"Haul-oween: Halloween Hauls From the Past" series recap

It seems like October came and went faster than you can say "Halloween". I must admit it caught me by surprise and I ended up decorating our home quite late in October; or at least later than I usually do. Halloween is my favorite time of the year, so every year I eagerly await the moment when I can finally take out my Halloween decor containers and deck every single corner of our apartment with spooky ornaments.

Since a few years ago, my friends and I have had the tradition of throwing a fabulous Halloween party to celebrate the occasion. Since I'm the Hallo-freak, I'm usually in charge of decorating and planning all the details: from creepy treats to setting up the ambiance. We've had a series of super fun and spooky parties, but these past three years have been pretty quiet for us, since we moved to another city. We did throw a small party last year in our tiny apartment. It was very nice, but it just wasn't the same as before. I guess times change, and we must adapt to the circumstances.

That's why I still feel a surge of happiness when the final days of September pass by and fall starts to become evident. That's my cue to start planning on decorating our home, and more recently, to go out hunting for cool Halloween merchandise. I try to buy new, different and exciting ornaments or props that go well with the rest of my Halloween stuff and that I can incorporate to the collection. Sometimes I just see more of the same, while other times I come across some unique things that fill my mind with ideas.

After some thinking, this year I decided to continue a YouTube series on my channel that I had started almost three years back: "Haul-oween: Halloween Hauls from the past". I had actually recorded quite a lot of footage that sat unedited in a folder inside one of my external hard drives for years (I have a very bad habit of doing that), so it only felt right to properly edit it and put those videos to good use. Without much time in my hands, I was able to add four new Halloween haul episodes (corresponding to the years 2015 through 2018), which you can watch on my YouTube channel. You can also watch the whole Haul-oween video series embedded below.

This is not all of it. I still have to edit a Halloween home decor walkthrough of my apartment from last year and this year, as well as my 2019 haul. I will have them ready for next Halloween, as well as a couple more videos showcasing Halloween crafts and creepy treats (like my Easy Cheesy's Halloween Food & Treats DIY video). I feel like there's endless material to share on Halloween and get everyone's spirits up for a spook-tacular celebration, and I hope to keep this new yearly digital tradition.

Do you celebrate Halloween? If you do, please tell me how you spend this scarily fun season in the comments!

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Celebrating Experiment 626 "Stitch" Day (plus Spongebob fun!)

This past Wednesday (6/26) was one of those classic Disney holidays that hundreds of Disney fans cannot let go unnoticed. It is known as "Experiment 626 Day", and it's just the right time to honor the crazy and adorable little blue alien that conquered our hearts around the peaceful beaches of Hawaii. Of course, we're talking about Stitch! 

Unfortunately, I'm a terrible person with timing, especially in terms of remembering any dates of special celebrations (birthdays, national holidays, release dates, you name it!). This caused me to join the Experiment 626 Day festivities quite late (on Sunday, to be exact). Furthermore, you see me posting this today, practically a week after the day in question. I've been especially busy raising my very own Experiment 626 - a.k.a. Nugget the puppy-. But, since Stitch is my favorite Disney character, it simply feels mandatory for me to commemorate him somehow. That's why I've taken this opportunity to showcase my modest -but growing- Stitch collection! So, I gathered all my Stitchy items (at least all the ones I could remember) and prepared these lovely photos.

As I said before, Stitch is my absolute favorite Disney character. I think he's a perfect mix between a rebellious soul, a brave explorer, a kind spirit and a funny friend. Plus, he's incredibly adorable and has some amazing battle skills! I especially love how he looks dressed up like Elvis, whom I also adore... though that's a story for another day. Stitch is simply darling to me, but I had another favorite prior to his addition to the Disney family.

Before Lilo & Stitch came out in 2002, I had been a fervent fan of Spongebob Squarepants, my favorite non-Disney character ever. (Fun fact: When I was even younger, my favorite character was Tweety Bird). I still adore Spongebob, but I share my love with Stitch as well. Anyway, I had started to collect lots of different Spongebob-related items, a collection of which I'm proud of to this day. Mug and cups, LEGO figurines, t-shirts, games, toothbrushes, a fleece blanket and many more are part of my treasure loot. You can see some of my collection below, but I missed quite a few items in this photo... which I realized way past taking the pictures.

There's a funny and curious thing about these two characters. Stitch and Spongebob share a connection that could have somewhat influenced me to adopt them as my favorite characters: both are related to Hawaii one way or another! Needless to say, I'm a huge fan of anything Hawaiian and tiki. Lilo & Stitch obviously takes place in Hawaii, specifically inspired by a town in Kauai, and it showcases many things about Hawaiian culture (like hula dancing!). Spongebob Squarepants, on the other hand, is set in Bikini Bottom, an underwater town hypothetically located below Bikini Atoll, one of the many islands that comprise the Marshall Islands, which in turn are located between Hawaii and the Philippines. Although it doesn't physically take place in Hawaii, the series does have lots of elements that imprint a Hawaiian style on it, such as the music and part of its decor. I really love Spongebob's goofy and innocent personality, and the fact that he has a kind spirit... just like Stitch!

I don't know if Spongebob and Stitch would get along wonderfully (especially since they live on opposite sides of the ocean), but these two tropical friends have been coexisting in my life for quite a while now, and I like to think of them as really good buddies. What do you think about this duo: friends or foes?

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