Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Happy Halloween + 2018 Bucket List Completion


Happy Halloween, my spookies!! And, whoa, where did the terrifying time go this October? It feels like just yesterday we were celebrating October 1st, and here we are already at the end of the month, on the best day of the whole year!

I hope you have thoroughly enjoyed all the content I've been sharing with you here and on my Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. This month has been an absolute whirlwind, packed to the ghoulish gills with such fun and festivities. However you celebrated this month, I hope you embraced the spooky spirit of the season and got Halloween happy!

Per my tradition, I'll be sharing with you what I was able to check off this season from my Halloween bucket list. I think this year set a record for most things I've packed into a Halloween season! I did sooooo much stuff and surprised myself with how much I was able to get done. Check out everything I completed from my bucket list (as well as a few items I didn't get to) below:


-Send and receive Halloween cards - I hosted my annual Halloween card exchange again this year and had such an incredible response! I had 100 spots open this year and they filled up in like 5 minutes. It was so fun to shop for cards and then include a little hand-written message inside. I also sent cards out to friends and family! And I got so many incredible cards this year, a few so gorgeous I'm planning on framing!
-Watch as many horror movies or spooky-themed movies as possible - I watched a lot of the new movies and series that premiered on Hulu, Netflix, Shudder, etc. this month (see list of them HERE). There was so many spooky things to choose from and I'm still catching up on watching them all! I also got to check out the new Halloween in theaters, and while I thought it was a good film it didn't wow me as much as I was hoping. A solid film, but left me feeling a bit meh about it. I was also thrilled at all the horror movies streaming - check out my lists of recommended horror movies you should watch on Netflix and Hulu!


-Visit the Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch - I actually took a day off work to visit the pumpkin patch, and it was wonderfully magical as always! You can read all about it and see pics HERE!
-Visit another pumpkin patch or apple orchard - I didn't go to any apple orchards or other pumpkin patches besides the small roadside pumpkin patches. Boo.
-Watch my favorite Halloween-themed movies, TV shows, specials, etc. (see my ultimate list of Halloween-themed movies if you need ideas!) - I watched a lot of TV specials from growing up and got all the nostalgic feels! See my list of my 13 faves HERE! I didn't watch as many Halloween-themed movies as I would have liked, but I do plan on watching many of those today.
-Attend Salem's Market and buy some spooky goodies on October 6th in Garden Grove - I attended this and it was packed! I couldn't believe the HUGE response and I really hope they expand next year to a bigger place. There were so many incredible vendors (some of which I didn't get to see since it was so packed) and I ended up buying some incredible artwork and cookies!


-Make my home smell like autumn 24/7 with candles from Cellar Door and A to Z Candles (review) - I was burning A to Z's candles 24/7, especially their Apple Cider Donut scent! I also burned a lot of incense from Bloodbath, specifically their Absinthe and Sugar scent, which I'm obsessed with! Of course I burned Cellar Door's Lavender Pumpkin candles whenever I needed a calming scent (like the whole month since it has been so crazy!!).
-Check out all the other participating blogs on the Countdown to Halloween list - I've been checking out other blogs both on the Countdown to Halloween list as well as those belonging to the Samhaim Society, a group of bloggers who write about spooky stuff year-round (I'm a macabre member).


-Visit theme parks and haunted attractions (I have a lot to choose from - Queen Mary's Dark Harbor, Knott's Scary Farm, Universal's Halloween Horror Nights, Warner Bros. Horror Lives Here, Los Angeles Haunted Hayride, Pageant of the Monsters, Halloweentime at Disneyland, etc.) - Wow, this is the year I hit almost all of the major haunts, along with a few of the smaller ones! You can check out my coverage of haunts HERE!
-Find a new Halloween perfume for myself - Seance Perfumes All Hallow's Eve scent is perfection and I've been wearing it all month!
-Bake up some tasty vegan fall treats - I made my vegan pumpkin s'more cookies (recipe)!
-Decorate my desk at work (this doesn't seem like much, but it is HUGE since I never ever personalize my desk!) - I did it! I didn't do much, but I did put up a banner, a few skeletons and a few other touches. I took some time off this month so I could enjoy the season, so I wasn't actually in the office that much anyway.
-Complete a DIY project (what should I try to make??) - Oops, I never got around to this! Maybe next year...


-Drive out to the country to try and find some cooler temps / fall leaves - OMG, I went to Big Bear up in the mountains and it was gorgeous! It was mostly evergreens, but I did spot some fall foliage while I was up there and it was dreamy. Plus, the temperatures were really cool up there and it actually felt like fall! There was even a thunderstorm and rain while we were up there (lucky me, I got to drive home on curvy mountain roads in the rain, eeeek!). I checked out Scare Valley Farms Halloween haunt and hayride while I was up there and it was magical! Read my recap HERE!
-Make my own pumpkin spice coffee body scrub - I did this and it is delicious!! You can make it yourself as I shared the recipe HERE!
-Carve pumpkins and roast pumpkin seeds - I pretty much waiting until the last weekend of October to do this, but I finally squeezed this in! Pizza, pumpkins, and horror movies = my perfect night!


-Participate in The Great Pumpkin Project, where you carve a jack-o-lantern and place it somewhere to spread the Halloween spirit - Since I didn't carve pumpkins until the last couple of days of October, I didn't get to do this, even though I had a perfect spot picked out!
-Make a Halloween playlist - I finally compiled my 31 favorite Halloween songs into a Spotify playlist for you to enjoy as well! Check it out HERE!
-Read The Halloween Tree and other Halloween-themed stories/books, like my faves I shared a few years back HERE and HERE  - I didn't have as much time for reading as I would have liked, but I did re-read The Halloween Tree and read a book of short Halloween stories that was quite good!


-Attend the Anaheim Halloween Parade on October 27th - I did not attend this year, boo!
-Complete the 31 Days of Halloween - I actually surprised myself this year by completing the 31 days of Halloween! I skipped weekends and a few days here and there (due to being out of town or events), and sometimes I posted more than once a day, but overall I averaged a post a day, which is incredible since I didn't really pre-plan this year and didn't have posts already written when October hit (I usually try to plan posts at least a few months in advance!)


This evening, I'm either handing out candy to trick or treaters, watching some Halloween movies, and eating lots of vegan candy OR driving up to LA for a Dance with the Dead show (though there is nothing scarier than LA traffic on Halloween)! What are you doing Halloween night?

And how was your Halloween season this year? Did you get to do everything on your bucket list?

Stay spooky and Happy Halloween!

1 comment:

  1. Wow - I'm so jealous! I was just sitting here reading other people's posts & thinking about what all I did NOT get to do this month (SOB!) I think I need a clone to go to work for me & do the mundane household stuff so I can go have Halloween fun!

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