I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. #nablopomo2022
You guys, before I jump into the actual post for today, I want to announce… it’s day two of NaBloPoMo and we officially broke double-digits this year (woot!)… we have 10.5 participants so far (yes, Birchie, I am half-counting you, even if you don’t want to officially commit. No pressure, you know. Haha!). I’ve already “met” a few new faces (hiii, welcome!) and I am so excited about every single one of you jumping on the bandwagon this year. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
And now, on to the actual post for today…
We had a very laid back Halloween-weekend. Without kids – or any Halloween-parties to attend – Halloween is a rather uneventful holiday for us. If you are curious why I am pretty indifferent when it comes to Halloween, read my post from last year, where I explain that Halloween is not a holiday I grew up with, and what the German traditions are around this time of year.
Every year I contemplate doing a little more in terms of Halloween decorations, and every year I feel like it’s not “worth it” for the short period of time these decorations are actually up. I am a minimalist when it comes to deco-stuff and I only buy something if I really love something and see myself using it a lot. No, I do not have containers full of decorations in my garage. Therefore, our Halloween-fall-decorations on our front porch are fairly minimalistic (although I still love Rupert, our bespectacled owl, and the few pumpkins I buy every year).
I might not go all out on the Halloween-decorations myself, but I sure do appreciate the neighbors that do! One of my favorite Halloween-holiday traditions is a run through our neighborhood and snapping pictures of all the cool outdoor decorations that people put up. I usually scope out the best decorations on my usual neighborhood runs a couple of weeks in advance and then try to plan my route for my Halloween run accordingly. I spent almost two hours on Sunday afternoon – on a beautiful fall day here in Northern California, mind you – roaming the neighborhood and I loved every minute.
I also make it a point – if possible – to let the neighbor know how much I appreciate their efforts, if I happen to run into them. I mean, it’s a lot of effort without a lot of feedback, I presume (although I hope people who decorate simply do it because they enjoy it!).
As with most things, I prefer simple, minimalistic and tasteful *everything*, and it’s not different with the Halloween decorations. I am not a big fan of gory displays or a mismatched mishmash of random decorative items. But hey, who am I to complain? Everyone who decorates is awesome in my book.
But I have to admit, the funny skeleton-displays are my favorite. Did you spot the ones “tp-ing” the tree? Or the one on the swing just casually waving at passer-byers? I also love a beautiful front stoop lined with an array of gourds and pumpkins.
For the last couple of years, we didn’t get any trick-or-treaters at our house, which I think is due to two reasons: 1) our entrance is kind of set back behind a gated front area (which is also hidden behind some bushes), which makes for great privacy, but also doesn’t really invite people to come and knock at our door, and 2) kids/families mostly go trick-or-treating a couple of blocks away, where the bigger houses are (expecting full size candy, I suppose) and I’ve never seen many kids on our street to begin with.
We did settle in, lit some candles, and watched Hocus Pocus on Monday night. I do enjoy this movie around this time of year. I really wanted to watch Hocus Pocus 2, the sequel, to see what all the fuss is about (I heard people either love or hate it), but it’s only available on Disney+ right now and we don’t subscribe, so we’ll wait until it will be made available on other streaming platforms.
How was your Halloween (weekend)? Have you watched Hocus Pocus 2?
Elisabeth
November 2, 2022 at 7:06 amWow! Those are some great decorations and I love living vicariously through what others do. I especially appreciate when people inject humour or whimsy into their decorations (like having a skeleton swinging on a swingset or we’ve seen some HILARIOUS fake tombstones this year).
Our kiddos had a fabulous time; I think it might have been my favourite Halloween ever?!
I wasn’t a huge fan of Hocus Pocus as a kid, haven’t rewatched it since and didn’t bother to watch Hocus Pocus 2. I’m such a Scrooge – haha.
San
November 2, 2022 at 8:36 amYes, I definitely love injected humor, too. And I am so glad to hear your kids had a great Halloween – that’s all that matters ;) I think I’d enjoy it more if we experienced to the eyes of kids :)
NGS
November 2, 2022 at 7:11 amWe do decorate our house because my husband loves Halloween. We have four pillars on our front porch and I put orange and purple rope lights around each one. There’s a big light up spider and web in our big picture window and two orange candles in our upstairs windows. Otherwise, there’s not much inside – just one hanging owl my sister handmade for me and a Halloween nightlight. I think that’s minimal, but maybe you don’t. LOL.
We didn’t get a lot of trick or treaters this year, which was disappointing. But we went to a corn maze and I went to a haunted house this year, so I think I really got into the spirit of things!
San
November 2, 2022 at 8:35 amI love that you decorate your house. More power to you :)
jenna
November 2, 2022 at 7:12 amYou’re not missing anything with HP2. Enjoy the original.
San
November 2, 2022 at 8:35 amThanks for stopping by, Jenna! :) And for your input on HP2.
Jenny
November 2, 2022 at 7:39 amI love Halloween for all the craziness and humor- like those skeletons TPing the tree! I love Christmas because the decorations are so pretty, but it’s not zany like Halloween. We put up moderate decorations and get a moderate amount of trick-or-treaters, and I’m fine with that. This year my daughter asked me to drive her and her friends to a more “cool” neighborhood so I did that, and it was like a huge party. I sat in the car and read while they walked around (they’re teenagers and don’t need me- except as a chauffeur.) Ha, I sound like a huge dork- people are going to corn mazes and haunted houses and I read a book! Well, to each his own.
San
November 2, 2022 at 8:34 amTo each their own! ;) I probably wouldn’t have braved the trick-or-treater crowds either (I heard it was crazy in our neighborhood a few blocks away!)
Jenny
November 2, 2022 at 8:12 amOh and one more thing- in the list of NaBloPoMo participants, Tierney’s link doesn’t work.
San
November 2, 2022 at 8:34 amThanks for letting me know. I fixed it!
Nicole MacPherson
November 2, 2022 at 10:18 amI have never seen Hocus Pocus, one or two. I don’t actually like any kind of Halloween movies, or anything remotely scary! Those decorations are fantastic. We go all out on ours! I love seeing all the different things.
Meike
November 2, 2022 at 11:31 amThe kids had a lot of fun on Halloween and that is the most important thing for me. We usually get some trick or treaters but the real party happens around the corner from us what is fine with me. For myself I like the days leading up to it more and watching the decorations transform the neighborhood. Your area sure looks like it has some awesome decorations, too.
I never watched Hocus Pocus and don’t feel the need. Our go to is always Nightmare before Christmas.
Catrina
November 2, 2022 at 1:17 pmI hear you on how different Halloween is in the US compared to other parts of the world.
In Switzerland, it’s more about remembering dead loved ones and visiting their graves. Here in South Africa, Halloween isn’t a topic. There are a few ghostie things in some shops, but that’s it.
Vive la difference! 😊
Suzanne
November 2, 2022 at 1:58 pmOh my goodness, you do have some fun neighborhood decor!
I love decorations, but I haaaaate putting them up and despise taking them down. I really only decorate for Halloween because I love it, and for Christmas. But I do have a few fall-ish decorations that I leave up through Thanksgiving. I think I may just turn our cat-o-lanterns around to face the house and keep them as long as I can, haha.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
November 2, 2022 at 2:25 pmThose decorations are really fun to watch. I understand though that you dont want to go through the trouble of decorating your self. So living in such a neighborhood is a pretty good compromise. Funny that you plan ahead on where to run on Halloween. We had couple of kids ring our bell but I didnt have any candy in the house and so I just hid behind the curtain hoping they move on.
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
November 2, 2022 at 4:05 pmI never did anything for Halloween when I was single. Now I enjoy it because the kids enjoy it and it’s an easy holiday. We didn’t get very many kids at our house so it ended up being a nice, low key night.
Tierney
November 2, 2022 at 8:32 pmI have a mini-list of Halloween movies to watch that seems to carryover each year since I never get to them: Hocus Pocus, Beatlejuice, and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
November 3, 2022 at 6:15 amWe haven’t decorated before but Paul is sooo into Halloween that I am going to try to buy something each year so we have some Halloween-themed decor. People really decorate in our neighborhood, although not to the extent of some of the pictures above! The tp’ing skeletons is my favorite! As you know from my recent post about Halloween, I used to be kind of a grinch about the holiday. But now I really enjoy it since Paul is so into it. His enthusiasm is contagious!
Grateful Kae
November 3, 2022 at 5:35 pmWow!! Those are some great photos and lots of great decorations!! We (or I, I should say) decorate. My husband does not, um, participate in the decorating. Although he did help me hang up those Spooky Guys in our tree because it needed 2 people. Like you, he didn’t grow up here, and Mexico doesn’t celebrate really the same way we do. His parents definitely do not decorate for Halloween, although they do put up an ofrenda for Dia de los Muertos. But my husband has never felt pulled to want to do that at our house, sadly. He just isn’t one to really initiate holiday traditions. I guess that’s where I come in. lol! We didn’t get many trick or treaters, either. We never do, I think because we live on a cul-de-sac. It’s a bit “out of the way” off the main road. I guess on the plus side, I save some $$ on candy. Ha!
Stephany
November 4, 2022 at 8:08 pmYou have some really great Halloween decorators in your area! I love all of these funny displays. Some of those skeletons are HUUUUGE.
My mom’s neighborhood does some good spooky Halloween decorations. One neighbor’s house scares me, haha. They have a zombie girl swinging on their outside swing and it’s terrifying at night!
I went to my mom’s for Halloween so we could pass out candy, but we got just a handful of trick-or-treaters. I wonder if the fact that Halloween was on a Monday meant less kiddos? Who knows!
Zenaida Arroyo
November 5, 2022 at 8:02 amI love all of the Halloween decorations! I don’t decorate here because I live on the 2nd floor and you can’t see much anyway from the ground. Maybe when I do buy a house. I haven’t watched the first Hocus Pocus movie. Am I missing out?
anne
November 16, 2022 at 2:58 pmYour neighborhood is awesome, San! I love all the decorations, and the TP-ing skeletons. I don’t decorate (ok, I have this… pumpkin made out of some natural material…? it’s 1.5 inches in diameter, though, so it’s not overwhelming, ha!), and I’m also a non-trick-or-treater thanks to the no-kids-single-person situation. Works for me! I don’t know where the kids in my apartment building go… maybe those trunk-or-treats that different organizations do??