Halloween Festivities

Hey guys! It is almost Halloween and if you are like me you are frantically thinking about how there are still so many festive things you want to do before this holiday is gone but you have no idea what to do or where to start. Well, this blog post is for you! Today I am going to share three fun and easy Halloween activities you can do either by yourself, with a significant other, or with all of your friends! The more the merrier!

Festive Halloween Baking

So, there are a few things that I always have on my Halloween festivities to-do list and the first one is festive baking! Now, if you are anything like me you LOVE the idea of baking from scratch but really... who has the time for that! So for this my bestie and I just used a festive boxed cake mix and spent our QT (quality time) on the decorating!

The first thing we did was spent an ungodly amount of time at Target trying to choose the best possible cake and frosting combination as well as decorations! I must say that they have a lot to choose from this year! Below is a picture of everything we chose.

We went for the Halloween funfetti cake mix and whipped frosting! We also got trick or treat cupcake cases, ghost shaped marshmallows, Halloween shaped sprinkles, and green glitter! You can choose whichever decorations you want but we wanted to keep it simple but cute.

With any festive baking extravaganza you also want to have something else planned during the duration of the baking and cooling of your cake mix so we chose to open a few adult cocktails and watching The Nightmare Before Christmas which is one of my favorite Halloween films!

After our movie was over and all of the cakes were out of the oven and cooled, we decorated! Here are some of our finished products!

It was super simple but also fun and a great way to have a fun and memorable night during the Halloween season!

Bonfire Night

Another fun and festive way to get yourself geared up into the Halloween spirit is to have a bonfire! All you need is an open space of dirt, preferably not around foliage, some logs, and a match or two!

This is a great idea because you can invite friends over to enjoy the delicious cupcakes you have already made (see previous) and gather around a warm fire on a chilly night and tell spooky stories! (Anyone else remember the show Are You Afraid of the Dark?) 

Some of my friends and I got together one night and decided to do just this and we had a blast!  You can bring your leftover ghost marshmallows and roast them on the fire and just enjoy each others company while also enjoying the outdoors! I know I need more time outside in some fresh air so this is a great way to accomplish that! Here are some of the pictures from the night we had our bonfire.

 Again, this is something that doesn't take a whole lot of effort but it is something that is very fun and a memory you will be able to laugh about for a long time to come! Just make sure someone puts out the fire at the end of the night!

Carving Pumpkins

Now possibly the most festive activity that I like to do during the Halloween season is carve pumpkins! I have already been able to enjoy it twice this year which has made this season the best! {The first pumpkin carving I did was with my bestie Daniel and we also filmed it for his YouTube channel so feel free to hop on over and watch us carve those pumpkins here: https://youtu.be/L-tDAX3dNi8}This is something that is even more enjoyable with friends! All you need to do it grab some pumpkins and get some carving tools and go to it! (side note: I would definitely also grab some pumpkin carving stencils from somewhere because then you can really impress people with your designs if you aren't as artistically inclined!)

When we all got together to carve pumpkins it was also to celebrate our friend MK's  24th birthday so her apartment was decked out in the cutest decorations which is something else you can do to add to the Halloween feeling! Here are a few pictures of the decorations.

All of our designs were different but I think that the fun is all in the time spent together creating pumpkin masterpieces! (Even if your pumpkin doesn't turn out quite the way you wanted!) Here are some of the pictures of the process as well as our finished pumpkins!

All of these activities can be done in one night or each on their own! Whatever you choose to do to celebrate just remember to have fun! I hope this inspires you to grab a bunch of friends and make the most of the last days of October and Halloween!

If you do choose to do any of these activities let me know in the comments below! I hope you all have a spooky and fun Halloween!

xoxo Jess 

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween

Disney during the fall time... literally the most wonderful thing imaginable!

So I went to Disney for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party this past Sunday and I wanted to make a post about my experience! (PS Daniel also uploaded a vlog from this day if you would like to see more of what we got up to! https://youtu.be/VwdZesywFN8 )

So, to start off with, I think one of the best parts was seeing everyone dressed in costumes. My friend Daniel and I decided to do a more low key option, which I think was a great choice, but there were many people there who were FULL out and I loved it! Sometimes I would think people were in line to meet a character when actually it was just someone else visiting the park, the costumes were THAT good!

Here is a picture of Daniel and I in our costumes in front of Cinderella's castle! He was Cruella and I was Minnie Mouse.

We really lucked out on Sunday because it was raining the entire time we were driving there and when we made it to Magic Kingdom it stopped raining and the weather was amazing the entire rest of the time. I highly recommend going to this event if you can because it is absolutely amazing and well worth the money.

A few things about the event itself: You don't have to buy a park pass for the day if you are just going to the event then you only need to purchase a ticket to the event which saved me a ton of money honestly. Also, unless you pay for the event you have to leave the park by 7 p.m. which is when the event "starts" however, they will let you in the park early so we ended up arriving around 5:30 and were allowed in.

One of the best parts about this event is the park decorations. There are pumpkins everywhere and the cast members all have halloween themed outfits on as well. It made it a completely new experience for me. This was my third time at Disney this year and it felt like my first all over again because everything was so different! Even down to the music! Throughout the park they played Halloween themed Disney music and it added to the feel of the event and it was so much fun to have the villains get their moment to shine.

This is an example of the types of pumpkins they had EVERYWHERE around the park! I thought it was so cute!

The biggest part about this event is definitely the different fireworks and shows and parades! They had a "Boo to You" Parade which featured normal Disney characters decked out in costumes as well as featuring the villains and also Haunted Mansion ghosts. The parade was not very well lit however because of the nature of it and so I didn't get to take really good quality pictures of it. However, I did get a few pictures of the Castle during HalloWishes and the new Hocus Pocus Villains Spelltacular show! I have to say the Hocus Pocus show and Hallowishes were absolutely more than I could have imagined! Disney did such a great job with both of these and I was over the moon the entire time I was watching them! They also have trick or treat stations all around the park and you receive a "goody bag" when you get into the park to collect the candy. You can go through the lines as many times as you want and you can fill up as many bags of candy as your heart desires!

This is a picture of the castle during Hallowishes! It was amazing and they not only had fireworks but they also displayed images on the castle during this show which were little ghosts and pumpkins.

This is a picture during the Hocus Pocus Villains Spelltacular, The Sanderson Sisters were wonderful and of course they included hightlights from the movie within this show and it also featured a gang of villains to help them with their potion.

Something else that is noteworthy is the timing of everything. When you go, there is only one showing of Hallowishes, however there are two showings of the Hocus Pocus show and also the Boo to You parade so Daniel and I chose to see the later showings of both to go on rides during the others and there were NO LINES. For Big Thunder Mountain it was a 5 minute wait but honestly the 5 minutes was how long it took to walk up the big hill to the ride. We rode that twice in a row and the second time there were only two carts for the whole ride filled. We also got to meet Elsa and Anna and the wait for that was only 20 minutes. It was amazing because not only are you getting to experience Disney during a fun time of year but you also get short wait times and you get to ride more rides than you would on a normal day!

If you want to meet villains however I do suggest you go talk to a cast member and find out where they are going to be because the lines for special characters, such as Cruella, are longer. When we met Cruella we waited about 45 minutes which wasn't too bad but the lines for Jack and Sally and the seven dwarfs were longer.

This is me meeting Cruella and Daniel and I meeting Elsa! They were both really great and Cruella was so much fun!

Overall it was a wonderful experience and I definitely want to go back every year during this time to experience the magic during Halloween.

Have you ever been to Disney during Halloween?! Leave me comments and let me know!

xoxo Jess

The first week of fall

Can you believe we are already celebrating the first week of fall? It feels like 2015 just started! Maybe it is because I have been wishing for this time of year to come around again. Fall is my favorite season and I don't care if it makes me #basic. Since it is the first week of fall I thought I would make a little post about some of my favorite things about fall as well as some new things I want to try and do this fall! Get ready for lots of references to warmth and coziness!

The first thing I love about this time of year is of course the weather! I hate the hot months of summer mainly because I live in the southern part of the US and the humidity is literally unbearable most days of the year. In the fall the humidity lifts and you get a crisp fresh temperature that won't make you sweat after five minutes of being outside. It also makes me want to be outside more because I don't have to worry about feeling gross from the humidity and heat.

Along with the weather comes the clothes. because it is cooler outside I can start to wear some of my favorite types of clothes which are (in no particular order) boots, scarves, sweaters, sweatshirts, cardigans, fuzzy socks, long sleeves, and vests. Fall makes for better fashion at least for me because I can layer more things and enjoy wearing them without worrying about getting too hot and stuffy in them. I also like the darker, richer colors that are associated with fall such as deep maroons and burgundy shades as well as rich dark orange and golds.

I also love all of the fall scents that places such as Bath and Body Works and Yankee Candles produces. The fall scents are always my favorite because they make me feel all warm and cozy! Some of my favorite fall scents are Leaves, Pumpkin Pie, Vanilla Cedarwood, Crisp Apple, and generally anything with that spice fragrance! Even just the burning of candles is something that I love about fall. When the weather starts to drop I just feel like having a candle lit in every room of the house because it adds to the cozy feeling.

The scenery in the fall is also one of my favorite things. Yes I think the flowers blooming in the spring are beautiful but something much more breathtaking to me has always been the changing of the leaves from summer to fall. I love watching everything go from a bright green to beautiful shades of yellow and red and seeing all the leaves fall. There is just something about it that has always given me the warm fuzzies getting to watch the amazing things nature can do.

One of the biggest things I want to do this fall is go apple picking. I have been researching places near my area to try and find somewhere that does it and the one place (which was 4 hours north) doesn't actually let you pick them anymore. So it is definitely at the top of my list to find somewhere and go and pick some fresh apples. Not only for the experience and the fun of it but also.. umm duh fresh apples you picked yourself.. can you even imagine how amazing they would taste fresh off the tree?!

Another big thing that I wanted to do (which I AM going to do next weekend) is go to Disney during the fall! Combine the happiest place on earth with my favorite season??? I might just explode from excitement! One of my best friends, Daniel, and I are going next weekend and I have never been during the fall to experience Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween so I can't wait to see all of the Disney villains and interact with them as well as see the park decked out for the season!

Something a little less extravagant but also something fun is carving pumpkins. It is something I love doing during the fall and also something that I always want to do every year so I guess it counts as a little bit of both! I love going to a pumpkin patch and picking out a pumpkin and then bringing it home and carving it with friends and family! Last year Daniel and I carved pumpkins over Skype but we still had the best time! I definitely think it is something that should be on everyone's fall to-do list!

Of course I can't make a post about fall without mentioning the holidays that occur during the season! I LOVED Halloween when I was younger. I have always hated scary movies but the dressing up and getting to be one of your favorite characters for a night has always been one of my favorite parts about Halloween. Trick or Treating was something that I loved when I was younger and I love being on the other side of it now and getting to see all of the children in my neighborhood get all excited and dressed up! Thanksgiving is the other holiday that occurs during the fall season and it is something I have always looked forward to because it is a day I get to spend with my family and we get to eat all of the best foods :)

There are just not enough wonderful things to say about this time of the year. The world around you is changing season and you get to witness it and this time of year brings the best holidays to have fun with friends and family!

What is one of your favorite things about fall and what is one thing you can't wait to do this fall season? I can't wait to hear! Leave a comment and let me know! I'm going to go order myself a PSL and wait for the leaves to start changing.

xoxo Jess

My favorite books to cozy up with

Who doesn't love this time of year? When the leaves are changing and instead of spending time basking in the sun people have a longing to curl up by the fire with a good book. Fall is one of my favorite times of year for this very reason. So in this post I am going to let you in on a few of my all time favorite books and book series that I enjoy curling up with.

The first book series is one I happened upon by chance, and yes it may seem juvenile but I have really enjoyed reading them.

The Selection Series

This book series by Kiera Cass is set in a post-apocalyptic world after a third world war when the idea of the United States is a thing of the forgotten past and the US territory is ruled by a monarchy. It follows the story of the royal prince having to find a bride via The Selection. In these books the people are separated into numbers based on their economic standing, Ones being royalty and on down. What makes these books so interesting is the different dynamic twists and turns and I found myself laughing and crying all throughout. Kiera did a wonderful job painting this world she created. The most current book, The Heir, follows the story of the offspring of the prince and his chosen bride from the first three. There is one last book set to be released next year in 2016. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the final book of the series!  

Following the same type of novel which is set in another post-apocalyptic world.

The Jewel Series

This is the first book in the series by Amy Ewing and the second has recently been released (The White Rose) and I haven't read it yet but rest assured I will be purchasing it soon to find out what happens! This book, as stated on the authors website, is a mix between The Selection Series and A Handmaiden's Tale. It follows the story of Violet who has to be a surrogate to a royal family because in this post- apocalyptic world the royals cannot have babies anymore because of so much inbreeding so they find other girls who can, but with a twist. I won't give away what the twist is but it has a sort of "magic" involved and if that is up your alley you would love this series!

The next set of books is one I believe many people would already be familiar with.

The Divergent Series

This book series by Veronica Roth is also set in a post-apocalyptic world in which your talents choose which area of the economy you end up in. I won't delve too deeply into these because I am sure everyone has heard of them but I will say that if you have only seen the movies you really should read the books because they go in a little different of a way from the movies and also, you get so much more description and plot when you read the books versus watching the movies.

Moving away from post-apocalyptic books I am moving into more historical books. These however do not have a series but they are all from the same author and so I am going to lump them together. 

Phillipa Gregory Books 

I have read all of these plus a few others of hers and I have loved the way she writes and the style and accuracy of her writing. The ones which circulate King Henry are some of my personal favorites and she definitely does her research in regards to historical accuracy and then adds in her own personal touches as an author as to why these people's stories have ended up they way they have. If you enjoy historical fiction you would love her novels and I suggest you take time to delve into these books. One of my personal favorites that I always like to re-read is The Other Boleyn Girl. It is a huge novel with almost 600 pages yet I always manage to fly through it because the story captures me into it every time.

I hope this list of a few of my favorite reads inspires you to pick up a good book this fall and get lost in another world. Let me know what some of your favorite books or book series are in the comments below!

xoxo Jess