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Of course I've had a draft of a post waiting to be completed since the weekend. But I'll just scrap it all now and start with the most important piece: THE RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!

Friends Jim, Sam, Sean, Jenny and Dylan joined Jesse and myself for Game 6. As baseball and especially Red Sox fans are wont to do, we were very superstitious. "You have an empty beer, they got a hit the last time you had a full beer, get a beer!" "They dropped that ball because you went to the bathroom before, you better wait 'til commercial!"

Normal!

In the end, victory was sweet and we were all jumping around screaming. My parents Facetime'd in and we could see we were not the only ones celebrating! My mom, dad and his playoff beard were too:

On the call, as my parents waved around their celebratory champagne, I remembered that I had bought some champagne for the same purpose! Plus, pomegranate juice to make that RED! Here's Jesse making them for us:

Here is us still being excited, you're welcome:

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I shall save my Halloween costume posting for tomorrow... since I have a promise to myself to write here every day of November, might as well stretch out the good stuff.

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If you need something scary because it's Halloween, remember I used to live in a haunted house.

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Jesse left today for a tour that will keep him away until Thanksgiving. I'm glad our last night for a while was so fun! It would have sucked if the Red Sox lost and we didn't get to watch Game 7 in the same room. He was only home for 10 days, but the fall classic was a good background to all the time we spent together.  When he walked me to the subway at 7am this morning (our little ritual on his last mornings home), we said goodbye on a high note. Still riding that adrenaline from the win!

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Last night was a bit scary. It started out intentionally frightening: Jesse, Jaime, the legendary Jon Cheese, and I went to a haunted house in Manhattan based on serial killers. We had no idea what to expect, so before we entered we thought it would probably be a good idea to go to the bar across the street to take a tequila shot. I think this course of action certainly calmed my nerves. Also, Jon Cheese.

As we were waiting in line, one of the haunted house employees asked if anyone would like to be "marked with blood," meaning the actors could interact with you more than most. Jon, of course, really wanted the red X's on his forehead. And he made great use of them -- I don't think I will ever go to a haunted house again unless Jon Cheese is in attendance!

At one point clown-faced Gacy was shoving Jon into a wall and then a future murder victim wearing only underwear popped up from a cellar-like door and dragged Jon down with him while we were told to move on to the next room. I turned to Jesse and Jaime and said, "Okay, so we've lost Jon!"

Next up was Ed Gein who was yelling for a volunteer to help him 'feed his crocodiles' and for some reason those jerks Jesse and Jaime decided to push me forward even though I did NOT want to touch that guy's hand. I was given something to hold over a gate and then BAM! Jon Cheese emerged growling and crawling, attacking me! I screamed and then started laughing hysterically as we fell to the ground.

Throughout the house Jon would talk back to the likes of Charles Manson and Patrick Bateman. At one point some weird Cookie Monster-looking killer came out of the wall and Jon screamed, "My wife would hate you!" We had a great time and though I was scared for a lot of it, I mostly just laughed.

Above, our tourist photo of the excursion.

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And then the other scary bit of the night: the Red Sox. The World Series is now 1-1 and that's all I will say about that except for: GO SOX!

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Oh okay, I have one more kind of "scary" thing to go with the theme -- I get scared to wash my hair after a new cut because I'm wondering whether my hair will look as good styled by me. Surprise, surprise I can't seem to look as polished when I style it by myself. However, it didn't turn out bad. Right? (Above, my hair as blown out and styled by yours truly.)

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Something not scary: the remake of Carrie. Skip it! I probably didn't even need to tell you that, but I saw it last weekend on a whim and true to what I thought previously, Chloe Grace Moretz has no range beyond playing an eye-rolling sarcastic girl. As I said in my brief review, her line delivery was abysmal. And you don't have a solid movie if your titular character can't act the part.

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On a related note, DO see 12 Years a Slave. It's brutal, but one of the best films of the year.

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One shouldn't be pushed to write, but I did have a goal of writing more often in this space this year. Since I don't think another NaNoWriMo is in me at the moment, perhaps I'll make November a month of attempting to update every day...

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And finally, this weekend Jiscilla is hosting a Halloween party so I'm excited to play dress-up and have some fun with friends! Photos shall ensue, I'm sure.

Take me out to the ballgame.

The weekend was a rousing success. For starters, I lived near or below that Citgo sign in Kenmore Square all four years of college at Boston University. I worked under it both as a Resident Assistant and as a cashier at Barnes and Noble. It sits atop a building close to Fenway Park, visible from the park, and always featured on the televised Red Sox games. So this weekend Jesse, me, Jim, and Jim's family (Lisa, Jim, and Amanda) went to see the Red Sox vs Phillies game at Fenway. We had great seats behind home plate, and luckily, underneath the overhang so we didn't get wet in the constant rain drizzle of the day.

Now, I've been to a few ballparks in my day, but Fenway always feels like home. No matter how much they add to it, it still feels old and historical - the scene to many a statistic, a legendary play, a heartbreaking play. A lot comes to mind just when you take a look around and see names like Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski in huge letters, or fans still sporting their Nomar Garciaparra tees. Even the roar of the crowd echoes nostalgia to all the other games I've been to. And Saturday's game added to the aura of Fenway in my mind: Daniel Nava, a player just sent up to the majors from the Paw Sox, came to his first at-bat for the Red Sox, and with the very first pitch, hit a grand slam. Only three other rookies in history have ever done the same, with only one other doing it with the first pitch. Jesse, Jim, me, and everyone in the stadium were on their feets yelling and clapping. I was trying to scream while choking down my cotton candy - this was my first time witnessing a grand slam live in the stadium!

I've had many memories at Red Sox games, and especially at Fenway Park. My Uncle Arthur was at this past Saturday's game as well, and told Jesse about the time he took me to a Red Sox vs Tampa Bay game back when I was in college. He had gotten us the "Steinbrenner Seats" right next to the opposing team's dugout - we had a superb view. And apparently Tampa Bay's second baseman was making eyes at me, which made my uncle very protective. Sometimes the memories aren't exactly statistical!

I'm pretty sure you can tell from the above picture, though, that I love baseball games, Red Sox games at Fenway park even more so, and especially Red Sox games at Fenway Park in which they beat the defending National League champions. Boom!

He said I like it with a big wide grin.

I've decided to do another Friday Playlist! It's been an extremely busy week at work (it's the end of our fiscal calendar year), so I haven't had much time to devote to ye olde writing. What I've been enjoying -

Ryan Adams - These Girls
No Doubt - Sunday Morning
Rancid - Dope Sick Girl
The Donnas - Outta My Mind
Kings of Leon - Knocked Up
Damone - Out Here All Night
Regina Spektor - Consequence of Sounds
Metric - Poster of a Girl
Johnny Cash - Get Rhythm
Butch Walker - Going Back/Going Home

It's short but SWEET.

Tonight, though it's pouring rain outside, Erica, Jesse, Perry, Katie, Adam, Jim, Sean and I are heading to the first game at the Mets' new Citi Field - because they're playing THE RED SOX. I bought a red poncho during lunch for the festivities!

BASEBALL RETURNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!