Chick Chat: It’s Fall Y’all!

Did somebody say FALL? Sign us up – we are totally embracing the cozy nights on the couch, the crisp leaves, and the apple picking. We all agree, Fall gets an A+!

As such, we decided to play a little fill in the blank game, and would love for YOU to play too. You ready?

Fall in my area means_______________.

The one fall tradition I never skip is______________.

The best Halloween candy is____________. But I’m not a fan of__________.

kylename1

Fall in my area apparently means apple-picking, but in the four years that I’ve lived in Virginia, I still haven’t gotten out to an orchard. Ha. So I guess what I mean to say is that Fall in my area actually means Football. Every Sunday. And Thursday Night. And Friday Night. And Saturday. And Monday Night? Jeez. When I put it that way it sounds like all I do is watch football. Which isn’t necessarily wrong.

Taken on a 2013 hike in VT on the Appalachian Trail

Taken on a 2013 hike in VT on the Appalachian Trail

The one Fall tradition I never skip? Sorry, not sorry: Pumpkin Spice Latte. Or Americano. But I get at least one every year. Usually just one. But I always have to check that box in the annual welcoming of pumpkin flavor back into my life.

The BEST Halloween candy are Reese’s cups. There was a heavy barter system and black market candy trade in my house when we were kids to see who could get their hands on the most Reese’s. Pretty much any of the chocolate candy is near the top of my list. I’m not, however, a big fan of licorice-flavored anything, though. Keep that vile junk away from me. No. Thank. You.

vicname1

Fall in my area means weekly trips to the farm stand for freshly picked apples (and seasonal trips to my in-laws’ farm to pick apples and make pies and cider! It’s also time for stunning, vibrant foliage. I seriously can’t get enough of it! 

The one fall tradition I never skip is seeking out stunning foliage and making fresh veggies from local farmers. Unfortunately I also can’t skip raking leaves as I have a huge yards with lots of trees. Ah well. 

The best Halloween candy are Reese’s PB cups (pumpkins) and Kit Kats. But I’m not a fan of Snickers, candy corn or any sort of black licorice. Ick.

camname1

Fall in my area means pretty much the same as Spring.  California doesn’t believe in seasons.  Erratic temperatures in the morning that lure you into a false hope that today might be the day you get to wear a jacket.  By mid afternoon, you’re cursing the very existence of jackets as the temperatures reach the 90’s.  I really love jackets.  I hate that California makes me hate them.

The one fall tradition I never skip is apple picking in Oak Glen.  Also, trick or treating!  We love Halloween!  We try to get to Disneyland during the fall, I think the Halloween decor is even better than Christmas!

camfallyall

The best Halloween candy is Kit Kat and Twix. But I’m not a fan of anything shaped like eyeballs.
jennname1
Fall in my area means yellow aspens and corn mazes (which I avoid like the Red Death). Although I love to write scary stories, I hate reading them, and I certainly refuse to pretend to be in one (cue corn maze). Pardox personified? So much yes. But it also means Halloween, a.k.a the BEST holiday ever. If I’m honest, costuming is the real reason I learned to sew. If only we wore costumes everyday, the world would be a much more interesting and fun place.
Picture courtesy of Jenn's friend, @espyphoto

Crystal Mill near Aspen. Picture courtesy of Jenn’s friend, Jen. @espyphoto

The one fall tradition I never skip is pumpkin scones. Mmmmmmmm. I’m not really a fan of the pumpkin spice thing, but mix it with white flour and sugar, and I’m there. By the way, does anyone have a healthy pumpkin scone recipe??

The best Halloween candy is caramel apples. And mini Baby Ruths. And maybe Reese’s Peanut Butter pumpkins. And Smarties. Can I just say all the candy? But I’m not a fan of candy corn. Gross.

mername1

Fall in my area means a crazy amount of things to do. And I truly want to do all of the things! In our family in particular it means lots of Cub Scout and Boy Scout meetings/fundraisers/Halloween parties. It means fall racing (and hopefully PRs!) for me. I love the colorful leaves and the cooler temps. I can borrow Cam’s jackets!

The one fall tradition I never skip is something that signifies fall to my family in particular. We have a tin man made out of cans that Jay and I got as a wedding gift. The boys absolutely love our tin man and it wouldn’t be fall without it on our front steps!

The best Halloween candy is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I will gladly take those off anyone’s hands. But I’m not a fan of licorice (Twizzlers doesn’t count, btw).

Okay, now it’s YOUR turn. We want to hear what makes you swoon when it comes to Fall!

Chick Chat: All Dressed Up for Halloween

Happy Halloween, boys and girls! Or is it ghosts and goblins? Perhaps there are some vampires and zombies out there reading this as well.

Or maybe you’re reading this thinking, “ahmahgah, it’s Halloween and I have no costume! What am I going to DO?” while slapping your cheeks, a la Kevin McAllister in Home Alone.

Okay, probably not. But whether you’re looking for inspiration, a chuckle, or reading this simply because you love us (which I suspect is all of you), this chick chat is all about dressing up. Read on for some of the Chicks’ favorite costumes of yore…and more recent yore!

Meri

I had two tried and true costumes when I was a kid: gypsy and hippie. Some might say that they are very similar and to that, I say, true. My mom liked easy costumes and I usually just went along with it. Hey, when you’re getting to eat candy (a rarity in my house growing up), you get what you get and you don’t get upset.
Hottie-boom-body!

Hottie-boom-body!

Now that I’m an “adult” (loose interpretation), it’s less about me dressing up and more about the kids. We let them choose their costumes at this point.
Adora-kids.

Adora-kids.

My boys are cuckoo for Halloween so we begin discussing costuming options in September. This year they settled on being a pirate (surprisingly the harder of the two costumes to track down) and the werewolf. Not what I would have picked but I suppose we need to allow for independent thinking and all that.
Vic
Every summer, my sister would start planning her Halloween costume. She always created intricate, creative and unique costumes over three to four months. I was always impressed. She labored over what she would be months ahead of time, and she would repeatedly ask me about my plans. My response was ambivalent.  I didn’t know and I didn’t care. I usually figured it out the week before trick-or-treat night.  And while my sister was always stylish, I regularly placed comfort before style.

 Over the years, I was a genie, a vampire, a 50s rocker, a prairie girl. I was a turtle, a ballerina, a witch and Underdog. But most often, I dressed as a ghost.

As a young girl, I was obsessed with Casper the Friendly Ghost. I know I am totally dating myself here, but I loooooved Casper. Perhaps because he was bright, happy being in a season where the goal was to scare one another.  I think I went as the neighborhood’s friendliest ghost for three or four straight years – I used a plastic mask and a hand sewn… uh… sack, which I think was made from a white sheet.

I loved to trick-or-treat with friends and family, to flee from house to house gathering all sorts of goodies, then sorting them into piles once I was back home. Now, I love to hand candy out to the kids who come to my own door. (Albeit, six kids usually knock on my door. Those kids get awesome candy.)

I rarely dress up for costume parties as an adult. Trust me, when you’re an October baby, costume parties get really old, REALLY FAST. It – however – has happened several times. I’ve been a 60s mod girl, Little Red Riding Hood, but most often, I wear scrubs and pose as a doctor or surgeon.  Hubs has gotten in on that action as well.

BEST COSTUME EVER. I add a plastic stethoscope and voila. I am good to go.

Brooke

I have always loved Halloween, because I love dressing up and playing make-believe, and also it’s in the same month as my birthday, so it feels like a very long celebration. The candy is okay too.

We used to trick-or-treat at the mall when I was a kid, and my mom dressed me in some pretty cool costumes. One year, my brother and I were the cutest ever Raggedy Ann and Andy. When I was seven, my mom let me dress as a punk rocker, complete with pink streaks in my hair. My favorite though, was the year I turned six. My mom made a movie star costume for me, and let me wear dangly “diamond” earrings, a sparkling necklace and my grandmother’s fur coat, which was the softest thing I’d ever felt in my life. And she let me borrow her HIGH HEELS. I felt so special; wearing pretty make-up and mom’s shoes and jewelry.

One of my favorite adult costumes is one I wore last year, when I was pregnant. Josh dressed as Linus and I made a t-shirt with Snoopy’s face on my belly.

How cute is this?

How cute is this?

Jess

I have possibly the worst memory in the world, tied only with my mom (thanks for passing that along, Mama Jess), so it’s hard for me to drudge up the various things I dressed up as when I was little. There is one gloriously strange costume that sticks out for me, when I was 7 or 8. I was a bunny. And not just any bunny. I was Hammer Bunny. As in MC Hammer, people. I was kind of obsessed. Not sure why I had to throw the bunny angle in there.

You might wonder what this costume consists of. It goes a little something like this: a super-stylish white Hanes sweatshirt and sweatpants, most likely bought at Costco; white bunny ears attached to a headband (headband headache, CHECK); a rubber bunny nose with buck teeth that should have been called Sweat-Maker; and, of course, sunglasses. That was the MC Hammer part.

I wish I had a picture of that, but I’m sure I burned them all somewhere along the way. I did manage to dig up a random picture of me in what looks like a pilgrim costume, however.

I'm the short pilgrim.

I’m the shorter pilgrim.

I kind of lost interest in Halloween once I was too old to trick or treat. But since having Bug – and since this is his first Halloween, AHHH! – my love for this holiday has been renewed. Probably because I get to dress him up, parade him around, and then eat all of his candy. Hey, he’s too young for now! I’m doing him a favor.

My sweet baby elephant.

My sweet baby elephant.

All right, Scooters, it’s your turn! What are you going to be for Halloween this year? What was your all-time favorite costume? Tell us in the comments!