A "Once Upon a Dream" Halloween

There's a lot of build-up to Halloween night.

You know, haunted houses and pumpkin carving and such.

But the real Halloween holiday season payoff is the big night and getting to wear costumes.

Heidi and I wanted to do a couples costume.
We struggled to decide on what we'd be, until we landed on the idea of Prince Phillip and Briar Rose.

This is what we were shooting for:

With the help of some pieces from HCT rentals, and my amazing mother making my tunic and hat, I'd say Heidi and I rocked our costumes. And I gotta admit it feels cool carrying a sword around all night.

Conclusive proof that Heidi is a princess in disguise

My sister Megan joined us, appropriately/coincidentally dressed as a blue fairy, and we had a fun night visiting several friend parties.

Yes, that's a ghost horse photobomb

Heidi and her SLAC friends in great costumes

Hmm, what to be next year... It'll be hard to top this one.

What were you? Did you do a couples or group costume?

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DC Hot Chocolate Run

My apologies, but I'm going to do some complaining before I say anything positive on this one.

Now I've done a fair amount of races in my day, and it's normal to have a hitch or two in the race for whatever reason. But the DC Hot Chocolate Run was a total CF. Note: if you don't know what CF stands for, you are more pure of heart than me, and I'm not going to spoil you. Let's just say it isn't good.

My issues with the race planning started with waking up at 5 am to make the shuttle from Crystal City.
Well, that would have been okay, except the 7:30 start was delayed a solid hour. An hour!

That extra hour was worsened by the cold weather. I know they can't control the weather, but it accentuated the terrible effect of having to wait for so long after having already shed clothing and left it at the bag drop.

Once the race finally started, they goofed up on the route and had it doubling back at one point. Luckily it was sorted out by the time I reached that spot. But the correction didn't fix their course design and having the last half mile be a big hill. Brutal, uncalled for, and unnecessary.

Ok, I'm done being a negative Nelly.

Here's the happy stuff.

I didn't have to drive, and my shuttle was one of the earliest, so I arrived on time.

The race organizers provided plenty of port-a-johns, which some races sorely lack.

My Buddy the Elf costume made a lot of people (including myself) smile.

See? Here's "proof" I ran as Buddy the Elf

The views along the harbor were lovely, and the spectators cheered and made us feel loved.

I ran a decent race, considering I've got plantar fasciitis and how terribly out-of-shape I feel. Note: I'm not looking for sympathy. I know I'm still in decent shape, but I'm a long way from my Ironman conditioning of 18 months ago.

I vow to get my 5k time back under 22 mins by summer 2012

The post-race chocolate fondue and hot chocolate lived up to their billing. Delicious!

Many friends were there, from multiple friend-groups, which always makes a race more fun.

Fellow hashers

Colonial friends

 All in all, I had a good time. Just don't expect to see me at another RAM Racing event anytime soon.

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An Expensive 48 Hours

Are you usually pretty good about saving, and then you'll just go on a quick spending spree?
I guess that's my style, and it's been an expensive last 48 hours.

Here's the rundown, in order of purchase.

100 die cut felt Movember mustaches - Etsy: $20

1 round-trip ticket to Utah for Christmas - kayak.com: $695
2 Nutcracker tickets - Kennedy Center: $240

1 Deco TV stand - Craigslist: $70
2 fancy massages - Groupon: $105

That's a grand total of $1,130, or almost $24 per hour.

Ouch.

Looks like my dinners will be based on tuna fish and Top Ramen for the next couple weeks.

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