When I was in Kindergarten (1993) I wanted to be a dragon. My mom had hand sewn a green and purple dragon costume for my brother the year before, and I wanted my chance to wear the costume. I was also obsessed with Troll dolls at this time, and changed my mind, wanting to be a Troll. My mom bought a Troll head mask from the shop. It wasn't just a face mask- it fully pulled over my head. It had orange hair, but for some reason we decided to Kool-Aid dye it purple. It came out so murky and weird looking! I also couldn't see properly out the eye holes, so my mom hand cut larger holes out. You can imagine how this mask just keeps getting creepier and creepier 😂 Before we decided on what I would wear for the body, I decided I still wanted to wear the dragon costume. So I wore the bad-dye-job-gouged-out-eyes troll head WITH the body of the dragon costume. I wish I had photos of this, because I must have been a horrifying looking little 5 year old. I remember I wore it to school, and people asking me all day what I was, but I thought it was so obvious. "Duh, I'm half dragon, half Troll doll!".
(raises hand) also not allowed to celebrate halloween growing up. haha- my favorite costume was SIA in 2016 even though i lit-rally couldn't see through my bangs. as an adult for my kids- i vascillate between halloween being the best and the worst thing that happens each year.
am i the only one that feels an incredible amount of pressure to LOVE the holidays? and i just don't.
as a raleigh local- thank you for shouting out East Fork! I LOVE their items and they are using the money from selling current stock to keep wages going for employees. my other favorite that i buy from every time i am in asheville is french broad chocolate
2. I was not allowed to participate in Halloween festivities when I was a kid (very strict, Evangelical upbringing). When I became an adult and met my husband, an AVID Halloween lover, he took me 'adult' trick-or-treating to try a bunch of Halloween-themed cocktails at different bars. I dressed as Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec and handed out "Knope 2020" pins. It was a hit!
3. Reese's pumpkin shapes are hands down the best. May be a hot take but I'm a no-go for candy corn.
4. I have actually NEVER been apple picking but this weekend we have the perfect excuse -- a 6-month old that's adorable and ripe for family photos.
100% agree on Pumpkin Reese's being the best and that candy corn is the worst!!! I feel you on the strict evangelical parents... As an adult I love telling them how much I love witches :)
Omg I love this thread. Also grew up in a strict evangelical household. Also verrrry much embracing all things witchy this season and feeling so deliciously rebellious about it 🤣
This year will be my daughter's first Halloween. Since we have a cat, and she was gifted a bathrobe (game changer for pediatrician appts), I bought her a little crocheted wig and bunny slippers. For Baby's first Halloween, she'll be going as a childless cat lady 🤭
During my senior year of college, I dressed up as Freddie Mercury a la LiveAid (think: the arm band, mustache, og white sneakers) for a Halloween party. It was objectively a very lazy costume, and very few people recognized what it was supposed to be, lol. My now-fiance, though, recognized it immediately and came up to compliment me on it, which led to our first date! My Freddie Mercury era will always be very near and dear to my heart
The first Smitten Kitchen Keepers cookbook has the best fall cocktail, Apple cider old fashioned- perfect to batch make for your next holiday gathering!
1. Would like to try a bourbon apple cider martini I recently saw. I'm not a much of a bourbon drinker but it sounded good.
2. My favorite costume as an adult was me as Carrie Bradshaw (from SATC opening credits: white tulle skirt, pink tank top, heels). My hair is naturally curly and blondish, and I have a similar nose as SJP, so it was a pretty good one. I also have been Rosie the Riveter, an easy costume as an adult!
3. Best is the far underrated Take Five. Worst, banana Laffy Taffy. Blech.
4. I'm looking forward to a fall walk/hike at the state park near my house in southeastern PA!
Also meant to say that for this Halloween at work, I'm hoping to convince the other two Project Managers (men) to be Mario and Luigi and I'll be Princess Peach for the dress up at the office we're doing as a company.
Wait—when did leggings go away? Says a postpartum elder Millennial mom who hasn't worn jeans in over a year... :-P I'm loving Ina's memoir so much, too! Especially listening to her narration.
Favorite fall drinks are apple cider and the very basic pumpkin spice latte. Predictable but it makes me happy :)
I dressed up as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as an adult teaching government. I got a lot of eye rolling from my teenage students but they all immediately knew who I was, so I count that as a win! Plus I got to bang a gavel all day.
The best Halloween candy is a mini Kit Kat or Twix. We had our school vote on the best Halloween candy last year and Kit Kat was the winner. The worst is dots.
My old local coffee shop had the BEST fall pumpkin latte and it fully turned me into a pumpkin drink girlie! The secret is actual pumpkin puree (and like, a *lot* of it). That, maple syrup (I’m in NE so this is a staple in a lot of good fall drinks around here haha), and a bunch of pumpkin pie spices. Soooo good. I make it at home now bc I moved 😭
I don’t measure anything but here’s roughly what I do! I always make an iced latte (I have a Nespresso) and then I do like 1/3ish of a can of pumpkin puree, a glug of maple syrup, and then a little bit of ginger and nutmeg and probably at least half a teaspoon each of cinnamon and cloves (the cloves really make the flavor imo), but you can do all of it to taste!! Make sure you stir really thoroughly! And I make it in a big 32oz mason jar bc the puree makes the drink take up a lot of space haha
1. I love apple cider any which way but Half Baked Harvest has a whiskey apple cider cocktail with apple butter and ginger beer that I make on repeat this time of year!
2. I wasn’t allowed to celebrate Halloween as a kid either! I think I did a pretty good job catching up as an adult, but one of my favorites was my husband and I as Garth & Kat from SNL (https://youtu.be/ZQwSNu_YPBI?si=4JG4RaGHUMhh5dOX). I was Fred Armisen and he was Kristen Wiig. We chopped up wigs and puffy painted festive vests and went around all night making up songs. I don’t know if anyone else found it as funny as we did, but we were wholeheartedly entertained.
3. I’ll take a recees cup in any kind of shape- ghost, pumpkin, melted blob. Or a bite size snickers straight from the fridge.
4. There’s a town of apple orchards just outside of LA that we try to go to every year. Hot apple cider donuts, fresh apple cider, apple pies. So charming. I’m trying to hold out until the weather cools down for the full fall experience but I may just have to leave my sweater at home and just make the trip.
Favorite drink right now is homemade Pumpkin Spice Turmeric Latte. My sister happened to give us some pumpkin spice creamer, and I already had Diaspora Co.'s Pumpkin Spice Masala and Haldi Doodh Masala. I purchased some pumpkin butter and put all those together with some French Pressed coffee and it was delicious! I didn't go too heavy on the Haldi Doodh, like 1/4-1/2 teaspoon per latte and finished with the Pumpkin Spice. The turmeric added a nice note to it all. Separately, I've also made the Diaspora Co's Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe with their homemade PS syrup recipe which is super delicious too! Just depended what I had on hand, pumpkin butter or pumpkin puree. Diaspora are my absolute favorite spices, makes all the difference.
When I was in Kindergarten (1993) I wanted to be a dragon. My mom had hand sewn a green and purple dragon costume for my brother the year before, and I wanted my chance to wear the costume. I was also obsessed with Troll dolls at this time, and changed my mind, wanting to be a Troll. My mom bought a Troll head mask from the shop. It wasn't just a face mask- it fully pulled over my head. It had orange hair, but for some reason we decided to Kool-Aid dye it purple. It came out so murky and weird looking! I also couldn't see properly out the eye holes, so my mom hand cut larger holes out. You can imagine how this mask just keeps getting creepier and creepier 😂 Before we decided on what I would wear for the body, I decided I still wanted to wear the dragon costume. So I wore the bad-dye-job-gouged-out-eyes troll head WITH the body of the dragon costume. I wish I had photos of this, because I must have been a horrifying looking little 5 year old. I remember I wore it to school, and people asking me all day what I was, but I thought it was so obvious. "Duh, I'm half dragon, half Troll doll!".
This is simply the best 🤣 I can picture this so clearly!!
Doing the math on buying that tee for everyone in my book club. It’d be a lot, but we’ve been together 20+ years….
20+ years is the longest I've ever heard a book club live on for! Please tell us your secret...
A 20+ year book club! That’s amazing! Definitely worth the splurge I think 🤔
These literary ladies have been a constant in my adult life: I'm so lucky.
(raises hand) also not allowed to celebrate halloween growing up. haha- my favorite costume was SIA in 2016 even though i lit-rally couldn't see through my bangs. as an adult for my kids- i vascillate between halloween being the best and the worst thing that happens each year.
am i the only one that feels an incredible amount of pressure to LOVE the holidays? and i just don't.
as a raleigh local- thank you for shouting out East Fork! I LOVE their items and they are using the money from selling current stock to keep wages going for employees. my other favorite that i buy from every time i am in asheville is french broad chocolate
https://www.frenchbroadchocolates.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorYI1naOmXCKkepp_bSkkBE3FY0cwawWkGw0s3tlsg5I7pLgIgU
they have stock but you can also purchase gift cards for christmas and subscriptions to help out recovery efforts.
love getting this post. feels like i am finally finding my "true influencer" circle instead of hate following so many people for so many years.
hoping to get into substack myself but feels like a big scary leap?
xoxox!
bria, raleigh, nc
1. Oh I am a HOT TODDY girl all the way!
2. I was not allowed to participate in Halloween festivities when I was a kid (very strict, Evangelical upbringing). When I became an adult and met my husband, an AVID Halloween lover, he took me 'adult' trick-or-treating to try a bunch of Halloween-themed cocktails at different bars. I dressed as Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec and handed out "Knope 2020" pins. It was a hit!
3. Reese's pumpkin shapes are hands down the best. May be a hot take but I'm a no-go for candy corn.
4. I have actually NEVER been apple picking but this weekend we have the perfect excuse -- a 6-month old that's adorable and ripe for family photos.
100% agree on Pumpkin Reese's being the best and that candy corn is the worst!!! I feel you on the strict evangelical parents... As an adult I love telling them how much I love witches :)
My husband and I started a gothic witch rock band. I love sending our song releases to my parents ;)
Oh my god that is incredible <3
Omg I love this thread. Also grew up in a strict evangelical household. Also verrrry much embracing all things witchy this season and feeling so deliciously rebellious about it 🤣
Yes! Highly recommend Agatha all Along if you haven’t seen it!!
1000% agree with the Halloween candy. I see candy corn as only for aesthetics, not for consumption, haha!
This year will be my daughter's first Halloween. Since we have a cat, and she was gifted a bathrobe (game changer for pediatrician appts), I bought her a little crocheted wig and bunny slippers. For Baby's first Halloween, she'll be going as a childless cat lady 🤭
I love making tea lattes this time of year... chai tea or earl gray with a little maple syrup and frothy milk as an afternoon pick me up? YUMMMM.
Thanks for sharing the interview with Alex!! ❤️
During my senior year of college, I dressed up as Freddie Mercury a la LiveAid (think: the arm band, mustache, og white sneakers) for a Halloween party. It was objectively a very lazy costume, and very few people recognized what it was supposed to be, lol. My now-fiance, though, recognized it immediately and came up to compliment me on it, which led to our first date! My Freddie Mercury era will always be very near and dear to my heart
Hahah, nice! The low-effort costumes are an absolute must in college. I was Tom Cruise from Risky Business.
The first Smitten Kitchen Keepers cookbook has the best fall cocktail, Apple cider old fashioned- perfect to batch make for your next holiday gathering!
I love an apple cider old fashioned and Smitten Kitchen but I don’t think I’ve seen that recipe!
1. Would like to try a bourbon apple cider martini I recently saw. I'm not a much of a bourbon drinker but it sounded good.
2. My favorite costume as an adult was me as Carrie Bradshaw (from SATC opening credits: white tulle skirt, pink tank top, heels). My hair is naturally curly and blondish, and I have a similar nose as SJP, so it was a pretty good one. I also have been Rosie the Riveter, an easy costume as an adult!
3. Best is the far underrated Take Five. Worst, banana Laffy Taffy. Blech.
4. I'm looking forward to a fall walk/hike at the state park near my house in southeastern PA!
Also meant to say that for this Halloween at work, I'm hoping to convince the other two Project Managers (men) to be Mario and Luigi and I'll be Princess Peach for the dress up at the office we're doing as a company.
Wait—when did leggings go away? Says a postpartum elder Millennial mom who hasn't worn jeans in over a year... :-P I'm loving Ina's memoir so much, too! Especially listening to her narration.
I also wondered last week about when leggings had gone away! lol
Phew! It’s not just me. 😅
Favorite fall drinks are apple cider and the very basic pumpkin spice latte. Predictable but it makes me happy :)
I dressed up as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as an adult teaching government. I got a lot of eye rolling from my teenage students but they all immediately knew who I was, so I count that as a win! Plus I got to bang a gavel all day.
The best Halloween candy is a mini Kit Kat or Twix. We had our school vote on the best Halloween candy last year and Kit Kat was the winner. The worst is dots.
Kit Kats are fantastic, but I also love a 100 Grand and they are so underrated.
My old local coffee shop had the BEST fall pumpkin latte and it fully turned me into a pumpkin drink girlie! The secret is actual pumpkin puree (and like, a *lot* of it). That, maple syrup (I’m in NE so this is a staple in a lot of good fall drinks around here haha), and a bunch of pumpkin pie spices. Soooo good. I make it at home now bc I moved 😭
Ohhh can you please share your recipe to make at home?
I don’t measure anything but here’s roughly what I do! I always make an iced latte (I have a Nespresso) and then I do like 1/3ish of a can of pumpkin puree, a glug of maple syrup, and then a little bit of ginger and nutmeg and probably at least half a teaspoon each of cinnamon and cloves (the cloves really make the flavor imo), but you can do all of it to taste!! Make sure you stir really thoroughly! And I make it in a big 32oz mason jar bc the puree makes the drink take up a lot of space haha
This sounds amazing, can’t wait to try this weekend. Thank you, Audrey!
Best Halloween candy is Twix! Hands down! Worst is jaw breakers! Do they still make those? 🤔
I forgot about jaw breakers!!!
Rule Follower checking in:
1. I like a flavorful afternoon hot tea (Republic of Tea--the best)
2. I was Raggedy Ann for Halloween, and my mom made me the dress. I then wore it for PICTURE DAY.
3. Best: Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and the Worst: Butterfinger
4. I want to go to a Halloween Pop Up Bar.
1. I love apple cider any which way but Half Baked Harvest has a whiskey apple cider cocktail with apple butter and ginger beer that I make on repeat this time of year!
2. I wasn’t allowed to celebrate Halloween as a kid either! I think I did a pretty good job catching up as an adult, but one of my favorites was my husband and I as Garth & Kat from SNL (https://youtu.be/ZQwSNu_YPBI?si=4JG4RaGHUMhh5dOX). I was Fred Armisen and he was Kristen Wiig. We chopped up wigs and puffy painted festive vests and went around all night making up songs. I don’t know if anyone else found it as funny as we did, but we were wholeheartedly entertained.
3. I’ll take a recees cup in any kind of shape- ghost, pumpkin, melted blob. Or a bite size snickers straight from the fridge.
4. There’s a town of apple orchards just outside of LA that we try to go to every year. Hot apple cider donuts, fresh apple cider, apple pies. So charming. I’m trying to hold out until the weather cools down for the full fall experience but I may just have to leave my sweater at home and just make the trip.
Favorite drink right now is homemade Pumpkin Spice Turmeric Latte. My sister happened to give us some pumpkin spice creamer, and I already had Diaspora Co.'s Pumpkin Spice Masala and Haldi Doodh Masala. I purchased some pumpkin butter and put all those together with some French Pressed coffee and it was delicious! I didn't go too heavy on the Haldi Doodh, like 1/4-1/2 teaspoon per latte and finished with the Pumpkin Spice. The turmeric added a nice note to it all. Separately, I've also made the Diaspora Co's Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe with their homemade PS syrup recipe which is super delicious too! Just depended what I had on hand, pumpkin butter or pumpkin puree. Diaspora are my absolute favorite spices, makes all the difference.
My fall bucket list is to make Diaspora Spices PSL so I love that you made and loved it ! Your turmeric PSL also sounds delish