The Carving of the Pumpkin

For reasons unbeknownst to me, one of our friends suggested I have the Halloween party on a Friday night. For me, the host, Friday wasn't exactly ideal as I will be at work all day and will have little time to prepare for the party. I decided that Friday would be fine, however, and with some careful planning I should have very little party set-up on Friday after work.

I have made my to-do list and am doing a little something each night this week in preparation for Friday.

For Halloween, there are so many different creative ideas for decorations! I decided to keep decorations to a minimum, because few in this group will probably appreciate cute Halloween decor, except me of course!

When it comes to hosting a party, your first stop should be here. Hostess with the Mostess blog is one of my favorites! There are so many festive party ideas on this site, it's incredible.

I did feel the need to carve a pumpkin this year. Last year, Brian and I had a pumpkin that wasn't carved and sat on the porch rotting 'til Christmas!
I tried to do a creepy grin on my jack-o-lantern, but apparently he just looks happy.

 And if you like the chewy taste of roasted pumpkin seeds, I created a pretty delicious recipe:
First, rinse and drain the seeds.

Dry the seeds after rinsing.

I poured a drizzle of honey over the seeds and then tossed in a spoonful of brown sugar. Roast the seeds for 30 mins at 350 degrees.

After the seeds have roasted, toss in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. I coated mine very liberally in the cinnamon sugar as you can tell from the picture! I thought they tasted great!