Work today has been pretty mellow for being Halloween but I have enjoyed seeing the kids in costume coming around to trick-or-treat.
In the several years I have worked here, the trend seems to be that no one dresses up so, as a result, I have never dressed up. This year however, I decided to have some fun and give in to my computer nerd self and fit in around here!
I can't take full credit for the idea. We had a Halloween party last weekend and my soon to be sister-in-law Mandi and her sister were dressed as nerds. I took notice.
I recalled a Java shirt that I had picked up at a store by my house that reads, "I have a friend." I didn't think much at first and then saw the Java logo on the sleeve and remembered that the web engineers I work with were in the process of becoming Java certified. I giggled to myself and bought it. Until this point, I only wore the shirt to workout and sleep in, not in that order of course, but now it would be seen outside the house.
I talked my sister Brandee, who is also a web developer at my work into dressing up as a nerd too and thanks to the tip from Mandi, we headed to Hot Topic.
Brandee picked up the "nerd kit" and I also got one for Marco, who had a costume theme of Revenge of the Nerds at work.
The kit includes:
- wig parted down the middle
- big black glasses with tape in the center
- rotten teeth
- pocket protector
- cut-off tie
As for me, I headed to the clearance section of the store and found some perfect pieces, which I will add, none of it was Halloween attire but day-to-day wear for the average teen rebel and twenty-something bad ass.
Among the goods were 80s inspired jewelry made of bright plastic and a lot of it, Strawberry Shortcake, Barbie and Hello Kitty buttons, stretchy jelly bracelets, and all sorts of vinyl spiked belts and chains-not so computer nerdy.
Since I already spent money on my real costume for our party, batgirl, I narrowed it down to items my budget could afford. I picked up a blue wrist band that reads, "My other ride is a robot," a button that reads, "I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am," some hot pink footless tights and some very large and colorful striped heart earrings.
Combine that with a polka dot sparkly headband, strawberry barrettes a colorful star tote to serve as a purse for my tickle-me-Elmo and other furry friends, an orange tie, a corduroy skirt, some Nikes, vintage nerd glasses, a pink belt, a side ponytail and a face full of bright adolescent applied make-up and you have yourself a nerd.
OK, so it may not be the typical computer nerd, but think of it more as Never Been Kissed nerd or Napolean Dynamite nerd, as in a girl trying really hard to be cute, but its just not working out.
Brandee on the other hand, was a computer nerd. So much so, that some of the desktop guys didn't really laugh because it is normal to them. She wore a baggy button down shirt with her pocket protector; which is apparently missing a pencil so said an engineer on our team, some baggy jeans rolled up and the shirt tail coming out the zipper fly; the whole nerd kit and pig tails.
The pictures, when posted, will speak for themselves!
