier than a variety of less-compelling ones.  The "torture porn" mazes are hardly scary at all.  Sure, bloody bodies and crazy trap-like contraptions aren't exactly Hello Kitty, but those depictions can verge on comical, and aren't scary, just gross.  Gore has its place, but it will be most effective when it follows deep emotional connection, tension, and terror.

A safe place.
The characters and the audience are always looking for a "safe place."   A spot where they know that nothing is coming to get them.  Denying them that is deeply unsettling.  Movie characters, like maze-goers, would try to move quickly from one safe space to the next, rather than at one pace.

The first scene.
What we see at the beginning of a maze (or a movie) shapes how we see the scenes that follow it.  For the very effective La Llorona maze, this starts before you even enter.  Three signs are placed within the maze line, which tell the story of La Llorona.  Then, when you step into the maze, you're in a Mexican church - a funeral, all flickering votives and memorial photos.  You're immediately drawn into the maze - and surrounded with several of the "inherently creepy" items listed above.

Emotional connection is what drives everything.
For effective horror, there needs to be some sort of emotional connection - fear of the antagonist, identification with a protagonist, witnessing things with inherent emotional content, etc - for it to really work.  In a film, it makes people a part of what's happening, not just an audience member.

**

Our night at Univeral was very well-filling, so to speak.  We've since been flush with ideas, and meeting for daily writing sessions before Tom leaves for work.  I'm having a lot of fun.  I really need to remember that I'm at my happiest - and the days that follow are most productive - when I start the day writing.

One other fun thing I noticed that night is that... I'm stronger!  I suppose it should have been obvious to me, since I work out so regularly (and so hard!) but I was still surprised when I hiked up the hill next to the Psycho house, and, for the first time ever, I made it up without stopping, and reached the top without panting.  I guess that's what comes of taking care of me!  And I hope you'll take care of you today.

If you're local, and a horror fan, definitely check out Universal Horror Nights, which runs through Halloween night.

Supper Club 600: Garden-to-Table Edition

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of co-hosting an event with some of my closest friends in the city, Lisa and Chris.  I've known them for the better part of my time in California, and they've enriched my life in so many ways -- our "Supper Club 600: Garden-to-Table Edition" party being the latest one.

One of the veggie "crate labels" I photoshopped for event decoration, using an existing historical label as the basis.

  
When Lisa started her own urban garden this year, and began to blog about it (with her partner-in-grime, Amy) at Urb Garden Girls, I have to admit I felt the tiniest flush of jealousy.  I don't have the space to grow garden food, though I grew up with one in my backyard.  So when Lisa approached me with the idea of a dinner party that would bring the freshness of their garden straight to a community table, I was thrilled.

Another crate label. A doozy - this one used to say "Irma," not "Lisa."

  
Soon Chris offered to join in with a contribution from his own blog, The Enlightened Hedonist.  Chris is always seeking a way to enrich his life through thoughtful pleasure.  He recently described my mindful eating as my own personal enlightened hedonism - and I realized he's right!  My journey has been very much about keeping the enjoyment of food while being mindful about it.  Something that brings Chris pleasure is creative mixology, so he came up with two signature cocktails for the evening, also made with ingredients from his garden.  You can read more about it in his blog entry, here.

Lisa tended her garden - much like she tends her friendships - with care.  So she encouraged friends to donated the fruits of their own urban gardens - eggs, avocados, lemons, apples - as well as a beautiful location for our meal.  And I took that bountiful harvest (along with supplemental ingredients from my favorite farmer's market) and whipped it into a feast for 24!

Our buffet-style garden feast.

 Lisa and Amy decorated for the party, which we held in the backyard of their friend Christy's house.  And thank goodness - I love well-decorated events, but when I'm cooking for a big crowd, I just can't manage it myself.  Thanks to them, it turned out beautifully.

The decorated table, with vintage linens from Lisa's collection, as well as candles, sunflowers, and my crate labels.

  
 I was especially unable to decorate (or photograph... thanks to Rochelle for all of these pictures) because Tom had fallen ill and could not join me for cooking duty.  Originally we'd planned for him not to be there due to his work schedule, so luckily I had two sous-chefs to help me - Keith and Alexa.

The three of us, done with cooking for the day!

A serving of the harvest spoils, plus one of Chris' cocktails (calories extra.)

Chris at his "bar," a gardening table.

Baked apples for dessert - with Reddi Wip (which was within the calories) or Brown Butter Sage ice cream (which wasn't.)

  
I don't have a good picture of it, but we were also treated to an after-dinner apertif, fresh apple-carrot-ginger juice pressed by Amy.  It was, honestly, my favorite part of the meal! 

Each guest was sent home with a goodie bag with extra produce from the gardens.

  

Isn't Lisa's dress cute? And she MADE her rooster/tin-roof earrings.  She talks about them,
and the whole day, on her jewelry blog, Inspired Adornments.

It turned out to be a beautiful day, with delicious fresh food and drinks, and wonderful friends.  I'm so grateful to be a part of my community, and so happy we were able to celebrate together.

Which we did, by twinkle-light, well into the evening.

  
I'll be back tomorrow with some recipes from the party - and some fashion details from it, too.  Until then, please take care of you!

Multimedia Monday: It's time to start the music...

Today I'm introducing a brand new "day" theme: Multimedia Monday!  Each Monday, I will be reflecting on creativity in a variety of ways, including sharing my TV/film/art/music/literature recommendations, as well as - when I'm able - my own creative work.

Finishing the Hat started out as a way for me to communicate about - and share - my creative endeavors.  When I began my weight loss journey, so much of those creative endeavors began to focus on my fitness and my food, so the blog took a sharp turn in that direction.  Don't worry - I'm definitely going to continue my journey, and writing about it every day.  It'll even play into my Multimedia Mondays.

I still have a long journey ahead of me, but part of me has felt a little disconnected here at Finishing the Hat.  So much of my passion stems from watching (and creating! and also, in previous work, selling) film and television.  Actually, any creative endeavor makes my heart sing.  So each Monday, I'll singing my heart out here about it, here.

I'll start each MM post with "Short Cuts," a quick list of my thoughts and recommendations for the week.

• The fall TV season has begun!  Tom's been working 7 days a week for the past few weeks, so he and I have been struggling to keep up with the new shows (and the new episodes of our old shows.)  We finally killed the last new ones on our DVR last night, and we think we've honed in on one new show to follow, so far: The New Girl, starring Zooey Deschanel.  It's charming without being twee, it has bite without being too cynical or ironic, and - this is a big one - it actually made us laugh.  

• I always feel happy when I make a good recommendation for someone else.  I had suggested to my father that he go see The Help, and though he was hesitant to see a "chick flick," he gave it a glowing review after seeing it.  If you haven't seen it yet, it's worth a look.

•  As a former market-eer, I take close notice of film and TV campaigns. Though I haven't seen the film, I'm impressed with the tagline (which is the slogan typically on posters and in ads) for 50/50, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen.  A good tagline says it all in one punchy phrase, and the 50/50 tagline definitely does. "It takes a pair to beat the odds."  From that little sentence (and the accompanying photo of Rogen as he watches Gordon-Levitt shave his head) we can gather that this is both a cancer movie (his odds are 50/50; "a pair" = nads) and this is a buddy movie ("a pair" = Rogen + Gordon-Levitt.)  Ingenius!

• Over the weekend, we happened to see a trailer for a film I saw in early preview this spring.  I can't tell you anything about it.  I won't even tell you the name of it.  But I will tell you two things.  One, I loved the movie thoroughly.  THOROUGHLY.  And two, the trailer goes WAY out of its way not to tell you what the movie is really about.  I hate when that happens!  (As a former market-eer, I understand why it happens.  But I still hate it.)

 And on to today's topic.  I saw someone describe these beloved characters as "heartfelt, by hearts made of felt," and I can't help but agree.  I love me some Muppets.

My parents were fond of telling the story about how I used to dance to The Muppet Show before I could even walk.  Apparently, I would squeal as soon as I would see that spinning-top ITC Production Logo. 




My fondness for the Muppets certainly didn't end when I became an adult.  In fact, I may be crazier about them now than I was back then.  (I squeal less, though.)  Luckily for me, there's been a big revival of the Muppet franchise, and if you haven't noticed the resurgence of Kermit and the gang, you're bound to see it before the new film opens November 23.

I'm looking forward to it.  Besides my beloved felt-hearted frog and his friends, it includes the talents of Jason Segel (who is starring as well as screenwriting), Amy Adams (who I've followed gleefully since her Oscar-nominated performance in the wonderful Junebug), and music by Bret McKenzie from Flight of the Conchords.

They're building buzz around the film with a variety of different interesting projects.

For one thing, a cover album of Muppet greats - The Green Album - came out last month.  It's a surprising collection of Muppet classics as performed by a variety of popular and indie artists.  I knew I'd love the already-amazing "It's Not Easy Bein' Green," and the haunting-even-when-sung-by-Gonzo "I'm Going To Go Back There Someday," but I didn't realize how brilliantly clever (and kind of painful) the lyrics to "I Hope That Something Better Comes Along" really were until I heard it performed by Matt Nathanson.  Big thumbs-up.

For another thing... I'm not a frequent purchaser of nail polish, but I can't wait to buy my own bottle of O.P.I.'s "Rainbow Connection."

Or "Fresh Frog of Bel-Air." Or "Excuse Moi."  Those two pictured above.

Oh, for that Excuse Moi polish a few Octobers ago, when Tom and I went as my favorite fuzzy duo for Halloween.

My favorite duo costume. Ever.  We don't fit 'em anymore, though!

As fun and playful as the Muppets are, there's such a deeper side to them.   Sometimes deeply sad.  Sometimes deeply inspiring.  I got the idea for this blog topic yesterday, when I stumbled upon a video that Henson Studios posted in honor of the 75th anniversary of Jim Henson's birth.

It's the finale from the television tribute special, after Jim's death.  I won't lie.  It made me cry. 





I was so inspired by the video that I started doodling... and it became another Art Journal entry.

Thank you, Jim, for the beautiful legacy you left to all of us.  Your creativity inspires me every day.

As far as my weight loss journey... it has been a bit of a challenge in the last week, and I'll write about it more tomorrow in my Weigh-In update.  This may be a hard path to travel on, but as I doodled, I realized that having all of you in my life - believing in me - has helped me to believe in me.

I believe in you, too.

Take care of you.

Friend Interviewin' Monday, plus a painting preview!

Happy Monday!  A new week has begun, and I am feeling rejuvenated and ready to forge ahead with my various projects. (Particularly my main one, which - as Richard puts it - is "Project Me.")

Lots of ground to cover today!

Weekend Recap
I was an editor's widow this weekend, as Tom was working on a side project - a short documentary - most of the time. I was able to keep busy with a ton of activities, including:

• A Friday night trip shopping trip with my dad, where I managed to style him in the vein of Steve Carrell as styled by Ryan Gosling in Crazy Stupid Love.  Brilliantly, I managed not to take a photo of him in his dapper zip-up cardigan and his fedora.
• One last outing with Dad before delivering him to the airport.  We went to my favorite Indian restaurant - Akbar - in Pasadena.  They make some seriously good naan, and Dad & I each ordered our own.  After we finished, we agreed that in the future, we'd only need to order one naan to share.  It's the latest food observation to add to my list of things to remember.
• A birthday party for my friend Ann's two adorable kidlets. 
• A birthday party for my adorable friend Joe.  They played a game that I am MOST DEFINITELY including in an upcoming Supper Club, and I cannot wait to share it.
• A planning session for an upcoming event - which I'm collaborating on with a few other friends who are also bloggers.
• A scoche of cat-sitting for two darling orange cats, Teddy and Peeta.  They were very cuddly.
• An outing to the farmer's market.  Holy cow, it is most definitely harvest season.  I bought some apples, some peaches, some heirloom tomatoes, some swiss chard (to practice recipes for aforementioned upcoming event) and some dinosaur pluots.
• A dinner with friends of ours who are also creative colleagues.

Painting Preview
Several of you (especially my sister) have nudged me for photos of all of the painting my dad and I did while he was visiting.  The room isn't completely ready for prime-time, because the weather has been unseasonably muggy, and the shelves and drawers aren't dry enough to be filled.  So instead, I'm going to post some sneak peek close-ups of a few things, and once all the books and clothes are tucked away in their proper places, I'll do another post with a better view of the room at large.

The wall behind our bed, plus our wrought-iron candle sconce.
It isn't quite this vivid - it's hard to capture perfect colors, even with a nice camera.

  

One of the bookshelves, with our starburst clock.

 
  

Part of our dresser.  This aqua is the same color as our wall - I think it's better captured here.

Friend-Interviewin' Monday
For those of you craving more Supper Club 600, the excellent Alyssa at Double-Chin Diary has posted her own recap of the event, plus an interview with me.  (My first interview! Heh.)  Alyssa is a bright, skilled blogger and I highly recommend you check out some of her entries, especially my personal favorite, "Chunky."  I relate completely to her story of sudden self-awareness brought on by a grandparent's comment.  Head on over and show her some support!

All right, you lovely people.  This is going to be a beautiful week, and I hope that you'll spend it doing good things for yourselves.  I plan to take very good care of me, and I want you to do the same!

Supper Club 600: B-Movie BBQ at the Drive-In!

I am so happy to be writing this blog entry.  You have no idea.  I've been preparing for it for weeks!

Every so often, my Adventure Wednesday post is extra-special to me, because the adventure of the week is a gathering of friends and loved ones for a celebration of my journey.  A celebration of food and health and joy... which IS POSSIBLE.  You can combine food and health and joy.  And that is why we started Supper Club 600, a dinner party series where we teach - by example -  that you can eat healthfully and still take great delight in being a foodie.  Each SC600 meal clocks in at less than 600 calories. And each time, it's themed for maximum party pleasure.

This time it was a barbecue.  At a drive-in.  With B movies.  And it was a blast.

Tom and I have been perfecting the menu over time, starting with the jackfruit itself.  I've already shared the recipe, but for those of you who missed it, the short story of jackfruit is: it's canned, it's unripened, it shreds like pulled pork, and it's delicious.  We first served it at another SC600 BBQ gathering, but I managed not to take a single photo of that party, so we decided to throw another one!

This time, we knew we needed to make everything simple so that we could prepare it in advance and deliver it to the Mission Tiki Drive-In, where we gathered for the occasion.  Here's our menu for the evening:

I lifted the illustration from an old B-movie poster I found while gathering inspiration for the party.

I stumbled upon the theme idea after Googling "movie fabric," on the hunt for some sort of textiles I could use to decorate.  I happened upon some amazing monster movie fabric by Robert Kaufman, and I thought... of course!  B-movies are notorious at Drive-In theaters, and it was just the perfect element to tie everything together.  Kaufman's fabric had gone out of print, but I was lucky to snag just enough on eBay, so my crafty mother-in-law Jean whipped it into table runners.  And a theme was born.

Here's the Kaufman fabric runner, plus one of our centerpieces - white hydrangea "popcorn."

  

It was the THEME THAT WOULD NOT DIE.  I ended up making personalized bags for the movie snack sampler, using an array of B-movie posters I'd found online.

Mmm.  Black Lagoonlicious!
Photo courtesy of Rochelle

We even used thematic serving forks - as modeled by our new friend David.
I got these beauties at Target during Halloween season two years ago.
Photo by Rochelle

Enough with the theme.  Let's get to the party!

We set up our table before the Drive-In opened for the night - and once other guests
arrived, there was much staring.  We could read their minds. "What the hell?"

  

THERE WAS NO ESCAPING...
Our dinner spread.
Photo by Rochelle

 

THRILLS AND CHILLS!
We offered chilled zero-calorie beverages, including still water, "fuzzy" water (as it's known in my circles)
and a selection of diet sodas from the awesome Rocket Fizz in Burbank.
Photo by Rochelle

Among them, Jones Zilch Pomegranate... plus Old Philadelphia Creme Soda,
Avery's Orange, Virgil's Black Cherry, Root Beer, Cola and Dr. Better.
Man, I love that "Children of the Damned" poster.
Photo by Rochelle

   

Every single one of our lovely guests arrived early
to help set up, and soon we were ready to dig in.
Photo OF Rochelle! (And David.)

ATTACK OF THE KILLER JACKFRUIT!
Possibly our proudest moment was hearing raves about the jackfruit from a friend of ours who is a firm non-vegetarian.

   
   

The awesome Patty is about to try jackfruit for the first time!

  

A bird's eye view of dinner.
Photo by Rochelle

Time flew past, and suddenly the sun was setting on the beautiful Southern California evening.

  
But at a Drive-In, that means the party's just starting.  Our gang grabbed their treat bags and split off into three different movie doubleheaders: B-movie horror (Fright Night & Final Destination), B-movie remakes (Conan & Planet of the Apes) and comedy (30 Minutes or Less & The Change-Up.) 

Regardless of movie quality, everyone seemed to really enjoy their Drive-In adventure.  Goodness knows I did.  Thanks, from the bottom of my heart, to Frank and the team at Mission Tiki, who made this possible; to Tom, who keeps me grounded and pops excellent popcorn; to our amazing guests.  No amount of cooking or planning really makes a party great.  It's the guests who do that.

Hungry for more about the Drive-In?  You're in luck! I'll be back tomorrow with RETURN OF THE DRIVE-IN... a close-up on the recipes from this edition of Supper Club 600, and a peek inside those little treat bags.  And if that's not enough... come back for Fashion Friday: IT CAME... FROM THE DRIVE-IN! That's right, it's a B-Movie BBQ trilogy.

'Til then, I'm working hard on taking care of me.  And I hope you'll take care of you, too.

Adventure Wednesday with Mush and Dioramas

Since both Tom and I are fans of things that are quirky and unique, we prefer shopping at independent stores and boutiques when it's possible.  The down-side of that?  If you don't give them enough business, they can't float.  We've seen it again and again, with little places like the late great 8-Ball, and SkyBluePink, both formerly of Burbank.  When we can, we try to "keep Los Angeles weird" by shopping at still-open shops like Uncle Jer's in Los Feliz, Le Pink in Silverlake, and Zamba in Burbank.

And one day, we spotted a little store called Mush, located just down the street in our neighborhood.  Every time we drove by, we'd say "we should check out Mush."  We kept saying that for over a year... until one day, when it up and disappeared.  "Noooooo!" we cried.  "Not Mush!"

To our delight, Mush hadn't closed, it had simply moved a block closer.  So as soon as we had the chance, we made our way into their new digs to explore.

Located on Hollywood Boulevard near Western, there's metered parking and a lot in back.

   

They specialize in all things I love in a good indie boutique.  Here are some art sconces in the front window.

   

They have all kinds of interesting books, and a gorgeously-curated collection of antiques.

    

I love this old postcard projector. It's just the kind of thing I'd like on my bookshelves. (Aside from books, that is.)

    

Wouldn't you just like to settle in for a martini?

   

Their collection of artist and costume jewelry was eclectic and interesting.
I really dig that elephant ring, in the middle at bottom.

 

Check out this awesome array of antique pocket watches and keys. Don't they just scream "shadow box"?

You can't see it very well, but in the top right corner of the picture above is a pair of steampunk-style clockwork rings.  That was our one purchase of the day - we couldn't resist getting it for a steampunk-lovin' birthday girl we know.

There was one purchase we didn't splurge on, but we are still drooling every time we pass the Mush window: a mid-century modern television, in light wood on three legs.  While looking at it, Tom got inspiration for a house project we want to create for ourselves.  He would like to gut the TV of its innards, and have us create dioramas that would live inside.  We'd peer through the TV screen into a tiny world in three dimensions.  I've always been enamored of tiny things and depth/layers... so the thought was incredibly appealing to me!  We're hoping we can save up the dough to buy it before someone else does... but even if it doesn't work out, we at least have a fun idea to add to our list of projects-in-waiting.

Someday!

Inspired by Tom's idea, I headed online to look at images of art dioramas, to see if they helped me envision my own.  Here are a few, plus links to their artists.

Su Blackwell does beautiful diorama-like sculpture by cutting from books.

Everything is cut out and popped up from a copy of The Secret Garden.

Kendal Murray uses everyday objects like mirror compacts, teapots and coin purses.

I love how the mirror is used in the art - there are some thing you can only see reflected.

What a novel idea - a grassy-material purse as a diorama base.

A day at the beach. In a teapot.

Thomas Doyle's pieces are darker, more foreboding.  They're captured well in a series of detail photos.  Here's one piece, called "The Reprisal."

A second piece, called "Slighting" - 

And another piece,  "Tuff Luck."

And, of course, we must consider the Peep dioramas from The Washington Post contest!  My favorite... the Muppeep show, a finalist this year by Kathy Hardis Fraema.

I love the detail!  You really can tell everybody apart.  The little Swedish Chef even has kitchen gadgets.

All of this inspiration is exactly what Adventure Wednesday is about... seeing things in new ways, filling our well of images and ideas so that we can create fresh and exciting projects of our own.  (And also, it keeps us busy and never bored... so we don't feel tempted to eat out of boredom.)

Have you gone on any adventures lately?  And are you taking care of you?