Halloween memories

My bike ride home from work today was perfect. It is so comfortable and warm outside. The best weather for trick-or-treaters, of whom I saw many along my way through Evanston and Rogers Park. (Even a black lab dressed in a larva costume.) It reminded me of Halloweens past and I tried to remember everything I had been dressed up as throughout the years.

My mom always made it fun for us, but I do remember a couple of times when she made me wear my coat OVER my costume... thanks mom. I also remember when I refused to go to preschool because I was terrified of my 3 year old vampire classmate. I mean, wouldn't you be, too? I love the creativity and drama that goes along with Halloween, but I've always been too jumpy for any of that really scary stuff (i.e. Haunted Houses and the like, unless I'm participating in them, which we DID at Dean Hall!)

This flower costume is a memorable one that my mom made for me. Another time she constructed a fairy godmother outfit from a thrifted prom dress. She managed to add many layers to that get-up, so I wouldn't get cold. And then there was the time my sister and I were bunnies with my friend Lindsay. See? Bunnies, flowers, and fairy god mothers.... not much horror or blood involved.

One of the best costumes (that I hated at the time, but I love now) is when I was dressed as a skunk at the age of 3! The only way my mom could get me to wear it was to tell me that it was a black cat costume. She tried to pull the old Pepe Le Pew on me but I soon figured her out and realized that I was actually masquerading as a furry little stink bomb!

I think my favorite collegiate Halloween memory is the time Crystal and I were (sexy) Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. We were cute as buttons. College Halloween is just an excuse to wear skanky outfits, of course.

But since then Steve and I haven't really been into celebrating October 31st very much. Either we're too busy or it's on a work day.... Plus Steve has this thing where he doesn't want to plan for a costume, which means he's either pulling something together last minute and complaining about how it isn't very good, or we don't do it at all. However, I have been to the Halsted parade a couple of years ago and it was amazing. I highly recommend it if you are in Chicago. Another year, we ended up driving our friend in labor to the hospital so she could have her baby. In 2007 I stitched with my stitch-n-bitch bitches. And this year we are completely pooped out from many things happening over the past two weeks (art shows, guests, etc). But hey - I carved a pumpkin! All the appetite I could muster up for Halloween has been sated.

I'll leave you with our official Halloween photo from 2004, the last time we wore costumes. Now I'm going to light my Obamampkin and relax with some Bourbon.

p.s we were dead people with our dead cat (see Monkey?)