Autumn 2017 Bucket List

Happy October 1st and happy first day of the 31 Days of Halloween!

If you've been a follower of mine for past Halloween seasons, you know that October 1st kicks off the 31 Days of Halloween event, hosted by Countdown to Halloween, where a collective of spooky blogs (like me) share Halloween-related content all October long! I've been participating since 2010 (!!!) and it is one of my favorite Halloween events that I look forward to every year. I not only love sharing my Halloween experiences with you, but I also adore reading other blogs. I highly recommend you take a look at the list of other participating blogs on Countdown to Halloween to fill your October with maximum spookiness!

Per tradition, I'll be sharing my autumn bucket list today, the first day of October. I love kicking off the month with my wish list of activities and preparing for everything I want to do. There is always so much going on in October, but I hope to have a low-key celebration where time slows down a little so I can enjoy the spirit of the season. I've already done a lot just in September, but I'm going to include those items here as well so I can keep a track of all that I've done when I revisit this list at the end of October. Here are those items as well as others I want to do this Halloween season:

I can't wait to eat all the pumpkin foods again!

-Eat as many vegan pumpkin-based or autumn-themed foods as possible (here are 10 of my fave pumpkin products)
-Attend Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood (I actually already did this - you can read my coverage of opening night festivities HERE!)
-Watch as many horror movies or spooky-themed movies as possible via Netflix, on DVD, etc. (goal: at least a horror movie a day!)
-Make my home smell like pumpkin spice 24/7 with essential oils
-Check out all the other participating blogs on the Countdown to Halloween list
-Watch my favorite Halloween-themed movies, TV shows, specials, etc. (see my ultimate list of Halloween-themed movies!)

I have my stamps all ready for Halloween cards

-Send Halloween cards to friends and family
-Attend Queen Mary's Dark Harbor (I just attended the opening night festivities - read about that HERE!)
-Try new vegan autumn recipes
-Drink apple cider/pumpkin tea
-Score some cute new Halloween clothes or accessories
-Visit a place that actually FEELS like autumn, where I can crunch in the fallen leaves and feel a cool autumn breeze (maybe one of these five places I would love to travel to for Halloween)

Last year I got these swoon-worthy scents from BPAL

-Treat myself to a new Halloween scent (check out last year's post on how to smell like Halloween)
-Bake muffins, bread, scones, cookies, etc. in autumn flavors (pumpkin everything!)
-Make creepy and/or creepy cute Halloween foods
-Wear scarves, boots, sweaters (quite the challenge in SoCal)
-Complete a Halloween craft project
-Attend Los Angeles Haunted Hayride

-Carve pumpkins
-Visit some historical cemeteries
-Host a pumpkin carving party or horror movie night
-Crank up the Halloween music
-Hand out vegan candy to trick or treaters (like these yummy choices!)
-Decorate the house even MORE than usual

-Visit the Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch
-Read The Halloween Tree and other Halloween-themed stories/books (like my faves HERE and HERE)
-Go to a Halloween-themed play, concert, etc.
-Roast pumpkin seeds
-Go to Disneyland and California Adventure for their Halloweentime festivities
-Complete the 31 Days of Halloween

I try to stick to doing small things to celebrate the season rather than trying to pack in a bunch of big events, so hopefully I will be able to do that this year, too. I'll be sharing all my spooky celebrations with you here as well as on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!

Stay spooky!