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!

Well it’s official, Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow…  

According to German folklore, if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on February 2, the Christian holiday for Candlemas, winter will last another 6 weeks, and that’s exactly what happened this morning in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania at approximately 7:30am.   Every February 2, people gather at Gobbler’s Knob, a wooded knoll just outside of Punxsutawney (btw – Punxsutawney is located in Western Pennsylvania, about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh), to witness Phil, the groundhog, emerge from its burrow to predict the weather.

I just love the whole idea of this “holiday”.  I’ve always known about Groundhog Day, but never really thought that much about it.  Well that’s not the case in Pennsylvania!  I had no idea that cowds as high as 40,000 people have been gathering together to celebrate Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney since 1886.  And this year they have even more reason to celebrate with the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Superbowl 43 last night in Tampa.  

Here are some more fun facts about Phil the infamous Groundhog:

• His full name is actually “Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinary”.
• For most of the year, Phil lives in a climate-controlled home at the Punxsutawney Library.  He is taken to Gobbler’s Knob and placed in a heated burrow underneath a simulated tree stump on stage before being pulled out to make his prediction.
• Phil is reported to be more than 100 years old.
• His wife’s name is Phyllis.

Don’t forget that Valentine’s Day is in a couple weeks!  Men, it’s still not too late to pick out a sexy outfit for that special lady in your life.  From sexy to sassy HalloweenExpress.com has what you’re looking for!  And ladies if you want to surprise that special man in your life, well you’ve come to the right place.  Check out all the beautiful Valentine’s Day costumes that will make this February 14th a night to remember!   

We’ve had a pretty mild winter so far here in Kentucky, so when the weather man said to plan for snow today, I didn’t think much about it.  Imagine my surprise when I woke up to eight inches of snow covering the ground!  I know that’s probably nothing for some people that live up north, but that’s a lot here in my neck of the woods.  Unfortunately it’s not over either.  The freezing rain is starting up and by tomorrow morning we’re to have another 2-4 inches of snow on top of all that lovely ice!  Like most people I can handle the snow it’s the freezing rain on the roads that I hate!  When is Spring supposed to be here??

Unlike adults, children love the snow – the more the better!  More snow means no school and that in itself is a min vacation for them.  My teen-aged nephew, Taylor (being the little entrepreneur he is) probably loves snow more than anyone I know.  Last week he put this big snow plow on the front of his quad-runner with the anticipation of our first big snowfall.  They live right down the street so first thing this morning he drives down, picks up my son Caden and off they went to plow driveways.  Caden is the front walk snow shoveler.  While Taylor is plowing the driveways, he shovels the walk ways.  Then at the end of the day, they split the money they make so it’s a win win for everybody.  As Taylor always says, “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…”, but me I’m more the “Snow, snow go away…and don’t ever come back”!  I should probably move to Florida!

However, a great way to warm up your significant other this winter is by wearing a nice little number from HalloweenExpress.com this February 14th.  You’ll have no trouble finding love in a Valentine’s Day Cupid costume! 

And don’t forget Mardi Gras is February 24th followed by Read Across America with Dr. Seuss on March 2nd and last but certainly not least the biggest Irish party of the year, St Patrick’s Day on March 17th! 

Well, it’s finally here – New Years Eve, the last day of 2008!  All the holidays for this year have come and gone and I’ve had so much fun giving my expert opinion, well maybe not so much “expert” but more along the lines of “from one mom, wife, aunt, daughter to another”.  I hope you enjoyed reading my blogs as much as I enjoyed writing them. 

Now, we’re on to bigger and better things for 2009!  HalloweenExpress.com will have more great costumes, assessories, makeup, decorations, props, etc… – I think you get the picture!  And with that in mind, don’t forget to check out all our great Valentine’s Day costumes,  President’s Day costumes and Mardi Gras costumes.  It’s never too early to find that one perfect costume for any holiday!  See you next year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Only 13 more days until Christmas!  Everyone is running around frantic trying to get all their shopping done and taking the kids to get pictures with Santa.   Now most children love to sit on Santa’s lap, reciting to him everything they want for Christmas with big smiles on their faces.  However, if your children are anything like mine (and many others I’ve seen over the years), sitting on Santa’s lap for that perfect holiday picture is anything but perfect!

Don’t you just love waiting in line for hours to get your children’s picture taken with Santa Claus?  Then when it’s finally your turn your daughter is hanging on to you for dear life begging you not to put her on Santa’s lap.  When the elves finally snap the picture it’s of your daughter sitting on Santa’s lap, a look of pure fear in her tear-filled eyes, her arms reaching out to you and all the while that beautiful Christmas dress (that you paid a fortune for) looks nothing like it did when you put it on her that morning!  It’s funny how kids will wait in line all that time knowing that Santa is there and watching all the other children sit on his lap for pictures, but when you finally get to the front of the line and it’s their turn, they freeze! 

Well last year I decided I couldn’t take it any more and didn’t want to put my daughter (or me) through it again.  My older daughter and son never had a problem with getting their picture taken with Santa, but my youngest, Olivia wanted nothing to do with it.  So we bought a great Santa Suit from HalloweenExpress.com and our problems were solved!  John, a good friend of ours donned the Santa Suit, knocked on our door one evening and Olivia loved it!  I guess it was the fact that she was in her own house and felt safe, but she jumped up onto his lap and told Santa everything she wanted for Christmas.  The older children loved it too and the pictures we got were perfect! 

So this year if your kids aren’t crazy about visiting Santa at the mall, get one of the amazing Santa Suits from HalloweenExpress.com.  Their costumes come in velvet, velour, plush and even flannel.  Don’t forget your padding for your Santa Costume too!

With Thanksgiving being only a few days away,  the holiday spirit is in full swing.  Dinners are being prepared, family gatherings are being planned and suitcases are being packed for visits to out-of-state relatives.  Now if you get along with your relatives the trip can be a lot of fun, but if not then it makes for a really long Thanksgiving weekend!

Thanksgiving is a great time to spend some quality time with your family.  The kids are off for a few days from school and the college kids are home on break.  A tradition in our house is “movie night” always on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  It seems like Thanksgiving always gets a bad rap as far as movies depicting the holiday.  With Halloween you have an abundance of scary flicks to watch and at Christmas time there’s always the feel good movies, but Thanksgiving seems to have fallen between the cracks when it comes to movies.  Fortunately there are a couple great movies that we watch every year on our “movie night”:

• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
• Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Both of these are great movies to watch as a family!  On Thanksgiving morning we always watch the Macy’s Day Parade and of course it’s a given that between the turkey dinner and pumpkin pie the only thing on our television is football! 

Thanksgiving is also a great time to surprise your children, nieces and nephews with a great costume that they can wear on Thanksgiving Day.  My daughters love being turned into little Indian Princesses and the boys become wild American Indians running around the house in their Indian costume with their feathered headdress on and the fringe from their costumes flying!  They love it and have a great time pretending!  There’s also the little Colonial Boy costume and the pilgrm girl costume that my daughter loves to put on when she’s setting the table and bringing out the food for everyone.  It’s quite a show and all the adults enjoy seeing them having so much fun.

There are some really cool Thanksgiving costumes for adults too if you really want to dress the part this Thanksgiving!

Whew, did you make it through the Halloween season in one piece?  I’m telling you, it seems like when I first started my blogs over the summer Halloween was still so far away, but then before you know it I’m blogging in September then October and in the blink of an eye it’s November 1st and Halloween is over!  I’ve enjoyed every minute of writing my Halloween blogs, however I’m not done yet.  We still have many costumes for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day, etc….  At HalloweenExpress.com you’ll find that costumes are not just for Halloween, but for many occassions during the year!

Did everyone have fun trick-or-treating?  I know my kids did and we actually made it through the weekend without my son Caden taking his machete from his Indiana Jones costume and hacking away at Syndey’s Hannah Montana glitter microphone!  My weekend consisted of three kids on sugar high’s one minute and food coma’s the next.   They all three looked great in their costumes and they were a big hit in the neighborhood.  By letting them pick out a costume they really like I’m guaranteed that they will wear that costume over and over again for the next year just to play in.  However, I’m not sure my dogs appreciate that because as you know, my youngest daughter Olivia decided to be a kitty cat for Halloween and since the dogs have never before seen a cat that can stand on its two back legs while chasing them around the house, I’m pretty sure they don’t care for it!

Now that Halloween is officially over the next holiday to celebrate is Thanksgiving.  I love Thanksgiving with all the wonderful food, getting together with your family and football.  It’s known at our house as the “3F Holiday” – Food, Family, Football (and not necessarily in that order)!   I hope you’ll check out my upcoming blogs about the holidays; the traditions, foods, games and of course all our holiday costumes!

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!

Friday, June 20 was the first “official” day of summer and all the swimming pools and picnics are in full swing!  Speaking of picnics, the July 4th weekend is just 11 days away and that’s definitely one of the biggest weekends of the summer for a party with family and friends. 

We always have the Fourth of July party at our house and I love planning and getting everything together for it.  It’s probably one of my favorite holidays because there is always so much to do.  Picnics, parades and fireworks are just a few things to look forward to on July 4th.  If you’re planning on throwing a party you should start planning now so that you’re not pulling your hair out trying to get everything done at the last minute. 

If you’re planning on having it outside then put some colorful flower pots around to give your yard a little color.  My kids love to decorate the yard with those small plastic flags and anything they can get their hands on that’s red, white and blue.  Since it is the middle of summer and usually pretty hot by now, make sure you have plenty of shade for your friends and family to enjoy (sitting outside sweating up a storm is not very enjoyable).  If you don’t have an awning or covered deck just put some umbrella tables around the yard.  I always borrow a couple from my family and neighbors! 

A great way to show your patriotc spirit is to get one of our great costumes from Halloween Express.  From Uncle Sam and The Statue of Liberty costumes to plastic flags and aprons, we have everything you need to make your Fourth of July celebration a weekend to remember. 

Like a lot of neighborhoods, ours always has a big firework display that evening.  It’s a perfect ending to a great Fourth of July party with family and friends!