Happy Halloween

Furry Friday: Halloween Prep

I cannot believe how long it's been since I wrote a Furry Friday post.  I'm also kicking myself that I didn't take any pictures of Riley this past weekend trying on his Halloween costume.  That's right, Riley even gets into the spirit.  One year he was a Hot Dog (creative for a dachshund don't you think?) and another year he was a Devil.  This year we didn't have his hair trimmed in August and so he's a little shaggy, however this would work great for a few costumes on the market right now: Yoda, Scarecrow, and... PIRATE.  Can you tell we went with Pirate?  He's so friggin' cute.  In the past, he wasn't crazy about the other costumes because they were constricting (one was a t-shirt style, the other had to velcro around him), so this year we simplified.  His costume has a skull and crossbones bandana and a pirate's hat.  Surprisingly he sits still long enough to put on the hat.  I should take some photos of him in all his costumes to date to share on the blog.

Happy Halloween

Due to the ruralness of our home location, we do not get trick-or-treaters at our door.  So every year instead of staying in to hand out goodies, we go out to adult Halloween parties.  Last year we were Mr. & Mrs. Freddy Krueger.  I know, how unique with the last name of Krueger dressing up as The Kruegers.  It didn't win us any prizes, but we definitely looked good.

This year we ran into a little bit of a pickle.  The last few weekends were jam packed which left us little time to go to the store.  Instead I ordered Admiral/Sexy Admiral couples costumes online from Party City to save time.  Well, let's just say that their costume sizes are all over the place.  I ordered a medium and couldn't zip it up.  My husband's was a "one-size" costume which was more like a 2x.  Needless to say we had to return both and brave the stores the Friday night before Halloween weekend.  I can tell you this experience was almost unbearable.  First off, Party City stores don't take online orders as returns unless they are "corporate owned" (translate that as "a bunch of BS").  Aggravating.  Then we store hopped to find another set of couples costumes which actually fit.  Fortunately there are three costume stores in the Capital District.  Even though each were jam-packed and picked-through, we survived and came out with two decent Greek costumes so we could party it up on Saturday night.  This year we were invited to a friend of a friend's house and had a great time despite the snowfall in Upstate NY.  Next year I'll have to be proactive, maybe even host our own costume party.  Well...we'll see.  Sounds a little ambitious.

What are your plans for Halloween?  Do you do anything special?

Feeling Fall-ish

I have to say that Fall is probably my favorite season.  It's not too hot, it's not too cold, it doesn't rain as much as April/May, I can still get sweet corn, apple cider donuts are abundant, apple cider is fresh, I got married in the fall, fall attire is flattering... the list goes on and on.  However, one of my all time favorite things about fall is decorating.  More so than Christmas.  I don't go as nutsy with fall decor as I do with my Christmas decor and I think that's what I like about it.  It's subtle and easy to set up and take down. 

I don't decorate for "Halloween," per say, I decorate once for the whole Fall season.  Halloween is just one day and we don't get any trick-or-treaters anyway so I can decorate to my heart's content with all other kinds of fall-ish items.  Place mats, pumpkins, eggplants/gourds, cute scarecrows, scented candles and leaf wreaths just to name a few.  Plus I'm an earth-tone person when it comes to my normal decor in the first place.  I like browns, beiges, maroons, sages... these are my colors.