Middle Eastern Pumpkin Fest.

Seeing as how one of my favorite Halloween traditions came up, I decided to dress the part.

What I wore: orange cashmere FIONNA sweater (used), Halloween ghost earrings (used and cleaned!), fall TULLE coat (used) with WICKED pin ( thanks Mum), locomotive AMERICAN APPAREL skinnies  (Paris treasure), and black loafers from URBAN OUTFITTERS (used and pretty sure they're men's or just super large women's). 

One of my all-time favorite traditions come this time of year is pumpkin carving and dinner at this couple's home. It used to start out as kind of a "drop off" when my mom and dad had a certain hospital function of some sort. We would have this fabulously cooked dinner, carve these wicked pumpkins with a Halloween movie in the background, and enjoy the evening. It is seriously the first thing I think of when October comes around and since I missed it last year, I was especially excited to partake in this tradition once more before I leave for college.

So although their home wasn't as decked out as it usually is (it usually is like this wicked haunted house with these crazy homemade decorations that make me insanely excited for Halloween), it still had the same vibe, decorations or not. It's the company that really matters. Beginning us off was delicious drinks.. for me, some cider. Cheers to the start of a fantastic evening!

Then out comes the appetizers. Now this couple have done their fair share of traveling and they make a particularly fine Middle Eastern meal. So the appetizer is what we call "baba ghanoush which is a dip with garlic, olive oil, eggplant.. it is seriously delicious. Add in some traditional pita bread and one could get full just on this stuff!

 For the main dish, we were served shwarma's- Middle Eastern wraps filled with chicken, cucumber sauce, pickles, hot sauce, and some French fries. Kind of a random combination, but I'm telling you that taste buds will explode from this. And the drink to offset one's palate during this fine feast was "lassi", which was a blended yogurt drink. Well Vickie, our fabulous host, put a dab of rose water in there and it felt like drinking something holy. Rose water, get some. 

So now that our stomachs were literally full to the brim, we began our epic pumpkin carving adventure. The men retired to the living room and the women sat down for a little creative carving. So I don't know why, but the pumpkins here are ginormous. I'm talking, thick walls like you won't believe. My sister and I managed to cut the top off and gut the thing all right, but when we were ready for tracing, my mom was still trying to cut the top off. Thinking she was just being slow, we stopped and inquired... turns out that there was some trouble getting it off. So the guys came over, and after a couple broken scalpels, multiple fork wounds and a ton of encouragement, the five inch thick top came off. It was one incredible feat!

My lovely self portrait! I can see the resemblance, yes?

Let the carving begin. I go with the process of taping or gluing the pattern on the pumpkin, using a pick thing to dice holes along the pattern, trace the holes with a marker, and then resume to cut the thing and punch the pieces out. And a couple of hours (and homemade caramel corn bowls) later, I was completed with what my dad liked to call "my self portrait." Har har. 

Then came my sister's completion, and finally my mom's. We had a sight to behold! And that concludes our epic evening- full of delicious cooking, intense carving, and of course, the greatest company one could ask for.