Andrea and I are back at it! We went to see the Cat Video Fest for 2023 at the North Park Theater. Don't know what the Cat Video Fest is? It's a compilation of viral cat videos, tik toks, and gifs from the past few years all in one place! If you like cats it's def worth seeing, and as a bonus a percentage of the proceeds goes towards local animal shelters and animal welfare organizations!

I like that you can submit pictures and videos to the North Park of your cat, and they will show them before the movie. I submitted a pic of my little Ginger. She had the whole big screen to herself! I didn't have time to pull out my phone to take a picture, but this was the one I sent in. The time she had a blep.

Cat Video Fest 2023 was divided up, as before, with CATegories like "Drama", "Action", "Documentary", and "Musical". Some of the highlights for me included the movie opening with songs from the Cats soundtrack (I love musicals), there's a Shining reference, you see the life of Fred the boat cat, Cat Man Chris the owner of Marmalade, Simon's Cat with the cutest cartoons, Cute Aggression metal song (which I just learned about and LOVE!), and the catchy Hold On to My Fur song from thekiffness. Not to mention, there are clips of kitties sleeping on books, wearing raincoats, the first ever cat video, and lots of one-brain-cell orange kitties! It's delightful.

The compilation was slightly different from last year. There were more musical clips and the clips seemed longer. They feature hirokisan79 and his piano cat duets more than once. I wish they sold the soundtrack to Cat Video Fest 2023! 

You can read about the other years I attended too 2019, 2020, 2022.

After getting our cat fix, we were hungry, so we went down the street to The Merry Shelley. I'm embarrassed to say, it took me way too long to blog about The Merry Shelley, a local goth hang out. It's a small bar that has it all, spooky decor, goth music, fun events, good drinks, food, and... books. Yes, books! It's a little free library too! We popped over, I donated some books, and picked up some that were on my tbr list from eons ago.

This particular night, there were tarot card readings being done by Liz from Divination Station. She's a sweetheart, and manages Rising Goddess a local metaphysical shop that I recommend, not only because they have a "house cat" named Trixie, but because it's a great store with good vibes. Naturally, Andrea and I had to get our readings done. 

Trixie & her blep. (Pic taken from the Rising Goddess Facebook page.)

During the course of our evening we saw old friends, and made some new ones. I don't get out much because I work a lot, but when I do, I like it to be a quality night like this! A night of cats & bats!

I reviewed Cronenberg's original Rabid a few years back, you can read about my thoughts here. The story is solid and original, and I could see where he was going with it... the Soska Sisters saw the potential too, and made it even better in their 2019 remake! It's nice that they kept it directed by Canadians.

Side note: remakes don't really excite me, but this one was intriguing. I'm always interested to see a woman's perspective. There were a lot of boobs in the 1977 one, and it did nothing for me.

***Spoilers Ahead***

The plot somewhat follows the old one, Rose gets into a motorcycle accident and has experimental reconstructive surgery that causes her to crave blood. The gore is excellent, and her story line is fleshed out in the new movie. (See what I did there?) Rose is a lowly fashion designer that works for a design house where she is publicly ridiculed and ignored. She has one model friend, Chelsea, that looks like Krysten Ritter. This movie peels back the curtain of how design houses work. It gives off In Fabric vibes too. Quick background, Rose is a vegetarian and has scarring on her face from a car accident when she was a child that killed her parents. (So very Disney. Heaven forbid she's not an orphan!)

Krysten Ritter is that you?

The story moves quick, and she gets hood winked into attending a nightclub party by a friendly male co-worker named Brad. He truly seems sincere and likes her. Rose finds out that Chelsea asked him to ask her to go, and she leaves upset, getting into the motorcycle accident.

All the horrible things about an accident happen if you work in the modeling industry. Part of her face is ripped off and her jaw is wired shut, so she can't talk, her intestines are punctured, and her face is pretty gnarly. Chelsea takes Rose in once she's released, since this cost her the design job. She finds an experimental treatment facility that ~ if she qualifies ~ will take care of her reconstructive surgery for free. (Brings up the idea of the problems with healthcare and how it should be accessible to all regardless if you can afford it or not.) Surprise, she qualifies!

Frankenstein face.

They graft a gooey clear jello looking piece of prosthesis to her face that bonds to her skin and makes her look like a model (she kind of already looked like a model before the accident), but now she's a supermodel. It clears up her childhood car accident scars and eyesight. The only problem is that she has to take medication that can cause "hallucinations", and she has to drink "protein" when she can't stomach anything else. Calls into question, what are you willing to do to be beautiful? And the doctor claims they are hallucinations, but are they?

Don't get me wrong, the red is striking, religious vestment style, but how do they see where the blood is when doing surgery? Isn't that why doctors wear white or green? Bonus: I bet they are easy to clean!

Now that Rose is a gorgeous party girl, she gets noticed by her old design house. Pretty people are rewarded. She gets her design job back, and then some. The difficulty is that she can't tell what's a hallucination or not, and she spreads her illness to others by sharing drink glasses etc. It transmits through saliva and blood. I like how they highlighted this is the movie, so the viewer can catch how it spreads. She creates dead people and zombies in her wake. Hospitals think it’s a contagion and kill the infected. Feels a little COVID-y. There's a slow motion nurse scene that looks like Silent Hill ~ the music video ~ and it's great.

She feels like a monster, and tells the doctor what's happening, and he's not listening to her. We've all been there, huh, ladies? Instead of getting annoyed at the doctor, check out the wonderful, surreal artwork on the walls in his office!

Painting behind the doctor of a person without a face. Turning a "blind-eye" ~ if you will ~ to what's happening at this facility or giving off the feeling that Rose one of the many faceless victims to his whims.

Rose gets contained in the treatment facility, along with her friend Brad, who's been in on what's happening to her. But it doesn't feel malicious, he cares about her and was just told to keep an eye on her. It's a body horror ending that will remind you of The Thing, and Society, combined with a little Slither. Reminder: don't just stab, but ALWAYS chop off the head. It ends on a stark, depressing note, but did you expect anything else from the makers of American Mary? 

"Being human is limited, Rose is so much more." The actress that plays Rose conveys all the concerns you would have in this situation. This is the perfect homage with respect to the original, and you won't be disappointed there's still an armpit dick and lots of red doctors uniforms. Highly recommend. I give it 4.5 protein shakes out of 5.

Here's the trailer

 

Even though I am catless (don't get me started, I'm really depressed about it, and just want Ginger and Vicktor back ~ no other cats...yet) I belong to a bunch of cat groups on Facebook. One of the common questions people ask is about FIV+ cats, aka cats that are positive for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. 

FIV+ affects the cat's immune system, and may be dormant for many years. It may make the cat susceptible to other infections, but as long as they are taken care of by their owner, the vet visits are the same as any other cats. They can live long happy and healthy lives. It's only transmitted to other cats through a bite, not shared grooming or sharing bowls. So logically, keep your FIV+ cat indoors.

FIV+ cats aren't as troubled and deathly sick as people seem to think they are. When we had Hans, he was FIV+. As far as I know, he didn't pass it to Vicktor or Ginger. 

Our Christmas card 2007. Hans, Ginger, & Vicktor. As you can see, Hans was a handsome fellow.

So please don't let a cat being FIV+ deter you from adopting them.

Click here for a good website on FIV+. 

 The Oddities and Curiosities Expo came back to Buffalo, this year for two days, and again I dragged Jodee Bowie with me. (You can read about my experience last year here.)

This year it seemed like there were fewer booths compared to last year, and fewer attendees, but that could be because it was broken into two days instead of just one. I went on Sunday. There was a ton of taxidermy and wet specimens ~ if you're into that sort of thing. I mainly went looking for "Evil Eye" jewelry. After reading The Evil Eye: The History, Mystery, and Magic of the Quiet Curse by Pagliarulo, I've become obsessed. (You can read my full review of the book in the upcoming Auxiliary Magazine issue for Fall/ Winter 2023.) 

I'm surprised they didn't have much in the way of Evil Eyes, but I did find a necklace I fell in love with! This is from Misty Bondy, who I remember being at the Oddities show last year, but her booth was so crowded I think I just walked on by. I'm so glad I stopped. She not only designs her jewelry, but makes original art work too! 

I had to visit Smell of Fear candles. She's a local gal that has worked with Grady Hendrix (he wrote a few books that I have reviewed) and she's also a customer at my shop Cats Like Us! I picked up this candle because I love the smell of old lady....I mean lavender. 

Next, I stumbled into the booth of lynne&lucille where I couldn't resist the simplicity of these modern looking earrings made from autopsy needles. She has jewelry made from bones and drum cymbals too. Even cool skull choker necklaces.  A truly unique addition to the Oddities show!

I was excited to see that Morose & Macabre were back! They have some of my favorite loose tea, so I grabbed more of the Amityville, and I liked the smell of Widow Black (even though I'm still trying to quit caffeine.)

Overall, it was a good show again and I saw a bunch of friends. Here's a picture that someone took for Jodee and I. I'm wearing these wonderfully comfortable swishy cargo/ harem pants that everyone hates except me. lol. And it's super off kilter, just like we are. 

Thanks again for reading!

Carnivals and amusement parks have always fascinated me, and it's because of their duality. A carnival during the day is bright and cheerful, filled with kids, but at night it's lit up for the adults, and can often be dark and seedy with beer tents, and in the olden days - "cooch shows". Freaks, geeks, and fortune tellers were just a small part of the sordid goings-on. I've watched Carnivale, Freaks, Nightmare Alley, and read Geek Love by Katherine Dunn (btw it is super f*cked up. It's one of the few books I own, AND have read at least twice. What can I say? I like f'ed up stories.)

There are giant amusement park rides filled with life - people, sights, sounds, and smells in their heyday, compared to empty amusement parks left to rot. i.e. one of the many is Chernobyl's Pripyat Amusement Park. I can watch urban explorer footage and pictures of abandoned amusement parks for hours. 

I've been to Cedar Point, Six Flags, the Erie County Fair, Universal Studios, but the king is Walt Disney World. It's a place created to be "the happiest place on earth" and it truly is a world in itself, with a huge amount of staff scrambling to make every visitor's experience perfect. They work in underground tunnels, running everything as smoothly as possible, like the "haves" above ground and "have-nots" below. This brings me to my book review of The Getaway by Lamar Giles. He's known for kids and young adult books but has written some thrillers too, and I'd categorize The Getaway under horror.

***Mostly spoiler free review***

It's the story of a place in the not too distant future similar to Disney called Karloff Country. Although it's even more excessive with its own energy grid, food production, and community. It's located in Virginia, since global warming has destroyed the coastlines. The book follows four high school students that live on the premises. Their lifestyle feels safe for a few years until it's not. Outside the walls of their sheltered commune, are food shortages causing riots, capital uprisings and more. Karloff Country goes into lockdown. The elite trustees are the ones trying to make Karloff their perfect refuge to hide from the chaos in the outside world. They move in to their mansions on the grounds, furthering the great divide of the rich people with abundance, and those living without food outside. The creator of the amusement park wanted the apocalypse to happen, so he could start fresh and make everything "better" only it devolves into chaos and spins out of control.

I couldn't put this book down. Just when you think the most horrific thing happens, there's more! It's written perfectly with short chapters, and some are titled after the characters indicating that they are the voice of those chapters to give you a well-rounded and clear perspective of the narrative. The characters are relatable and likeable. Giles writes black teenagers with expertise. Between chapters are snippets of marketing and ads for Karloff Country to give the story context and history. This book is timely, jarring, and there's even a reference to The Lost Boys, how could I not love this book? 

If you like Jordan Peele and his movie Get Out, you'll like this. It has a similar vibe and I can't recommend it enough.

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez has mixed reviews, but I recommend it. It's a true gory horror novel, and covers a lot of ground while weaving together an epic story that spans generations. It's about a family that's part of a maniacal, sadistic supernatural order in Argentina in the 1960s through 1990s. Members want to reform the hierarchy of the cult and make it less abusive. The cult part of the story is almost a backdrop to the characters because the members are still trying to learn about what the dark god they worship wants, and how to get it to grant eternal life. 

The political aspect can't be ignored, or the social divide. The rich cult members are the embodiment of evil. There are elements of folk horror, haunted houses, human sacrifices, ghosts, but also harsh disturbing real things that people do to maintain power. Trigger warning there's rape and suicide mentioned, amputations, and A LOT of child abuse.

I wasn't sure how this book would read since it was translated, but you can't even tell! It's a thick book at almost 600pgs but the sections are short, and each chapter is the voice of a different character, which I love. You can see how they start out and why they develop into who they become. 

p.s. I miss all of you, I just haven't had time to blog, but this book had to be shared! My business takes a lot out of me. Thank you for understanding, and you can always follow my fb page, where I post stupid memes. lol. Fluffy the Vampire Slayer

 I was recommended Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy because I loved Bunny. I can say it does not disappoint! Deeper review below without spoilers...

Good books tend to cover themes relevant to society, and Mary is a true horror in every sense. It covers menopause..dun. dun. dun. No really, it's about a woman named Mary who is quiet, keeps to herself, has forgotten much of her childhood, and is experiencing the symptoms of menopause...mixed with other strange signs. So if you have ever been to a doctor, and they brush off your concerns as just part of menopause, you know the rage Mary feels. She's ignored and dismissed, but is she really? Maybe I just really connect with this book because I can relate. 

BUT that's not all! There is a trigger warning at the beginning of the book written by Cassidy to let us know what we are in for. There's a little something for everyone... animal mutilation, implied sexual abuse, verbal abuse, mental illness, misogyny, bullying, reincarnation, ghosts, a cult, and lots and lots of blood. I should mention that this book was written by a man. I know! Furthermore, I was shocked! He wrote an Afterword explaining why he wrote it, and I'm glad he created Mary. I finally feel acknowledged as an older woman. (Yes, I'm old, believe it or not.) It's his debut novel and was voted one of the best horror books of 2022. There's a movie in development too.

Mary's internal dialog is intense, realistic, funny, and a bit American Psycho. There's some Wicker Man vibes too. I loved it, and it's easily one of my favorite books now. Each chapter ends with an "Oh shit!" moment, and will have you going through a roller coaster of emotions, or ....maybe that's just my menopause talking. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Cult Classic was recommended to me, and after reading the plot I was excited to dig in, because cults am I right?! But I'm afraid it was just ok. Or maybe I'm too old to read it? It's Sloane Crosley's first novel and the quality of writing is wonderful, with dry wit and real poignant observations about relationships, BUT Lola, the main character, is annoying and unlikable. She has a string of ex-boyfriends that she keeps running into on the streets of New York City. Oddly, she finds out it's not fate, but that she's the key experiment in her friend's new cult. It makes sense since she seems to think the world revolves around her. Well, it's sort of a cult? But more like a new age organization that thinks they can "will" encounters to happen? It's sort of unclear.

Since Lola is now engaged, she is told by the cult she's seeking closure with her exes. It makes her question her relationship with her fiancé. Is he just convenient? Her inner dialog goes on for sometimes three pages, and as a reader I found myself drifting off into my own thoughts. I was unable to sympathize with her. She doesn't really like her friends, and everyone seems emotionally distant and superficial. Honestly, there's no one in the book I would root for. (Pro tip: Life is too short to be friends with people you don't like.)

In the end, we find out that all of her lovers reappearing is a ploy by her fiancé ~ with the help of the cult ~ to see if she really loves him. He tested her instead of asking her about her exes. I once had a teacher say the key to a good relationship is communication. What do the youngins say? This could have been an email? Well, this could have been a simple conversation between two adults instead of a book about boring ex-boyfriends. Lol.

Witch history throughout countries and cities, how can this book be bad? Well I'm not going to lie, I had a hard time reading it and almost didn't finish it, and it's not because of the subject matter...

I was excited to dig into Witch Hunt A Traveler's Guide to the Power & Persecution of the Witch by Kristen J Sollee, after all it was recommended by Pam Grossman, who I love. I've reviewed Sollee's books before, and again the same problem cropped up in this one...SHE NEEDS PICTURES, or at the very least a map! 

Each chapter of the book is named after the cities she visited, all of them with a history of witch persecutions, most of them European. It comes off as more of her personal travel diary, filled in with quotes from scholarly books on witch history or feminism. She constantly reminds the reader of the juxtaposition of contemporary life she's surrounded by vs. what a sacred place she's in. Let's not forget how many times she tells the reader she's already been to Europe. We get it, you're a second generation witch and educator, you have experience with witches, no need to remind us in almost every chapter. I found it pretentious. To the uninitiated, her witch history would get lost, not enough explanations of the persecution of witches, who they were, the power they held, and the consequences. Did I mention it's also filled in with overly descriptive romantic narration and descriptions of "visions" she has of the past? I rolled my eyes. It's hard to read when you're rolling your eyes. 

It would have been better with a map to highlight the locations she traveled to. She writes about snapping photos, it would have been nice to see them, or even pictures of what she's talking about. There is a reference at the back of the book of places to note, museums, shops, and memorials etc. and a bibliography of all the books she references. It stills feels like it's lacking. I'd say stick to her other books and pass on this one unless you are planning a trip to Europe and want to find witchy locations, then use the Travel Resource section at the back.

Based on the 2012 book A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman, A Man Called Otto is a sweet drama that needs a trigger warning for suicide! Based on what I heard, I was really hoping there was more cat in it, but it was still a decent watch.

I saw it at my favorite movie theater in town, The North Park Theatre, a historical landmark in Buffalo, NY. And if you didn't know, this movie is supposed to take place in Pennsylvania, but it was filmed in Niagara Falls, NY! A hop skip and a jump from where I live. (If you've ever been to Buffalo, we'll tell you everything is 20 minutes away by car, and it's true!)

***WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD***

Tom Hanks is Otto, an octogenarian curmudgeon, the total opposite of his portrayal of Mister Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019). Otto has recently lost his wheelchair bound wife to cancer and feels he has no reason to live anymore. He decides to take his life, but his plan gets upended by new neighbors moving in across the street... and a stray cat. While the new family is a charming distraction, the cat isn't really part of the movie. He's in the background and there's a tiny bit of story surrounding him ~ Otto protects him from the bitchy neighbor with a dog ~ but you don't even find out if he's given the cat a name! I was hoping the story would be more of the cat giving him something to live for, and, while that's true, the family, and friends were more of the impetuous for him to keep going. Miserable Otto continues to try to kill himself throughout the movie in various ways, but always ends up failing because of the humanity from the people around him or his own kindness. When he makes these attempts, you see his life in flashbacks and begin to understand his reasoning. In his last attempt, he has a vision from his wife, and she tells him to keep living, so he does. Without being prompted he steps up and helps one of her old students, his long time neighbor, and of course the family across the street in truly thoughtful ways. He has a purpose beyond his wife now, and he continues to live and find his place without her in it. When the time comes, he dies peacefully from a chronic heart condition.

I enjoyed this movie. While I'm used to watching period dramas, bloody horror, and musicals, it was a nice change. The acting is superb, especially the contrast of Otto's character and everyone surrounding him. The story, although sad, has some funny and feel good parts that they show in the trailer, I just really wanted more cat. There's a part where he attacks a clown, that is valid, and very comical. I give this movie four tuna cans out of five.

p.s. If you or anyone you know is in distress and has thoughts of suicide, you can call 988. It will route you to the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It's 24/7 and confidential.

Here's the trailer...

I went to a large book sale and came across a couple "The Cat Who..." mystery novels by Lillian Jackson Braun, and I just had to have them! (This may sound familiar because I mentioned them years ago in a blog Cat About Town: A Cat Cafe Mystery.) Right at that moment, a childhood memory had been unlocked! The books are mysteries about small town life, with characters you come to know and love. Yes, there are two reoccurring Siamese cats in them too ~ Koko and Yum Yum. There are 29 books in the series, but don't fret, they don't need to be read in order. Even though there's people dying and things blowing up, the books end on a happy, upbeat note. Honestly, they are always a feel-good read!

Andrew saw how much I was enjoying reading the few I picked up, so he went on a hunt for them. He gave me a bunch for Christmas to add to my ever-growing stash. "The Cat Who..." series have become my go-tos when I want "comfortable" books. They are like wearing a warm blanket with two cats purring on you. I highly recommend them.

Me in front of gram's house. Halloween about 1986ish. 

(Note: Her melted wax scarecrow on the door. I'm happy to say I inherited all of her holiday melted wax decorations.)

My parents got divorced when I was 5 years old. At that point, my mom and I moved in with my gram. I lived with gram until my mom got remarried, but that didn't happen until I was 14. My gram's house played a big role in my life. I grew up living there. It was a small house in the city of Buffalo ~ the Kaisertown area ~ where a bunch of Polish people migrated, it was off a main street across from a park. The house had been added on to several times, and I think it was built at the turn of the century. I was told it originally had an outhouse. The bedrooms could only fit a bed and one dresser, there was no basement, and the attic was an attic, filled with boxes and mainly used for storage. The house was heated by a furnace in the center of the dining room. I grew up thinking anyone that had a finished attic or basement was rich. When I dream of a house, it's usually gram's. 

Attic stairs with trap door.

Attic, now mostly empty.

I loved her oven, and if I could have taken it with me, I would have.

My gram lived there until the end. She died 14 years ago and the house went to my mom. My mom didn't want it, but she also didn't sell it. She couldn't bring herself to clean it out. Everything about it had sentimental value. I tried to help her move things out, but she'd end up crying, and I'd end up getting mad because we didn't make any progress. 

This past year, the roof on my gram's vacant house started leaking. I reiterated to my mom, “You NEED to sell this house.” She sold it and closed on it last month. All through November and December I was helping her clean it out. That took up a ton of my time, but I'm glad the burden of the house is gone for her.

Thank you for sticking with me through my tough times and following along. In addition to My Life is Chaos Parts 1, 2, and 3, I was exhausted like never before, and went to the doctor to get a bunch of tests done. I tested positive for Sjogrens Syndrome in December. It makes sense because a couple years ago my elbow swelled up to the point I couldn't bend it. Remember that fun time?! I was given Rheumatoid Arthritis meds, and the swelling went away. Sjogrens is an autoimmune disease. The most famous person to have it is Venus Willams. Mainly my symptoms are severe dry eye, fatigue, and arthritis. I know what you're thinking, “Julie Ann, you're a young babe, how can this be?!” I'm really 86, don't I look good? But seriously, let me give you some advice....don't get old.

This past fall has been challenging, and I've had a lot going on in just a couple of months. We remodeled our retro kitchen, went on a weeklong road trip across New York State to Sleepy Hollow, NY, and shortly after was followed by the passing of our cat Vicktor Frankenstein on Oct 21, 2022. Needless to say, Halloween time was hard with black cats everywhere. We knew it was coming, we just didn't know when would be the right time. We decided when he started having more bad days than good, it was time to make the hard decision.

Vicktor was very much Andrew's (the hubs) cat, and I was little Ginger's human, and she was my familiar. He was a chonky black Bombay cat with a moody personality, but when he loved, he loved strong. His purrs were loud like a motor, and he would follow you around for food. ANY kind of food. He was about 3 years old when we adopted him with Ginger, and in his file it said he was "abandoned". I always joked it's probably because he ate them out of house and home! He liked his food, especially olives. 

He slowed down in his old age, after Ginger passed you could tell he knew something was missing but wasn't sure what. (After all, they were together for about 17 years! During this time he became my buddy because he knew I was sad.) He didn't play as much and napped even more if that's possible. You knew his arthritis was acting up when he was having trouble going up and down the stairs. At one point before our road trip, he didn't come out of the basement and crawled into a corner. I went to work and thought ok, this is going to be the day he decides to leave us, but he bounced back like nothing was wrong. This went on for weeks. He'd have really great days playing and chasing me up the stairs, then other days he didn't move all day and sat in his box. 

I really think the kitchen remodel stimulated his curiosity. He stayed upstairs when they were working on it, but when he came down, would explore and find new places to nap. What we didn't realize until later was that he started peeing in one corner of the house. He never did that before. After we found that out, his days started getting worse. 

Because of his mood swings, and the poo nuggies he would leave around the house, I would call him "poop" kitty, but he was our poop kitty, and he's very missed. He liked sitting with his butt in my face when I would lay down. He worshiped the sun and would lay in the smallest sunbeam. He liked heat and would sit in front of heaters hogging the warm air. He liked to hide in plain sight on black carpets too. I can't tell you how many times I've tripped over him. His fur was shiny and soft as velvet. He was smooth, and sometimes I'd refer to him as my "boyfriend" especially when he would hold my hand watching movies.

I feel like with everything going on in my life I haven't properly grieved for Vicktor. I'm still devastated from Ginger being gone. So please don't ask me when we are getting new cats. Yes, I miss having cats in my life, but I'm not ready for new ones yet. Everyone grieves differently. It's been almost two years since Ginger's been gone, and I think about her everyday. I still walk around the house talking to her likes she's still there, and I'd like to think both kitties are watching over me. 

The last week in September Andrew (the hubs) and I took a road trip to Sleepy Hollow, NY to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. On the way there and back, we stopped to check out some sights. I've been to Salem, MA a few times and was expecting something similar from Sleepy Hollow. They really don't cash in on their notoriety too much, and it felt like a suburb of New York City instead of a spooky town with history steeped in a headless horseman. Anyway, get ready ~ this is a long blog!

We started the trek across New York State and stopped at the Northeast Classic Car Museum thanks to a recommendation by Andrea (who you might remember from the Cat Video Fest) where even if you don't like cars, they have motorcycles, mannequins dressed in true vintage to match the cars, cars from the race of gentleman and fab art deco architecture! It was very impressive. I recommend.

Then we hit up Robot City Games & Arcade the largest arcade in NYS - I'm not a gamer but the blacklight arcade took me back! Andrew found some games he never played. He'll always get the high score at Galaga, but I kicked his butt at Tetris. We stayed over in Binghamton, NY the first night.

Day 2 we drove to Storm King Art Center. It's an outdoor sculpture park that I could have stayed in all day! It was so nice to be outside in the fresh air, and everywhere you looked there was a sculpture to walk to. It had rolling hills as far as thee eye could see, and a huge outdoor gazebo restaurant where we grabbed lunch. It's a lot of walking, and I wasn't sure what to expect, but I loved it.

After Storm King we continued driving to Sleepy Hollow, and checked in at our hotel that left much to be desired. It was cold in our room, and we tried to turn up the heat, and it wasn't working. We called the front desk and they gave us a space heater. What the hell! I guess they want us to burn down their hotel. In another instance I asked where the nearest post office is, and they were unsure. You're a hotel! No one has ever asked that before?!!! At one point I asked for a fork, they told me they didn't have any. They have a restaurant in the lobby, so don't tell me you don't have any forks. Plus they were doing construction on the sidewalk surrounding the hotel, so it was loud, and the key card swipe to the outside door was left unlocked the whole time. The hotel was a mess. I'm guessing they were recently sold and under new ownership and trying to get it together, but in that case, close for a few weeks, so your customers don't have a bad experience. Of course this was the hotel we were staying at the longest too. I DO NOT recommend The Sleepy Hollow Hotel.

Onward and upward! Adventures for day 3 included fueling up with breakfast at the Eldorado Diner and walking from end to end in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and around it. The cemetery was the best part of Sleepy Hollow. It felt old with a lot of history. If you plan on going to walk around, there's a ton of steep hills, gravel, and signs that say no picnicking. You can take tours though. We weren't able to catch one because our timing was off, but I've heard good things about them. Again, wear comfortable shoes because it's lots of walking.

The Eldorado is kitschtastic for Sleepy Hollow. The outside of the building is covered in mirrors, and the inside looks like it stepped out of the 1950s with a 1970s and 2000s update to the interior. It still has a rotating cake case, but it's dark wood, throw in a life size wizard, and it was the perfect breakfast spot!

On to the cemetery! On the way there, you'll pass this sculpture in a teeny tiny park in the middle of the street.

Inside the cemetery there's very old tombstones, many of the family plots have wrought iron fences around them, and did I mention it's hilly? In some sections, there's stairs to climb built into the hills to get to the top.

Washington Irving's grave...

Me on the headless horseman bridge in the cemetery. This isn't the original location, but it's close.

I wore my Sleepy Hollow dress from Kitschy Witch Designs a nice family loved it so much they stopped and took my picture.

Earrings from TheLadyDisarray

Shoes are Doc Martens

We also stopped at this statue which is outside of the cemetery...

That evening we had our 20th anniversary dinner at Goosefeather. It's in a boutique hotel, and the setting was perfect. I will remember this ginger and thyme drink forever, the food and drinks were delicious.

On day 4 we shopped at Pretty Funny Vintage and checked out the local Main St. Of course, I ended up buying books from the cutest bookshop Transom Book Shop and YES that is a copy of Bunnicula in a red velvet cover! I chatted with the owner who was friendly and approved my selections.

We also went to the Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze where there's over 7000 carved pumpkins set to themes and a soundtrack. It's on the grounds of an old plantation near water, so it's a vast setting. We sampled local pumpkin beer too. I liked the MOPA (Museum of Pumpkin Art) display best.

Day 5 we worked our way back to Western New York. We stopped in Syracuse, NY where we ALWAYS visit The Syracuse Antiques Exchange ~ it's huge! Then we ate at Dinosaur BBQ. I think I still like the Rochester, NY one best.

It was a nice getaway, but it wasn't as spooky as I had hoped, and of course it was a lot of driving, so I did need a little recovery time after our vacation. All in all, I enjoyed the stops to and from Sleepy Hollow better than actually going there. The cemetery was the highlight.