It’s almost Halloween and I still don’t know what I want to be for the rest of my life.

Full disclosure I’m pretty sure I read that on one of those ecards you see floating around Facebook. But I love it and I feel like it’s never been more relevant than this Halloween.

This year, not only do I not know what I want to be for the rest of my life, I almost didn’t even make a plan for what to be for Halloween! Which is a little unlike me – I usually have a lot of fun planning a costume and then making it myself so that I’m super unique and fun. The only times I haven’t done that is when I’m traveling –spoiler alert, a lot of other countries don’t really care about dressing up in costumes and asking people for free candy (or getting shit-faced, depending on your age range).

Yep, that’s just another reason myself and my fellow Americans should count ourselves lucky! Sure, we have shit healthcare, terrible presidential candidates, and a slew of other important problems but hey! For one night (or several depending on what day the holiday falls on) we get to leave all those problems behind and play pretend for a few hours!

OK, American silliness aside, I thoroughly enjoy the fact that there is a recognized holiday across the country in which we can wear outrageous costumes, expressing our creativity and individuality without fear of judgement or humiliation. I mean, it’s truly incredible that people, even when they’re ‘grown up’ have a desire to play pretend for a night!

Personally, I love going out to see what everyone has come up with – even though it’s always too crowded and often incredibly cold here in Wyoming. And since I do not have kids, I’m on the adult side of the holiday; bars, parties, mature costumes – mature for both the amount of skin shown and/or the costume topic.

Remember that line in Mean Girls?

“In the regular world, Halloween is when children dress up in costumes and beg for candy. In Girl World, Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.”

(Since I was seriously slacking on costume ideas this year, I strongly considered wearing a black dress and mouse ears just so I could say “I’m a mouse, duh.” Like Karen does in that movie.)

How I Met Your Mother had a similar take on it:

“Barney: You know what I love about Halloween? It’s the one night of the year chicks use to unleash their inner ho-bag. If a girl dresses up as a witch, she’s a slutty witch. If she’s a cat, she’s a slutty cat. If she’s a nurse…

Lily: Wow, we get it.

Barney: …she’s a slutty nurse.

Bonus Barney quote:

“Every Halloween I bring a spare costume. In case I strike out with the hottest girl at the party. That way I have a second chance to make a first impression.”

Now, I’ve been known to show a little skin on Halloween, myself, though I much prefer the term ‘sexy’ to ‘slutty’ – sexy cop, sexy mummy, sexy nerd. But somewhere along the line I decided it was much more fun to go the funny route, or cute couples, or super-fun-group-theme costumes.

*For the record I am always in favor of women wearing whatever they want, especially on Halloween. You do you, boo. 

Of course I enjoy the other parts of Halloween, too. The movies! The Halloween episodes on all my favorite shows. The fun music and decorations around the neighborhood. And yes… the treats! Other women feel this way – I know this because it’s a line in one of the cutest Halloween movies of all time, It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Linus: You’ve heard of the fury of a woman scorned, haven’t you?

Charlie Brown: Yeah, I guess I have.

Linus: Well, that’s nothing compared to the fury of a woman who has been cheated out of trick-or-treats.

My all time favorite treats in the whole world are the holiday themed Reese’s peanut butter cups. For some reason their deliciousness gets multiplied by like a million when they’re in the shape of pumpkins or hearts or weird trees.

Anyway, I finally did pick a costume and it’s in the super-fun-group-theme category! A couple of friends have decided to be characters from Sesame Street and I’m tagging along as the best character ever – Oscar the Grouch! I only have a couple days to make the costume though, so here’s hoping I can pull it off.

That’s one decision down – now to decide what to be for the rest of my life.