Halloween season is almost over!

Something about growing up... makes the Halloween season seem less magical to me. As a kid and teenager, I always planned my costume months in advance and started making mine by hand on October 1 the latest. And of course, I always had somewhere to wear it. Sometimes I recycled costumes for multiple years in a row (such as my homemade flamingo costume), and there were times in college that I had so many parties to go to, I whipped up a new costume each night. Even the past few years going to the Witch's Ball in Mt. Holly, NJ, I was able to grab something from the Halloween box or create some spooky makeup to wear on a cold night that wasn't motivating to wear a full costume. Unfortunately, I can't say I have anything to dress up for this year. 

My homemade flamingo costume

Our favorite couple's costume: Chef and Lobster
(although humorous, I'm not a big fan of eating lobster
because of how much the industry tortures them...
this can be left to a separate blog)

When I was younger, I always had to fight with my mom to get the festive decorations out if it was still 80 degrees outside (I guess that's how people feel about the Christmas music starting months early..) but Halloween was always worth decorating early for. If you didn't have at least a full month to enjoy the festivities, what was the point? Always had to do multiple haunted attractions each year- sometimes our regular haunts and sometimes something new. But no matter what, it was traditional to do something scary at least once every weekend.

Halloween crafting is a must. Pumpkin carving, pumpkin painting- all that. Haven't found time to even finish the overdue paintings I owe clients from 3 months ago, let alone have time to paint pumpkins. Here is my "eyeball gourd"... one of my favorite and creative Halloween crafts in college (which of course I found time to do then, because who studies anyway?) And when it came to eyeball ping pong balls, it was irresistible NOT to hold a themed beer pong game.

Materials: gooseneck gourd, acrylics paints, brushes, cup of water
-paint gourd white
-paint an iris on bottom of gourd
-paint red veins on the bumps of the gourd

Unfortunately I feel like this year is different. Josh and I both work full time and have different schedules, which doesn't even give us a full day off together. There isn't much going on down here in Cape May either as far as haunts go (with the exception of going to Elaine's  for a haunted mansion dinner, and hopefully a ghost tour this weekend.) I can't believe that this coming weekend is the last weekend of October! I have enjoyed seeing decorated homes and businesses, seeing all the pumpkins out, while Josh and I  didn't even have time yet to do our traditional pumpkin picking, one of our favorite activities! We do try to, however, incorporate pumpkin and the Halloween theme into baking and cooking throughout the month. But besides the taste of pumpkin in the house, the lack of Halloween in my life this year is somewhat depressing. Is this what being an adult is like? Ugh.

Once Halloween is over, I always feel like the time of fresh autumn; with the leaves crunching under a new pair of boots (since October is the real start to boot season after all), with Indian summer days allowing the sun to peak out and warm New Jersey unexpectedly for a day, with colors changing and beauty everywhere... this all changes to drab, cold, and freezing. Foliage starts to look dead, snow likes to make an appearance, and frosty nights below freezing are typical. Not excited for November (besides Josh's birthday of course). At least I have an awesome winter coat- long, orange, and warm.. I guess that makes it okay. But besides that Post-Halloween time is depressing to me. It means winter is really coming.

So as this last week of October approaches I plan to make the best of it. I don't want an October to slip away without me fully enjoying it. October 31 marks the last day of my amazing job working for NJ Audubon as a researcher on the Monarch Monitoring Project. It's typically the last day of the monarch season in which monarch butterflies could be migrating through Cape May on their way to Mexico for the winter (and another reason in which it's sad that October is coming to an end). My last day of my favorite job on my favorite holiday? Guess that means one thing... I better get my costume ready :)

Hope you are managing to find the time to enjoy YOUR Halloween season, before it's too late!