Happy Octoberween!! The best month of the year has arrived and I am both completely ready and not ready at all for it. I don't know why, but it seems the past two years have bypassed quicker than usual despite not doing anything or going anywhere. We have been preparing for weeks, though (minus the trees, flowers and plants) it still feels rather summery to me.*
It was a quiet Halloween last year, obviously, so although we did do the normal Jack'O'Lantern carving, watching movies and eating sweets, I want to make sure we get to celebrate a bit more for 2021.
We do indeed celebrate all month long because it's a special month for us. The 1st of October marks our first ever meeting in person or 'date' I guess. As of today, there are also 6 days until I turn 31, 25 days until our 2nd wedding anniversary and of course 25 days until Halloween.
Here are 13 things we'd like to get around to this month:
Carve Pumpkins
A tradition that just has to be done! With only shopping online it makes getting a hold of pumpkins pretty difficult. Luckily last year a friend grabbed some in-store and dropped them off for us and my Mam has taken on the pumpkin deliverer role for this year haha. Thinking of ideas is going to be the hardest part...
Make Vegan Halloween Treats
Way back in 2015 I put together a blog post about Halloween Celebrations for Non-Party People including a handful of both savoury and sweet spooky treats. I hope to both re-make some of those ideas as well as try a few others. We also have plans for some creepy cocktails!
Camp Inside
When our Disneyland Honeymoon for October 2020 couldn't go ahead, we spent some of the refund on lots of camping gear. A year later, we still haven't even been able to go camping haha! However, we did have an indoor camping night back in February which was a lot of fun so it'll be a different experience for a movie night.
Visit Whitby
Scarborough and Whitby are places I love (and have ancestral links to). I've gone many times over the years, but with only been together since 2018 Mr H and I have never gotten to go together. Fingers crossed that if we head down very early in the morning, have our masks and go midweek, we will be able to have a somewhat medium to low-stress flying visit.
Do DIYs
There are a few decor DIYs, other than carving pumpkins, I've bought some bits to do. Of course, these are things that will have to get done early in the month so that we can enjoy them for longer...if they work out as expected that is...
Watch the 31 Movies
'The 31 movies' refers to the list of 31 movies we've written in preparation for Octoberween watching.
There are classics, old movies, newer movies, family-friendly flicks and some slightly more thrilling
Try Candy Corn
This has been on my list for years but I haven't managed to cross it off yet.
Hopefully this year!
Decorate
Surely this is a given? We decorate every year at the start of the month and it's something I look forward to very much!
Read my Oct TBR
Halfway through this year, we stopped posting on our joint book blog and also stopped reading via a pre-assigned TBR list. I do however have a little pile of specific books I'd like to get to this month.
Sabrina Halloween Marathon
I love Sabrina and have all of the series which I often watch on a loop right though. It's been a while a though, so I want to have a day where we watch all the Halloween episodes.
Do Tattoos
It's such a shame we haven't been able to get into a studio and be tattooed since way back in February 2019, but we do have the stuff to do it at home. I've done a few now and want a couple of new little ones to commemorate our second anniversary.
Have a Woodland Walk
Self-explanatory really. It'll be our usual monthly walk.
Samhain Rituals
We'll have our alter, photos of ancestors, be having the traditional meal to share with our ancestors and maybe to get visit a couple of their graves too.
And that is hopefully what our Hallow-Ween will look like! If you didn't see my
September Life Lately post I have decided to dub the whole of October 'Hallow - Ween' because our surname is Hallow and October is our celebratory month...I don't want to just have one day of Halloween! I'll try to check back in at the start of November to see how many things I've been able to tick off. Enjoy your
Samhain and/or Halloween everyone!
*this was pre-written and on the day this is posted it definitely has felt more Autumnal with the past two days being torrential rain haha!
