It's November. Are You In On NaBloPoMo or NaNoWriMo?

I'm a veteran of National Novel Writers Month (AKA: NaNoWriMo) where I've won it 4 times over the years. This means I actually managed to write a 50,000+ word novel between November 1st and 11:59 PM on November 30.

It's not for the faint of heart, and it's a huge commitment. It's also a blast, a way to add a social element to the solitary art of writing, and the best way to duct tape the mouth of your inner critic and just get in the zone and write, write and write more. There are prizes and prompts to encourage. And cities and regions have groups that meet up in person to write together. I highly recommend it for anyone who has a great american novel bumping around in their brains and always back burners it for life, paid work, fear or family. Check it out here. There's still more than plenty of time to join up. We're busy but seriously considering giving it another go for 2015.

Alternately, we know loads of blogger friends rocking NaBloPoMo this month with BlogHer. Here at ChiIL Mama we're in on that for sure. Whether you're a newbie or a veteran blogger like me, who has been blogging since 2009, NaBloPoMo will have you jumping in the puddle with both feet and making a splash. The challenge is to blog daily November 1-30th. Follow along with us and hundreds of others via Facebook and Twitter at the hashtag #NaBloPoMo. It's also a fun, social event with prizes and prompts. See you out there. Write ON!!

Halloween 2015 Recap Chi, IL Style

Hope everyone's Halloween weekend was a blast. Despite a chilly, rainy start here in Chi, IL, things cleared up around 5pm and my Rainbow Puking Gnome from Gravity Falls and my Steampunk made the rounds with a pack of friends. Then they returned to a party filled with loads of food and new and old school friends dating back to their preschool days.

Things I learned this Halloween:

• My MIL didn't know narwals existed. "Are those actually real or is it some Star Warsie kind of thing?" 

• There IS actually a candy called Zombie Food with quote unquote "milk chocolate brains, heart & feet filled with oozie red caramel"
• Teens can make a seriously scream inducing haunted basement on a shoe string budget.

• The rejects from the Jelly Belly Factory in southern Wisconsin are repackaged and sold as "Belly Flops". Those misshapen mashups are just as tasty.
• Steampunks are not as well known among the general populace as they are in our circle of friends. Dugan got a lot of bewildered, blank stares and a few educated guesses on his costume like.... Are you: Time Traveler Dude, Watchmaker's Apprentice, Gears Guy, Steamboat Punk?
• You're never too old to dress up for Halloween!

The party full of tween & teen kids made an amazingly creepy cool haunted house in the basement then stayed down there to hang out and get some space from the parents upstairs. Meanwhile, we caught up with loads of our favorite families we never see face to face anymore, now that the playground pickup days are past. 

The kids hung till around 11:30 and my husband was right, that's the longest time we've been at anyone's house without seeing one or both kids popping up and saying "I'm bored. When are we leaving." We finally had to drag the kids home because our son was leading early school tours for perspective 7th graders and their families in the morning.

We dropped the kids off, let the pups out, and hit the final 2 hours of our usual haunts, our friends' annual party on Bernard Street. This two block stretch is a renowned Chicago trick or treat mecca, where the neighbors dress up and deck out their homes in a big way. There are hundreds if not thousands of trick or treaters and our friends always have a big bash till the wee hours of the morning. It was midnight, so we almost didn't chance it, but we called over there and things were still half way hopping.

The husband and kids were asleep already, but amazingly enough, the wife was still up and there were about 10 friends left standing, and they enthusiastically begged us to come over. Better late than never, so we swung for a few beers and rocked their strobe lit, living room with a drunken, group Rocky Horror "Sweet Transvestite" sing along. Meanwhile the wife went upstairs to wake her husband to come down and say hey to the latecomers but she fell asleep in the process, while he rallied and came back down to hang out. Around the 3rd time in 2 hours that their iPod began to loop and play Ministry's "Every Day is Halloween" and Thriller yet again, we grabbed a few cookies and Affy Tapples for the kids and hit the road.

Check back soon. We'll have a big photo and video recap of our adventures at the first teen Redmoon Skelabration party on Friday night.

More Fav Pixs:

FOODIE TUESDAY: REVIEW New Girl Scout Cookie Creamers by Coffee-mate #ad #OriginalVideo

“Scout The Girl Scout” 

Disclosure:  Thanks to Coffee-mate for sending us creamers for review purposes.

To celebrate the new partnership between Girl Scouts and Coffee-mate, the iconic creamer company launched a nationwide casting call titled “Scout The Girl Scout,” to discover an authentic Girl Scout to star in an upcoming Coffee-mate commercial.  They received a slew of great submissions, including my daughter's.  Don't worry--no votes, clicks, likes or jumping through hoops required!   Woo hoo.   Just watch it if you want to, cause it's cute and fun.   No pressure.

My own 10 year old, Sage, is beginning her 4th year as a Girl Scout, and she was one of the hopefuls who auditioned.   Check it out above and/or Click here to check out her entry on the site.   She's second line center on the second page.   I'm sure everyone thinks their kid is one in a million, but in this case, Sage was one of 300+.    Click here for more “sweet” casting call videos.  They also ran Los Angeles and New York castings in person.   They should be announcing the winner any time now.

Sage didn't get a call back, but we did get some tasty, full sized samples in the mail.  Coffee-mate won Brownie Points in my book by choosing my very fav flavors for the roll out.  At this point they have Thin Mint and Caramel & Coconut (Samoa flavor).   Get your cookie flavor fix now, year round!

Thin Mint is my ultra favorite, but C & C is a close second.   If you're a huge coffee fiend like me, check 'em out!   It was a great pleasure to meet their PR peeps at BlogHer13, where they were giving out tiny tastes, and then to have the chance to review a couple full sized bottles.   The easy open, flip tops rock, and the tapered spout makes it easy to hit the mark even when your mornings are "mom hectic".   These creamers make for a tasty treat, without all the guilt (and calories) of scarfing a whole sleeve of thin mints.   

  

Disclosure:  Once again, thanks to Coffee-mate for sending us creamers for review purposes.

WC Soiree, Fashion Show & Water Tower Place Scavenger Hunt Photo Filled Recap #WCSoiree #fashion

I'm still reeling from all the awesomeness that was BlogHer13 and the before and after parties to boot!   Then we went right into our full blown, annual 24/7 Lollapalooza/Kidzapalooza coverage this past weekend.   Now, I'm trying to do as much catching up as I can because we're leaving shortly to shoot a travel feature on summer in Vail, CO for 8 days!   I'll sleep when I'm old...    



Photos by Bonnie Kenaz-Mara for ChiIL Mama/ ChiIL Live Shows. 

We'll have more fun WCSoiree videos to come, including The Australian Bee Gees, my "Candyality" personality test results & a rockin' catapult at Marbles the Brain Store in action. 

But for now, here's our original photo filled recap of the Chicagonista's WC Soiree, 





Water Tower Place Blogger Scavenger Hunt, fabulous dinner at FoodLife, and CBS Moms party.   I've been elated to be part of the Chicago Moms, Chicagonista Blogger Community for years now.   

Check back with ChiIL Mama like we vote in Chi, IL... early and often.   We'll have more in depth coverage on the WCSoiree along with all the latest haps, original content, reviews, interviews, giveaways and photo filled features for YOU.

Click the links below for more official Chicagonista coverage: 

#WCsoiree: A Fashionable Chicago-Style Blogger Celebration To Remember

 http://chicagonista.com/featured/wcsoiree-a-fashionable-blogger-celebration-to-remember/