Happy Halloween and 2016 Bucket List Completion

Happy Halloween! This month went by frighteningly fast and today is rather bittersweet! I'm ecstatic that it is the best day of the year, but I am also feeling gloomy since it means my favorite time of the year is almost over. I am doing my best to enjoy the last hours of All Hallow's Eve - tonight I will watch Halloween themed movies, carve pumpkins, and hand out candy to trick or treaters!

I'm also reflecting back on the past months and a see what I was able to accomplish on my autumn bucket list! I did quite a bit over the Halloween season, here is what I was able to check off my bucket list:

-Visit pumpkin patches - I only went to one this year, my favorite patch at Tanaka Farms! More photos HERE!

-Watch as many horror movies or spooky-themed movies as possible via Netflix, on DVD, etc. - Yep, though I didn't really watch anything new that stood out to me.

-Smell like Halloween - find some cruelty-free, vegan scents so I can smell like burning leaves - I found some amazing scents this year! I did a post on this HERE!

-See some new horror movies in theaters - unfortunately I only saw the Blair Witch sequel, which was disappointing. The only other one I wanted to check out was Ouija: Origin of Evil since I like director Mike Flanagan's other films Absentia and Oculus.

-Go to a haunted house, haunt or hayride - I went to Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood at Universal Studios and Delusion's His Crimson Queen immersive play (my review).

-Try new vegan autumn recipes - I made these adorable Halloween Stuffed Peppers!

-Find some creepy-cool new goodies on Etsy - I found yummy scents from some sellers on Etsy, but unfortunately did not purchase any.

-Eat as many pumpkin-based foods (that are vegan) as possible - I pretty much ate only pumpkin-based foods this month, mostly from Trader Joe's and Sprouts!

-Send Halloween cards to friends and family - Done, and with the new jack-o-lantern stamps, too!

-Drink apple cider/pumpkin tea - I bought some Pumpkin Spice Almond Milk (tastes like pumpkin nog!) and some Pumpkin Harvest cold-pressed juice (yum!) from Trader Joe's, along with some apple cider. No pumpkin tea, though, it is still too warm here.

-Score some cute new Halloween clothes or accessories - I got a bunch of new cute tanks/tees from Target! 

-Bake muffins, bread, scones, cookies, etc. in autumn flavors (pumpkin everything!) - I made some of my fave pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and some pumpkin muffins! YUM!

-Make creepy and/or creepy cute Halloween foods - The only one I made was the Halloween Stuffed Peppers.

-Wear scarves, boots, sweaters (quite the challenge in SoCal) - It was still too hot, so I did not wear any of these, wahhhhhh! I hate SoCal.  

-Complete a Halloween craft project - The Occult Activity Book Volume 2 had a craft where you could make your own witches out of paper! So cute and fun!

-Watch old school Halloween-themed movies, TV shows, specials, etc. that I may not have seen yet - I watched shorts and some rare Halloween movies I hadn't seen before! Most of these are on my list of movies set during Halloween!

-Hit up the big box stores for Halloween goodies - I went a little overboard at the beginning of the season, and hit up Homegoods, Michaels, Target, Big Lots, Marshalls, Cost Plus World Market and others multiple times! 

-Make my home smell like pumpkin spice 24/7 with essential oils - Done!

-Buy a new cozy Halloween blanket - I got the super-soft spiderweb blanket from Target, it is so cozy!

-Visit a place that actually FEELS like autumn, where I can crunch in the fallen leaves and feel a cool autumn breeze - I didn't go anywhere this October, boooooo.

-Carve pumpkins - Yep! It's one of my favorite Halloween activities! 

-Decorate my front yard - We have strict (stupid) homeowner association rules, so I didn't want to chance anything - I did put up some window clings in the front windows and put pumpkins by the front door, though! 

-Visit some historical cemeteries - I didn't get to do this, though there are a few old cemeteries in LA I want to explore more and I did visit the Forest Lawn in Glendale, which isn't too shabby.

-Host a pumpkin carving party or horror movie night - I didn't do this either, I just ran out of time.

-Crank up the Halloween music - I listened to a few mixes here and there, but not as much Halloween music as I normally listen to.

-Hand out vegan candy to trick or treaters - I plan on doing this tonight! I put together a list of 10 Vegan Candies for Trick or Treaters for your reference HERE!

-Come up with a costume to wear on Halloween night - I don't really have a costume, I'll probably just throw on some witchy clothes and witch hat to answer the door and hand out candy! Or I'll just throw on my bat costume from last year. 

-Decorate the house even MORE than usual - Done! There are so many pumpkins this year!

-Read The Halloween Tree and other Halloween-themed stories/books - I didn't read as much as I would have liked, though I did read the classic The Book of Hallowe'en by Ruth Edna Kelley, which was originally published in 1919, and I also revisited some boo-tiful books with Halloween cover art!

-Watch Halloween cartoons - Yep, all the old faves, including The Simpson's Treehouse of Horror and Disney's Halloween Treat!

-Paint my nails orange and black - I had them orange and black all month long!

-Go to a Halloween-themed play, concert, etc. - I went to the interactive play Delusion (seriously one of the best immersive Halloween events - check out my write-up of the event).

-See the Halloween display at Roger’s Gardens in Newport Beach - I went opening weekend (see pics)!

-Roast pumpkin seeds - Deliciously done! Our pumpkins yielded a lot of seeds, so I made both savory and sweet varieties of pumpkin seeds. 

-Complete the 31 Days of Halloween - I was out doing lots of events so I wasn't able to blog every day, but I did post at least three times a week. I think they were quality posts, too, quality over quantity, so I feel accomplished!

What items on your Halloween/autumn bucket list did you complete?

What are your plans for All Hallows' Eve?

Wishing you the spookiest of Halloweens!