Happy Halloween! (And My Illustrated Costume History)

Reminder: Take pictures of yourself in costume today for my contest. Check out the details here. And I've decided to definitely give away one of these (which, if you're too lazy to click the link, is a pink iPod shuffle!) Plus one copy of OMG and one copy of GBC for every ten entries. All types of costumes are welcome to enter.

In my 32 years on this planet, I've experienced 31 Halloweens (not counting this one, yet). That's a lot of candy (Smarties, please), a lot of trick-or-treating (not so much tricking), and a lot of costumes. Here is a partially illustrated chronological history of my Halloween costumes.

Age: 2
Costume: CLOWN (The first in a long line of clown costumes--which I just learned is probably because my mother never got to be a clown as a child. There is also a pre-K pic of me in a clown costume, but it is very very horror movie creepy. I have elected not to include.)

Age: 5ish
Costume: DOG (Sadly there are no pics of this costume--or they're very well hidden--which my mom made from tons of different scraps of fake fur. It was very hot, but very awesome.)

Age: 7
Costume: CINDERELLA (These pics are also missing. My mom made this costume to look just like Cindy's dress in the Disney movie. I was traumatized when everyone thought I was a fairy.)

Age: 9
Costume: CLOWN (Again. Yes, this is me dancing with a pumpkin candle we made at school by dipping balloons into melted crayons. That was an awesome candle.)

Age: 10
Costume: PRINCESS (I loved this costume sooo much--of course my mom made it. I wore the cape forever and I adored the little shoe covers. You can't tell in the picture, but the blue fabric has silver sparkles!)

Age: 11
Costume: JACK-IN-A-BOX (This is what happens when your mom is a costumer and your dad is a set designer. Click on the image to see the full popping-up sequence. Note the recycled clown costume from age 9.)

Age: 13
Costume: DANCER (No pics of this--thank goodness. I wore a shiny hot pink unitard and sprayed my hair to match.)

Age: 17
Costume: PUMPKIN (As in, I wore black leggings and an oversized orange t-shirt with a pumpkin face on the front. Yes, my best friend and I went trick-or-treating in high school. Sue us.)

Age:21
Costume: APHRODITE (This was my senior year in college and, being in the theatre department, I had to come up with something with wow factor. This is one of my favorite costumes ever. I also had a baggie of Hershey's Kisses attached to my rope belt and handed them out to cute boys.)

Age: 26
Costume: I'M NOT SURE (My Wisconsonian cousins--the three in the middle--came to visit my Bransonian cousin--on the right--and we went to see a magic show on Halloween. I might be a wrapped present, considering the curling ribbon and the glittery star.)

Age: 29
Costume: HALLOWEEN FAIRY (This was the year I taught 7th grade and I agree to chaperone the dance. The picture at the top of my blog and website is from this night. I wore glittery eyelashes, glitter all over my face, and a black web-like shawl over a tank top with the word Spooky written in sequins. All my students loved the costume--especially the eyelashes.)

Age: 32 (this year)
Costume: BUDDING AUTHORESS (Okay, not a costume, because that's what I really am. But I couldn't aspire to be anything better--unless it was a bestselling authoress.)

Okay, your turn to share. Even if you don't have a picture of your halloween costume from this year, if you leave a comment telling me about it I'll enter you in the contest. Can't wait to see and hear!

Hugs,
TLC