You wanna stay alive, better do what you can, so beat it.

My cute nephew Grant decided to be his idol for Halloween: Michael Jackson. This gave William and I the idea to be his back-up dancers.

But not just ANY back-up dancers, my friends.

We opted for the totally tough, totally 80's back-up dancers from the "Beat It" music video...the two who duke it out with switch blades.

So Bad... Especially Grant and his glitter glove.

(That's me in the middle, by the way.)

See the music video here if you need a refresher of the toughness.

On a related note, I'm so lucky to be related to and friends with so many creative types.

Especially the creative types that like to throw Halloween parties.

My sister-in-law, Marci "Party Host Extraordinaire" Coombs, throws a mean Halloween Party. Both this year and last year's parties were a hit, mainly because she can really gross us out with Fear Factor Challenges. (If you can gross out Scott Coombs, a man who eats mustard toast and Vienna sausages on a daily basis, you know how to factor the fear.)

Here's just a delicious taste of her party:

I suggest you read more about it here and here.

In addition, my very funny and very talented friend, Daphne "Wizard" Lofgreen, can too throw an amazing Halloween Party. This one included games of "Last Chance", "Creep Cake" decorating, creating our death certificates, and karaoke at Applebee's.

Here's a sample of her shin-dig...

...and the hostess herself...

...and one last shot of my awesome jacket...

Thanks for the memories Marci and Daphne!

P.S. Ryan and Sarah, I want a Fear Factor rematch.

Start spreading the news: New York eats are my favorite treats.

The following lists my favorite things about our recent trip to New York:

1. This Gyro.

2. This pose next to the Statue of Liberty.

3. Dreaming in Barbie's Dreamhouse in Toy's R Us. (That's me in the 3rd window dreaming about Ken.)

4. Mr. Lennon's 70th Birthday

5. This T-Rex in the Natural History Museum.

6. This view from the top of the Metropolitan Museum.

7. This piece of art.

8. This Bum standing behind me and William. (Thanks again, Bum, for letting us stay in your shanty.)

Other highlights:

9. Traveling to Sleepy Hollow, only to find that the festivities are only on the weekends and Ichabod Crain is not as scary as the PEOPLE of Sleepy Hollow. (Sleepy Harlem?)

10. Watching Robs lose in Farkle.

11. Carnegie Deli Cheesecake.

12. Shaking hands with Jimmy Fallon

13. The Roots on Jimmy Fallon

14. Basically every meal we ate

15. The guy on the subway with the dancing pecs.

16n. The awesome lamp I found for the nursery for only $12

Biggest Disappointments:

1. The $22 we had to spend to Fedex the lamp home

2. The fact that we ate at a McDonald's in Sleepy Hollow.

3. My papaya juice was not made with fresh papaya.

4. The guest on Jimmy Fallon was Whoopi Goldberg.

5. I have to go back to school tomorrow to a week of report cards and parent-teacher conferences.

Chuck! Chuck! It's Marvin - your cousin, Marvin BERRY. You know that new sound you're looking for? Well, listen to this!

Yeah, I danced on stage with Chuck Berry.

He opened for Tom Petty. He needed ladies on the stage to dance to his song and I jumped to it.

















Of course the moment I got up there and was staring back at thousands of people, I wanted off. So I just clapped nervously.

Jenny Be Good.