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1) Travelin’ to the boonies

I went to the boonies on Saturday night for Zipcode’s Halloween party — otherwise known as Woodbridge, Va. (What? You people who live around here say that Woodbridge isn’t the boonies? I had to drive, like, 20 miles! That’s far!)

I made cupcakes from scratch and took them with me to the party — pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. They were quite yummy-licious. (Warning: the frosting recipe makes a LOT. I had enough to frost 22 cupcakes quite liberally, and I still had tons left over. You could easily halve this recipe, especially if you’re making less cupcakes.)

2) Costumey goodness

I didn’t take any photos the night I went to the party, but…look how very nice I am! I got up yesterday and put my dress back on, just to prove to you guys how very wee my minidress was (not shown: blue eyeshadow, bright pink lipstick, dangly star earrings, bangle bracelets, side ponytail).

(Please note that I used the self-timer on my camera and cropped the pictures at my neck. I had serious bed head going on.)

Several people complimented my legs that night. (So that’s the effect of wearing a short dress and high heels? Huh. I guess I need to set aside the jeans and flat shoes more often.)

3) Colorful!

I painted my fingernails hot pink to match my dress. It had seriously been so long since I’ve painted my fingernails that I can’t remember when the last time was — maybe ten years ago? That’s not an exaggeration. It’s so annoying to have the polish chip off after just one day (or less), and then either have to deal with how crappy it looks or else take it all off and start over. (Funnily enough, I got several compliments on my nails as well. Maybe I should think about doing that more often, too?)

(But why, almost a day after they were painted, did my fingernail polish bleed onto a white hand towel when I washed my hands? That’s not cool, yo.)

4) Crossing something off my list

After spending a few hours at the party, I drove back to Alexandria and met my friend Tripp in Old Town. Without changing my clothes. Without taking down my side-ponytail. Without removing the glittery electric-blue eyeshadow.

(Please note, this fulfills #82 on my 101 Things list: Dress in a way I normally wouldn’t and observe people’s reactions.)

It actually wasn’t as nerve-wracking as I thought it might be. I was definitely the brightest-dressed person in O’Connell’s (my favorite bar), and I noticed that some people were looking at me like I was kinda crazy…but I didn’t care. (Alcohol was involved. That always helps.)

5) Bad Zan…

When I got home from the bar, I sent a text message to this guy I know. We’ve talked several times in the past few months, but we’ve never actually gotten together for a date. However, he has sent me several texts around 2am (always on a weekend), and I felt like it was time to return the favor. (One of the instances was evidenced here — please note the time stamp on the Twitter post.) We ended up exchanging a few messages and he said he’d get in touch with me again soon…but I’m not holding my breath.