halloween * beacon hill

our halloween was charm-on-steroids. have you heard of beacon hill? no? well, it’s the nicest-{expensive}-upper-end-neighborhood-with-federal-style-rowhouses in the city of boston. known for its narrow, gas-lit streets and brick sidewalks. and, did you know there is a list of the top 20 places to trick-or-treat in the USA? {this was news to me!} combine these thoughts: and yes, beacon hill rates #2 in the nation!

first, a few glimpses of our home for the spooky holiday –

…since we’re living in a home that is 150 years old, i’m taking advantage of the colonial-charm whenever possible. i don’t consider this “my style,” but i enjoy the creative process of utilizing what the home has to offer for each holiday!

our built-in china cabinet is our game cupboard/dish display –
you gotta compromise a little with space when a family of six is squeezing in a home!

for the first time ever i tried to outfit our entire family with one-costume/theme. in theory, it worked. in reality, it didn’t. everyone was willing to put on their ghost costumes for the annual family photo op, then sela quickly changed in to her vampire-witch attire of choice, and kj became tron…

our costumes are from here. carmen merie is an incredible seamstress, and i’ve worked with her for two years in a row now. she also made myla’s owl dress/costume last year, seen here.

i didn’t realize i was following an extra theme this year, but obviously i have ghosts on the mind. ghost s’mores, here. ghost costumes, and a ghost towel for inspiration!

we were very lucky that the weather really warmed-up for halloween because we had our first snow storm just days before. regardless, a mandatory pit stop at starbucks to warm-up was required before starting our evening…

sela loved the fact that her RED lipstick was on her cocoa cup. she told us, this is the color of lipstick she wants to wear on her wedding day. love little girls. ::smiles::

so, many of these photos are blurry – i was shooting manually to try and catch the best light i could before nightfall. however, i couldn’t ask my kids to stand still during such an event, so with a s-l-o-w shutter speed, they are real ghosts in a few of these. 🙂

{go red sox!!!}

check out these hanging-jack-o-lanterns! they were so cool.

at the end of our trick or treating. we went to the beacon hill neighborhood starbucks, again. and do you know what? someone cool was there. john henry. and do you know what my husband did. he got starstruck. i said, “go talk to him! i’ll take your picture!!!” and husband was motionless. he couldn’t think a clear thought. and 2 minutes later, his driver/car showed up and he left. just like that. husband was still happy. even though he just got a close-up look.

{john henry owns the red sox.}

we made it home early so kiana could still hang-out with some of her “teenage” friends. i’m so happy she didn’t put-up a fight about going with us, i know one of these years, probably 2012, she’s not going to want to spend any of her halloween evening with us. {sniff. sniff.} sad thought. she’s my little matching-costume-hang-out-with-me-buddy-extra-set-of-eyes-so-i-don’t-lose-my-little-ones-while-trick-or-treating-buddy, and what will i do when i only get to celebrate with half my kiddos?!? ok, time to stop thinking about this.

all sum’d up: beacon hill rocks.