Happy Halloween and 2017 Bucket List Completion

Happy Halloween! The big day is finally here, and while I'm stuck at work, I can't wait to get home to pass out treats to kiddies while watching Halloween movies. I'll be honest, this Halloween season has been really hard for me. While I did end up doing a lot of fun stuff, I felt this year was a bit lackluster for me and definitely went by too fast. I also suffered from Halloween burnout early on and between work and the anxiety of dealing with family in the California wildfires (they are all fine now), I wasn't very full of Halloween spirit this year. I'm hoping next year is better.

On the plus side, I did do a lot of great stuff on my bucket list this year! Check out what items I was able to cross off my bucket list this Halloween season:

-Eat as many vegan pumpkin-based or autumn-themed foods as possible (like this year's selection of pumpkin foods from Trader Joe's!) - definitely accomplished this! You can see more of the goodies I consumed on my Instagram!
-Attend Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood - this was one of the highlights of my Halloween season - 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!) - I didn't quite watch a horror movie a day, but I was able to watch a lot of of spooky kid-friendly horror (namely episodes of R.L. Stine's Haunting Hour and Are You Afraid of the Dark?) along with my usual viewings of horror movies.

-Make my home smell like pumpkin spice 24/7 with essential oils - done, but I couldn't find a good pumpkin spice essential oil so I used Cellar Door Bath Supply Co. candles!
-Check out all the other participating blogs on the Countdown to Halloween list - I haven't had time to do this
-Watch my favorite Halloween-themed movies, TV shows, specials, etc. (see my ultimate list of Halloween-themed movies!) - I watched about 80% of my list of 31 Days of Halloween Movies, so I consider this a success!
-Send Halloween cards to friends and family - I did this, and I also did a fun Halloween card swap with some fiends on Instagram!

-Attend Queen Mary's Dark Harbor - this was the first year I checked out Dark Harbor and I had a blast! You can read more about my night onboard HERE!
-Try new vegan autumn recipes - I did not have time to cook, hopefully I can check out autumn-inspired recipes in November
-Drink apple cider/pumpkin tea - I didn't do this either - I most had pumpkin spice coffee and drinks
-Score some cute new Halloween clothes or accessories - I scored some really cute necklaces from Grave Harvest Halloween convention and some spooky Halloween and Nightmare Before Christmas leggings from Lula Roe!
-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 get to do this, and weather here has been mostly between 80 and 100 for October (not okay). Next year I need to go somewhere else that has a proper fall!

-Treat myself to a new Halloween scent (check out last year's post on how to smell like Halloween) - I got some Bath Sabbath's perfumes that made me smell like caramel apples and bonfires, they were perfection!
-Bake muffins, bread, scones, cookies, etc. in autumn flavors (pumpkin everything!) - didn't do this as much as I would have liked, but did manage to make some of my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!
-Crank up the Halloween music - I did this mostly back in summer, but I've actually been listening to podcasts rather than music this month
-Hand out vegan candy to trick or treaters - doing this tonight!
-Decorate the house even MORE than usual - YES! This I excelled at, and I hope to share a spooky home tour with you soon.

-Make creepy and/or creepy cute Halloween foods - I made some fun jack-o-lantern burgers!
-Wear scarves, boots, sweaters (quite the challenge in SoCal) - I didn't get to do this AT ALL since the weather was always above 80 this month - did I mention I despise the weather here?
-Complete a Halloween craft project - nope
-Attend Los Angeles Haunted Hayride - missed it again this year
-Carve pumpkins - yup
-Visit some historical cemeteries - nope
-Host a pumpkin carving party or horror movie night - nope, just didn't have it in me to host something this year

-Visit the Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch - always a tradition, and they had Hello Kitty decor this year - check it out HERE!
-Read The Halloween Tree and other Halloween-themed stories/books - I didn't get to re-read my faves, but I did get to read Drawn To The Dark about haunts and spooky festivals all over the world, and it was a perfect Halloween read!
-Go to a Halloween-themed play, concert, etc. - nope
-Roast pumpkin seeds - yup!

-Go to Disneyland and California Adventure for their Halloweentime festivities - I got to surprise my little sister for her birthday and go to both parks! It was fun, but a bit rough since it was over 100 degrees that day, ick!
-Complete the 31 Days of Halloween - Despite everything this month, I was still able to share some fun posts with you all, and I'm really happy I did so much, even though I did not have any posts pre-planned (usually I'll have half of my Halloween posts written by July!). This year's 31 Days of Halloween was a success!

Did you do everything you wanted this Halloween season? What are your plans Halloween night? Let me know in the comments below!

Wishing you a very spooky Halloween!

P.S. If you want to continue getting a Halloween fix, stick with me since I post spooky stuff year-round! I will be posting a few things for Hallowvember and then Creepmas in December!