❈Sac Thrift Chick❈

Michael Myers is our grand finale of decorations, the big kahuna. The Michael Myers tradition started our first year in our first home. Aaron had the brilliant idea of stuffing Michael and placing him in my office window, which faced the yard. You had to walk right past the window to get to our door. You couldn't miss Michael; even people driving by on the street would slow to check him out. On Halloween, Michael amused many and frightened some. A few groups wondered out loud if he was real. Suddenly Michael would move (thanks to Aaron hiding in the office) and screams would ensue. Eventually, Aaron closed the blinds, quickly un-stuffed Michael, stuffed himself inside and hid behind the front door. I would answer and Aaron would creep out or jump out. More screams. The next day, we had a knock at our door. A group of kids asked Aaron if he could put the costume back on and chase them. But of course! The group waited outside, expecting Aaron to come out the front door....

"Free" just makes everything more enticing, doesn't it? As part of its Audience Appreciation Month, The Sacramento Bee hosted a free event at the California Automobile Museum on Thursday night. I predicted the event would be primarily attended by an older crowd, and I was not wrong. I don't know why more "young people" don't attend these things, but I don't mind trailing behind a group of white hairs. By comparison, I must have looked positively youthful. I found out about the event on the BeeBuzzPoints website , which is a great resource for local events and contests. The Bee's business writer and car expert , Mark Glover, gave a short talk about his background, which coincidentally, I related to. Glover said he's originally from Dayton, Ohio, and when he meets people from Dayton living in Sacramento, they often came here via transfer to McClellan Air Force Base. Both my grandfathers worked at McClellan, and my dad's family is fro...

If I'm being perfectly honest, I really only wanted to go to TBD Fest for Blondie. The majority of the music at the fest is just not my thing. I get how important and cool this music, art, food and technology fest is for Sacramento. But for me, waving a glow stick around to techno music is the stuff of nightmares. Still, I entered a Capital Public Radio contest online and lo and behold, I won two three-day passes. Then I kinda sorta felt like a jerk because like I said, I only cared about Blondie, and I know so many people who really wanted to attend this thing. Held in the dirt at River Park in West Sacramento, TBD Fest was scheduled to start at 3 p.m. on Friday with local band Autumn Sky taking the stage at 3:30. Since I actually like Autumn Sky (though I'm partial to her earlier solo stuff) my husband and I arrived by 3:30. And then we stood in line, in the hot sun, for the next 30 minutes. For some reason, no one was getting in. Nothing was happening...

Sometimes you just instantly fall in love with a song or musician, and that's how it was for me with Shannon Curtis. I can't recall exactly the year I first saw her, but I know it was roughly 12 years ago. I remember entering Heritage Festival on the grounds of Gibson Ranch and hearing a pop rock band with a female singer who could actually really sing. That band was Paradigm. I was immediately hooked. And because I co-ran a local music website and zine that did CD reviews, Paradigm sent us their press kit, so then my broke self had Paradigm music to listen to all the time . Eventually Paradigm parted ways and Shannon embarked on a solo career in the vein of Norah Jones and Sarah McLachlan. The first time I saw her perform with just a keyboard, I was blown away. I continued to catch shows here and there and do some press when I had a new music column.  I turned my husband onto Shannon's music, and despite his protests when we first met that he didn't really like...

We like our Halloween decorations creepy, not cutesy. Sure, sometimes little kids are afraid to come up to our door, but with prompting from their parents, they almost always get over it. We have free candy, after all. This floating goblin is a simple, thrifty DIY Halloween decoration that takes just minutes to make. All we used was a blue rubber mask from the 99Cent Store, a bug zapper lantern and a hooded, black Halloween costume top in a thin, breathable fabric from the 99Cent Store. We hung the zapper lantern, which is encased by proctive bars so we've never had to worry about it burning the fabric. We chose the zapper because it gives off a nice blue glow. A porch light with a black light in it would also achieve this affect. Then we stapled the hood of the top around the edges of the mask. To secure the mask in place, we fit the mask's flexible head strap around the lantern. Finally, we just pulled the shirt over the lantern. We probably could have d...

He's made children cry. He's one of the reasons we get so many "badass decorations" compliments from adults. He's our flying monster, and he only cost a few bucks to make. What You Need: 1 Black grad robe (Check thrift stores, if you don't have one lying around.) 1 Over-the-head mask (Preferably with a hood) 1 Pair of monster gloves Lots of safety pins 1 Plastic bag Newspaper or tissue paper 1 Wire coat hanger 2 sticks (We used the wands from old blinds) The Basic Steps: Fill out your mask with something bulky so it has dimension. We actually have a block of wood in there, but without pulling apart the monster, I couldn't tell you how we managed that. You can fill a plastic bag with newspaper, seal the bag and then safety pin or sew it into the inside of the mask.    Safety pin the collar of the graduation gown to the neck opening of the mask. If your mask has a hood -- as ours does -- safety pin the hood to the gown. Cut a small...

My face melted and I was generally blinded by the bright sun, but I still enjoyed seeing the sidewalk chalk drawings and listening to live music at Chalk It Up on Saturday afternoon. Chalk It Up is an annual Labor Day weekend festival at Fremont Park that benefits youth art programs in Sacramento. This year we only caught two bands, The Old Screen Door and Musical Charis. I snapped some quick cell phone pics of the bands and of my favorite sidewalk art. The Old Screen Door Musical Charis