Halloween 2007

Halloween is a holiday best celebrated by children, who look adorable dressed as little ghosts or cats. That’s cute. But most adults in costume don’t look cute — just creepy or skanky. Personally, I struggle with being misunderstood on Halloween: my renaissance princess somehow got interpreted as Crouching-Tiger-Hidden-Dragon and my orange sweater and jeans once annoyed a guy who happened to greet me at the door. But since a couple of work friends were having parties, I decided to give it the old college try.

I lucked upon a Cleopatra outfit at Jo-ann's half-price sale. Then, to make my costume more recognizable (more historical figure, less generic goddess), I ordered a gold headpiece. I chickened out because the beaded bangs emphasized my short forehead. An aside: I will never wear anything unflattering. So don’t plan on seeing me dressed as a clown or a pirate. But kudos to my sister’s friend Molly, who works an eye patch into her costume every year. This year, she was Little Orphan Annie. With an eye patch. Back to Cleopatra: does anyone know how to make a headpiece? I suppose I have the skills to do that. I had to make my gold armband, too, because the snake one I bought didn’t wrap well. I strung gold glass beads on memory wire. Toward the end of the night, it cut off my circulation. And I probably could have used bigger beads.

Joel, who does events marketing for Kalmbach, went Hawaiian in a grass skirt, leis, and bronzing oil. Our first stop: a party at Alison’s (she’s an art director for Art Jewelry and Make It Mine). She and her fiancé gave guests mixed CDs with a map to their house. They were really creative with their lighting and decorations, too. Here I am with pals from the jewelry titles: Serene is a graphic designer for BeadStyle, and Jill and Addie are editors at Art Jewelry. I like that we look neither creepy nor skanky.

After Alison’s, we went to Boncher’s and stayed way too long. But it was a blast, challenging my view that Halloween is a miserable holiday that brings out the worst in people. Sometimes it's good to do stuff that's against your nature.