In America, Halloween is kind of a big deal. The 31st of October is a widely celebrated holiday, so much so that I had high expectations. I was not disappointed! The signs of Halloween appeared a couple of weeks earlier than I expected, much like the Christmas decorations over a month early in Target.
Apparently, some neighborhoods in America decorate their houses with Halloween decorations. I expected the pumpkins, but I was unprepared for the witches and white wispy fabric with fairy lights from veranda to balcony and back. I was impressed to say the least. Milwaukee had their Halloween game on point. I can only imagine how much fun the kids in that neighborhood had trick-or-treating!
Whilst I didn’t get the opportunity to trick-or-treat (I’m too old apparently), pumpkin carving was in the cards. We tried, we really did. Evidently, a decent pumpkin carving requires experience and that we did not have. Our Aussie flag pumpkin was sadly subpar, although having a go was a lot of fun.
My favorite part of Halloween was the costumes. Getting an idea, shopping for it and finally wearing it was a blast. I think there are two types of people when it comes to costume planning: those who leave it to the last minute and those who use costume planning as a medium of study procrastination.
I was actually both. I wasn’t sure how many nights I needed costumes for (it turned out to be two). So whilst I procrastinated my college work getting an idea for the first night, the second night turned out to be a last minute affair where I borrowed my roommate’s costume from the first night because she, like me, didn’t feel like wearing it again.
Back to the first-night costume planning: many hours were consumed perusing Pinterest for that “perfect” costume. I mean, this was my first American Halloween, I had to have a mint costume. Do I go with the squad as Disney Princesses? Do I go as a punny gold digger or a unicorn? It’s character defining, I tell you.
What was the verdict? The bad grades I will likely receive can be attributed to the first-night gold digger costume. This included overdressing in gold knee-high, high-heeled boots and a gold dress with a helmet and shovel to match. I highly recommend this costume. The second night was more of a fluoro monstrosity, as I dressed as an over-the-top pink unicorn, complete with a horn – another costume I highly recommend. Of course, I could not let all this shameless costume plugging go to waste without mention of the support Goodwill (aka your local Vinnies) provided me. A couple of hours in Goodwill and all your Halloween costume needs will be met.
I also think some other people had a great time in Goodwill, as well, because I wasn’t the only one with an awesome costume. In fact, there were thousands. On the night of Halloween itself, Madison hosts Freakfest on State Street, which is a small festival of live music acts that everyone can enjoy! Most of the fun to be had was seeing the whole community of Madison out and about in their costumes. I saw too many cool costumes that night to pick a favorite! So, that pretty much rounds out my Halloween experience: America,