I have a confession to make. I’ve been a lazy ass once again and have not kept my promise to myself and others. It’s been many, many moons since I’ve posted on my blog. But, I was recently inspired to get back into the swing of things and write again. Thanks to my girl Nikki for the motivation!

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, it’s time to get down to the business at hand – Halloween! It’s the most glorious holiday.  Yes, I said it – even better than Thanksgiving or Christmas. Don’t get me wrong – I love turkey dinner and presents but Halloween is a night to be someone you’re not. To be creative and eat lots of candy. And pumpkins! Everything pumpkin. It’s really the kick off of the fall season with so many awesome events and great sweet treats. And the decorations! For a shopaholic like me, it’s the perfect time to stock up on even more spooky treasures. And I Halloween-ize everything that’s standing. Our yard and house are the best on the street, to the point where people take photos with our yard decorations. That’s just how fun it is.

I’m basically the Griswold of Halloween. (My hubby is really the true Griswold since Christmas is his obsession.) It started at an early age and almost 39 years later it’s only amplified with time. I learned from the best, my mom. She has always been the ultimate holiday-decorator and costume-maker. That’s where I fall down. Since leaving home for college back in 1996, I haven’t really made a costume since. I became a store-bought kind of gal. For years my mom would spend all her waking hours making my costumes. The one that she would likely say was the toughest and where she wanted to throw in the towel was the year I wanted to be Tweety Bird. I think I was in preschool and I never missed a chance to watch The Looney Tunes. So she got to work on creating my fluffy yellow costume, complete with aqua blue eyes. It was head to toe awesome but I do recall at some point in the process, when she was giving her sewing machine the finger, that she asked my dad to just take me somewhere, away from the house, as she held back Niagara Falls-level tears. The costume came out great and you would have never known it gave her so much trouble.

Another year I was a much simpler bunch of purple grapes. A purple leotard, purple tights, purple make-up and purple balloons made for a much easier costume.  And I even won for my grade that year at the costume contest. I won most year’s BTW – that’s how excellent my costumes where and it was all because of my mom’s handy-work.

Another memorable costume was 8th grade’s choice – the Statue of Liberty. I have always been a huge fan of Lady Liberty. We dyed a bed sheet light green, made a crown and a tablet, got some sandals, and painted my hair and face green. I was sort of Hulk/Jolly Green Giant green for a few days afterwards. That color really sticks, especially back in the early 90s.

I was also a mouse in a wedge of cheese one year. The wedge of cheese (complete with holes in it) was  made out of cardboard and spray-painted yellow. The mouse was easy – ears and a tail, along with a nose and whiskers.

Our neighbors always loved to see what we’d come up with each year, as I went door-to-door, trick or treating. Lots of great memories made.

In the last few years, I’ve continued to dress up but gotten lazier and lazier about my costume choices. I’m definitely more focused on making sure Syd has something good now. I haven’t even figured out what this year’s get-up will be. But I will – I always do and won’t just wear a Halloween-themed shirt. That’s for my hubby. 🙂