Well, it's been a hot minute (as the kids say) since I've dropped anything on here. Life has been busy!  

We actually had a summer here in Ontario – very hot and humid, resulting in just about everything turning crispy and brown. No, that is not a suntan reference either.

But we're on the cusp of fall, and it already feels like it's arrived some days. Kids are back to school and it's that classic feeling of “reset”.  

Do you feel that way in the fall? You start to pack up your summer clothes, swap them out for sweaters and pants. Dinners on the barbecue make way for hearty crock pot meals and soups. And of course, there's Halloween…the spooky season! This is BY FAR my FAVOURITE time of year!  

Ever since I was a kid, I've loved everything to do with Halloween. I mean, the idea of becoming something else for a night, assuming a different identity, is just so appealing! Personally, I'm not really a store-bought costume kinda gal, though there's no shame in that game. But when I was a kid, we didn't have enough money to buy a costume – you made do with whatever was in your Mom's closet, a dress up trunk or an old bag of hand-me-downs. With that said, there were many “gypsy” and “ghost” Halloweens for me when I was younger. A ghost was ideal for several reasons: mainly because it was low cost, but you could also throw on your winter jacket underneath without compromising your costume. Canadian Halloween – if you know, you know.

It was always a mad dash around my house, as my Mom would rush home from work, feed us dinner (you need a good base!), help us get dressed in our costumes and have the candy ready for the trick-or-treaters who would be coming to our house. She probably should have worn a Superwoman costume herself…

Once we were ready and the evening sky told us it was time to head outside, we set off. There was such a sense of freedom for me as a kid to go trick-or-treating. 

Sometimes it was my sister letting me (read: being forced to) tag along with her older, cooler friends; other times, I was allowed to run wild with my own friends and our pillowcases, ransacking the neighbourhood for sugary goodness. We were out on our own, wild in the night, armed with very few rules other than to make sure we said thank you, that we didn't walk on someone's lawn, and that we watched out for cars and weirdos. We were under strict instruction to NOT take candy from strangers in vans – again, if you know, you know.

When the pillowcases were full, we'd race back home, dump the stash and then roll back out again for round 2 or 3, if time permitted. My hands would be frozen, my toes would be numb but my heart would be warm.  

It was glorious and gluttonous.

As I got older, Halloween would become more about parties and less about trick-or-treating. My go-to costume was either funny, goofy or scary. One year, when the pixie cut was the haircut of the moment in the mid 90s, I dressed up as Spock. My hair was already short and black, so I just needed some new ears and a Starfleet uniform, and I was good to go.  

Another time, a friend and I were a couple from the ‘70s. I dressed up as the guy and even added a goatee and chest hair for effect. Later, at the party, I pretended to hit on one of our friends and she was so creeped out, she called her boyfriend over. We laughed about that for years.

My daughter was born in early November, but I'd secretly hoped she would arrive on October 31 and I would have a Halloween baby! On her first Halloween, I dressed her as an adorable pumpkin. I drew two triangles around her eyes with eyeliner and her chubby little cheeks stuck out of the fleecy hood, naturally adding to the cherubic pumpkin vibe. She's now almost 22 and still loves a good costume. I'd like to say I raised her well!

Most adults aren't really into Halloween – at least not the level that I am. But when I met my husband, and he was into it just as much as I was, well, I knew it was love. Over the years, we've hosted some pretty epic parties, with themes ranging from a psycho circus to an insane asylum to a full Stephen King theme. Our friends always brought their Halloween A-game, dressing up and joining in the festivities, even if wearing a costume wasn't their thing.  

We would sometimes even have multiple costumes in a year if the party theme wasn’t the same as what we chose for the neighbourhood trick-or-treaters on Halloween night. What started small in our front foyer, with some sound effects and props, has now evolved to a full-blown garage experience, with kids now coming from all over the neighbourhood to see our house. I am a real life jump scare, and love to sit perfectly still until the kids are right in front of me; then I scream or yell, and spring to life. Believe it or not, they love it! We even have a friend who lives down the street that comes every year dressed as Jason from Friday the 13th, and just lurks around the yard, standing behind bushes or a car. He's over 6 feet tall, and in full costume, he's a rather menacing sight. It's creepy perfection.

The bar has been set rather high, so it's a bit of a double-edged sword as we continue to outdo ourselves from year to year, which always puts the pressure on to live up to (and exceed) the year before. Planning for this year began several months ago, and we have amassed our props, animatronics, and costumes. There will be one or two DIY projects to complete, but they're labours of love. It's also a bonus that my husband is incredibly creative and can build or design just about anything (in my humble opinion), so we often have something original with our set up. Think horror movie selfie station or life-size replica of the door from The Shining. Just a little something extra to remember us by.

Every year is a new fun idea and I can't see us stopping anytime soon. While I'm not at liberty to say what this year's theme is, rest assured it will be wickedly fun.

Stay spooky, friends!

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