Halloween

We're gearing up for Halloween, and I have to say this is the most last-minute planning I've ever done for the holiday. If you know me well you'd know this is absolutely my favorite holiday. I love the fantasy of it all - costumes, decorating, change in weather, party planning, and of course it's also my birthday so I'm sure that's another reason I grew up loving this time of year!

It is truly an experience being in Malaysia for Halloween though! They didn't have candy, decor, costumes, etc.. in the stores until 2 weeks ago (IF that!), and it's a really small assortment to say the least. I was starting to get really nervous b/c I'm used to it hitting the shelves around the end of August in the US - tells you how big the US idealizes the holiday I guess. Pumpkins here cost about RM179, which is around $60, for a very small one.. and that's IF you can find one! So we will not be buying a pumpkin this year... plus they rot as soon as you buy them due to the tropical weather. It's okay though b/c Mads & I will be home the first week of November and the pumpkin village at the Dallas Arboretum is still on display until the 21st, so I'm going to take her to see it and take pictures.

Madison wants to be Jake, from "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" for Halloween. (it's a cartoon on the disney channel for all non-parents reading this). I looked for weeks for a pirate costume but couldn't find one and finally a friend told me she had one from last year that her child wore once and I could borrow - perfect! It's great too b/c she gave me 3 different hats and Madison has been wearing them around the house to see which one she likes best.

Since we live in a condo, we have a private elevator to our floor that only works with our keycard, so you can't go trick-or-treating door to door here. Some neighbors have arranged trick-or-treating poolside, which is a cool idea because the grounds here are huge and we have two enormous pools.  There's a landed community (which just means a community of bungalow houses) across the street from us and one of my friends is throwing a party on Saturday so we're going over there to trick or treat and bbq - should be fun!

Ryan actually came home from Vietnam last night (Wed) this week, which is def a treat as he usually comes home on Friday nights. But as I type, he's still at the office, and it's midnight.. so not sure it matters that we're in the same city..ha! We have Halloween events planned for Saturday morning (I'm hosting a Halloween party for kids with ibu), Saturday afternoon/evening (cookout), and Sunday - Halloween festivities at an outdoor mall (kind of like a West Village-type area).. so I think we're going to have a very fun weekend full of Halloween festivities!

Pics coming soon...