My Perfect (Non-Scary) Halloween Night

I've never been super into Halloween, mostly because I don't care for bats or spiders and I find even some animated movies extremely scary. I do love a good costume party, though, and I'm a sucker for themed outfits/food/color schemes. (I practically got weepy tonight in Walmart looking at the pumpkin sugar cookies I bought to make for my students last year.) 

Looking festive at school for Halloween '13

SO with Halloween it's a little festive and silly but still fun as long as it's not scary, and if I could come up with my perfect Halloween celebration it would look something like this: 

-caramel apples- I guess you could get all fancy and melt the caramel or whatnot, but I always buy those wraps for like $2 and they're fine, thankyouverymuch. Or if you're not into taking giant bites of sticky fruit and getting juice all down your chin (or is that just me being six years old?) you go REALLY convenient and buy those caramel apple suckers.  Classy, right?

-chili- my husband thinks soup is strictly cold weather food, and while I can't always buy into that logic, I do agree when it comes to chili. Try my super easy recipe if you're so inclined. Cheese and crackers on top and WOW. It's insanely good and lasts for days- my kind of food! It seems like every Halloween/fall gathering includes some kind of chili cookoff so this feels appropriate. Mine won't win any contests but it's still yummy. =)

-candy, duh- I'm usually not a "sweets" person, but come on... it's practically constitutional law to consume obscene amounts of candy this time of year. I'm talking chocolate, though, not that candy corn nonsense. I'm not against eating triangle-shaped molds of high fructose corn syrup and Yellow 5, but it's a little too sweet for me. 

-a good Halloween episode/movie-I like watching holiday episodes of my favorite TV shows since it's festive but not as time-consuming as a movie so you can squeeze more in/not stay up so late. *old lady alert!* My episode pick would HANDS DOWN be Psych Season 5 Episode 11, "In Plain Fright." Not only is this episode about a Scarefest- and it's the beginning of Shawn and Jules's relationship, SIGH- but it will always have a special place in my heart because it was the very first episode I ever watched and the one that led to a deep and borderline-obsessive love that has been well-documented here. For a movie? You know I don't do scary, so even though there are puh-lenty of horrifying options out there, I'd have to say To Kill a Mockingbird. I know it's not really a Halloween movie but it's just wonderful and it ends around Halloween, so there. Oh, and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! is a given. 

-the right costume, of course!- A few years ago Jonathan and I dressed up as Rob and Laura Petrie from The Dick Van Dyke Show, which was awesome. I really wanted us to host a dinner party and sing Mountain Greenery for the guests but refrained. Next time some friends can join us as Buddy and Sally? Blake? Brook? 

Da da da da da da da dum, da da dum, da da da da da da da da da dum. (Trips over ottoman)

This year I was totally gunning for Lorelai and Luke (ah, what should have been!) but since I planned our trunk-or-treat theme around The Great Pumpkin we went the Charlie Brown and Lucy route. I thought about being Peppermint Patty and calling Jonathan "Chuck" all evening but I think I'm a little better typecast as Lucy, don't you? =)(Also, WHY does Peppermint Patty look and sound like a boy? Hmm?) Other couples costumes could include Fiyero and Elphaba (go green!), Jack Kelly and Katherine Plummer (or Sarah, if you're a bigger fan of Newsies the movie than the show), or Bonnie and Clyde (my friend Georgette did this with her husband this year and it's adorable, plus who doesn't want to dress like a flapper? I'd like to think we could pull off a Laura Osnes/Jeremy Jordan look? Shawn and Jules? Ron and Hermoine? The possibilities are endless.) 

So, there you have it. Since Halloween falls on a weekend and Jonathan gets off work fairly early this week, I think I'll be able to put together this little scenario quite nicely this Friday. Woohoo! Stay spooky, my friends.


Ash