Halloween is Most Definitely the Best Time of Year

For those of you who know me, you know I love to decorate for the holidays. I decorate for Valentine's Day, Halloween, Chanukah, Christmas, and any other chance I get: For example, my mom's birthday is St. Patrick's Day so I get to do double decorations for that and for Father's Day this year, we threw a Hawaiian luau in the backyard, complete with our own "tiki bar".

As much as I love decorating for all of these different holidays though, nothing will ever compare to the rush I feel decorating for Halloween. Every year, I wander the Halloween stores looking for the perfect decorations. Over the years, my family has collected everything from a headless woman, a giant skeleton bird, and a creepy scare crow. There are still so many things I would love to get and I'm sure one day, I will. Halloween is my yearly challenge. I'm always determined to outdo myself. My largest challenge is how far we can stretch the cobweb. Although, I'm pretty sure nothing will ever compare to 2011 when we stretched cobwebs from the tree, over the footpath, onto the house. Before the cobweb challenge though, we focused on entertainment. For our 2008 Halloween, my sister cackled from the bedroom window with the strobe light running and we blasted scary music onto the street. My favorite memory from that year though has to be when my mom abruptly opened the door before a group of middle school boys had the chance to ring it. They nearly fell backwards they were so scared. Last year, was mine and my husband's first Halloween at our house in California. Our decorations looked fantastic, although, they were somewhat destroyed by the Santa Ana winds. Being from Colorado, I'm still surprised by this. These decorations held up through countless snowstorms and yet could not survive the wind out here. The other disappointing part of last years Halloween was the amount of kids we didn't get. Although, my husband was quite pleased to have so much leftover candy!

Here are our decorations from 2011:

Here's our decorations from last year:

This year, I'm eager to start some new traditions. Here's my list:

• Interactive Murder Mystery Party: I'm been wanting to do this for at least the last four years and we are finally doing it this year! I am incredibly grateful that my sister's boyfriend writes Murder Mystery Theaters!
• Carving a pumpkin: Yes. I've never actually done this and I've found an amazing website where I can get patterns of Spike, Buffy, and Dexter - as I said earlier, I like challenges. Which means my first carving ever will be of someone's face. Yikes.
• Halloween Festival: I've never gone on a hayride before or walked through a corn maze or picked a pumpkin from the patch. All of these things must happen and we've decided to go next week.
• Make/Bake Tasty Treats: I love to bake and therefore plan to try making Carmel Apple Cupcakes and Pumpkin Cupcakes. I also bought a candy making kit. I've never made candy before but it sounds like fun!

My other tradition is watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I watch each of the Halloween episodes: Halloween, Fear, Itself, All the Way, and I throw in the episode Hush. If I'm still awake and ready to continue watching something, I switch for something light and watch the Halloween episode of Friends, "The One with the Halloween Party". Because I'm eager to expand my traditions, I've got some other shows and episodes to choose from too:

• Chuck: Chuck vs. the Sandworm and Chuck vs. the Aisle of Terror
• Castle: Vampire Weekend and Demons
• Psych: This Episode Sucks
• Beverly Hills, 90210: Halloween and Things That Go Bang in the Night
• Dawson's Creek: Friday the 13th and Living Dead Girl
• Party of Five: Personal Demons
• Veronica Mars: President Evil
• The Big Bang Theory: The Middle Earth Paradigm, The Good Guy Fluctuation, and The Holographic Excitation

The only thing I will never do for Halloween is go to a Haunted House. I know this is a big tradition for a lot of people but I absolutely can't stand them. If I set it up, that would be another story. I love spooking other people but I hate being spooked. Having people or objects jump out at me is not my idea of a good time.

What are your October/Halloween traditions? Do you watch any shows or movies every year for the holiday? What do you normally carve on a pumpkin?

The Best 4th of July TV Marathon

Not everyone plans the same thing for the 4th of July. Sure, for some the holidays are all about family, friends, barbecues, swimming pools, yada, yada, yada. My favorite part of the holidays? Watching TV marathons. I do it every year for every holiday. Thanksgiving it's every Thanksgiving themed episode of "Friends". Halloween, there's nothing better than "Buffy". Christmas and Chanukah it's any holiday themed episode of my favorite shows. Valentine's day, episodes where my favorite TV couples fall in love. 4th of July? Well that's what I'm hear to advise you on today!

Given the theme of 4th of July is our independence, I think it's highly appropriate to have a binge marathon on TV shows where the characters are fighting for their beliefs. Especially the episodes where they rise to the occasion against all odds.

Here's my suggestion of 8 great shows to marathon or 12 selected episodes to include in your perfect 4th of July marathon:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer-

For the super Buffy enthusiast, power watch the show starting bright and early Thursday morning. As someone who watched the 4th season of Angel in just one day, I know it is entirely possibly to enjoy at least 4 seasons of Buffy over this four day weekend! If you don't have that much time on your hands, I suggest including these episodes in your ultimate 4th of July marathon:

S2x21/22: "Becoming Pt. 1 & 2"

No friends. No family. What does Buffy have left? Herself.

S3x1: "Anne"

After Buffy runs off to LA, she realizes that no matter where she runs, she will always be the slayer and fighting against evil.

S7x22: "Chosen"

The First may think it's all mighty and powerful but in this episode, an important choice is made that empowers each potential slayer.

Angel

If you're already a Whedonite, chances are, you've already seen it all. Change up your usual marathon and watch the first season of Angel and the fifth season back to back to really highlight the rising moments of our hero! No matter what, don't forget to watch the final episode:

S5x22: "Not Fade Away"

This show was about fighting for the greater good, fighting for a cause. Whether Team Angel would win or lose this final battle, it didn't matter. What matters is they got to work and they fought.

24

If you're going to pick a season of 24 to binge watch, pick season 5. Not only is it, in my opinion, the best season, Jack also came back to town from on the run because he needed to save the day once again. If you're going to stick with my 12 episodes marathon, switch to season 1 and watch these two amazing episodes:

S1x12/13: "Day 1: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm" & "Day 1: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm"

It's impossible to choose just one and hard to choose just two episodes of 24 but these episodes were the only true ones where if it ended at 1:00 pm, Jack would have saved the day.

Castle

There is nothing better than Kate Beckett trying to find the answers to her mother's murder. I'd suggest watching the episodes that showcase Beckett's greatest cause and don't skip out on this gem of an episode:

S3x24: "Knockout"

Sure, Captain Montgomery was involved in some bad stuff way back in the day but he died a hero: sacrificing his life to try and save Beckett and put an end to the coverup.

Chuck

One of my TV favorites! Chuck is the perfect way to spend 4th of July. It's got comedy, it's got drama, and most importantly, it shows the rise of a hero, in a mostly non-supernatural setting (we'll pretend the intersect is a real thing). If you have the chance and don't depend on sleep, you can watch this show in four days. Hit the play all button and don't look back. If you have to pick a season though, pick season 2. It marked Chuck's change from a guy stuck as a hero to a guy who truly wants to save the world. Pick just one episode? Go with this one:

S2x22: "Chuck vs. The Ring"

Becoming the intersect wasn't Chuck's choice but becoming a hero was.

Friends

Amidst all of the other shows full of drama, you're probably a little surprised to see Friends on this list! Independence though doesn't always have to be about fighting battles and saving the world. For most of us normal people, this show represents what independence is truly about. Getting out into the world and surviving on your own. Pick your favorite episodes but don't forget this classic:

S1x1: "The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate"

Not everything you watch today has to be filled with explosions. Rachel did cut up her father's credit cards in this episode and it doesn't get any more independent than that!

White Collar

Neal may not be free but he's got a pretty sweet deal and who knows, maybe one day he will get to independently choose to be an agent with the FBI. If you don't have the 4th (and latest) season saved on your DVR, you can watch the first three, which are all on DVD. No matter what, be sure to watch this episode:

S3x16: "Judgement Day"

Will Neal wake up tomorrow and only answer to himself? Or will his independence still remain years away?

Dexter

4th of July just took a massive turn to the dark side - or should I say, dark passenger? Yes, Dexter is a serial killer. Yes. It's not good that he kills people. But honestly, isn't he just Superman without superpowers and a cape? He still kills the bad guys. Dexter struggles with his independence every day. He thinks he's without a soul and yet he doesn't want to let go of Harry's Code because he truly does not want to hurt the innocent. Enter your binge marathon of Dexter with the first season and don't miss it's concluding episode:

S1x12: "Born Free"

Who is Dexter Morgan? Is he a super hero or a serial killer? Dexter is always trying to figure out who he is but when given the choice to save Deb's life or finally have his long lost brother, he battles himself and his code and chooses.

Don't own any of these on DVD or have Netflix? Don't fret. There's always an "NCIS" marathon happening on USA, a "Castle" marathon on TNT, a "Star Trek: TNG" marathon on BBC, or if you don't feel like seeing people battling for the greater good in solid story lines, there's always the show where self righteous characters battle for their own greater good, "Beverly Hills, 90210" on Soap. If you're not into a TV marathon, my final suggestion is to watch a Die Hard movie marathon. Just skip the latest one and pretend it never happened.

Have a great 4th of July everyone!