Cheesy Halloween Round Three

It’s one of my favorite times of the year — Halloween! As usual, I have another round of cheesy horror flicks for you. Check ‘em out!

• DANCE OF THE DEAD | It’s prom night and zombies are on the prowl! But have no fear — there are kids who couldn’t get dates, and they’ve got nothing better to do than to save the student body!

• THE DEAD DON’T DIE | I honestly don’t even know what to say about this movie. Bill Murray and Adam Driver make an unlikely police duo in a small town that’s being taken over by zombies. They break the fourth wall several times, and it’s a damn treat every time.

• EVIL DEAD | Five friends take a weekend getaway in an old cabin in the woods, and so many terrible decisions ensue. As usual, the 80s win with their cheesy horror makeup. I think what I love most about this movie is that for one of my senior photos, I wore the same outfit as Ash’s girlfriend — yikes!

• LITTLE MONSTERS (2019) | Can a class of kindergarteners survive a zombie outbreak? I guess you’ll have to watch this Hulu Original to find out! Perhaps the sunniest zombie movie I’ve ever seen.

• BURYING THE EX | This guy is on the verge of dumping his girlfriend when she dies. While he’s moved on, she’s returned to life and won’t let go.

• THE MONSTER SQUAD | This movie feels a little like The Goonies — a band of unlikely heroes (aka nerdy kids) have to save their town from classic monsters.

• THE BABYSITTER (2017) | Need a babysitter? Just hire the blonde down the street! Your kid will be attracted to his hot sitter, stay up to spy on her and her friends, learn that they’re part of a satanic cult, and spend the evening trying not to be murdered. But it’s all good, because the cult kids are high schoolers and dumb AF. Also, Netflix is releasing the sequel this year, so that’s definitely happening.

Want more? Check out Round 1 and Round 2!

Cheesy Halloween Round Two

If you haven’t been watching Halloween movies every day of October, it’s time to get started! Hate scary movies? I’ve got another roundup of cheesy horror movies for ya!

• THE FINAL GIRLS | A teenage girl loses her once-scream-queen movie star mom in an accident. Flash forward and she, along with a group of her peers, are driven into the world of a campy 80s horror film featuring her late mother. They join forces in an attempt to take down the killer, who *buh buh buuuuuh* is real!

• FRIGHT NIGHT (1985) | This kid’s new neighbor is a charming and attractive… vampire (!), and it’s up to him to take him down. Real 80s cheesy costumes and makeup make it a lot easier to brush off the demons as silly instead of scary.

• KNIGHTS OF BADASSDOM | A group of besties and live-action role players take to the woods to participate in a re-enactment game similar to Dungeons and Dragons, only something real is wreaking havoc. Sound too cheesy? Maybe the fact that it stars Peter Dinklage will change your mind…

• ODD THOMAS | First off, Odd can see dead people and uses his gift to help their souls find peace. Secondly, he meets someone who unleashes dark beings into the world that feast on human pain and suffering. Their growth indicates to Odd that something big is coming that could mean the end for all, so he teams up with his girlfriend and the sheriff in an attempt to stop it. This one is daaark, but very good if you’re ready for emotions.

• STUNG | A garden party is ruined by killer mutated wasps. ’Nuf said, and yes it’s as ridiculous as it sounds.

• YOGA HOSERS | Two Canadian teens battle evil Nazi sausages. It’s slower moving, but it’s still great. Mr. Heid and I had the pleasure of attending a screening of this where Kevin Smith spoke and held a Q&A.

If you missed the first roundup, you can find it here! Have a spooky October!

xoxo,

K

Sights & Scenes of San Diego

I’m back to share the fun things that we did on our San Diego trip!

THE COLORS | I tend to find color everywhere that I go, but San Diego made it so easy! There were florals in pinks, oranges, yellows, and more everywhere we went. My sister’s boyfriend asked if I was going to take pictures of every single plant we saw. Uh, yes. Yes I will, and yes I did. The donut shop was pastel to the max, the red stop signs all popped among the plethora of green cacti, the old VW buses at the beach took me back to 70s color palettes — I LOVE IT ALL! I’ll spare you though… here’s three.

THE OCEAN | This was Mr. Heid’s first time stepping foot into the Pacific Ocean and he couldn’t contain his excitement (not that he should). Our first ocean trip was to Sunset Cliffs in Point Loma, and the naturally carved cliffs and panoramic views of the Pacific were breathtaking. You can walk right up the edge of the cliffs, which damaged my calm. Full disclosure — I was telling everyone not to get too close to the edges for fear that they might slip and fall. I was definitely unnerved. BUT there are parts where you can make your way closer to the water, which I did with Mr. Heid, and feel the ocean’s mist on your skin.

Our second stop was Mission Beach, where Mr. Heid could actually splash around a bit in the water. The area is a lot more touristy, so there were little shops and food stands everywhere; it had a really cool vibe.

THE HISTORY | Before dinner, we shopped and explored Old Town San Diego. The whole area was established in the late 1700s and has been called “The Birthplace of California” — or so the signs told me. We were there a little late, so we didn’t see many of the live demonstrations, but between the plaques and structures, we were able to learn what life was like there between the late 1700s and early 1900s. It was fascinating and quite pretty.

THE ATTRACTIONS | On our first day, we moseyed through Balboa Park just to see what it was all about and to think about where we wanted to visit when we returned. They have a few museums, some enclosed gardens, and some open garden and water features. We saw a few street artists, heard some live music floating through the air, and saw so. many. succulents. #heaven

When we returned to Balboa, we visited the San Diego Museum of Man. The first exhibit was a history of beer throughout different cultures, which was definitely all new to me. Apparently, in the days of building the pyramids, the Egyptians gave their workers beer because it was filled with nutrients. Today’s beer is definitely not. The next exhibit was about the Mayans, so it felt like a regular museum for a bit there. And then we moved on to exhibits about monsters, race relations, cannibalism, PostSecret, and our relationships with animals.

All the while, I kept forgetting we were in a museum and thinking, “Where am I and why is there a display about this?” Not that there shouldn’t be a display about any of these topics, but I’m so used to museums being about the past. It was odd that I could feel myself being pushed out of my box and into one where a museum could mean examining and exhibiting mankind as a whole here in the present. Every single exhibit was fascinating, and the museum does a great job displayed the information. For example, the exhibit about race and education was set up with desks from a classroom, the display regarding the wage gap included stacks of money labelled by race, delivering a huge and undeniable impact, and the cannibal exhibit included a game of The Oregon Trail where you end with the option to die of starvation or eat a member of your crew.

We headed to the Botanical Building next, which dates back to 1915! It’s filled with gorgeous plants from ceiling to floor, wall to wall. As it turned out, we spent so long in the Botanical Building, that we only had five minutes to tour the space before closing time. So Mr. Heid did a brisk jog through the gardens, stopping along the way to snap a few pics.

We also did a full day at the zoo with our parents! We grew up with Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, so by comparison visiting the Greenville Zoo has been a bit of a letdown. But the San Diego Zoo is massive and did not disappoint! We stopped for like a solid 20 minutes to watch a very young Orangutan attempt to play with a teeny tiny Siamang baby. The Orangutan picked up the baby Siamang and went to walk away like, “This is my baby now…” and the parents were like, “Not so fast!” You had to be there. Anywho…

There’s one point where it’s faster to get to the other side of the zoo via a sky lift than walking, and Mr. Heid was terrified. The photos I took will supply me with giggles for years to come.

NEXT TIME | Barrio Logan as a whole was full of color and street art! I would love to spend more time there and see what it has to offer, including Chicano Park! Baby Bro showed us a glimpse of the Japanese Friendship Garden that you could see along our walking path; they were closed, but I’d like to take a explore it and their tea pavilion. And maybe this should have been in my last post, but I definitely want to go to Balboa Park’s Food Truck Fridays.

xoxo,

K

Cheesy (Literally) Movie Night

I don't know about you guys, but I pretty much celebrate Halloween as soon as October 1st rolls around. I get some milk and Halloween Oreos, put on my It’s Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus top, and settle in for some Halloween movies.

Personally, I don’t do scary movies, so my routine of Halloween flicks includes Hocus Pocus, Sleepy Hollow, Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown — you get the idea.

But other than these super tame movies, I also love the ones who master cheesy humor, cheap gore, and ridiculous plot lines. We just had friends over to watch Slice… it was worth one watch, but I don’t know that I’d recommend it. We’ll be watching Blood Fest next — *fingers crossed* for extra cheese.

But if you’re new to cheesy movies, or just looking for a few you may not have heard of, I’ve got some you need to watch right now.

• Attack the Block - A teen street gang fights an invasion of "big gorilla wolf mother**ckers" in a London housing project. Also, another acting side of John Boyega (Star Wars) and Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who).

• Bloodsucking Bastards - Office Space meets Shaun of the Dead is how this film has been accurately described online.

• Cooties - Having worked in child care, I found this one to be pretty entertaining. Though I will say it's not as strong as some of the others. But zombie children are a terrifying thought.

• Dead Before Dawn - A bunch of college kids accidentally break an evil urn, releasing a curse that causes everyone they make eye contact with die and turn into zombie demons. These "zemons" give hickeys to humans instead of biting them to spread the virus. Can the cheese get any thicker?

• FAQs About Time Travel - Three friends drinking in a pub use a bathroom to jump in and out of different time loops. Was really hoping for a sequel on this one…

• Grabbers - The heroes in this movie have to get drunk to survive an alien invasion off the coast of Ireland.

• Idle Hands - As if the IMDb description isn't hilarious enough... "A teenage slacker's right hand becomes possessed with murderous intent...," childhood bae, Devon Sawa, is the star!

• Tucker & Dale Versus Evil - ALAN TUDYK AND TYLER LABINE. 'nuff said. But if you really need more convincing, they play vacationing hillbillies who’re repeatedly mistaken for murderers by a group of college preps.

• Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse - The fact that it’s literally a campy movie got me to press play. *worth it*

Go on, give them a whirl — you won't regret it. Just make sure you’ve got the right atmosphere — great friends, plush seating, lights off, stack of pizza, cold beer, bowl of popcorn, and plenty of candy… it is Halloween after all.

xo,

K

Hello

Hello and welcome to Gather Savor Dwell. I’m Keira, a South Carolinian enjoying life with my fiancé Mr. Heid and our pup Keiko in the Upstate. By day, I plan arts and cultural events for a small city. By night, I relish in gathering people together, dining on new foods and beverages, and making our house a home. Which brings me to Gather Savor Dwell.

Gather + Savor + Dwell — Each of these invokes a sense of space in which we can honor and create memories. A place where we can cultivate and curate experiences with intention. I’ve created GSD to share how I practice those notions — of course there will be plenty more goodies along the way. Take a deeper look at what Gather Savor Dwell means to me here.

So I guess a bit more about me —

I could consume sour beers, tacos, and chai tea every day. I love the act of handwriting and have been known to embrace snail mail. I love stories — I’ve just finished re-reading the Harry Potter series and am in the process of reading three other books. I have a hashtag for my dog (#keikokitch) and for my From Where I Stand posts (#fromwhereistandkk) that are mostly populated by my private Instagram, but will definitely be used on @gathersavordwell when I start posting more.

That’s it for now! I hope to learn who you are as we go along!

xoxo,
K

Coming Soon

Hang in there — post is coming soon!