october is upon us. i have been waiting months for this. as soon as summer is over, i start prepping for one of my favorite holidays: halloween. some of my favorite memories as a child are dressing up in costumes and going trick or treating in my old neighborhood with my friends. i heard a ghastly rumor that some countries don't have halloween. shocking! no, i know it's just a crazy american holiday - i'm not ethnocentric. i just love it so much that i would like to buy the world a diet coke and sit them down to share all that is great about halloween. i don't know who came up with the american version of this un-holiday (apparently it was originally a druish holy day/ritual of sorts - much like tupac, those druids know how to party). even as an adult i love october/halloween because that means a few things - fall leaves, autumn harvest, loads of candy and the excuse to act like a kid again.

here is a list of all that is great about the month of october:

* halloween!!!!
* costume parties
* my mom's fall stew
* farmers markets with crisp apples from local orchards
* popcorn balls made with my sisters caramel corn recipe
* i just love the colors orange, brown, purple, green and black
* pumpkins and jack-o'-lanterns
* corn mazes
* halloween peeps shaped like ghosts (mallow goodness)
* cupcakes that look like frankenstein
* tacky lawn decorations like tombstones, skeletons and ghosts
* getting to play dress up for a day
* cute little elementary school kids in their costume parades
* CANDY!
* target's halloween display
* jones soda limited edition flavors like candy corn and caramel apple
* those spooky sounds cd's that people play for trick or treaters
* people who dress up and pretend to be a stuffed person on the porch, then they chase screaming trick or treaters around the yard
*candy corn
* watching movies like lady in white, sleepy hollow, edward scissorhands, beetlejuice, watcher in the woods, private eye, young frankenstein, clue, lost boys and heathers.
* black and orange m&m's
* going to haunted houses with friends. the best ones are the haunted forest in american fork, frightmares at lagoon and the rocky point haunted house in slc.
* pumpkin bread
* halloween carnivals
* wearing a costume to work
* caramel apples
* shopping for costumes
* michael jackson's thriller
* halloween party treats and decorations
* fall leaves
* haunted hay rides
* bonfires
* oktoberfest - snowbird + bratwurst = awesome
* fun halloween links:
www.costumeideazone.com
www.buycostumes.com
www.piratemerch.com
www.target.com/halloween
www.marthastewart.com/halloween
www.familyfun.com/halloween
www.orientaltrading.com/halloween