October 30, 2015

Tanya's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 7 DAYS

Winning!!

It's the day before Halloween and boy has this morning just flown right on by! 

I got a bit consumed by online shopping/browsing and the next thing I knew it was 9:30am, which I was shocked by and all of a sudden felt like it was soooo late! LOL

Anyhow it must be shopping season or something must be in the air because last night during our "coffee" break, we shot over to the Nordstrom's Coffee Bar and while waiting for our drinks we happened to wander over to Windsor (which I had never stepped inside of before)...going inside, we found it to have quite a few cute and rather inexpensive items! 

So without any plan of shopping I walked out of there with 2 pairs of shoes and 2 dresses!
One of which as of the moment is planned for my Christmas dress!!

SCORE!!

And speaking of winning, Dominic and his "Pimp" costume tied for first place in the costume "strutting" contest at his Costume Party!

A few of the costumed characters.

I'm also quite excited about a show that I just found out about yesterday...Dances of Peru, which we secured tickets for!

CLICK ON PICTURE FOR TICKETS!

I expect that it'll be just GREAT!
And you know that I'll both be adding it to next weeks W2GW as well as doing a full review on it after the show! 
Speaking of which...what a coincidence, yesterday I just published the TBT story "When in Peru..."!

And here's something that you might find in Peru:

We saw this cute little Katydid right outside our front door!
I (the person who HATES bugs) was quite fascinated by this cute little creature.
But keep in mind that GOD FORBID he were to jump towards me, near me, or touch me - I still would've totally flipped and freaked out!!
But observing him was quite delightful! Go figure!

Now completely off any of the topics that I've mentioned, and nothing whatsoever to do with FOODIE FRIDAY (which today is).
I recently got notification that the professional photos which were taken at the recent Gladiator Rock'N Run were now available:

The next Gladiator (Mud Run) that we'll be able to complete in won't be until June 2016 in San Diego and we are already looking forward to it!!!
Care to join in?

​Be sure not to miss the great information that Elisa has covered all about the History and Cultural Traditions of Halloween! I think it's AWESOME!

And finally...it's FOODIE FRIDAY and I'll be giving you the low down about dining aboard a cruise ship, along with some mouth watering pictures.
You don't want to miss this one!

That's all folks. See ya back here for a fun filled & SPOOKTACULAR Halloween!

Toodles,
​-T

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 14 DAYS

Hello and happy Friday!!

Before I go any further, I want to commend my bestie cousin, Tanya for holding down the Blog Fort the past few weeks.

I've been dealing with some personal crisis over here and it just warms my heart knowing that our blog goes on!

As far as my life is concerned, this too shall pass.  Unfortunately, the nature of what is going on may take several months, and therefore, if "your's truly" is MIA here and there, know that you guys are in my thoughts and prayers each and every day and our blog is in the wonderful travelin' hands of my dear cuz, Tanya!!!!

Ok, so onto the day at hand!!
The girls are off from school today and we are headed out East for a weekend of food, festivities and fabulous horsin' around at our favorite barn!!

If you are in the area, please make it a point to visit the "Food FEASTival" at Dream Come True Farm.  Lots of vendors of all kinds of products, food galore, activities for the kiddies and of course, a barn full of horses!!

This October festival will take place all weekend and the kids have never been so excited!  They will be in costume, along with their riding partner horses!

I'll be back in the groove taking lots of pictures!

So, what's on your Halloween agenda?  

Did you know that Halloween is one of the world's largest holidays?  It is still celebrated around the globe in a number of countries, with its highest popularity being in the United States and Canada.

According to the website, Halloween Around the World,  "65% of Americans decorate their homes and offices for Halloween...a percentage exceeded only by Christmas. Halloween is the holiday when the most candy is sold and is second only to Christmas in terms of total sales."

The history of Halloween, also known as All Hallows' Eve,  dates back about 2000 years to pre-Christian Celtic festival held around Nov. 1 called Samhain (pronounced "sah-win"), which means "summer's end" in Gaelic, according to the Indo-European Etymological Dictionaries. 

It is believed that Samhain was the time of year the annual communal meeting at the end of the harvest year, a time to gather resources for the winter months and bring animals back from the pastures.

It is also thought to have been a time of communing with the dead, according to folklorist John Santino.

"There was a belief that it was a day when spirits of the dead would cross over into the other world,"  

Interestingly enough, a direct connection between Halloween and Samhain has never been proven, but, many scholars believe that because All Saints' Day (or All Hallows' Mass, celebrated Nov. 1) and Samhain, are so close together on the calendar, they influenced each other and later combined into the celebration now called Halloween. 

Here are some fun facts about 14 countries around the world and their Halloween celebration traditions:

Austria
Leaving bread, water and a lit lamp was once believed was he way to welcome the dead souls back to earth.  

Belgium
​The custom is to light candles in memory of dead relatives on Halloween night.

Canada
​Jack O'Lanterns are carved and the festivities include parties, trick-or-treating and the decorating of homes with pumpkins and corn stalks.

China
Halloween festival is known as Teng Chieh. Food and water are placed in front of photographs of family members who have departed while bondires and lanterns are lit in order to light the paths of the spirits as they travel the earth on Haloween night

Czech Republic & Slovakia
chairs are placed by the fireside on Halloween night. There is one chair for each living family member and one for each family member's spririt.

England
Hundred of years ago, English children made "punkies" out of large beetroots, upon which they carved a design of their choice. Then, they would carry their "punkies" through the streets while singing the "Punkie Night Song" as they knocked on doors and asked for money.

​In some rural areas, turnip lanterns were placed on gateposts to protect homes from the spirits who roamed on Halloween night. Another custom was to toss objects such as stones, vegetables and nuts into a bonfire to frighten away the spirits. Today, they dress up and "trick or treat" much the same as we do here in America.

France
Halloween is not celebrated by the French in order to honor the dead and departed ancestors. It is regarded as an "American" holiday in France and was virtually unknown in the country until around 1996.

Germany
People put away their knives on Halloween night, because the belief is that they do not want to risk harm befalling the returning spirits.

Hong Kong
Haloween is know as "Yue Lan" (Festival of the Hungry Ghosts) and is a time when it is believed that spirits roam the world for twenty-four hours. Some people burn pictures of fruit or money at this time, believing these images would reach the spirit world and bring comfort to the ghosts.

Ireland
In Ireland, believed to be the birthplace of Halloween, the tradition is still celebrated as much as it is in the United States. In rural areas, bonfires are lit as they were in the days of the Celts and children dress up in costumes to spend the evening "trick-or-treating" in their neighborhoods.

Japan
The Japanese celebrate the "Obon Festival" (also known as "Matsuri" or "Urabon") which is similar to Halloween festivities in that it is dedicated to the spirits of ancestors. Special foods are prepared and bright red lanterns are hung everywhere. Candles are lit and placed into lanterns which are then set afloat on rivers and seas. 

Korea
the festival similar to Halloween is known as "Chusok" but takes place in August. People pay respect to these ancestors by visiting their tombs and making offerings of rice and fruits. 

Mexico, Latin America and Spain
Among Spanish-speaking nations, Halloween is known as "El Dia de los Muertos." It is a joyous and happy holiday...a time to remember friends and family who have died.

Officially commemorated on November 2 (All Souls' Day), the three-day celebration actually begins on the evening of October 31. People honor the dead who are believed to return to their homes on Halloween, many families construct an altar in their home and decorate it with candy, flowers, photographs, fresh water and samples of the deceased's favorite foods and drinks.

Sweden
Halloween is known as "Alla Helgons Dag" and is celebrated from October 31 until November 6.


DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT TANYA'S FOODIE FRIDAY FEATURE - CLICK HERE TO READ IT!!

Hope you are getting your costumes ready!!!
See ya back here tomorrow for HALLOWEEN!!!

Have a great day!
-E
xoxo

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