Posted on 11/08/2013 by alli woods frederick

 

f*ck yeah friday

 

I HAVE A CONFESSION.  I haven’t been rockin’ the gratitude the way I should.  I’ve been bogged down in the minutiae of my daily life and have let little things get to me, let the bs weigh me down instead of giving The Universe a great big rib busting hug for all the amazing gifts it has given me.  Enter F*ck Yeah Friday.

I’M GETTING BACK ON THE LOVE TRAIN.  I’ll be singing my gratitude from the hilltops from here to Timbuktu and back.  Want to join me?  Write your own list in the comments section below or, if you’re a fellow blogger, leave a link to your post.

LET’S TELL THIS GORGEOUS UNIVERSE just how thankful we are for all the beauty, love and joy in our lives, no matter how big or small it may be…it all counts.  So without further ado I give you…

f*ck yeah friday

***  Fall – the crispness in the air, the turning leaves…how do you not love it?  ***  Pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING…creamer, coffee, bread, pie…I wouldn’t be surprised if there were pumpkin flavored spam.  ***  The autumn sky – the light is different…softer…the sky is bluer and it’s beautiful.  ***  My Honey, Rob.  His laugh is infectious and he makes every day brighter.  ***  Gorgeous views from Buffalo Mountain.  ***  The biggest, grumbliest, Eeyore-iest sweetheart of a dog.  ***  Conversations with a chicken over coffee.  ***  Mischa being invited along on a road trip.  ***  Halloween parades and their awful emcees (“Gotta watch out for that camel toe!…Did he just bite her boob?  Holl-errrrrr!”)  ***  Haunted historic hotels  ***  4 Wheel drive in the countryside  ***  Seeing someone’s beautiful dream on a hillside…home is where the heart is  ***  My cameras for allowing me to capture moments. *** Nicole for understanding where I’m coming from…and where I’m going.  ***  Friends helping me through an anxiety-driven rough patch – mad love for you, Aimee and Aubrey.  ***  Snuggling on the couch with my honey watching American Horror Story.  ***  Making new friends.  ***  People being patient with my emotional scars…and still accepting me despite, and sometimes because of, my flaws and shortcomings.  ***  Fishing holes and broken swings.  ***  Repetition (“Do you guys listen to Howard Stern?”)  ***  Snuggles from people , pups and kitties alike.  ***  My family…always.  ***  My  Mischa…always.  ***  Learning I enjoy watching basketball…I was just as shocked as you are.  ***  Fire pits.  ***  Making trucks stop and start with the power of my mind…not really, but it was a funny coincidence.  ***  Watching shooting stars and seeing the Milky Way for the first time in years and years and years.  ***  Cow spotting at night.  ***  Surprise packages of pumpkin whoopie pies from the most amazing man ever.  ***  Holding hands.  ***  Exploring, discovering and sharing new things with someone that makes your heart sing.  ***

 
WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR THIS WEEK?  Let The Universe know how grateful you are for the good things.
 
 

Kisses & Chaos,
Alli Woods Frederick

 
 

images  ::  light – anne marthe widvey  ::
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Posted on 11/06/2013 by alli woods frederick

 

AS I SCREWED AROUND ON THE INTERNET THE OTHER DAY, erm, I mean while doing research the other day I came across some information that set my heart to fluttering and my mind adrift in a sea of blissful daydreams.

I’M NOT ONE FOR FUN IN THE SUN.  Even before I had melanoma the sun and I had never gotten along.  I’m built for cold and grey weather not endless days of sunshine and heat.  But the fact that this home, my future summer home, is located in California and the climate is what I imagine hell to be like isn’t a deterrent.  This house is that awesome.

SO WHAT’S SO AMAZING ABOUT MY WOULD-BE DREAM HOME?  Well to start with the architecture is killer.  This house has some of the most stunning lines I’ve ever seen.  It’s a work of art.  But the real reason I want this not-so-humble abode?

THIS IS BOB HOPE’S HOUSE.

THAT’S RIGHT.  This house belonged to my life-long love and personal saint, Bob Hope.  Get ready to have your socks knocked off by this 6 bedroom, 12 bath, 50 million dollar home.  It’s worth every penny.

Bob Hope

Bob Hope

Bob Hope’s House

Bob Hope

Bob Hope’s House

bob 6

bob 13

bob 9

bob 10

bob 12

 

I PROMISE TO INVITE YOU ALL for a visit once I’ve moved and am all settled in.  We’ll sit around the outdoor fireplace, drink mojitos and bask in Bob Hope’s exceptional taste.  Whaddya say?  Is it a date?

WHAT DOES YOUR DREAM HOUSE LOOK LIKE?  Share photos, links or wax poetic about it in the comments.  Let’s share our dream homes, shall we?

 

Kisses & Chaos,
Alli Woods Frederick

 

images  ::  bob hope’s estate  ::
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Posted on 11/04/2013 by alli woods frederick

logo_secret_language_100

Thank you Secret Language for sponsoring this post. Check out SLN.ME to get your Secret Language Name!

FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK you likely recall my raving about a new website I’d come across – The Secret Language.  For those of you who don’t then listen up because this is pretty awesome.

THE SECRET LANGUAGE has analyzed over 20,000 people organized by birthday and distilled their personality traits and I must say the results are pretty interesting.  A Secret Language Name reveals a person’s natural identity. For example, Abe Lincoln was an “Intentional Unifier” and Mother Theresa was an “Innocent Supportive Partner.”  Even Taylor Swift waxes poetic about her Secret Language Name (you can watch the video here).

I’m an Intentional Sensitive Receptor.

The traits of my day, the sensitive receptor (the 25th), are:

the secret language

NO SURPRISES THERE, EH?  Me oversensitive and unsure?  Nope.  Never.  Oh wait…I meant yes, totally.  It goes on to say…

“June 25 people must take care to screen the emotional input of others, as those born on this day draw powerfully positive and negative influences. Such influences can so deeply take hold in a June 25 person that they mistakenly believe them to be originating inside themselves, rather than coming from external sources. Cultivating objectivity and discernment is thus essential to their psychological well-being.”

That’s me in a nutshell for sure…and it can make my life difficult at times.

The traits of my week, the empath, are:

empath

 

AND YET AGAIN THEY KNOCK IT OUT OF THE PARK.  This actually came up a few days ago when I let my fear get the best of me and I behaved like a completely insecure and needy idiot.  Embarrassing but true. *hangs head in shame*

“Those born during the Week of the Empath are hard to figure out. Emotionally complex, they combine sharply contrasting qualities in their psychological makeup. They may give an entirely different impression one moment than in another, according to their mood. They may strike one person as outgoing, another as retiring, one as positive and expansive, another as negative and depressive, still others as easygoing, others as difficult. Only those who live with them day in and day out are fully able to appreciate their depth and diversity.”

BOOM.  Truth bomb dropped, as I’m sure my nearest and dearest will atest.  While there are hits and misses in my profile, overall it was freakishly accurate.  Much more accurate than a run of the mill astrological run down of my traits (I’m a cancer, fyi).

I EVEN CHECKED SOME OF MY FRIENDS’ birthdays and was surprised by the results (I understand you sooooo much better now, Aimee *wink* but I did disagree with some of yours, Rob…egotistical and closed?  I think not).

HEAD ON OVER TO THE SECRET LANGUAGE and check out your results.  I’d love to hear what you think in the comments.  Did they nail it or do you completely disagree with their assessment.  Do tell, do tell!

Kisses & Chaos,
Alli Woods Frederick

 

images ::  via the secret language  ::

 

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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Posted on 10/31/2013 by alli woods frederick

 

bleeding cupcakes

 

YOU DIDN’T THINK I’D LEAVE YOU without a free Halloween download, did you?  Surely you know me better than that.

I WOKE UP THIS MORNING and whipped up these bleeding cupcakes and spectacularly spooky cupcake and straw flags to share with you. 

Cause I love you like that, Boo.

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Bleeding Cupcakes

Halloween Gore Decor

 

THESE BLEEDING CUPCAKES ARE STUPID SIMPLE and sinfully delicious.  I went the easy route and used a box of chocolate cake mix.  I dressed it up for fall by adding a dash of cinnamon to the mix.  Prepare and bake as you normally would.  Let them cool for 30 minutes.

NOW IT’S TIME TO MAKE THEM BLEED.  If you have one of those handy little icing syringes then fantastic.  If not, no big deal.  This is how to add the blood if you don’t have a kitchen stocked with fancy baking tools: 

TAKE A DRINKING STRAW and poke a hole in the top of the cupcakes.  Spoon your favorite red jam (I used strawberry preserves but you could use cherry, raspberry, etc) into a plastic sandwich bag making sure to place it in the corner.  Snip the tip of the bag with scissors (just a tiny snip) and voila! You now have an icing bag.  Place the tip of the bag in the hole you made in the cupcake and gently squeeze the bag to fill the cupcake with “blood.”  That’s it.  Top ‘em off with your icing of choice and you’re done.

 

Spooky Straw and Cupcake Flags

bleeding cupcakes 5

 

THESE ARE EVEN EASIER TO MAKE THAN THE BLEEDING CUPCAKES.  Just download the sheets here & here.  Print n’ cut the ones you want to use.  For the flags grab your straws and/or toothpicks and a glue stick.  Apply glue to the flag, place the straw or toothpick in the middle of the flag.  Then line up the edges of the flags and press the sticky sides together.  For the round cupcake toppers just poke a toothpick from top to bottom so it runs along the back of the decoration…OR glue two of them back to back over a toothpick.  I prefer to first method to save paper and printer ink.

THAT’S ALL THERE IS TO IT.  You can have boo-tiful and delicious treats for your guests to sink their teeth into in about an hour.  Perfect for procrastinators like me. *insert wicked grin here*

 

Halloween Gore Decor

bleeding cupcakes 3

bleeding cupcakes 6

bleeding cupcakes 8

 

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE Halloween treat?  Do you have any recipes, tricks or tips?  Share your wicked ways in the comments.

 

Kisses & Chaos,
Alli Woods Frederick

 

images  ::  © alli woods frederick. all rights reserved.  ::

 

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Posted on 10/29/2013 by alli woods frederick

 

the ghost of duplexes past
 

The Ghost of Duplexes Past
Part I

 

the ghost of duplexes past

I WAS LIVING IN A SMALL DUPLEX with my then boyfriend Howard* on Haynes Street in San Marcos, Texas.  We had just gotten off the road (we were rennies) and were settling into our non-nomadic life.  It didn’t take long for me to notice something was off in our new home.  To quote Bill and Ted “strange things [were] afoot at the Circle K.”

WHEN I WAS HOME ALONE it felt like I was being watched.  It was an overwhelming sense of paranoia unlike anything I had ever experienced.  The sensation was so pronounced that I wouldn’t have been the least bit surprised if I turned around and found myself nose to nose with someone.  It was the heebie-jeebies to the millionth degree.

I IGNORED MY INTUITION, chastising myself for being silly and having an overactive imagination.  Howard reinforced this by telling me I was crazy.  He never felt the way I did in the house so obviously I was cuckoo.  But no matter how much I tried to ignore it the feeling persisted…and intensified.

OBSCENELY EARLY ONE MORNING while I was getting ready for work the weirdness got weirder.  As I stood in the bathroom fixing my hair, the door ajar, I saw a pair of men’s legs clad in khaki pants walk past.  There was no torso – only legs.  I promptly flipped the f**k out.  It’s not every day you see torsoless legs wandering about the house.

 

Ghost of Duplexes Past

 

I TOLD NO ONE OF MY EXPERIENCE (save Howard, who assured me I was batshit crazy).  Shortly after I witnessed the ghostly legs our friend Bob* came for a visit.  Bob, due to our work schedules, was left to his own devices during the day.  One evening several days into his stay Bob informed us we’d had a visitor while we were away.

“Oh.  Who stopped by?”
“No one.”

BOB PROCEEDED TO TELL US of a pair of legs, men’s legs, free of a torso and wearing khaki pants that had walked through the living room that afternoon while he was watching a movie.

“Son of a bitch!  I told you I wasn’t crazy!”

I FELT VINDICATED (and more than a little relieved that I wasn’t completely bonkers).  But this news, while reassuring, raised more questions than it answered.  Who was this man?  Why was here?  Would he stop leering at me and creeping me out if I asked nicely?  And what was with the khaki pants?

IT WOULD TAKE 4 MORE MONTHS before these questions would begin to be answered (except the leering…I immediately asked him to stop and he politely obliged) and how they came to light, how it all unfolded was surprising to say the least…

TO BE CONTINUED…

 
 

Kisses & Chaos,
Alli Woods Frederick

 

images  :: stories from the great beyond © alli woods frederick  ::  no title III – juha helttunen   ::  guest(s) – yves lecoq  ::

 

*not their real names
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