I'm over it...

So I think I may have grown out of Halloween...at least until I have some kiddies to dress up in cute, fuzzy, non-slutty, non-scary costumes.

I clearly remember Halloween being my favorite holiday as a child. The costumes, the silly string, the fun with friends, oh yeah and the enormous pile of candy that lasted for weeks! My brother and I used to pour all our loot out on the kitchen floor and then engage in intense trading and deal making until we both had the perfect stash of treats. Other fond Halloween related memories include the annual Charlie Brown Pumpkin special, carving jack-o-lanterns and cooking the seeds (oh yeah, and crying when the neighborhood hoodlums would smash my favorite pumpkin right off on our porch!) and drinking apple cider and homemade cookies.

Somehow over the years, Halloween has moved down on my list to maybe a notch above, say, Secretary's Day (no offense to celebrators of this holiday). Once I outgrew the trick or treating, I still enjoyed wearing grunge clothes out on Halloween night armed with as many bottles of shaving cream as my mom would allow and spending the night with friends. College brought about new meaning to the holiday, where elaborate parties and costumes that began with the word "naughty" or "sexy" became the only acceptable ones. I remember trying my best not to conform, borrowing a friends karate outfit one year, and going as a hippie another.

This year, as I braved the streets of NYC as a "librarian," I found myself wishing more than once that I was curled up by a fireplace sipping spiced cider and handing out mini snickers to ballerinas and pirates. Am I getting jaded, or just old?

I had a fun night, first going to a costume party, and then a local pub in Soho (after getting turned away from the bar we had planned on going to for arriving too late). I saw some funny costumes, shared some beers and laughs with my friends and took silly photos, but between the lack of cabs, my painful shoes and the crowded streets and bar counters, I think I may sit next year out--have I become a Halloween scrooge? You decide!