Halloween

I am a massive fan of Halloween. It never really was a big thing when I was little, so I have really enjoyed seeing it grow in recent years. I love going past people's houses and seeing their pumpkin carvings and decorations. One year I want to go to America to see Halloween - American Halloween displays look incredible!

 

In previous years I have decorated my house, but as I sold my house recently and moved back home I couldn't really go overboard on the decorations. However I did put some of my pumpkin collection out in my room and switched them on at night. 

My friend wanted to go Trick or Treating this year with her little girls. They are only little and it would have been their first experience of Halloween, and she didn't want to take them to stranger's houses, so we arranged for her to pop over to mine for some treats. I put a few decorations and pumpkins out and put together a quick cat costume to greet her. Walking into my room, I saw my cats who instantly puffed up their tails and arched their backs. I think they were a bit frightened of my cat outfit! 

I was kindly invited to a friend's Halloween party, so I headed to my friend's before hand to get ready and do makeup. I already had the Skeleton Dress from a couple of years ago, so I decided to wear that and tailor my makeup around it. 

We all had such a good night and everyone looked fantastic in their costumes. How did you celebrate Halloween? 

Birthday Month

So October was a busy month...so busy I am still recovering from it! However, it was a wonderful month, so I thought I'd share what I had been up to.

October was a busy month because not only was I turning the big 3-0, but two of my closest friends were too. Months ago we decided to do something together to celebrate, and the result was a trip to Brighton's Grand Hotel for Afternoon Tea. It was a wonderful day out - fantastic food and awesome company. I even got a badge to wear! Despite not living near all my closest friends, when we get together it is like we have never been apart - we revert back to our 15 year old selves!  

Fancy Dress Party 

After our birthday tea, the following weekend was the first of the 30th birthdays - my friend Gemma started the ball rolling with a Fancy Dress party. I love fancy dress, but know that not everyone does so working out what to wear was tricky. I wasn't sure whether to go all out costume wise (especially if no one else dressed up!) or to go for a low key costume. October was also quite an expensive month, so my friend Sarah and I decided to save money and go for a simple costume - Pink Ladies from Grease! We already had the basics for the outfit, all we both needed to buy was the jacket and my friend found them for less than £10 on the internet. A bit of hair crimping and red lipstick and I was ready to strut my stuff as a Pink Lady :) It was such a fun night although I think I over did it on the dance floor as my legs (already suffering an ME flare) were painful for days after. 

Theme Park 

After resting the whole of the week after Gemma's party, I was determined to go ahead with my Saturday plans - a trip to Chessington World of Adventures. I am a huge rollercoaster junkie - the higher, faster and scarier the better. Chessington is pretty tame in comparison to other theme parks I have been to, such as Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, USA, but I have always enjoyed going to Chessington since I was a child. This visit was even more special as my friend and her son were coming too, and it was her son's first visit. My friend doesn't really like rollercoasters so I was more than happy to step in and go on the rides with him that she didn't want to go on. However she was very brave as a non rollercoaster fan and went on Dragon's Fury and Rattlesnake. Strangely enough, I am terrified of water rides, and so my friend bought me a medal for doing the Bubbleworks ride (one of the tamest rides ever!).

As we went during the Half Term holidays, Chessington's Halloween celebrations were well underway. I had never been to a theme park for Halloween so I was really excited to see what they would do. I wanted to take the pumpkins homes!

I paced myself during the day and took rest breaks (we had delicious burgers in the Vampire Burger Kitchen restaurant!) as I knew I had to be "with it" for the drive home. There was so much to see at Chessington that unfortunately we didn't get to do it all, but it is a good excuse to go again another day. Most importantly, my friend's son thoroughly enjoyed his first visit. :)

My Birthday

After a busy few weeks it was nice to have a fairly chilled out day for my actual birthday. I went for a family meal to Frankie & Benny's - the food was delicious!

 SeaLife Centre

The day after my birthday I headed to Brighton to meet one of my uni friends and her little girl for lunch and a trip to the SeaLife Centre. It was so lovely to see my friend and her little girl and we had sunshine which was an added bonus! 

Blackberry Farm

I went with my friend Gemma and her two little girls to a nearby farm for a little visit. It was the girls' first real experience of Halloween so we didn't want to go somewhere too spooky so the farm was the ideal place. Gemma even went pumpkin picking with her girls and selected a little pumpkin to take home for carving.   

So that was my October in a nutshell. I had such a lovely month catching up with friends and making memories, I felt quite sad when it was all over.  Farewell October, you were awesome!