Sugar Rush! oh, I mean, Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween ghouls and goblins! Are you in the Halloween spirit today or do you not feel the spookiness until the sun goes down? Either way, today is a day to honor the seasons changing and to remember the dead among us. However you decide to celebrate the Witch's New Year, sugar is usually involved. I took this recipe from fellow blogger "The Recipe Girl" because it's simple, creative, and a perfect way to get rid of any candy and treats that you'll have left over after tonight. Personally, I would use dark or milk chocolate instead of white, but other than that, you can throw anything you're craving into this...So be safe tonight and maybe this year try to remember what this holiday is based upon, because it's so easy to get caught up in the festivities and we forget the rich history of today!


Candy Corn Cookie Bark
Makes 2 dozen pieces

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup Oreos broken into bits
1 cup Pretzels broken into bits
1 cup Candy Corn
Other candy like Resses, Butterfinger, M&M's, etc
1 pound Melting Chocolate (white or milk)
1 tsp shortening
Sprinkles



Step one- lay ingredients on cookie sheet or baking pan over parchment paper:



Step Two- Melt chocolate pieces and shortening (about 1 1/2 min) until they're liquid (keep stirring and microwave an extra 30 sec until smooth) and pour over bits of treats. Add any extra candy on top for crunch:





Step Three- Place in refrigerator or freezer until firm. Break into pieces with sharp knife and serve!

Day Four Sarah Horowitz Perfume Experiment

Is anyone else counting the days until Halloween? Even though I don't plan on dressing up or even trick o' treating, I am waiting waiting waiting! Why? Well two reasons, the first is that I love the Witches New Year! It's so eerie and festive and silly, and such a staple of my year that it's sometimes hard for me to believe that there are families who don't even celebrate it. The second reason is because Halloween candy goes on MAJOR sale the day after Halloween! Everything from candy corn, tootsie pops, dots, sour patch kids, and not just little bags either...but like the 5 pound bags! Now don't think i'm a closet candy eater or anything...I love to have fresh candy around The Beauty Loft. Candy is friendly, colorful, and tastes and smells delicious...and speaking of smelling delilcous...I come to you with today's newest fragrance in the fragrance experiment: Sarah Horowitz Perfect Nectar from the "Perfect Collection."

It's not a coincidence that somebody who loves candy as much as I do also loves very sweet scents. I almost always gravitate towards scents with top notes of cotton candy, burnt sugar, vanilla, jasmine, and light, sweet florals. The interesting thing about my tastes, however, is that I have never especially like fruity scents. I do like fruit, I like to eat it and cook with it, but I don't like to smell of it (there is only one exception, and that is Fresh Fig Apricot fragrance, but it smells more sweet than fruity in my opinion.) So I had to have an open mind today when I tested the Perfect Nectar, a scent more fruit and exotic than the islands themselves.

When I first applied the fragrance, I smelled the ripe, fruity notes right away. I smelled peach and orange, and maybe a little bit or raspberry (however, I later learned that the notes are in fact blood orange, papaya, mango, and ylang ylang.)

The dry down of Perfect Nectar is more of a light floral, a scent that I would associate with a garden wedding in the summertime, or a weekend wine tasting trip. For a fruity fragrance, it manages to steer clear of artifical "pie and cobbler" notes and it is very grown up. I would expect to smell this on anybody from 20 to 55 years old, it's youthful but still tastefully done. And my dog loves it...he's been licking my arm any chance he gets! That's a good sign...right?

And you thought candles by the bath were romantic...

I always notice in movies when the star needs to relax, the first thing she does is run a bath. It's true; nothing is more rejuvinating than a hot bath and a cup of tea (or wine, if it's been a particularily stressful day.) But no bath is relaxing with the harsh flourescent bathroom lighting that seems to be standard. I love the idea of lights inside of the tub, just like a hot tub or indoor pool, it gives off this swanky "even my water does what I want it to" vibe. Maybe one day my master bathroom will come equipped with some underwater lighting...but until then we all stick to candles. I love candles, don't get me wrong. They smell amazing, they give off sexy flames, they're slightly warming, and the can help you unwind. But the problem that I always run into is where on earth do you put the candles when you're taking a bath? If you put them across the bathroom, then you're sitting in practically pitch blackness in the tub (which I find terrifying...can you say Psycho?) But putting them teetering on the edge of the tub is just plain dangerous. Nevermind floating candles...probably the scariest bathroom invention yet. The idea of them seems great and romantic, until you finally relax and stretch yourself out, only to be burned by the floating fireball. And what happens if you fall asleep in the tub? You think that your head is safe, propped up on the edge of the tub (or on a bath pillow) and all of a sudden (tssssst)...your cheek just got roasted! And i'm talking about the one on your face.

So when I see this new invention (which is supposed to be all scary and Halloween-ey) of Glow In The Dark Bath Bubbles, I think it's a fun idea. No flames, no half lit bathroom, no acting like your tub is a minefield. Plus, how fun would it be to sit in a tub that is glowing? I just think that radio-active bubbles are a great way to unwind (just be prepared to share the tub with playful signifigant others!)