Open At Last!

Yesterday, before leaving for work, I drove past the old Kmart and saw that the signs saying "Not open" and "Waiting for city approval" gone from the already set up Spirit Halloween store. My guess is that they would be open that afternoon. Sure enough yesterday afternoon on a Facebook page about  what is happening in my town, someone posted that the Spirit Store is now open. I then drove to the store, only to find a long line waiting on the sidewalk. I decided not to go then. Someone on our Facebook group then said that the store was letting in 49 people at a time. I decided I to go today and arrived just before opening time. There was a line, but it was rather short.

I was beginning to feel a little guilty about going to the nearby town store, but I wasn't sure when my own town's store would be open. And since I had passed on getting the leg warmers at the other store, I chose to get them at my own store with a coupon I got in my email for 20% off an item at Spirit. Here are the leg warmers I got.

And here is more 80s stuff at the store:

I'm still looking for a shirt to wear under the mesh shirt and deciding what to wear for pants and shoes. 

More pictures from the store to come.

Off-Brand Costumes

This is not the first time I've posted knockoff costumes of popular characters. Click here and here for more. I don't seem to see these in stores, not that I have been looking, but still. Here are even more:

Notice that the Video Game Guy costumes only contain the hat, mustache, and suspenders. I wonder why no shirts? The shirt shown on the models nearly matches the hat. Yet, it would probably be hard to match the shirt exactly. At least the Leisure Suit Villain contains the whole tuxedo, but apparently no mask.

The Inside Out knockoffs don't even begin to resemble the real characters. And some of the generic  Bob's Burgers costumes don't even come close to the real ones.

There is a "Bossy Salem Sister" and a "Goofy Salem Sister" (above). I now wonder what is the third sister called. 

Food Costumes at Target

On Sunday, before driving off to the nearest Spirit Halloween store, I stopped and looked around Target. I needed to get a prescription from the Safeway Pharmacy but they don't open until 10AM on Sunday, and I left a little too early. 

The Halloween selection at Target has never been as good as the one Kmart used to have. Most of the costumes for sale at Target are kind of lame, in my mind. I nhave neverfound many I would consider. Just the same, I could not help looking at these food-themed costumes. The charcuterie board one especially. Though I'd never think to wear any of these. And I thought seeing the donuts placed under the construction cones was kind of funny. 

Spirit Store Visit

The Spirit Halloween store in my town still hasn't opened! It's already been set up, but the city is lagging behind on the permits. It looks like it might not be open very long, if it does open at all.

Since I'd made plans to go to the nearest town with a Spirit store, I decided to look at that one. And I got some stuff at that one. I feel weird not being able to go to one in my town, but what can I do till this problem with the city is resolved--if it ever is done in time. 

I'd been thinking about and have now decided on the 1980s for this year. At the store, I saw the following:

I got the net shirt and the necklace, along with the earrings on the right and the hair scrunchies set.  These items don't seem to be found much at thrift stores, so I know I'd have get them from the Spirit store. And not knowing when I'll be back to this one out of town, I knew it had to act fast. I wasn't sure what else to get. I saw some bright-colored leg warmers but passed on those for the time being. Still unsure what else I'll be adding. And I'm wondering if leg warmers are easily found at thrift stores. The Goodwill in the town nearby me has a bigger selection than the one in my town, but there wasn't time to go there. I wanted to beat the Sunday traffic as I headed back. I'll have to see what I can find locally or even on Amazon. 

Even though I'd already decided on a disguise, I just had to look around the store to see what else was there. Here are some shots (sorry for the pictures being a bit blurry!). I just had to get the SpongeBob ones.

October Bookish Bingo

 The new card is here.

My Books:

1. Trixie Belden: The Secret of the Mansion--Julie Campbell (4 squares): Not Finished Previous Month, In a Series, Shelf Love, Physical Book
2. Karen's Ghost--Ann M. Martin (3 squares): Audiobook, Trick/Lie, Spooky Silly
3. The Witches--Roald Dahl (3 squares): E-Book, Witch, Potion, Orange on Cover 
4. Fourth Wing--Rebecca Yarros (4 squares): Library Book, Book Club Read, Dragons, Free Space
5. Ten Creepy Monsters--Carey F. Armstrong Ellis (2 squares): Monsters, Broom
6. Summer in the City of Roses--Michelle Ruiz Keil ( squares): Free Book, Gothic

13 Spooky Reads Planned for This Month

Colleen at The Thursday 13 holds a weekly blogging prompt where bloggers make a list of 13 things on Thursdays. The topic is for you to choose. The blog host doesn't have any official graphics to display on the Thursday 13 posts, so I decided to whip one up myself. 🙂  

Since this is a book post, I will be combining it with the Book Discussion Challenge.

1. Summer in the City of Roses--Michelle Ruiz Keil: Even though it's set in summer, I chose this one because it's set in the 90s, and is a paranormal romance and mythology story. I'm trying to read mostly spooky stuff this month and these are three of my monthly prompts. This sounded great.
2. How to Sell a Haunted House--Grady Hendrix: I've heard a lot about this one and rushed to get it from the library before someone did! It definitely fits the season. In this challenge weird horror (a new-to-me sub-genre) is one of the prompts. I knew I'd wait for spooky season for this one.
3. The Me You Love in the Dark--Skottie Young: I needed an award-winning graphic novel for one of this month's prompts and searched for one with a paranormal theme. This is one that came up.
4. A Sorceress Comes to Call--T. Kingfisher: Another I have been hearing about. I needed a book that was nominated for the Hugo Awards and found this one. It was out when I went to get it at the library, but requested a hold and have it out now. 
5. The Witches--Roald Dahl: Have the e-book checked out. One classic I'd never read. One of the banned books prompts in this challenge is one about witches, something knew I'd be saving for October.
6. The Diviners--Libba Bray: I don't have this one out yet and am hoping to get it the next time I get to the library. Since our library is now closed on Saturday, I have only a few days in the week I can get there. I chose this one to fit the sub-genre of eldritch horror, yet another that I discovered this year. I knew if I chose to complete this category, it would definitely be this month.
7. The Bone Houses--Emily Lloyd-Jones: Another I don't have out yet. I barely learned of this one a while ago when trying to find book with skull on the cover. 
8. Cat's Cradle--Kurt Vonnegut: I've only read a few books by Vonnegut. This one fits the genre of Mundane Science Fiction (in this challenge) and breaks the fourth wall (in this one). I've been struggling with finding something that fits that second one, and this came up as one. 
9. Heartbroken--Serena Valentino: The newest book in the Disney Villains series. I currently have this on hold. For my fairy tale challenge, the month's tale is Alice in Wonderland, and this is told from the Queen of Hearts's POV. 
10. Girl, Serpent, Thorn--Melissa Bashardourst Chose this for queernorm (in this challenge), still another new-to-me sub-genre. While looking for books that fit this genre, this one came up. It was one of those books I was afraid will not be at my library, but it is. 
11. Lady Nightmare--Rachel M. Yoldi: This author had a signing at the new bookstore in my town, the first thing I purchased from there. It's rare that I ever get to signings, something I hope to be doing one day :)
12. Fourth Wing--Rebecca Yarros: Another I have been hearing about, and one that fits the prompt "a character who can fly," a category I have been struggling with. 
13. Karen's Ghost--Ann M. Martin: I'd never read The Babysitters Club books as a child. I needed an audiobook for this month and looked for one that is short and about a ghost. This one fits all that well.

This is what I've chosen so far. I will get as many as possible, and if I cannot get some of the books, I will have to find alternate choices. I've found another Alice in Wonderland retelling as well. I decided to try reading mostly spooky stuff for October. It only seems right :) And I will read as many others as I can squeeze in for the month.

What reads do you have planned for this month? Have you read any of the ones listed?

My Lawn Decorations

 Here are my lawn decorations for Halloween this year. 

October Eve

The weather is expected to be in the 70s this week. That's as far as I'm going to get into that for the time being :)

And yes, I have begun decorating the front lawn. I started on Sunday and want to add one last thing that I hope to do today, since I am off. My garden decoration won't be as elaborate as the one in this photo, as I can only do what I can with my budget. But I was glad to have this idea. Pictures to come once it is complete.

The Halloween store still hasn't opened, but many suspect it will be this week. I'm getting even more anxious...

What Season Is It, Anyway?

Even though the first day of fall was two days ago, yesterday the weather in my area was in the 90s. As I've said, I almost expect it to be that way at this time of year here in California. But when I got up this morning to get gas at Safeway, I saw it was sprinkling a little. Now it's expected to be that way through this afternoon, with temperatures in the 80s. Sheesh... I won't even get started on what's expected the rest of the week.

"False fall" is about right for the current weather. "Second summer" seems to be what we've had in recent years as the calendar reached October.

Spirit Halloween is still not open. The last two times I drove past the old Kmart I saw signs in the windows, including a handwritten one saying, "Not open." Unopened boxes can be seen through the front entrance (the only windows in the building). I'm just hoping for it to be open by next week. The website says "Opening in September," which has only six days left. 

And when do I start decorating the lawn? I'm hoping this weekend, so it will be up on the first. But I haven't even begun to see what I still have from previous years. I now wish I'd known about that zombie garden thing sooner... 

1st Day of Fall

 Well, yesterday was. And as often in my neck of the woods, it doesn't feel that way. It's expected to be in the 90s the next few days. I have pretty much come to expect this each year.

Yes, I've seen most of these things in stores lately. Dollar Tree already has Christmas up! Our Spirit Halloween began getting set up last Wednesday, but is till not (s of yet) opened. I'm hoping by the first! The signs are in the window but when I last looked, there were unopened boxes near the windows. Once again, they are opening at our former Kmart. Spirit stores in nearby towns have been open for sometime now (one in a former Forever 21 outlet store), but I haven't had time or energy to make that drive. 

I have seen Halloween candy displays already, but who buys it this early? If I did, I'd be eating it all! No way I can keep it away from myself for a whole month! Pumpkins are starting to be sold on the sidewalks at Safeway. 

I now want to start decorating for Halloween since the first is more than week away. I saw this decoration (I showed it only blog last week), but am not sure I have the time or money to create something like this:

How ambitious are any of you as far as decorating goes? I may just have to go with what I already have.

13 Non-Political Things on Facebook This Week

Colleen at The Thursday 13 holds a weekly blogging prompt where bloggers make a list of 13 things on Thursdays. The topic is for you to choose. The blog host doesn't have any official graphics to display on the Thursday 13 posts, so I decided to whip one up myself. 🙂  

As I said earlier this week, I've been trying to avoid posting political stuff on Facebook. Here are just some of the non-political things I've posted or shared so far this week. A mix of things, including:

Random Stuff

Holiday Stuff

BeetleGoose

Zombie Garden Decoration

And some more cats...