A Love/Hate Relationship

The first time I ever saw Martha Stewart, she was in a TV spot for American Express, tiling her pool with other banks' cut up credit cards about 10 years ago. At the time, I didn't know who she was, but it wasn't long after this commercial that I caught her show for the first time.

Immediately, I knew she was spawn of the devil, long before she went to the slammer. I mean, who has the time or the inclination to fashion their own place mats for a dinner party out of twigs? Give me a freakin' break. As if women don't feel inadequate enough as it is.

As a matter of fact, Martha was a big inspiration for this blog. To kind of show the average woman she's not alone. We all don't have a team of 25 working behind the scenes to make our crafts, cooking and entertaining look so effortless. Screw you, Martha.

But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enthralled with the woman and her craftiness. I've bought her magazines a time or two, and I've kept them for future reference. I've visited her web site for wedding and other event ideas. I've tuned into her show as recently as last Monday.

My most recent foray to the dark side was purchasing her Halloween edition Holiday magazine while visiting my parents. How could I resist? I'm a Halloween fanatic and she used one of my most favorite printing tricks - the flip book. One side of the magazine shows her dressed as a goddess and boasts 150 good things (and bad things, too). Flip it over and she's a witch advertising 150 bad things (and good things, too). How clever!

As you can imagine, the squeaky clean side emphasizes the lighter side of Halloween; the dark side highlights the spookier aspects. Pure genius! And both sides have tons of ideas for decorating, entertaining and stuffing your face, a few of which I plan to try this season. Watch this space for the gory details.

In the meantime, check out her web site. There are even more adorable ideas there (some I'd even call easy), including how-to videos. And tune in to her Fine Living Halloween special called Bad Things, Good Things every Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.