Halloween.

I love Halloween. I'm very happy that Halloween falls on a Friday this year! I'm going to write about Halloween today (my tenth day not smoking, by the way!)

I love Halloween as prior posts (1, 2, 3, 4) will confirm. It is the perfect holiday. Children (and some adults) dress up in costumes; neighbors give free candy to trick-or-treaters; families carve spooky faces into pumpkins; everyone decorates their houses and yards (Halloween is quickly approaching Christmas in regards to the most money spent on decorations/holiday.) It is such a feel-good, time to reminisce. I just wish it lasted longer than one day/evening.

So...I'm already starting to plan my Halloween party. It will not be a grand affair - probably just a single handful of people. I just like to celebrate.

In preparation for this year's festivities, I've ordered this book. I want my Halloween decor to match my shabby chic antique-ish style. (Plus I like to collect strange things.) I found a few of these vintage Halloween decorations at various yard sales and consignment shoppes.

I also like to carve pumpkins but I abhor the "guts" inside those gourds. So, last year, I came across fake, carvable pumpkins called Funkins. You can click on their website HERE. They are (obviously) reusable year after year. Although they're not cheap, I figure Jamie and I can afford 3-4 Funkins/year. (Although I don't like the idea of not supporting our local farmers, I can't possibly risk this happening again!) Moving on...

I like to hand out the BIG candy bars. You know, the full-size not the fun-size. I don't know how in God's name tiny, bite-sized candy bars are more "fun" than the real thing. I mean, c'mon. The first year Jamie and I decided to spend the money on candy, we ended up with about 50 "leftover" pieces. Needless to say, we weren't disappointed. (I buy the candy bars I'D eat...just in case.) Last year, I was more realistic: I only bought 144 pieces. The photo above is only one of four bowls we had prepared.

OK, I have to actually get some work done today (at work, not on this party.) So I'll have to update this whole Halloween-party thing again another time.

If you have any suggestions (or if you want to donate to our candy fund) don't hesitate to leave me a comment below.