TimTam Sighting!

TimTams, Australia's favorite cookies, have hit the North American shelves! If you know about this fabulous sweet treat, you'll be as excited as I am. However, if you've never been blessed with a trip to Australia and an introduction to one of their best tasting creations, RUN, don't walk, to your nearest Target store and stock up.


Don't they look yummy?!

A little backstory. These are Australian made cookies, I first discovered them on my 2001 trip to Australia. And returned home to find that they truly were Australian - and not to be found anywhere else! A couple of times some fantastic people found them in Australian specialty shops and bought some for me. Otherwise, it was just a fading memory. Flash forward to Christmas 2009. Tonya and her family stopped off at my house on their way to see family for the holiday. We swapped presents and what exciting item did I unwrap...TimTams! She had found them at Target!

Since then, I've seen them there off and on and have finally figured out the secret to finding them. Pepperidge Farm is a related company with Arnott's (the Australian maker of TimTam) and carry them in the United States. They are only sold at Target stores and only during the holidays. So, they just hit the shelves (at least in my area) and will be carried until....? Not sure. So for the time being, get them while you can!

If somehow the pictures and this evident excitement has not inspired you to immediately drop what you are doing and buy out your local Target, here's another piece of evidence to their gloriousness. I love Oreos, with or without milk, it is hard to not eat the whole package. But yesterday, when I was picking up my first TimTams of the season, I had no trouble walking straight past the 1/2 price Halloween Oreos. Yes, TimTam are that good!

Inside tip, though they are wonderful in any form, the best way to eat a TimTam is a TimTam Slam. Get the explanation of how to master that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Tam#Tim_Tam_Slam I prefer pairing them with some Earl Gray tea, but any hot drink will do.

Enjoy the chocolate goodness!

A Disney Halloween

Disney + Halloween + Costumes = A lot of FUN!

Last year, Jacinda and Evan used their free "Give a Day, Get a Day" tickets during the fall and discovered that Disney doesn't just go all out on Christmas, Halloween is a big deal, too. So, this year we all took a weekend to attend "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party." The party is held at the Magic Kingdom after hours for ticketholders only, from about 5pm to midnight. Some extra special events include:

• Special fireworks display, narrated by some Disney villains
  
• Disney characters "in costume"
• Trick-or-treating areas
• Fabulous fall and Halloween decor
• Boo-to-You Halloween Parade, where Disney villains and the undead get special attention

In addition to the fun stuff Disney provides, it is also encouraged to come to the party in costume, something we all have no problems doing! A Disney theme seemed appropriate and we decided on Peter Pan characters (which was Evan's thoughtful idea, seeing as how I love Tink!)

Peter, Tink, Tiger Lily, Smee, and Captain Hook

Being Disney characters, we got to have a little fun with our picture taking:

Hook and Peter dueling


Tink turning on the castle lights

Tiger Lily and another tribe member


Hook, Smee, and the croc


Besides having fun with our costumes, the best part of the evening was the parade. We got prime spots right next to the parade route, so it was a lot of fun when the "real" Peter Pan characters came by and the pirates on Hook's ship gave us a shout out!


See the rest of the pictures in this album: Disney Halloween 2011

A Halloween Blast from the Past

Another Halloween, another fun day at Southwest Headquarters!

After some deliberations, my Team decided on an 80's theme for our costumes. But a bit non-traditional from your typical 80s look. We started with 80's bands...then added movies and TV characters...then just anything from the 80's. Somehow my costumes always tend to be cartoon characters, this year: Rainbow Brite.

Left to Right: Marty McFly, Axl Rose, Wayne of Wayne's World, Slash, Riker, Rainbow Brite, Bruce Springsteen, and (in front) Maverick.

In the midst of trying to catch all of the fabulous skits and walkthroughs, I stopped to pose for pictures with some of my SWA peeps!


And, the blast from the past part. At the age of 7, I was also Rainbow Brite for Halloween and Jacinda was Sprite, her trusty sidekick. Among all of the great costumes my mom made over the years, these were some of the most impressive and time-consuming, I'm sure!

Here we are in "the place" for all photos: the hearth in the living room.
Trick or Treating with the Rossons

Hope you all had a FUN Halloween!