Opening Night at The Queen Mary's Dark Harbor 2017

The Queen Mary's Dark Harbor

Last night I attended opening night of The Queen Mary's Dark Harbor 2017 (full disclosure: I was invited to attend the media preview before general admission). I had never been to Dark Harbor before, so I was excited to check it out! I had heard many good things about Dark Harbor and I was really intrigued by the numerous mazes they had aboard the ship, along with the other carnival-style areas and other mazes throughout the grounds by The Queen Mary. The Queen Mary is legendary already and full of ghost stories, and I can't think of a more perfect venue for a haunt! I couldn't wait to go aboard and visit all the spirits. I'll walk you through my night below!

The Queen Mary's Dark Harbor Welcomes Guests Aboard Starting Tonight

The Queen Mary's Dark Harbor is opening tonight, Thursday, September 28th, and it promises seven terrifying mazes plus additional scare zones and attractions that you don't want to miss! It will be my first time experiencing Dark Harbor, and I'm so excited that I'm actually getting a little nervous, haha! I'll be providing full coverage of the event here in the next few days, but also follow me on Instagram as I'll be posting stories throughout the night there.

To find out what is in store this year, check out the press release below:

Haven America Wooden Halloween Wall Decor

Haven America has a boo-tiful collection of Halloween wall decor and accent pieces that I have been drooling over lately, ranging from jolly jack-o-lanterns, fiendish Frankenstein's monsters, witches hats, black cats, bats, and more! They sent me one of their wooden wall signs to me for review, check out what I thought of what they sent me below!

Ben Cooper Halloween Costumes and Slashback Video Exhibits at Mystic Museum

 Ben Cooper Halloween costumes display at The Mystic Museum

Bearded Lady's Mystic Museum is a must-see haunt located in Burbank, California that regularly hosts themed art shows and exhibits as well as selling a variety of spooky goodies! They also own Bearded Lady Vintage, which just moved in to the adjoining space (they used to be a few blocks down from The Mystic Museum). I love how they are both conveniently located next to each other now!

The exhibits currently on display the months of September and October are a Ben Cooper exhibit, dedicated to the retro costumes of past years as well as artists' representations of the famous Ben Cooper masks, and then there is Slashback Video, paying homage to horror sections of VHS rental stores of the past. Besides rows and rows of VHS horror, Slashback Video also featured artists' renditions of horror movie cover art, done on VHS boxes!

Are You Brave Enough to Spend Halloween Night in The London Dungeon?

Brave Travelers Invited to Enter Sweepstakes for Chance to Win a Trip to 

Experience the Ultimate Halloween Sleepover in London’s Scariest Attraction!

Would you want to spend the night at an infamous scare attraction in London on Halloween night with three of your bravest friends? If you dare, you can enter TripAdvisor's contest to win an overnight stay at The London Dungeon, one of London's scariest attractions! Read the press release below for more info and how to enter this creepy contest:

Daiya Pumpkin Spice Cheezecake

Daiya Pumpkin Spice Cheezecake! 

This past March at the Natural Foods Expo I had a chance to try Daiya's Pumpkin Spice Cheezecake, and I've been dreaming about it ever since (it was one of my top 10 picks from Expo!). Fall is finally here, and I was so ecstatic to finally find the seasonal cheezecake at Sprouts Farmers Market (along with a lot of other seasonal pumpkin food items - see more in my roundup)! Check out what I thought of it below!

Organic and Vegan Halloween Candy at Target

Target's Organicals (lol) - Organic Halloween Candy

Last year Target had so many rad organic and vegan Halloween candy options, so I was looking forward what they had on shelves this year. So far, the selection is kinda limited, but I'm hoping they add more as the season progresses. At my local Target (Tustin, California location if you're interested) I've only seen the YumEarth and Black Earth Organic brands at Target that are both organic and vegan. Check out the different varieties they have below:

Go Little Tokyo Presents Haunted Little Tokyo This October

Spirit of the Witch cocktail by Wolf and Crane

Another haunting Halloween event is hitting Los Angeles this October! 2017 will see the first-ever Haunted Little Tokyo event in Downtown Los Angeles. The vibrant neighborhood of Little Tokyo turns into a spirited celebration of Halloween the entire month of October, featuring movie screenings, festive games, spooky walking tours, drink and restaurant specials, pumpkin patches, and much more! Check out the press release below:

Whole Foods' Vegan Halloween Candy and Pumpkin Items

Also spotted my first pumpkins at Whole Foods!

While shopping for Beyond Burgers at Whole Foods the other day, I was excited to see that they had started stocking their end caps with Halloween candy and pumpkin food items! After scrutinizing all the labels, I was so stoked to find that many items were vegan! You can check out my autumn food finds below...

Plant Fest at Tanaka Farms This Weekend

This weekend Saturday, September 23rd and Sunday, September 24th, Tanaka Farms in Irvine, California will host its first ever Plant Fest featuring vegan food trucks, cooking demonstrations, speakers, cruelty-free vendors, fresh fruit and veggies, live music, and farm tours. Tanaka Farms has partnered with SoCal VegFest to host this event as a fundraiser for the Animal Protection and Rescue League (APRL) - a 501c(3) organization. More below!

Opening Night at Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2017

Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2017

I attended the opening night of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood this past Friday, September 15th. I have been looking forward to Halloween Horror Nights since last year (check out my coverage from 2016) and was even more excited for it after being treated to a sneak peek from creative director John Murdy and art director Chris Williams back in July at Midsummer Scream. This year, Universal had mazes based on The Shining, Insidious, Saw, American Horror Story: Roanoke, Ash vs. Evil Dead, Titans of Terror maze featuring Freddy, Leatherface, and Jason and Terror Tram experience hosted by Chucky, and The Blumhouse Experience maze based on The Purge, Sinister, and the upcoming Happy Death Day. The scare zones this year were Hell-o-Ween by the entrance, Toxic Tunnel on the way to the back lot, and Urban Inferno in the back lot. I was most excited for The Shining and the Titans of Terror maze! I'll walk you through my night below.

Sprouts Farmers Market's 2017 Seasonal Pumpkin Items

Remember when I tried the new Daiya Pumpkin Spice Cheezecake way back in March at the Natural Foods Expo? Ever since then I have been dreaming about getting my claws on this yummy treat this pumpkin season. My dreams have finally turned into reality as Sprouts Farmers Market has this delectable vegan cheesecake, as well as many other pumpkin items to get excited about!

When I visited yesterday they had just started stocking their endcaps with pumpkin goodies, so I expect a lot more to pop up in the next couple of weeks. I found a lot of items that were vegan while I was scoping out their offerings, check them out below!

Halloween 2017 at Target

OMG Target Halloween 2017 is on shelves and it is boo-tiful!

I saw IT last night (which I did enjoy, though I wished it had been scarier), and afterwards I had a feeling I should go check Target for Halloween goodies. I've already delighted in their Dollar Spot selections (check those out HERE!), but I was eagerly anticipating their full inventory of Halloween items (I shared my most anticipated items from their website a few months back HERE!) It was getting late and I should have gone home to bed, but I still decided to stop by Target before heading home, and OMG I am so glad I did because they had JUST put out their Halloween things and the aisles were immaculate! I took my time browsing and savoring the emptiness of the Halloween aisles - Target has some incredible Halloween stuff this year!

Check out what they had just stocked on shelves below:

Halloween 2017 at Daiso Japan

Daiso Japan has the cutest, most kawaii Halloween stuff this time of year! They just put items out last week, so the other day I visited my local store to see if they had anything out, and was greeted by grinning jack-o-lanterns, pastel pumpkins, light-up purple bats, and tons of other great Halloween decor!

Most items at Daiso are only $1.50, and anything above that is clearly marked with its price. I love Daiso because their decor is so unique and just so adorable! They have lots of great Halloween decorations and tableware for amazing prices. Take a peek at what they have in stock by checking out the photos I took at my local store below:

Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte at Peet's Coffee

Vegan PSL from Peet's! Don't mind my lipstick stain on the cup, I couldn't

wait to try it!

I don't believe I've had a pumpkin spice latte from a coffee shop since going vegan nearly 10 years ago! I love pumpkin spice everything, so when September rolled around and everyone was posting PSL selfies, I usually made my own or relied on store-bought items like Califia Farms' Pumpkin Spice Latte Cold Brew Coffee (read my review). However, this year I was delighted to hear that Peet's Coffee has a non-dairy pumpkin spice latte, so even vegans can enjoy this delicious treat! 

Now, you're probably wondering if another big coffee chain's PSL is vegan, since that is the one that gets the most attention this time of year. Sadly, the Starbucks' pumpkin spice latte is NOT vegan, nor can it be made vegan even when requesting non-dairy milk. The PSL sauce itself contains condensed milk (ick), so until it is removed from the formula, the Starbucks PSL will not be vegan. I hope they take a clue from Peet's soon and start offering a vegan PSL. Keep reading below for how to order the drink at Peet's so that it is vegan!

Halloween 2017 at Roger's Gardens: Magic and Mayhem

Halloween 2017 at Roger's Gardens

Roger's Gardens is a garden store in the Corona del Mar/Newport Beach area that transforms one of its buildings into whimsical Halloween-themed displays every year. They always open their Halloween displays on Labor Day weekend, and it's a tradition for me to check them out this time every year as it marks my kick off to all things autumn and Halloween (even though I celebrate Halloween every day in my heart)! It is always a treat to see the theme Roger's Gardens has chosen for the year come to life, and shop for some Halloween trinkets while I'm there.

The IT Experience: Neibolt House in Hollywood

I have been dying to check out the Neibolt House in Hollywood, which is a free haunted house running for a limited time to promote the new Warner Bros' film IT. At the impressively spooky house, the character of Georgie guides visitors in groups of seven (same as the number of members in the "Loser's Club") who are 18 and over through the rooms of the decrepit and creepy house featured in Stephen King's book as well as in the new film coming out September 8th, 2017. The immersive experience features film-inspired scenes, authentic set props, scare actors, animatronic props, and state-of-the-art lighting, audio, and video.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to check it out before it closes on September 10th, but the good news is that I (and you!) can live vicariously through my good friend and haunt ghoul Miss Kerry (aka Miss Skerry - make sure you follow her on Instagram for more spooky adventures!), who recently got the chance to check out The IT Experience: Neibolt House and was gracious enough to share her visit with us!

Warning - SPOILER ALERT: The review below includes maze spoilers, so if you want to check out the house for yourself you may want to do that first before reading this review. You've been warned!