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:

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...