I need a holiday!

OK I know I am accident prone in the kitchen Reg, but is this really necessary? At least it's pink!

Reg really wanted me to wear this pink hard hat when we were in Mark's Work Warehouse. We made the mistake of going out to the mall on the weekend. I didn't think Black Friday insanity was going to be so apparent here in Canada but from the man screaming at his wife behind me not to buy yet another pair of brown shoes she will never wear and all the beeping in all the stores... I was on the verge of panic attacks the entire time.

BTW, if anyone knows a great place we can pick up a good water-resistant winter jacket for Reg for under $150, please let me know! We looked everywhere...



Reg makes a natural Jedi, doesn't he?! He kept his cool while I got all freaked out, covered my ears from all the noise (making my tinnitus unbearable) and got me out of there as soon as he could. He takes such good care of me. Thank goodness for online shopping at Christmas. I hate crowds. Ever since I was caught in a riot and almost got crushed at Canada's Wonderland where a few people were stabbed, it is really hard for me to be surrounded by crowds.

Still, we managed to have some fun this weekend but I am so exhausted. The nicer-than-usual weather (which rocks, don't get me wrong) has meant we have been out and about more than I thought we would be. I yearn for life to slow down. One more doctor's appointment this year and then I am going to start playing in my crafts room and baking treats in my kitchen.

I Survived Hal-Con

I took this photo near the end of our first day at Hal-Con. Thank goodness they had a resting area! It was truly one of the more difficult things I have ever physically done but I loved it. You can read my last post here.



I did this silly little video at the very end of the convention while recovering in our car in the parking lot. I was so sad it was over but could not believe how much pain I was in. Reg, as usual, is quite hysterical in the video even though you can't see him.

And just so you know, the quote I recite is one by Kenzi from Lost Girl. I will miss being her but I have a feeling a part of her will stay with me for a long time.

Turning into Lost Girl's Kenzi at Hal-Con 2011

I love Lost Girl's character Kenzi so much I dressed up as her for Hal-Con and you can read all about it here. Reg may have been instantly recognized and beloved as Bender but I think I did a good job honouring one of my favourite characters on TV.

I am still in recovery mode from Hal-Con and the GIANT mega snowstorm we got hit with yesterday. Man, from nothing to a white and cold tsunami. Insane! Might do a bit of yoga today but a week of resting continues...

How my husband turned into a robot

Check out my post on how Reg turned into Bender from Futurama. He worked so hard on that awesome costume, I just had to share.

It is snowing like crazy here. Time to hide away from all that white stuff and rest.

Finding my style

I discovered the coolest clothing application. At Polyvore you can design your own "clothing dreamboards" very easily. As you know, I am taking it easy this week to recover from chaos and medical appointments. It is snowing outside right now so this is the perfect escape.

Above you see the me I know the best. When I get dressed up, I like solid colours but with a little bling and flare. Tailored outfits are the best on me and I have always wanted tall lace-up-books. I have a satchel for all my writing material and even a hidden camera. A little bit classic, a little bit contemporary but still lots of strength.



This is the me I am a little intimidated to be. I wanted to sort of go-for-it and experiment and wow, so weird to see pink in there but it fits! This is the Tank Girl side of me I am just started to explore. Emphasis is on strength but some humour and femininity thrown in there with a dash of artsy.



Surprisingly, foodie me was very challenging to come up with. Luckily I have most "things" that I want and need in my kitchen which makes me very lucky. What I don't have? Overseas eating experience and culinary training. I would really love to do that one day and collect all sorts of ideas in a notebook that gets all dog-eared and stained from all the cafes I have been through in France. Decaf coffee of course.

Isn't it amazing that after all this time, I am still discovering who I am? And there are more clothing dreamboards to make! So many other sides to who I am. We are not just one person. Discovering our hidden selves and dreams is very exciting. Give it a shot! I warn you though, this is a major time-sucking web site, LOL.

A moment to breathe...

This is the first time in 14 weeks (yes, I counted them) that I have no appointments, no company, no medical tests... I can hardly believe it. I want to get in my kitchen and cook up a storm to help stave off the winter cold penetrating the house but I am so tired...



Last week was my last medical test and in a week or so I will go get the results. I am hoping it is my last doctor's appointment of the season.



On top of all the medical stuff I have been busy and as fun as it has been, I am exhausted. I just can't keep up with the flow of normal people. I have to remember, if I try to I will get hurt and get flattened like a pancake.

It has been fun but I am OK with slowing down. I'm done running in the psycho race everyone runs these days. Time for hot chocolate and rest. Lots and lots of rest.

Showcasing Etsy Artist: Terri's Treasures

I window shop on Etsy all the time. I am constantly searching for just the "right thing" and I finally found it at Terri's Treasures. The skull eating the cupcake? Now that has Suzie the Foodie Queen of Halloween written all over it. Not only did Terri remember to discount my purchase because the shop was having a big sale, I also got this adorable "Yum!" candy pendant as a gift!

Finding out what is my "style" has been a huge challenge my entire life. I am part tomboy, part Victorian-lace lover with a dash of goth wannabee. Today? Add foodie to the mix. Thanks to Pinterest I am learning more and more about what it is I like and what to add to my life and especially, my wardrobe. Exploring my "style" has been quite shocking,I had no idea I liked black so much! And leather, LOL.

Wearing items like this Halloween Skull Cupcake Pendant will give an edge and a bit of humour to whatever I am wearing, as well as colour. Terri loves working with vintage items to create handmade jewellery and I am thrilled to have TWO one-of-a-kind items by Terri Sharp in my jewellery collection. They make me feel more like... the real me. Can't wait to play with them and make a one-of-a-kind necklace just for me.

Oh and if you are also on Pinterest, come find me! Would love to learn all about your style too!

Where has Suzie Ridler been?

Click to enlarge

My life has been completely enveloped by Hal-Con. I went represented the podcast I record with my sister Shannon called Hexed which is about supernatural TV. I went as Kenzie from Lost Girl, one of my favourite characters of all time.

I love doing the con but it is clear to me, this is not something I could do very often. It pushed me to the edge of what I can physically handle. Still, I am so glad I did it. I am still writing posts about it, so much happened and it was so much fun despite the pain and foodie withdrawal. We saw so much, things closed so early, we went hungry a lot of the time. Hence the above photograph. I did end up loving wearing a wig, which is shocking! It was fun to be another person for a day.



Just had to share Nicholas/Xander's Snoopy Dance Video! You can find the article with lots of other videos and photographs here. Getting to see Xander dance on stage?! OMG, he is such a goofball! He was next to impossible to photograph because he is constantly moving. Such an unbelievable cool moment.

I have lots of posts for those into this sort of thing and here are some of the highlights if you're interested: Robert Maillet Q&A, Joss Whedon Discussion Group, Zombie Workshop, Steampunk Workshop and Erin Gray from Buck Rogers. More posts to come!



Reg was a total robot rock star at the con! His costume has quite the story which I will be blogging about very soon, it will be called "Becoming Bender". Turns out making a shiny metal ass is much tougher than it sounds like. He was definitely a crowd favourite though!



In case you did not see it on my foodie blog, here is Reg's performance at the costume contest. He totally rocked it out of the park! I am so proud of him.

So back to the mundane life... My body is very grateful but honestly, this was one of the funnest and greatest things I have done in my entire life. The only thing better was marrying Reg.

More Hal-Con blogging to do and hopefully a long nap will fit into my schedule today, as well as baking Bobby Flay's chicken pot pie for dinner. Yup, life is getting back to normal which these days, is kind of a relief.

Happy Birthday Reg!

I just wanted to take a moment and let everyone know it's my husband Reg's birthday today!!! He hates birthdays so feel free to leave happy birthday wishes here to help cheer him up. I love him like crazy and we are celebrating his birthday all week long.

Happy Birthday Babe!

Time for a rest...

Although I just can't sleep, not one second tonight, I am filled with an odd calm. Does that mean a storm is coming? Change is finally around the corner? Or I have made peace with what is?

I have no idea.

I just know that most of the leaves have fallen. I am finding my voice again. I have been loving the autumn sunshine.

My feet are already always cold. I am starting to live in layers. I am leaving the house less. I know a long winter is ahead.

Halloween was amazing but it has taken everything out of me. I lived on crab dip for two days. I have had no energy to make real food. I am going to get back into the kitchen once I can get enough sleep to safely wield a knife.

Pain in my right chopping wrist worries me. Maybe some time on the couch has been good for me?

Reg has been worried about me. I left my Halloween chaos crafts room alone until he can help me clean up. That is not like me at all. He knows I pushed myself too far and he is right.

I had fun though. It was great being the Foodie Queen of Halloween again this year. Time to rest and recover so I can do it next year, fingers crossed.

Foodie by Day, Ghost Hunter by Night...

Photo courtesy Jamie Ridler

Jamie took this photograph of me on the night we hung out downtown during her visit. I had run into the cemetery to take photographs and then continued to do so as we walked along the gate. When it comes to the paranormal, I have come to realize that I am completely fearless. I have no problems walking into spooky situations, in fact, I can hardly wait. I run towards them!

It is funny. Most of the time people see me as domestic, a feminine foodie, but I am also a kick-ass paranormal enthusiast who would have no problems walking through a condemned building at night with an EMF detector in one hand and a night vision camera in the other. I wish people saw this side of me more. I am tough, fearless and when it comes to all things spooky. In this odd way, I am strong.

So, I like to bake cookies too! I guess that just makes me complicated. But it is nice to have a photograph like this one to remind me of another side of myself that I adore just as much as the woman who bakes meringue bones for Halloween.

Happy Halloween 2011!

I spent all day yesterday cooking in the kitchen, as well as decorating our front lawn. Here is a new gravestone we got at the Superstore and a fabulous cobra we got at Ripsters.



I put a bloody arm in the mailbox and topped it with a giant fuzzy spider:



We have all these fabulous little witchy signs that I love and I put them all up:



I still love this gravestone so much, Reg made it himself! We really have expanded our graveyard, totally gotta get more bones next year.



Our first trick or treaters showed up before we were ready! Reg had to go to work yesterday and got home as quick as he could. I did my best to set stuff up but it was madness!



Reg hid Oscar in the bushes who thoroughly enjoyed inspecting all the costumes this year.



Anything that glows in the dark was put up. Seriously, anything!



Reg made Drop Dead Fred into a pirate this year and I think he looked fantastic! Everyone who came to our front door was thoroughly impressed. Reg also carved such an adorable jack-o-lantern. It's amazing how much he did in so little time.



It was a bloody cold night out there. When we broke things down (after playing with the fog machine) everything was slick and frozen with frost. Probably explains why we got around a dozen kids this year, so freakin' cold! No snow though, thank goodness.



Reg dumped a headless Fred at the top of the stairs and all I saw was this body that looked so real. made me laugh my ass off. We stored everything in my crafts room and Reg was going to leave the body whole but I insisted on turning him back into rags. He just looked too real!



Oh my god.... It is going to take forever to put everything away! Yes, we are kind of crazy to set up and break everything down on the same day but we always want kids to wonder if ours really was the house with the giant cemetery and the skeleton pirate they saw last night.

How was your Halloween?! I would love to hear about it! I seriously feel like I have a hangover and can barely move. Totally worth it. Now I am off to have some candy for lunch!