Pumpkin Picking & Painting

Fall and Halloween time means pumpkins! Going to the pumpkin patch and choosing your own pumpkins, along with other little activities is an experience to have at least once. 

Got your pumpkin? Okay, time to decorate. Sure you can leave it as just a pumpkin, the simplicity speaks to the essence of fall, but if you want to take the extra step here's an idea. Add your creative spin by painting your pumpkin, it's something you should try.  

Carving is traditional and you get pumpkin seeds to cook out of your effort, if you can handle the messy innards.  Deciding to obstain from that gooey mess this year I opted for painting. It's less dangerous since no knives are involved and paint allows you to erase and perfect your pumpkin.  For me, restarting multiple times is a plus, since I'm kind of a perfectionist.  And the pumpkin doesn't rot as quickly so your artwork can be enjoyed longer without suffering the stinky smell. So next fall consider trying a different creative method come Halloween time. 

Happy Pumpkin Painting!

Left: Here's a picture of my husband and my pumpkins. Clearly
we're not artists, but we do try at least.

Right: My sister-in-law shows more potential as a pumpkin painter. 

Diamond Birthday Candle

This was way too cool of a gift to resist sharing.  For my birthday I received a Diamond Birthday Candle from my in-laws.  For those of you who are as ignorant as I was about this amazing gift, let me do you a favor and enlighten you.  It's a large scented candle that says "Happy Birthday", and the scent? Birthday cake of course.  That creamy vanilla cinnamon sugar scent alone makes this gift noteworthy. And you don't have to get a birthday one, you can choose from many special occasion options and fragrances.

But wait! There's more!  How can it get better? Well the "diamond" part of the product title refers to the fact that it has a diamond ring enveloped in the wax.  Let me repeat that a diamond ring! And this isn't just a 25 cent cheap ring you get out of a dispenser that turns your skin green in time.  No siree, this is a ring worth......drum roll....... $10, $100, $1000 or $5000.  How awesome is that? Don't waste your money on powerball, go get a candle for yourself, a friend, family, coworker, anyone! It ends up serving two doses of fun and anticipation (the opening of the gift itself, and then waiting for the wax to burn to unearth your special ring). 

This special gift was so unique and fun. I mean who doesn't love the idea of lighting a candle for your birthday...that smells like birthday cake...that burns down a 1/4 of a way to reveal a diamond ring.  So don't worry you don't have to burn it down to the bottom to earn your second treat. I think they figure people like me would never be able to withstand that amount of waiting and would eventually find a way to delve into the wax to retrieve the ring, so this way it's better for all of us.  So check out my experience, captured by photos of my Diamond Candle. Note my excitement. This could be you or someone you know.

So looking for a unique multi-fun gift, consider a Diamond Candle.  And if you're lucky maybe you'll get one too, one can always dream, or leave pictures and hint around if you want to be obvious. Take a look at their website and browse the many options to choose from, and see photos of others who've received one too.

Quarter of a Century Party

I did some research on fun 25th birthday theme ideas in honor of my lovely co-collaborator's upcoming birthday. There aren't many unique ideas out there, the large majority suggest an overall silver themed bash. I did find one that I thought Marie would especially appreciate, it is a very clever spin-off. It is a "Quarter of a Century" themed party.

Centerpieces:

Vases with quarters as a filler with your choice of flowers, candles or other fun items to complete the centerpiece.

Clocks set at a quarter after.

Have a table that features 25 pictures, one from each year of the birthday girl/boy's life. Throughout the party, have guests browse and guess the age in each picture.

Food:

Have quarter sizes of everything. Set platters with 3/4 of the tray empty.

Cut veggies or other appetizers into fourths.

Bring out a cake with 3/4 missing. Have cupcakes frosted and designed like quarters.

Games:

Trivia questions that focus on the last 25 years; ie. what has been invented, popular bands, etc.

Watch the first fourth of a film, split into groups and have each group guess the ending of the movie.

Have a large quarter cut out and play pin the nose on George Washington.

Prize idea: A quarter pound of quarters!

Happiest of birthdays to the ever young at heart, ever smiley and ever wonderful Marie!!! Quarter of a century young :)

 

Malory Family Series by Johanna Lindsey

I got my hands on a book from this series my freshman year of college, probably not the best thing for me looking back considering how I delayed homework and sleep to read it. However, I was completely enraptured, and had to share it with my roommates. I was dying to tell them. Those of you who know me, keeping secrets, especially those relating to plots of books or movies is nearly impossible for me to keep quiet about.  So after ranting and raving about the romantic steamy book I just finished I told my roommate Melanie she just had to read it, it was either that or I'd recount the whole book for her. She chose the quieter quicker option, and read it herself.  I'd peer over from my bunk, curiosity making me want to know just what part she was at. She stopped indulging me after a while. Can't say I blame her. Anyways she liked it, I liked it, you'll like it!  So go grab the series, just make sure you don't have precious things to do, then again the books are worth a little lack of sleep. I confess multiple books in the series kept me up till the very wee hours. Whoops, that's what I get for reading them before bedtime. Just read them in order, they are definitely better that way, and lucky for you I put them in order at the bottom, I'm nice like that. So just scroll down, copy, and start your reading!

Series Overview

If jumping back to the time of English lords and ladies sounds interesting to you, and you thoroughly enjoy a good tale of romance, take a look at this series by Johanna Lindsey.  Lindsey is a master of historical romance.  The romance make these books good, but the family loyalty and relationships of the Malory and Anderson clan is what makes these great!  It's hard to resist the banter between the family and involvement, whether welcome or not that they have in each others lives, particularly their romantic interests.  A little racey and steamy at times, these books bring you back to the time of English gentleman and rakes that are hard to resist with their good looks, charm and romantic spontaneity.  Be careful, because you may fall victim too and find yourself with the Malory family like so many others. But it's a good club to join.

Malory and Anderson Family Series:
1) Love Only Once
2) Tender Rebel
3) Gentle Rogue
4) The Magic of You
5) Say You Love Me
6) The Present
7) A Loving Scoundrel
8) Captive of My Desires
9) No Choice but Seduction
10) That Perfect Someone

Hello!!

I am honored to write the first official blog post for Twins in the Cities. For some time, my beautiful and talented cousin, Marie, and I have been throwing around the idea of starting a blog.

A little bit about us... We are born and raised Minnesotan girls. We have been hanging out since we were babies and I am lucky to call her one of my best friends. Favorite past times for us both include reading, shopping, crafts and spending time with our favorite people. Marie is the most cheerful, smiley and loving person you will ever have the pleasure of knowing.

We are setting out on this journey together and are excited to see what we find. I suspect we will have some fun along the way. We may not live in the same city for the time being but we will always be twins at heart. And yes... we are aware of how adorably corny we are.