Halloween Jell-O Shots // Living Stephen

Happy Almost Halloween!

There is less than two days until Halloween, and I could not be any more excited! We are throwing a party on Halloween night, and we're putting the finishing touches on our duplex to make it a little bit more party ready.

I decided to be a bit creative with our alcoholic drink options, and decided to try out making some Creepy Halloween Jell-O Shots! It makes about 40 shots, which is perfect for a small party of about 15-20 people. If you want to make less, decrease everything by half, or if you want more, just double it!

All you are going to need is the following:

Lime flavored Jell-O packets

Lime flavored sherbet

Any type of vodka (I went for the bottom-shelf, plastic kind)

Gummy worms (sour or regular)

About 40+ plastic shot cups

Water

The first thing you're going to want to do is add 6oz of the Jell-o powder into a bowl. Usually the Jell-o packets come in a 6oz packet, so you should be able to dump the whole thing into the bowl. After that, dump in 2 cups of boiling water and stir.

After you have the entire mix melted in together, add 1 cup of lime sherbet. If you don't feel like measuring it out, just add a 2 big ass scoop of the sherbet, it should be roughly the same amount. Stir until the sherbet is completely melted. The mixture should turn into a light, neon green color!

Go ahead and set aside the mixture. It shouldn't take too long, but the mixture should cool down a little bit. It should be about room temperature when you come back to it. While it is cooling, grab your cheap-ass vodka and fill up about a 1 cup (or more, if you trying to get crazy.) Pour it into the mixture. Next, fill up a cup of cold water, pour it in and stir.

Once your mixture is done being stirred, grab a big sheet and file in as many of your plastic shot glasses as you can fit.

Carefully, pour the mixture into each of the shot containers. You should fill them up about halfway, so that your guests can just throw them back! Also, because you'll need to leave a little bit of room for the gummy worms. Once you have poured each of the cups with your mixture, go ahead and add as many of the gummy worms as you'd like! I mixed them up and put some sour ones in, as well as the regular worms!

If you have any extra, just make some additional ones and put them onto a plate. Don't waste alcohol. Shit is expensive. Once you have all of your shots done and ready, put them into the fridge for the night! It should take about a day for them to solidify, so make sure you give yourself enough time before your guests start arriving!

I went ahead and put a couple of them out, and laid a few of the extra gummy worms around them for decoration! Hopefully you guys enjoy your Halloween! Let me know if you tried making these shots, or if you made any other Halloween inspired dishes!

See you later!

Stephen

Pumpkin Patch Fun // Living Stephen

What a whirlwind week it has been for us in the Haus of Gays (yes, that's what we call our humble abode.) I recently got a new job working part-time at Urban Outfitters for the season, while still working full-time at Starbucks. As much stress that I know I will be in, I'm really excited to start a new job that interests me a lot more than making coffee all day for grouchy old people.

Luckily, Tyler and I found a day that we were able to go out to Sauvie Island in Portland. If you tell any Portlandian that you're going out to this island, a lot of people will give you a weird look and ask you why.. Mostly because part of the island is a nude beach, and when you say how pretty you thought it was, you seem to get worried glances. (Not talking from experiences, clearly..) What you should start with is that you're going out to the island to go to "The Pumpkin Patch."

This rural product market/pumpkin patch is one of the most beautiful places I have been to since moving to Portland. As you drive onto the island, you don't see much around you except for plains, trees and a couple cows. You soon roll up to a seemingly random array of homes and farms. Before you know it, you hit "The Pumpkin Patch." It's a small little patch off the road, but it holds some amazing things.. There was a hayride, farm animals, a market, and a corn maze.

Unfortunately for us, we had a late start and it had been pouring rain all day.. so we didn't do much but pick a few pumpkins. What excited me the most was the fact that you could actually go out into the pumpkin patch, and cut off the pumpkin you wanted from the actual vine. I had never seen something so beautiful before.

It was extremely muddy, so excuse Tyler's shoes.. He usually wears a lot cuter footwear. We trekked out closer to where the actual pumpkins were, walked through the pumpkins, and looked around a little bit. It really felt like fall, and I couldn't have loved it any more. Unfortunately, my camera isn't amazing, so I was only able to get a couple of snaps of the pumpkins around us, but the mountain view from across the river was jaw dropping. With the clouds floating over the hilltops, I was completely taken away (just like I am, every time I leave my living room.)

We finally picked our pumpkin (from the "already picked" section), and went our merry way. It was absolutely beautiful, and definitely got me that much more excited for Fall! I'm going to carve the shit out of my pumpkin!

Oh, and here's a little OOTD.

See you next week!

Stephen

Walking the Waterfront Pt. 2 // Living Stephen

Well would you look at that, I'm actually posting more than just one time a week! (It may only be because I already had pictures ready, and didn't actually have to put any pants on to get the pictures I have for this post..)

I recently posted about how I made my way down to the Willamette Riverfront (if this doesn't make sense, scroll down a bit and read that post first). I was taken away by how beautiful the scenery was, and how relaxed and calming it was. I think that since I work downtown and spend a lot of time up there, shopping and such, it was really nice to get away from it, and just breath for a little bit.

What I don't think I was expecting when I took my walk was how close to nature I was actually going to get. As I walked through the park, I was blown away with how many animals I saw, just in the park. I came across flocks of Canadian Geese, which were pecking away at the bread that someone had thrown down for them. For some reason, these birds surprise me every time I see them. I always feel like I live in a more suburb area, and I still don't 100% understand how they survive here.. but somehow they do (probably from all the bread.) I also ran across some of the most friendly (terrifying) squirrels. I see the squirrels all the time, jumping from tree to light pole, all the time around my neighborhood, but I had never seen these guys so close. They were a little bit too close for comfort, but they are pretty cute.. aside from them having rabies..

As I made my way through the park, I decided I wanted to be a little bit closer to the waterfront. I slid down a steep-ass, muddy hill, and ended up facing the water. This is when the emotions began to come. I was just watching the sun in the perfect place in the sky, and was hearing the waves hit the rocks. It was extremely peaceful and warming. I looked over and saw a stork walking across the beach, with no sense of urgency.. just enjoying a little walk. It was so calming, I can't even describe it.

I finally pulled my shit together, and made my way back up the park route. I ended up taking a little detour to some of the boats that were docked, and when I did, I was taken away (and I started crying a bit.) I saw a bald eagle hanging out out in the water, on one of the sticks coming out from the water. I honestly could not believe what I was seeing. One of the most beautiful birds I had ever seen, just relaxing on a random branch. I will never forget the feeling of chills and excitement that I felt as I stood there. It was breathtaking. 

As I pulled myself together, yet again, I made the final trek back home. I was so overwhelmed with all the things I had seen, and was so inspired to come and show the people who read this blog. I was about to pass the last bit of boat docks, when I looked down and saw a big pile of fur. When I looked a little bit closer, I noticed that what I was actually seeing was five river otters, ripping at a fish they had just caught on the dock. I had never seen anything like this before. After talking to a woman who had seem them right after me, she explained that she had lived there for 35 years and had never seen river otters before. This was an extremely rare occasion, and I was in awe of how lucky I was to have captured this moment.

After composing myself one last time, I walked all the way home.. (without any interruptions). Still looking back, I'm mesmerized by all of the things I had seen. This city keeps surprising me with its multi dimensions. I can only hope that next time I go to the waterfront, it will be this eventful.

Until next time,

Stephen

Walking the Waterfront // Living Stephen

Hello guys!

As you probably already figured, I've been trying my best to spend a lot of time outside, enjoying nature and all of the amazing places in this city. I recently started exploring a little bit closer to where I live, and have found some of the most beautiful scenery I could have imaged. I only have to walk about for about five minutes before I walk onto the waterfront of the Willamette River. The river runs through Portland, which means it splits the East from the West and is home to diverse wildlife and plant life.

I walked down a few days ago, not really expecting to spend too much time looking at the water, but I ended up spending about two hours walking and exploring some of what this area holds. I usually only walk about as far as I know, and try to stay close to where I'm familiar, but for some reason, I felt the desire to explore a little bit more that day, and ended up going through trees upon trees. I stumbled across a couple of benches, where I stopped and sat for a little while, drinking a bit of coffee from down the street.

I continued walking and explored closer to the actual waterfront (which I'll post about in a few days, I took a lot of damn pictures). I don't think I really expected to get as excited and emotional as I actually did while I continued on the trail. I was so overwhelmed with how beautiful everything was, and how in awe I was that this was my home. I've always driven past this area, and never even stopped to see what it was.

As I made my way back home, I ran into some insane little sights (Again, I'll be posting about those later). I walked down old train tracks, that I always seem to have just past over and walked back through the fall stricken trees, back home. 

When I got back home, I really had to take a minute to realize what I just went through. I had basically fallen in love with Portland all over again, and had one of the most breathtaking days I have ever had. (I'm still not a 100% sure if I loved it, or just loved the fact that it felt like Fall, finally) Like I said before, I'll be posting a few more blog posts from this day, mostly because I took a ton of pictures, that really deserve their chance to be looked at! 

I hope all of you are enjoying Autumn so far! I'll be back to post some more later this week!

Stephen

Halloween Decorating // Living Stephen

Hey!

As you may or may not know, I am absolutely obsessed with the holidays. I love literally everything about this time of year, and I always get a little bit crazy when it comes to decorating, and getting into the spirit. We currently have pumpkin flavored everything, and have pretty much every Halloween movie you could think of.

We got extremely into the spirit of decorating this year (and by "we," I mean me), and I just love how our house feels and smells. I tried my best to stay within the color scheme of our place, but it was a little bit difficult since we have such random rooms in our house. I hope you guys enjoy this time of the year! I know I am!

 Happy Halloween!

Stephen

Falling into Comfort // Living Stephen

Hey!

So now that Fall has officially began, and my wallet is officially empty from buying Halloween decorations, I thought I'd give a little bit of insight into what I'll be wearing around this time between summer and fall.

Around this time of year, I always feel a little bit weird with my clothing decisions, mostly because it is still warm enough to wear a t-shirt during the day, but once evening hits, its cold enough to wear a jacket and a scarf. So for this look, I kind of went for a little bit of both. I decided that sweatshirts are one of the articles of clothing that I like to wear around this time (For some reason, I feel cooler in sweatshirts..) On top of it being perfect for this time of year, the sweatshirt I'm wearing today is SO comfortable. I love the fact that I can still wear something that I love and I think it cute, while still feeling really comfortable. 

I'm also super obsessed with the new style of sweatshirt that is going around right now. The hood isn't really a hood, it's more of a hole. Like, the hood couldn't go over my head, but if you pulled it up, it'd cover my face. It reminds me a lot of infinity scarves. It is a perfect mixture between a pajama hoodie, and a really nice sweater.

I paired the sweatshirt with a pair of skinny black jeans (that are also super comfortable), and some of the boots that I have had for forever. I also added a pair of glasses to the look, just for something a little bit different. With men's fashion right now, I haven't really found any kinds of accessories that I really love wearing, so it's always nice to through on some glasses to change things up. This whole outfit just feels so comfortable and autumn-y, and now I want to nap and eat pumpkin cookies.

I'll see you soon!

Stephen

 

Olive Sweatshirt: Forever 21 (same)

Black Jeans: PacSun (same)

Brown Chukkas: Cotton On (similar)

Glasses: Urban Outfitters (similar)