Halloween: The Celebration of Fantasies

Since I started this blog back in February, I have wanted to write about my favorite holiday/celebration: Halloween. And this brings up a question that you may be thinking: what does Halloween have to do with exercise or pie? My answer is: absolutely nothing, but I want to blog about it anyway! I love Halloween and always have. Halloween was a fun event in my family, with trick or treating and costumes always encouraged.

Probably my earliest memory was dressing up like a gypsy and trick or treating in our small neighborhood with my sister and our friend, Lorena. We only went to houses where we knew our neighbors. Eating the candy was certainly great - I always appreciated the candy bars more than the lollipops. And forget healthy snacks like fruit - they simply have no place in a trick or treat bag! As we got a little older, we went to our church Halloween parties and did trick or treating for UNICEF.  We were still allowed to get candy, however. We always wore costumes. Back then, I don't remember really thinking seriously about what costume I would wear; I think we just wore whatever old clothes were around the house. But my Dad loved to wear a scary mask for Halloween. Once he wore a really scary mask and went to his mother's house to surprise her. She did not recognize him, and told us that she thought he was too old to be trick or treating!

When I went away to college, I attended Halloween parties held in my ex-husband's (then boyfriend's) dorm. We were space aliens at our first party, using aluminum foil for antennas! Out of these experiences came annual parties with friends from college and our families. The location of our parties changed from Chapel Hill, then to Charlotte, and now to Shelby, NC, where it has been held for a number of years at the home of my college friend, Brenda. The party now includes our children as well. (who are now adults).

Although I always enjoyed the scary movies, jack- o- lanterns and the sugary treats of Halloween, my favorite part by far is the costumes. How fun is it to be absolutely anything that you want to be for one day of the year? Former costumes of mine have included Wonder Woman, Tonto, a chicken (Kentucky Fried), and King Kong (the monster, not the girl), among numerous others. To me, Halloween is the chance to become something or someone that is different from myself, and to really enjoy being that character. I get to be in my fantasy world for one day each year.

This week being "Halloween week", with the real day occurring this Saturday, Oct. 31, I will write about some of my favorite Halloween costumes, movies, songs, parties, and activities. I will share a lot of "scary" photos as well. So, if you are as excited about Halloween as I am, you may want to check into my blog this week. Maybe you will see a fantasy costume that you want to experience in your future Halloweens. So stay tuned for some fun!