What I Ate: July Junk Food Edition

Tex Mex Taco Fries - made with Trader Joe's shoestring fries, Trader Joe's Soy

Chorizo, a cilantro pesto sauce and creamy garlic Alfredo crema (recipes in

the June edition of VegNews), tomatoes, jalapenos, onions.

From the pics below, it looks like I have subsisted on a diet of only vegan donuts, pizza, and sweets this July! Well, maybe that isn't too far from the truth, haha, but perhaps in the future I'll take pics of healthier meals (and try to eat healthier more often...maybe?). All the glorious food in this post is, as always, vegan, and I love sharing these posts with readers so they can see that vegans don't only eat salads.

So here is some of the delicious vegan junk food that I enjoyed this July!

Celebrate Halloween in July at Midsummer Scream this Weekend

Midsummer Scream is a Halloween and horror convention and festival that will be held at the Long Beach Convention Center this weekend, July 30th - 31st. They will have spooky panels, classes, workshops, screenings, scare zones, vendors, artwork, and even an '80s themed costume party headlined by Oingo Boingo Dance Party! All celebrating the best holiday of them all, Halloween! Are you going? I sure am and I cannot wait!

Halloween 2016 at Sur La Table

Boo Ya Plate

Sur La Table is a fun kitchen store that I love browsing, especially during Halloweentime! They recently started stocking their Halloween 2016 products online, so I wanted to share a sneak peek of some of my faves from their collection this year!

I'm sure they will have more as we get closer and closer to Halloween, but for now here is a taste of the Halloween items we can expect to see at Sur La Table this autumn (and they can be ordered online now!):

Sneak Peek: Halloween 2016 at Target

Target is one of my go-to stores during the Halloween season, despite the fact that they usually don't start stocking their shelves with spooky items until mid- to late-September. It is usually worth the wait, though, as their items are designed beautifully, whimsical, and fairly priced.

I took a peek at their online site and to my surprise found that many Halloween items were listed and available for pre-order! I am in trouble, because it looks like there is tons of fantastically fun items this year!

Here are some of my favorites I found on their website:

100 Days 'til Halloween!

When the clock strikes midnight tonight, it will mean there are exactly 100 days until Halloween (right now at 9AM Pacific it is about 100 days and 15 hours)! Can you believe it? I can't wait for autumn colors, pumpkin carving, Halloween music, creepy stories and movies, pumpkin patches, the cooler weather, shorter days, pumpkin-flavored EVERYTHING, and all the spooky activities!

I've already been invoking the Halloween spirit by watching Halloween-themed movies, obsessively checking out Halloween collections from stores online (and in-store when possible), planning how to decorate the house, burning pumpkin spice wax melts and autumn-scented essential oils, and waiting for big announcements and opening dates of Halloween haunts, pumpkin patches, and special Halloween events (I'll already be attending the Halloween convention Midsummer Scream next weekend)!

Halloween 2016 at Pier 1 Imports

Trick or Treat Banner

In past years Pier 1 Imports hasn't really wowed me with their Halloween selection, but this year their Halloween 2016 items are pretty rad! I've been stalking their website the past few weeks for glimpses of Halloween decor, and was stoked to see they recently posted their Halloween 2016 collection with lots of ghoulish goodies!

Out of all their numerous Halloween items, I've hand-picked some of my favorites from Pier 1's 2016 Halloween collection and shared them below!

Watch Now on Netflix: Holidays (2016)

Bless Netflix for finally offering up the new horror anthology, Holidays, on their streaming service! I've been looking forward to this one for a while (and included it on my list of most anticipated horror films of 2016), so I was excited to see this horror anthology which features eight different tales that revolve around holidays. The shorts include "Valentine's Day" directed by Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer (Starry Eyes), "Saint Patrick's Day" directed by Gary Shore (Dracula Untold), "Easter" directed by Nicholas McCarthy (The Pact), "Mother's Day" directed by Sarah Adina Smith (The Midnight Swim), "Father's Day" directed by Anthony Scott Burns (a Darknet episode), "Halloween" directed by Kevin Smith (Tusk, Red State), "Christmas" directed by Scott Stewart (Dark Skies), and "New Year's Eve" directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer (Some Kind of Hate).

Halloween 2016 at Cost Plus World Market

Wood Framed Skeleton Silhouettes

I always look forward to Cost Plus World Market's Halloween items! They always have some great spooky stuff at reasonable prices, not to mention Halloween noms and beverages (some of which are vegan, others sadly not - always check the labels!).

They have started posting their Halloween 2016 selection online, and I think most of it is now up on their site! I did some virtual browsing, and they have a good mix of old standbys and new blood! I am more interested in the new items, so below you will find my faves of Cost Plus World Market's Halloween 2016 collection:

Watch Now on Netflix: Darling (2016)

A lonely young woman (Lauren Ashley Carter) descends into madness when she becomes the caretaker of a mysterious New York mansion that has a troubled past.

This film from Mickey Keating (Pod, Ritual, Carnage Park) just hit Netflix streaming over the weekend, and it is a psychological, cerebral trip that is worth a watch! It is filmed in black and white, has very limited dialogue, and relies on sound and startling flashes of horror to unnerve the viewer.

Halloween 2016 at Grandin Road

HOCUS POCUS NEON SIGN

Grandin Road has unveiled some new items over at their Halloween Haven online storefront! I have never purchased anything directly from them, but they certainly have some items this year that have me ooooooh-ing and boooooo-ing! As stated in last year's post, Grandin Road kinda has a bad reputation around the Halloween artist and haunt communities for what appears to be stealing designs without giving proper credit...so keep that in mind if you are considering purchasing anything from them! I can't deny that they always have boo-tiful Halloween decor, though! Here are some of my favorites from Grandin Road's 2016 Halloween collection:

Halloween 2016 at Pottery Barn

"BEWARE" BAT BANNER

Pottery Barn has started rolling out their 2016 Halloween collection online, and some of the pieces are really neat! They have a few items from past years, but for the most part their Halloween offerings are new. This year the popular trends seem to be skeletons, skulls, and silver, with some bats thrown in for good measure.

After taking a look at their new items, here are some of my favorites from Pottery Barn's 2016 Halloween collection:

First Halloween Items of 2016 Spotted at Michael's

The beginning of Halloween at Michael's!

I popped into Michael's last night to look for some artsy craftsy stuff and was thrilled to find they had started putting out some of their autumn and Halloween decor! There was lots of fall foliage out, plus pumpkins, scarecrows, and an entire aisle of Halloween decor! Take a look at some of the first Halloween items of 2016 I spotted below:

Watch Now on Netflix: Deathgasm (2015)

Deathgasm was one of my favorite movies of 2015, and it has finally hit Netflix streaming for all to enjoy. This New Zealand gorefest features metalheads who accidentally summon demonic forces and must wage battle on them before their whole town is consumed by the evil forces.

It's a helluva good time, and reminds me a lot of the TV series Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, complete with a rag-tag group of metalheads, creepy cults, metal music, wackiness, demonic possession, and lots of projectile puking and bodily fluids. Its splatstick is in the same outrageous vein as the New Zealand classic goregasm Dead Alive!

Ike's Love and Sandwiches in Newport Beach, CA

Vegan Pilgrim at the new Ike's in Newport Beach!

Ike's Place is a fast-casual restaurant that started in Northern California, but is starting to expand due to their popularity and awesome sandwiches. They now have locations all over the Bay Area, a few in Arizona, and several in SoCal, including the newly opened Newport Beach location in Orange County, which is called Ike's Love and Sandwiches. It's located off of MacArthur Boulevard close to John Wayne Airport in a small strip mall. The new location is spacious and clean, with plenty of seating inside and a few patio seats outside.

Watch Now on Netflix: The Invitation (2016)

I have been wanting to check out director Karyn Kusama's The Invitation for quite some time and it is one of my most anticipated horror movies of 2016. Lucky for me, it finally hit Netflix instant this past Friday, and you better believe that evening I was firmly planted in front of my TV to watch this much-anticipated film.

When Will's ex-wife, Eden, invites him to a dinner party at the home they once shared, he assumes she wants to put unresolved tensions to rest. But soon, Will senses that Eden and her new spouse have something sinister in mind.

My Top 10 Summer Horror Movies

Original image from Italian poster art for Blood Beach (1981)

I'll admit, I'm not a summer person. I don't like the sun, I hate the heat, the tourists are awful, the days are too bright, and I generally feel like running away and hiding from this season. In my opinion, the only good thing about summer is Halloween goodies start appearing in stores and that means autumn is not too far away. So most of the summer I lock myself away in my air conditioned home and spend my time soaking in horror flicks in my cool, dark, and cozy living room.

However, sometimes I get an annoying urge to put on a summery horror movie where kids are going to camp (and probably getting butchered), beach-side and lake-front beaches are crowded with sunbathers and swimmers (to satiate whatever lurks in the watery depths off shore or in the sands below), shady locals are waiting to offer tourists a helping hand (only to entrap them in a sinister scheme), and people are enjoying their vacation (until something unfortunate happens). Maybe this is me trying to jive with the summer vibe or maybe I just like watching sun-worshippers get their comeuppance (hint: it's probably the second choice!).

Anywho, I have a list of 10 of my favorite summer horror movies below (plus some bonus picks) that help evoke the feelings of this sweltering season without ever having to step foot outside. Hey, it's scary out there, which you would know if you paid careful attention to the killer summer-themed horror flicks mentioned below!