Ramblings about Halloween Nostalgia

There's something so warm & cozy about the 2000s fall/halloween aesthetic & maybe I just think that because I was a kid at that time so I am partial to it but I do feel there was a deliberate & intentional look to it. I just want to take a moment to appreciate it. 

I grew up in a very religious household so we didn't do halloween, I could watch halloween movies & have halloween treats but there was no dressing up or trick or treating, I think I dressed up once lol & I always credit my love of halloween to my lack of it at home as a kid. I am religious now but I'm a believer that the devil doesn't get to have a day, "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." So my memories of Halloween decor come from shows, movies, stores, & school. School is a big one because my elementary school really knocked it out of the park, I often think of the low lighting in aftercare, the string lights in the library, the little paper pumpkins, cobwebs, decorated doors, the halloween pretzels in the shapes of bats, ugh what I would give to sneak off & wander during aftercare again or to be huddled around the TV cart with my sister watching a movie & waiting for mom to pick us up.  

I've created a little fall moodboard here & it's just things that incite that cozy, halloween feel. Honorable mention for the window clings! I loovveed the gel window clings - we had Christmas ones & they always smelled like a mix of plastic & our attic, which was kinda gross but in a good way. I also love this very classic halloween color scheme of orange, purple, green, & black! Hot take, I don't think the pink, rainbow, disco ball halloween decorations we see these days give a festive feel at all, they may as well be year round decorations. I want to say that I don't wanna yuck anyone's yum & you should like whatever aesthetic brings you the most joy but I don't think you're supposed to say those things after a hot take.  

Here's what I'm going to be doing to get a bit of this feeling back:

• Reading spooky books from my childhood like Scary Stories to tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz, Bunnicula by Deborah & James Howe, & any Goosebumps books 
• Watching nostalgic movies & shows like Halloweentown, Goosebumps, Scary Godmother, Paranorman, Hocus Pocus, & Scooby Doo 
• Trying to use my phone as little as possible! I want to be present & enjoy the little things like slowing down & lighting a candle, looking at falling leaves, & turning on all my little light up decorations. 
• Creating nostalgic fall moodboards 
• Thrifting for fall decor (I feel like a lot of nostalgic finds are there)

I think I'm going to put up my fall decorations this weekend, they usually go up right after my birthday (August 20th) but we just haven't gotten around to it yet so I'm excited for that & I'm sure it'll elevate the super cozy vibe I'm going for. Have you decorated yet or done any fall/Halloween activities?

Is it pumpkin spice time yet?

Surprise, surprise I'm once again thinking about fall! 

I'm going back home to Florida next week & I'll be returning home up north right at the end of August, which is perfect because my last 2 weeks of Summer will be in the most summer-y place (SO SO SO EXCITED TO GO & EAT BARBECUE & SIT ON MY PARENT'S SCREENED IN PATIO!!!) & then I'll be home right in time for fall. I know it doesn't technically start until the end of September but in my calendar, halloween & fall starts immediately after my birthday (August 20th). So September 1st is the start of fall, argue with a wall. 

To get into the fall mood I have a few things I'm hoping to do before heading down South. My boyfriend & I always have a huge list of movies to watch & activities to do around halloween time & most of the time we never get through all the things so I like to stretch fall activities as far as I can. 

(I went to B&N last weekend with my boyfriend & only bought one book because I'm trying to save money but I had my eye on these because I just wanna get into fall already! I joked that we could go back this weekend & get an early birthday present - which my boyfriend did agree to but he also pointed out a few months ago I asked for a switch 2 for an early birthday present which he also bought me. Lesson learned, I am horrible at the whole early gift thing lol) 

YA books I'm going to get this weekend: 

I'm also going to attempt a themed movie night or 2, I'm thinking Coraline because I saw someone on TikTok make button shaped cookies (do you think that would work fine as chocolate chip cookies cut out in the shape of buttons rather than the colored sugar cookies?). Then I'm going to try to update my fall TBR & movie/show queue. What are you doing in preparation for possibly the coziest season?

Summer is over party!!!

 I am absolutely yearning for fall !!!🍂

I'm watching twilight as I make this, my first bloooggg pooossstttt! I am just absolutely craving fall. I used to think Summer was my favorite season but I think that's just because I'm from South Florida so that's really the only season I've ever experienced, besides a few days of Winter while visiting family in New York. Moving to a state with all 4 seasons was an adjustment but I must say, fall is so special. Like I've often thought if I have to move I don't think I'll go back to South Florida, I'd need to be somewhere that gets a little chilly & starts looking orange kinda. I love a sweater, pumpkin spice everything, watching cozy & warm & kinda dark movies, watching the leaves turn, going to a cider mill, UGH I am a fall girl through & through & I thank God I came here & learned that. Let's prepare for fall! 

Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's' Stone, Twilight, Scooby Doo, Halloweentown, Hubie Halloween, The Nightmare Before Christmas, & Coraline are the absolute essentials to get into the fall mood. Shows like Gilmore Girls, Supernatural, Scooby Doo Mystery Inc, & Tokyo Ghoul are also so autumnal. Can I interest you in some treats to go with? 

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Not to toot my own horn but the focaccia & ghost pizza are both homemade! I'm linking the Focaccia Recipe. For the pizza it's just store-bought refrigerated dough, store-bought pizza sauce, & mozzarella cheese. To get the ghost shape we used a cookie cutter & for the eyes & mouth we used different sized straws. I love love love trader Joe fall items & some of my faves that I purchase multiple of are the petite pumpkin spice cookies, the pumpkin spice cake, & the butternut squash mac!!!

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So many magical things about fall I cannot wait!!!