BOO!

I still remember the very last time I went trick or treating *cue flashback music.*  I was in middle school, and obviously waaay too cool for costumes and plastic pumpkin bags. Instead, I was sporting ripped jeans and a t-shirt, a pillowcase straight out of the linen closet off my bed, and an arsenal of minty shaving cream that I'd later learn burns like heck when you get it in your eyes. Oh yeah, and some funky smelling rubber clown (?) mask that I'd brought along just in case the neighbors were stingy about the whole "dress up" thing.  I met up with friends after school and we planned our route through the neighborhood, optimizing candy retrieval in the least amount of time, while avoiding the old folks who still handed out pennies. If we stuck to the plan, we'd have enough time before the street lights came on (that was our curfew back then) for the sure-to-be-epic eggs/silly-string/shaving cream fight with the other school kids who "just so happened" to also be at the corner of Ida Avenue and Briggs Street at 6:00pm.

I was over the whole thing by the 5th house. Each time the door opened and I chanted that stupid phrase "Trick or Treat!" I became increasingly aware of how lame I both looked and sounded. It didn't help that I was abnormally tall for my age too, which further compounded the feeling of "aren't you a little old for this?" And then came the shaving cream in the eyes... Thank goodness we're adults now and alcohol, loud music and Facebook have made the whole night socially acceptable again.

I've learned to put a little more effort into my costumes since then too, and this year I was going in the traditional Dia de los Muertos attire, with a painted sugar skull on my face and everything, BUT... I got sick and we don't have any party plans, so this one will have to wait till next year. Nevertheless, here's the outfit I was going to wear, along with some inspiration. Enjoy!