HalloWeen tWenTy-eLeVen

"Yo!  Justin's in the HOUSE!!!" someone called out at a HalloWeen house party we attended...i think it was one of the filipino guys dressed as a banged-up maNNy PaCquiao.

during the last week of October, M + I met up in San JoSe (flying in from dC and ‘the LoU, respectively) to visit my parents and youngest bro, D.  M took some extra time off for a 4-day weekend, while i was planning to stay for almost 8 days.  The initial plan for this time period was for me to fly out to dC for the aMericaN PubLic health association (APHA) annual meeting and to extend my trip to spend time with my hubby; but DaD was to have his extensive surgery (see White Elephant blog) during that time and we wanted to be supportive:  emotionally, mentally and physically.  plus, i wanted to make sure the surgery ward nurses were taking awesome care of DaD.  being a nurse myself, that was a priority for me.

M wanted to come out to SJ as well so that we could at least be together for a portion of the time i was off from grad school.  plus, for the last 3 HaLLoWeeNs, we’ve always celebrated together.  such a morbid holiday to mark as milestones in our relationship; but we’ve had some kick-butt costumes in the past:  for the 1^st year we dated, he went as 'me at work' (black wig, eyeliner, and blue scrubs screaming for my sTarbucks green tea latte) and i went as that crazy homicidal japaNese school girl on Kill BiLL, No. 1.  last year, M was a YeTi (a hiMaLayan snow monster, a costume we made) and i was a TiBetaN girl (legitimate attire that i had tailored by legitimate TibetAn refugee women when i lived in NePaL).  

ScaRy YeTi, circa HalloWeen 2010

this year, we had to top whatever we have done in the past, since this was our 1st H-WeeN as a married couple.  you have my permission to continue to laugh at how ridiculous we are with this gothic tradition.  i don't really care, especially since we've had so much fun playing 'dress-up.'

a couple weeks before we were to come to northern CaLi, D thought it would be nice for M + I to take a break from being stressed out at the hospital every day and thinking about cancer, so he invited us to his coworker's H-Ween party the holiday weekend we'd both be in CaLi.  when i told M, there was only one answer:  hells yeah!

the week before HalloWeen weekend, M + I looked online for ideas for possible couple's costumes.  D said that it would be okay if we didn’t dress-up, but really…?  what kind of house guests would we be??  LAME.  so as not to embarrass D (since he was already going-all-out in making his ‘300’ SpArTan costume), M + I racked our brains to figure it out. then, we found it:  jusTin BieBer + tween fan.  perfecto!  we ordered a wig, a JB fan t-shirt, and biEber concert VIP faux passes online and prayed that it would arrive in CA on-time for the party.  the FriDay before the party, M + I visited the local saLvaTion ArMy in SaN JoSe (lucky for us, it was ‘50% off friDaY') and promptly found our bieber-like kicks (for him & i) as well as a crazy purple t-shirt.  cost = $5.00.  then we ventured to the local TarGet to pick up some colorful jelly hair bands and siLLyBanDz look-alikes to complete my costume as a JB tween fan.  it was soooo much fun dressing-up like i was 14 y.o. (i had forgotten, so thank GoD for GooGLe images) and dancing the night away with my bieber-wigged husband, bro, and new friends.  

HaLLoWeen 2011:  JusTin bieBeR + tween fan

everyone's costumes were fabulous:  a lady dressed up as a transvestite prostitute (including 5 o'clock shadow and 'package' outline through her tight skirt); a typical psychiatric patient in the ER (mismatched shoes and histrionic make-up on) and a paramedic escort who brought her in; an EgYpTiaN pharoaH couple; and 'daY of the DeaD' gypsies (looked like a make-up artist did their faces because it was very gothic HOT!).

the H-WeeN weekend flew by too quickly.  but we got to spend some time with the family as well as our own 'alone time.'  M + I took advantage of our 'alone time':  we discovered a new personal favorite sushi joint, cHa cHa SuShi, in siLicon VaLLey (aka SaN JoSe); people-watched from a street bench during halloWeeN night as parents brought their kiddies out to trick'o'treat in NoE VaLLey after having dinner at BarNey's GouRmeT hamBurGers; walked the beach park in aLamEdA isLand in the EasT baY; and drank as much PeeT's coffee we could find.

fun was to be had even for a short while, during a more somber reason for our CaLi visit.  i'm lucky to have M in my life:  he still wants to hold my hand when i'm struggling to keep my '*&%! together' while sitting beside DaD's hospital bed and still manages to make me LOL when busting out some BieBeR moves in his look-alike wig and ridonkulous kicks.  M reminds me of the importance of balance in life:  crap happens to all of us, it's how we deal with it that defines who we are as human beings.  being in a long-distance marriage during a time like this (e.g., school, family sickness) is no walk in the park; but the man in my life continues to give me cuddles when i need it and almost tinkle in my panties because i'm laughing so hard.  me:  "honey??  where's my spare pair?!"  that's marriage.