It's Halloween!!

Our holiday is here at last! Happy Halloween, everyone!!!

Two more weeks!!

I can't believe our favorite holiday is only two weeks away!! It's strange how we've been waiting so long for it to get here, and it seems like it takes forever. Then, suddenly, it's upon us, and we're scurrying around buying costumes and candy and decorations and planning parties, getting ready for the big night! There are so many wonderful costumes and decorations to choose from, too. I sometimes find that I have a tough time making the decision about what kind of ghoulish creature I want to be, or how I want to decorate the house and deck. My usual costume is something gothic, like a vampire, and I normally just put something together using anything black that's hanging in my closet. But when I went to The Costume Mansion a few weeks ago, I found a very cool pirate costume that was so cute I almost couldn't resist it. I thought it might be fun to be something totally different for once. I might even be a vampire pirate and wear my custom-made fangs! I am planning to go to a vampire ball on Halloween night, and that would be just perfect.

We got the first couple of pumpkins today. A part of me wants to carve one early because I can't wait to enjoy my first jack-o-lantern! I wish we had a porch where I could place a dozen beautiful, glowing pumpkins that everyone who passed by could see. I am loving all the Halloween shows on tv. Every night, I search the tv channels for anything Halloween-related. I love almost nothing more than laying in bed on a chilly October night watching shows like 'America's Haunts' or 'Halloweentown'!

We have only two more weeks left to prepare for, and look forward to, our favorite night of the year! I love the anxiousness and excitement I always feel right before All Hallow's Eve. Thank God for Halloween, I say. It is one of the few things that really makes me feel like a kid again, filled with spooky excitement for one short night of the year.

A lovely Fall morning

Today truly feels like Fall has arrived. It is around 70 degrees outside, and I was so chilly when I woke up this morning that I put on a long-sleeve shirt and closed the window behind me a little. It looks as if a storm might hit any minute, but no rain is supposedly in the forecast. It seems that autumn is simply announcing, "I am here now. This is MY season." I welcome it with open arms as I do every year. I am more than happy to bring out my sweaters and jackets. I want to go and buy pumpkins and begin carving away, even though I know they won't last until the magical night of Halloween. Maybe I'll just buy one and carve it just so I can enjoy that wonderful smell of burning pumpkin flesh! I'll place it in my room, on the bedstand, so that the flickering shadows will bounce on my walls at night. That feeling of magic that always comes with the arrival of Halloween is already in the air.

A poem to welcome the autumn season

Fall does not technically start until the 22nd, but I couldn't help but offer it an early greeting with this lovely poem that I found.

'With the Flaming Shades of Fall'

Colors burst in wild explosions
Fiery, flaming shades of fall
All in accord with my pounding heart
Behold the autumn-weaver
In bronze and yellow dying
Colors unfold into dreams
In hordes of a thousand and one
The bleeding
Unwearing their masks to the last notes of summer
Their flutes and horns in nightly swarming
Colors burst within
Spare me those unending fires
Bestowed upon the flaming shades of fall.

- Dark Tranquility, With the Flaming Shades of Fall

Martha's 'Halloween'

At the grocery store yesterday, I noticed Martha Stewart's annual 'Halloween' magazine and had to have it. Not only did it show her in an awesome ghostly equestrian costume, but it also included one of her gorgeous black Friesian horses, which I thought was just super cool! (I ride horses, and the Friesian is my favorite.) The magazine is full of wonderful recipes and craft projects, including how to make the costume she is shown wearing. I have never bought a Martha magazine before, but I must say, I was impressed with her Halloween one. It includes a link to a website where you can purchase all of the props and decorations online. I really liked several of the huge, inflatable decorations. I'd love to have the horse and carriage on my front lawn, lit up with black or red lights. I'll be trying some of the recipes this year, for sure. The magazine has a lot of stuff to give you some wicked Halloween fun! I would definitely recommend it.

Halloween treats

I was at Walmart today and as I was going through the check-out stand, I noticed a small booklet of Halloween recipes. It was kind of expensive for such a little book ($4.00), but I figured I had to have it since it was, after all, for Halloween. It just wouldn't be right for me to pass it up. It's called 'Halloween Food, Fun & Crafts', and it has some very cool looking treats on the cover. It has everything from dinner recipes ('Spaghetti and Eyeballs, with meatballs for the eyes; 'Slimy Sliders'), to appetizers ('Freaky Fondue'; 'Tasty Tombstones'; 'Buzzard Claws with Swamp Dip'), desserts and treats ('Poison Apple Cupcakes'; 'Great Pumpkin Cake'), an awesome 'Witch Hat' centerpiece made out of cocoa-flavored crispy rice cereal, and drinks, otherwise called 'Potions & Punches', such as 'Sinister Slushies', 'Swamp Punch', and of course, 'Witches Brew'. There is even a section on making crafts. You can make a 'Monster Fur Scarf' that has clawed feet on the ends, 'Spooky Supperware', and 'Glass Bead Spiders'. I might just have to try making these little spiders to place around the house. It also shows you how to make a 'Beaded Pumpkin Gift Box' if you're looking for something to store treats or jewelry in. I will definitely be giving some of the recipes a try this year, and I don't have too long to wait, either. We are almost in September, and All Hallow's Eve is practically creeping around the corner!

How I love this time of year. The days are starting to grow shorter, and the nights are growing cooler. Halloween will soon be appearing all around us. Cool days, orange and red-colored leaves, fall festivals, the smell of burning fireplaces, and pumpkins on porches....you can't get any better than that!

The signs of Halloween!

I know of at least two locations where the 'Spirit' Halloween store is coming in. One is right next to my gym, so I will be over that way a lot! I drove by it today, and there were people inside starting to set up. Oh, joy! I love to see that huge, orange and black Halloween banner hanging on the building for all to see, announcing Halloween's arrival! It shouldn't be too long now until they start bringing in the goods. Walmart, and other stores like it, probably won't be far behind. I already found Fall/Halloween, (and even Christmas!) fabrics in Walmart when I was there a few weeks ago. Another place I've been keeping my eye on is TJ Max. They had some great stuff last year, and when I went back a few days ago, sure enough, they had started putting out Halloween! I bought a few things I just couldn't resist buying. One was a large October calendar made entirely of fabric. It has a haunted house design on it with little pockets that are the windows on the house, and mark each day of the month. Attached to the top by a string is a little candy corn-shaped piece of wood that you slide inside the pockets as you count down the days until Halloween. It is just too cute. I also purchased a new pumpking carving pattern book at Micheal's last week. It's one of those "Shadow" ones. I thought I'd give it a try. I plan to go back and buy a few of the fake pumpkins to do some of the carvings. I carved one last year and was very happy with how it turned out.