Countdown to Halloween---#10

I love Halloween; that's a given. It is a holiday I look forward to every year. Therefore, I decided it might be fun to countdown to 10/31 by writing a blog each day, indicating 10 reasons why I'm such a fan.

Blog #10---Decorations

I sometimes wonder what exactly I have in common with my parents, as I'm sure most children do. We don't always (clique alert) see eye to eye on things. Our tastes aren't what you'd call "simpatico", if you catch my drift.

However, one trait I know I've inherited, from my mother at least, is the desire to decorate for holidays. Now, I don't do every holiday, because that's a little nutty. To her credit, my mother doesn't either. Some holidays aren't worth it (can we say Valentine's?) Others just aren't very practical (aka New Years). In my book, you should only decorate for the important ones, which, of course, includes Halloween!

Now, since I currently live in a basement, I don't have a lot to work with. Oh yes, there are decorations now, but they're small and not all that interesting. Plus, they're not very scary. If I had my own place and a ton of money to blow, I would turn my quarters into a bonafied haunted mansion! I would do everything in my power to make things creepy, eeky, grody, and all-out spooky, aka The Addams Family, the Munsters, any Vincent Price movie... my house would have it all!

Bottom line is, you've got to decorate. You don't have to go my route, there are plenty of G-rated decorations you can do. Decorating gets you in the spirit of the holiday, so I definitely recommend doing it.

Good Halloween decorations = win!

The Ten Blogs of Christmas (#6)

REASON #6

LIGHTS AND DECORATIONS

Anyone who has ever been to my house knows that we are totally in to decking the halls for Christmas. My mother has dedicated an entire closet (a small closet, be it) in our basement just for decorations alone. However, not all her decorations fit in the closet, which is kind of sad. I have inherited that trait from her--although I am many, many years away from achieving the same level.

The thing I like about decorations is they usually have some sort of story behind them. We have some old ones from when my parents were first married and I even have an old Santa Claus that was my grandmother's. It is also nice to try and get a new decoration every year so a new memory can be attached to it. This is usually best with ornaments.

Speaking of ornaments, I think my favorite decoration of all is the Christmas Tree. Yes, I would prefer a REAL tree, but even the artificial ones are special. My parents have had the same one for most of my life, and it is BIG! TEN FEET TALL--WOOT! I have a weird thing now where I need a Christmas tree to be AT LEAST six feet tall. Any tree smaller than that does not count in my eyes. Christmas trees are also cool because there are many, many decorations (the ornaments) on a decoration. However, a Christmas tree is NOT a Christmas Tree unless it has lights!

Speaking of lights--I LOVE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!! Twinkling lights against the sparkling snow--what more could you ask for? If you don't have little Christmas nick-knacks you AT LEAST need Christmas lights. They are a must! I have to say I have one big pet peeve when it comes to lights. I do not like houses that are decked out in white lights--ONLY white lights! I'm sorry, but that is way, way too boring! It is okay to do all red or all green but all white is ridiculous. I also don't like houses that cover every corner in lights, i.e. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Yeah, I know I'm picky.

I definitely think lights and decorations help bring the spirit of Christmas to life. It just is not Christmas without a little holiday decor.

Oh, you've totally got to watch this--it's CRAZY AWESOME!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgrQdxzFAtM