We enjoyed Halloween weekend with a Friday night party (I won the costume contest and $100 cash for dressing as a 50’s housewife!) and a Saturday evening neighborhood gathering/pot luck/trick or treat. Justin went to a surprise birthday/Halloween party for his friend and decided to dress up as “emo”. Not having any daughters, I never thought I’d be putting eyeliner, lipstick and earrings on one of my children! He looks good though – and pretty convincing.

Above – Barbara as a cop and my winning costume. Honestly nothing outlandish but I was thrilled to beat out about a dozen trampy costumes. Nice to know you don’t have to be a tart to win something like that!

For the block party, the dish I brought to pass was the ever-popular Chicken Wing Dip. Also got a new recipe, someone brought an awesome fruit dip:

Caramel Apple Dip

1 tub Caramel sauce ; (used for apples – 16 oz.)
1 package Cream cheese ; softened
1/2 cup Chopped peanuts ; unsalted
4 Granny Smith apples ; sliced

In medium mixing bowl, combine caramel and cream cheese using a hand mixer. Transfer to a glass pie plate and spread with a spatula to smooth and even surface. Sprinkle chopped peanuts on top and use the back of a clean spoon to push them into the sauce just lightly enough to make them stay put.

To serve, place the pie plate on a tray or larger plate, and surround with sliced apples.

NOTE: To keep apples from browning, toss them in a bit of lemon juice just after slicing.

I love airports. Yes, you heard me right – love them. I know, I’m an oddity. But tell me, where else but the airport could you spot a grown woman wearing bright pink galoshes, a little old man eating out of a homemade lunch pail, a platinum blonde diva with 4-inch heels, an entire family adorned with Mickey Mouse memorabilia and countless retired couples in matching attire? Where else would you find a businessman in a $2000 suit standing in line next to a vacationer in worn out flip flops, cutoff jean shorts and a Laguna Beach t-shirt? Airports are a stop within an itinerary that is not our norm. An interruption in our regular schedule, but a potentially welcome one.

Sure the airport has its share of annoyances. I’m actually at the Charlotte airport right now and already this morning have witnessed the usual ones. The guy on his Blackberry talking too loudly to notice hordes of travelers rushing by him. The intolerably long lines at the coffee/pizza/burger stand (or bathroom). My biggest pet peeve is the casual traveler who is oblivious to others around him/her – walking slowly, gazing around, then suddenly coming to a stop smack dab in the middle of the walkway to dig through his/her luggage for something (presumably his/her boarding pass?).

But there is something else about an airport that’s particularly exciting. Airports are our “holding area” – the place where we wait to be taken to somewhere else. Somewhere hot and sunny or somewhere cold where a warm fireplace awaits us. Somewhere new and adventurous or somewhere comfortable and familiar. Somewhere we’ll get to meet new people or somewhere that reunites us with those we love. And on the return trip, the airport is where we wait to be taken to the place we belong – home.

So as I wait for my flight (to somewhere many would call paradise) I will just sit back and people-watch. Wonder where these people are going, who they are going to see, and what circumstances are bringing them there. And that’s one of my favorite things to do.