HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2024

After spending several Halloweens with none of my LA pals celebrating, which makes me sad, I figured that I needed to get the festivities going by taking my second favorite holiday into my own hands this year. I began the fun early by donning my Halloween nails which were given to me by a good friend last October. I figured why wait until today? Or even this week? I started rocking them on October 3rd!!! I’m happy to report that they’ve brought smiles to the faces of the majority of people I’ve run into since then.

Karen Salkin’s Halloween nails. The designs on her pointers and ring fingers are her faves. Photo by Mr. X.

I had already colored my hair a sort-of dark orange, (by accident, actually—I thought the picture on the box matched my own auburn tresses,) so I’ve kept it like that.

Then I changed the background and cards of my on-line Solitaire game, (which I play only on my iPad to fall asleep at night and then to wake-up my brain up in the morning,) into the Halloween designs. The deck is so cute, on both the faces and the backs, that I really get a kick out of them. (They’re so cute, in fact, that I just may keep using them for a couple of more weeks until I switch-up to the Xmas ones!)

Photo by Karen Salkin.

I’ve also been collecting trick-or-treat candy from all the generous places I’ve visited throughout the month, (why does a doctor visit have to be just scary, and not in a good way?,) and gathered it all in fun little plastic pumpkins for my sugarholic bae.

And I’ve accepted as many fun holiday-centric invitations as I could, even while watching baseball’s many postseason games.

In the entertainment category, I began that early, as well, right at the beginning of the month, when a friend and I saw the spookiest musical ever, Little Shop of Horrors, in Thousand Oaks. (In case you missed my review earlier this month, here’s the link: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/theatre-little-shop-of-horrors-3.)

The one entertainment I wish I hadn’t missed is Blood/Love, a new rock musical performed at what sounds like a fun pop-up club in Hollywood. As Mr. X always says about me, I was overbooked this month. But we all still have this whole final weekend to see it! (Info here: www.bloodlove.com.)

Even for this time of year, I cannot force myself to watch horror films, but Mr. X and I have spent more hours than I care to admit watching Dish’s “dishscapes” of their “Haunted Mansion” and “Fear Farm” tableaus, which both feature subtle little scary bits throughout. The farm one even features a barn with a setting like that funny-but-scary Geico commercial with the stupid kids hiding behind the hanging chainsaws in it. I love that! (As a matter of fact, I just published an entire column on just that one ad! if you missed it earlier this week, here’s the link: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/television-the-best-commercial-on-tv-ever.)

One of the Halloween Dishscapes. Doesn’t that barn look like the one in the Geico commercial? Photo by Karen Salkin.

While far from a horror film, we also re-watched The Sixth Sense, which is sort-of scary.

And we spent a late afternoon driving around to see decorated Halloween houses. The ones in the east part of the Valley are particularly fabulous! If you’re looking to see some spooky decorations, I suggest you head in that direction. Or, if you can brave massive crowds, maybe take in the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval, (their spelling, not mine,) on Santa Monica Blvd. tonight; Mr. X and I came upon all the over-the-top decorations there earlier this week, and they definitely brought a smile to our faces.

Decorations in Toluca Lake. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Now let’s all have a fun and especially, safe, time tonight. Then in the morning, off come my Halloween nails, and we’re on to Thanksgiving!

But for today, I wish you all a Happy Halloween!