There is nothing better then getting the latest magazines or catalogs that show us all the new trends for each season whether it’s for clothing, cars, home decorating, etc…  Women especially love to know what the cool “in” styles are going to be in the clothing world before hand so they can get their wardrobe ready!

The same goes for Halloween!   Don’t you want to know what the new trend in costumes for 2009 is going to be?  Every year HalloweenExpress.com comes out with a sneak peek at the years new costumes.  This year is no exception!  And best of all, you can check out the Halloween costume ideas 2009 right here.  There are plenty of costume ideas for everyone.

Halloween costumes for everyone in your family; women’s, men’s, kids, teens, tweens and don’t forget your pet – there’s new pet costumes for them too!  Want to get some new decorations to add to your old ones from last year?  No problem, they have new Halloween props and decorations that you just have to see!

In addition to all the ideas you get, you can also see a list of the top Halloween costume picks for 2009.  Between all these great costumes ideas and top ten lists, you’ll be more than ready for Halloween!

I’m telling you, HalloweenExpress.com has everything you need to make this Halloween the best yet!!

There is nothing I like better than personalized holiday decorations!  I think they are simply adorable and add the perfect touch to any home.  Having your last name on a ghostly welcome mat at your front door is a great way to welcome all the little trick or treaters in your neighborhood.

HalloweenExpress.com now has personalized Halloween items on their website and to tell you the truth I just spent about an hour checking out everything from welcome mats and candy bowls to trick or treat bags and apparel.   I think I want one of everything!

One of my favorite items that the kids love as well are the personalized trick or treat bags.  It makes it so much easier with their names on them so that we don’t have any fighting over who took who’s bag by mistake.  When it comes to their Halloween candy it’s amazing how children know exactly what candy is in there!  Now if I would ask my son what he did in school today, he wouldn’t have a clue, but ask him what kind of candy he has left in his Halloween bag he can tell you piece by piece!  It’s amazing isn’t it?!

Children love personalized Halloween clothing as well.  Each year my kids have a Halloween party at school and they’re allowed to be out of uniform that day.  Instead of costumes they want the children to wear something that falls in line with the Halloween theme.  That’s where the personalized sweatshirts come in handy.  With “too cute to spook” or “pumpkin princess” written across the front they’re perfect for any child.

So this year don’t forget your personalized Halloween decorations!  It’s the perfect way to add that little extra something to your home and/or yard.

No adult Halloween party is complete without costumes, appetizers and plenty of adult beverages.  This year the trendy party drink is  Halloween Wine!  Everyone loves wine so why not include it in your holiday festivities? 

Red wine couldn’t be any more appropriate for a Halloween party because of its color.  Seeing Dracula walking around with a goblet of blood (aka Cabernet Sauvignon) adds an aura of creepiness to the partys atmosphere. 

Halloween Wine with names like “Bone Dry Red” complete with a black and white skeleton on the label and ”Ghostly White” with a label of hands reaching up from the dead are the perfect beverages for your Halloween party!

So this year in keeping with the Halloween theme serve your guests Bone Dry Cabernet or Ghostly White Sweet or Chardonnay!  Believe me, your guests will be dying for it…

October isn’t just a month for Halloween costumes, but Halloween decorations as well.  It used to be you would carve a pumpkin and put it out on your porch for Halloween night, but not anymore! 

Decorating your yard for Halloween has become hugely popular over the years.  Yard haunts, haunted driveways, creepy culdesacs – no matter what you call it decorating your yard for this holiday is the way to go! 

You can make your yard into a spooky graveyard or evil cemetary in a matter of hours and it’s so much fun to do.  We do it every year and the neighbors have now got into the Halloween spirit and have begun to spook their yards up as well. 

Two of the most important things you’ll need to put the finishing special effects on any yard haunt is a fog machine and good scary Halloween music.  Nothing says bloodcurdling, spine-chilling and frightening more than a haze of fog floating along the ground over your makeshift front yard cemetary all the while eerie music playing in the background. 

So this year, don’t just decorate the inside of your house for Halloween, decorate the outside as well! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and enjoyed the un-official start of summer!  My kids are finishing up their last week of school and then it’s summer break for them.  This week is pretty simple with just turning in books and helping to clean up their classroom and school.   I’m sure the older kids in high school aren’t enjoying this last week quite as much since they have to contend with end of the year exams. 

With June and July being big months for graduation parties, many parents are looking for ways to make their teenagers party memorable.  The best way to do that is by creating a “theme” for your party.  Here are some ideas:

• Hawaiian Luau
• Fiesta
• Casino
• Mardi Gras
• Sports
• College Bound

The most popular theme for a graduation party is the Hawaiian Luau theme.  There is a lot you can do with carrying this fun tropical theme thoughout your party.  Hawaiian costumes, flowered leis, tiki torches and it’s easy to decorate in a tropical theme with palm trees, coconuts and thatch umbrellas. 

HalloweenExpress.com has everything you’ll need to make a fun-filled grad party, Hawaiian style! 

Even though summer doesn’t officially start until June 21st, to many college students it is now summer!  May is also a big month for many grade and high school students to be getting their summer breaks and parents are scrambling to find things for their children to do over the summer. 

I can’t believe Memorial Day is only two weeks away!  To me that is the “unofficial” start to summer.  With the parades and families getting together for grill-outs, it’s always a great time to start the summer.  Don’t forget your red, white and blue decorations, accessories AND costumes!  At HalloweenExpress.com you’ll find patriotic costumes for every age. 

Kids Costumes

A great way to keep your little ones occupied over the summer is with costumes.  Playing dress-up is a fun and creative way for your child to play.  With kids costumes you can let your child’s imagination run wild!  They will play for hours as cowboys and Indians, superheroes that save the world, princesses and knights in shining armor.  Girls and boys will both have fun picking out costumes for their summer fun!

Well Valentine’s Day has come and gone and the stores are already getting their shelves ready for Easter.  Whether you decided to make it a romantic couple weekend or a family fun weekend, I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Now onto Mardi Gras, February 24th!  Talk about a party atmosphere in New Orleans!  Wow that is one city I would love to visit during Mardi Gras.  I’ve been there before and have done the whole Bourbon Street thing, but would love to see the parades and parties and the craziness associated with Fat Tuesday! 

If you can’t make it to the biggest party in the world in New Orleans, then by all means bring the madness of Mardi Gras to you!  Throw a Mardi Gras theme party right in your own back yard.   Decorate in the Mardi Gras colors so well known throughout the country of purple, green and gold.  Balloons, tablecloths, beads, hats, masks and noisemakers all in these colors will make your partygoers feel as if they’re in the French Quarter.  Don’t forget the music!  It can’t be a Mardi Gras party without the music!  It’s not one type of music but various sounds played together that make it unique to Carnival in New Orleans.  Rhythm and blues, jazz and brass/funk get people up and dancing.  Whip up some great Cajun cuisines like Jambalaya, Gumbo or Crawfish Boil.      

However, the ultimate Mardi Gras party, rest assured, is in the costumes!  The King’s Jesters can be found running around everywhere.  Masks and costumes made of sequins, metallic and lots and lots of feathers.  Around the necks of your partygoers will be feathered boas and multicolored beads.  Dressing up in the Mardi Gras theme is so much fun!  

HalloweenExpress.com has everything you’ll need for all your Mardi Gras party needs!  From Mardi Gras masks and jester hats to feathered boas and Mardi Gras beads. 

St. Patrick’s Day is March 17th and although it’s still a month away it’s never too early to start getting all your “green” together for the party’s, dances and parades. 

Every year my family throws a huge St. Patrick’s Day party the weekend before.  It’s actually a lot of fun planning and preparing everything from the decorations to the food.  My grandma on my mother’s side was as Irish as they come.  Her name was Mary O’Brien and she was an amazing lady with a heart of gold.  She passed away a few years back, so now our annual St. Patrick’s Day party is dedicated to her memory (which makes it even more special). 

Costumes are always a big hit at our party and there’s never a shortage of the Lucky Charms Leprechaun costume!  Even though the leprechaun really isn’t an Irish take on St. Patrick’s Day (it’s more of an American tradition), it’s still fun to see everyone dressed in costume and having fun.   Some other great ideas are green balloons, green tablecloths, green lights and of course the green beer!  What’s St. Patrick’s Day without green beer?

Start a St. Patrick’s Day tradition with your friends and family this year whether it be a party, parade or dinner.  HalloweenExpress.com has everything you’ll need from St. Patrick’s Day costumes and accessories to decorations.  Make this St. Patrick’s Day one to remember!

Happy Halloween 2008! 

The spooky decorations are out, jack-o-lanterns are lit, costumes are bought and the candy is ready!  If your children are like mine, they couldn’t get out of bed fast enough this morning for school.  They’re having their class Halloween parties today giving them a little taste of the fun to be had tonight. 

In our neighborhood trick-or-treating is from 6:00 – 8:00pm so by the time they get home from school and eat dinner it will be time to put on their costumes.  I’m so glad Halloween is on a Friday this year.  That way the kids can stay up a little later giving them time to come down from their sugar high. 

I hope some of my ideas on costumes, decorating and party’s came in handy this year!  I love being able to show you everything that HalloweenExpress.com has to offer.  Believe me you can’t beat their selection of costumes anywhere!  Don’t forget even though Halloween will be over tomorrow, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years are still to come and we have some amazing costumes for all of them!  I’m sure there are a few people out there looking for that perfect Pilgram or Indian costume or maybe even a Christmas themed costume.  Look no further! HalloweenExpress.com has all your holiday costume needs!

Don’t forget all the Halloween safety tips I talked about in my blog Monday. I want everyone to have a great time trick-or-treating but be safe too! Happy Halloween everyone!

Yea, it’s finally October 1st and we’ve officially entered into the month of Halloween!  Only 30 more days until the trick-or-treaters will be ringing your doorbell.  Are you ready?  Have you stocked up on all your favorite candy to hand out?  Now remember, it has to be your favorite candy and not your children’s that way whatever is left over is all yours and you won’t have to fight for it! 

Wow can you believe this great weather we’re having in Kentucky?  The high’s are in the mid to low 70’s – perfect weather for fall.  Today we had our pool closed up for the year.  That’s probably the only thing about this time of year that I don’t like.  As soon as that cover is placed over the pool and all our lounge chairs and pool toys are put in the shed the backyard looks so deserted.  Next year I want to have a heater installed in our pool so that I can have the best of both worlds; cooler weather AND the pool still open into the fall months. 

So, have you thought any more about what you want to be this year for Halloween?  If you’re still not sure check out our Top 10 List of Best Costumes for the whole family or our Top 10 List of Best Sexy Costumes.  If you can’t find what you’re looking for there, then go to our homepage and simply click on a category that interests you.  The website is so easy to use and you’ll find everything you need in the click of a button.  Don’t forget to look at all our Halloween decorations for your home and yard too! 

Two of my favorite decorations that I just received yesterday are the 63 inch Hanging Pirate and Tombstone RIP Cross with Skull.  The hanging pirate is huge with a long red ripped cape and creepy skull face with eyepatch.  I’ve already got him hanging on my front porch.  His arms are movable so when I spread them out to his sides he looks even bigger.  The kids love it!  It really is a great decoration for your porch or even hanging from a tree in your front yard.  There are so many great tombstones to pick from at HalloweenExpress.com but I really like this one.  It’s really tall and looks like an old and worn tombstone.   It comes in two pieces and you just slide the cross into the base.  Both of these are going to make a great addition to our yard haunt!