Monday In A Moment #25 | On Halloween

1 :: Frankenstein’s Castle – I went with D and some folks from his office to the Frankenstein castle {Burg Frankenstein} about 5 km south of Darmstadt, Germany. The whole drive there I kept thinking ‘No, it’s pronounced “Fronk-en-steen”.’ {props to those of you who get it.} Built around 1250, the castle is now mostly a ruin save the still standing tower. At Halloween the Germans create a haunted house type festival at the castle grounds. For those of you who used to go with me at Texas Tech to the haunted houses in Lubbock, you know my easily startled nature is quite fun to watch. This was the first time I’d ever been to a haunted house with D, and he thought it was hilarious. The walk through was pretty spooky with some intense costumes. I’m used to a no touching policy at haunted houses… apparently in Europe the same rules don’t apply. I saw them take a girl, put her in a box, and slam the lid shut. She was not a willing participant. It was enough to make me cling to D for dear life. I was rewarded with cotton candy {Zuckerwatt en Deutsche} after our walk-through was done and we even did some swing dancing to the spooky version of “Hit the Road Jack” shocking all his co-workers. All in all, a great time and I recommend this adventure to anyone in the area!

2 :: What can you do with Pumpkin? – Every year I try to do different things with pumpkin, mostly because I end up hoarding it by the can in our pantry in case the commissary ever runs low. I made the pumpkin pancakes yesterday for D & I for Sunday brunch. They turned out fantastic! This year is no exception. Here are my favorite Pinterest picks for pumpkin treats! Don’t forget to follow my “Yummay” board! 1) Roasted Pumpkin Seeds 2) Pumpkin Spice Dutch Baby Pancake 3) Boozy Pumpkin White Hot Chocolate 4) Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes 5) Pumpkin Spice Macarons

3 :: Best costume shoes – In honor of the spooky holiday this week I thought I’d pay tribute to some of the famous iconic shoes we know and love. So if you have the costume and not the shoes, fear not, I have managed to track down the best representations {in my humble opnion} to best suit these personas. Click on a shoe to take you to the store to purchase. 1) Winifred Sanderson – Elf 05 Costume Shoes – $30.00 2) Dorothy Gale – High Heel Shoes Red Sequin – $43.42 3) Cinderella – Marc Jacobs Transparent Pumps – $595.00 4) James Bond (Skyfall) – Church Philip Black Calf – £ 430.00 5) Michael Jackson – Logan WEEJUNS Black – $108.00 6) Jack Sparrow – Pirate Boots Chocolate Brown – $320.00

 

3 :: Fav Halloween Flicks – If there’s one thing I’m missing over here in Germany it’s ABC Family’s 13 days of Halloween. So I thought I’d share some of my favorite Halloween movies so you won’t forget to watch them! These take me back to when I was a kid…. My brother and I used to LOVE watching these films and getting into the holiday spirit. Click on a movie to take you to Amazon.com. Some are even available on Instant Video!

4 :: Past Carvings – I grew up with pumpkin carving being a right of passage in the family. I remember being a little girl and going down to the farmers market with my mom and dad and showing Dad exactly which pumpkin was the best for carving. We would then take it home and ceremoniously spread newspaper all over the kitchen floor. Dad always carved the top for safety reasons of course and then it was completely up to me or my brother to pick which design we wanted. I’m not sure when it turned into an art for me, but all I know is these days the more complicated the design the better. I found that using an X-acto knife works much smoother if you’re carving tiny details such a tree bark and window panes. Here are some years past carvings for you to enjoy. I’d like to point out the progression in image quality as the years wore on… {My brother PT, carved the Charlie Brown pumpkin. ‘Cause that’s how he rolls. Love you baby brother!}

5 :: The Foust Family – Before the rain and wind swept through the Rhineland-Pfalz this weekend I managed to capture the Foust Family in the beautiful fall foliage. They are such an amazing family so full of love and joy. Check out this sneak peek with more to come soon!

Thanks for coming back this week! It’s my hope that MIAM brightens the beginning of your week so you can power through to the end!

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