Happy Halloween
I LOVE Halloween. I had been looking forward to October since the middle of July. Last year being my first Halloween in Georgia, I didn't get to do anything or go anywhere for the night -- A big letdown, as I'm accustomed to attending incredible costume parties (ala Vinnie's 2003) or heading downtown and "doin' it big" (97-03). Needless to say, this year I had high hopes for Halloween. I was determined to either a) throw a big Spooktacular bash, b) go out and have a blast and try and win some costume festivities or c) a combination of both. However, as racing tends to do towards the end of the season, getting my car finished had left my pockets dry and no time to plan. I couldn't even manage to con Melissa or Ann into heading out dressed up. So, I stayed home all weekend, caught up on laundry, and sulked. My only saving grace being that my work had planned a Halloween festival and costume contest. Better than nothing!
So scrap my original unopened costume (ordered in July) due to dress code enforcements, I had to improvise. I came up with Lara Croft -- Tomb Raider and threw together an ensemble. I thought I looked quite convincing... until I got to work.
"You're Brittany Spears"... the first co-worker guessed. "A rockstar..." one quipped. "No, she's Charlie's Angel.." another corrected. "You're a SEAL!" Greg, one of my teammates guessed (and he HEARD me mention throwing together this costume last week). Quite a let down, I was 0-5 to start off the day. My favorite came around 9am, when Rekha, our omnipresent fashion diva, guessed that I was the MAC Cosmetics girl. "The WHAT???" I suppose that department store cosmetics counters have now resorted to militant artillery to impose samples on shoppers. "Well, they wear all black, and I thought those [the guns] were some sort of cosmetics." With that, I gave up. It was another half hour before someone actually guessed correctly on the first try (thank you, Jordan.)
So each of our 5 departments had a "booth" in the fall festival. Which, on my team, the pressure was on my shoulders to decorate and present the booth. Greg lended the idea of a Hula Hoop contest... so Hawaii was the theme,complete with thatch-hut entryway and tiki-lights, leis, and hawaiian punch & hot tamales candies. A contest was in place for the best booth, and we were given a $40 budget to complete it in. Niche pubs had an alien guts (green spaghetti) grab. The Ad Design team, considered the "ringers" had a haunted room with bobbing for apples, only the apples were hung from the ceiling by a string. They spun us around 10 times and we had to try and bite the apple without using hands or anything else... I managed get a bite, its all about strategy! And believe me, its comical to watch! Next up, classifieds had a few midway games. The toliet toss- a toliet seat hung from the ceiling that you had to throw a roll of paper through, and some bean-bag tosses, and dart tosses. The "Terror"tory team had pumpkin bowling, and then finally, our Hula Hoop contest. Watching co-workers trying to hula is about the funniest thing I've ever witnessed. I hadn't hula'd since I was 8, but I managed to stick it out the longest with a 1 min, 24 second performance (they had me laughing so hard my side hurt and I had to stop).
We won't know who won the costume contest or the spirit contest until tomorrow's staff meeting, so keep your fingers crossed that your favorite Lara/Lucy Lui/Brittany/SEAL Maj. Ortiz/MAC Attendant look-alike gets the vote!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
