Welcome to Fit to Be Real. And a little extra.
Thank God that was her and not me this week.
It's usually me messing up when I open my mouth.
I don't even know if they know that that just
happened. Oh. Pretty sure that was just on our
end. I thought I'd click the live button, but
I didn't. So when I... It doesn't matter. It
really doesn't matter. Things happened and now
we're here. Never mind. Now we're here. I'm Victoria.
Hey guys, I'm Carly. And we're both tired. What's
different than any other week? Because I think
sometimes I'm more aware of it. You're more aware
that you're tired, but right now you're just
figuring it out? No, the opposite. Like last
week I'm like, yeah, we're always tired. And
this week I'm like, oh, I'm making mistakes.
Yeah. I'm tired. Yeah. I'm not. You look it.
No, wait, my kids had off from school yesterday
and I slept till 630 and I was like, this is
amazing. It was wonderful. I felt so good. Great.
Everyone should sleep till 630. You're good.
That does sound amazing. Like we get up so early,
which is fine. I mean, It's fine, but sleeping
in is fine Everything's fine sleeping until 630.
I was like, this is glorious. I feel like it's
noon number one My body went off before my alarm.
Nope. I didn't go off. What is that mean? My
body woke up for the average person was I mean,
I didn't sleep till 630 today My body woke up
before my alarm and I was like, wow The sun's
coming up. I feel with it I feel good. I feel.
What's that? I don't know. Keep going. I feel.
Oh, it's I look good. Never mind. I'm tired.
I definitely don't think you look good at six
in the morning. I've seen a little bit of that
down the shore. It's not great. Yeah. OK. Anyway,
the next disclaimer I want to put out is that
they're cutting trees down across from my house
and my windows are open. So should you hear the
tractors beeping? Actually, they're flipping
a house. No, they're cutting down your trees.
They just cut down an enormous tree as I rolled
up. In the wooded area? Yeah, like where the
goats were. Oh yeah, we had goats for a while.
To eat all the... brush. So but at that time
when we had the goats they cut down a lot of
trees. Yeah they're cutting like huge trees.
So I think they're in fear of like falling and
I don't know. But they're also flipping a house
across the street for me and it's been rough.
Yeah. They're like might as well have knocked
it down. They probably should have just knocked
it down. Sometimes I feel like that's I don't
know. I don't know anything about flipping houses.
I have no comment or opinion. But I do have a
life update. Would you like to hear it? Would
you like to hear my life update, everyone? I
know you've all been wondering. Yes, Carly. Dean
is now going to school without crying. Wait,
no, this is a big deal. It took a month and a
week, but it happened a month, a full month and
a week. Don't say five weeks. Definitely don't
say five weeks. But he's going to school with
everybody else. Not crying. I do have to give
him a toy every single time. However, I will
spend however much money I need to get him there
without crying. This is a perfect segue into
what we're talking about today about spending
in the season. Hold on. Like you promise him
if you go without crying at the end of the day
you'll get a toy or he gets one right now He
has to he doesn't know the concept of time and
the end of the day could mean six months from
now It's so long So if I don't give it to him
as he's walking down the steps going into school,
it doesn't happen He did he is grabbing my hand
and making me like squeeze hold him Until he
gets to the steps, but he is not crying And he's
not going into the office anymore where he gets
picked up by his teacher. He's like doing what
all the other kids do. And you never found out
why. I mean, he never was able to say why. He
went to the psychologist, like the guidance counselor,
and she said, he told me he misses you. And I
was like, I know. I'm very missable. But that's
the joke. Like, that's why we know that there's
gotta be something deeper. I don't know. And
it can't just be that. Honestly, I think it's
what everybody was just telling me. It's transition.
It's a hard transition to go from. Your other
two did not do that. But I was not with them
24 hours a day, seven days a week, and then gone
for seven and a half hours a day immediately.
And that's what I was with Dean. You don't think?
No. No. And it was just me. Andrew was in...
Scotland and Vegas all summer. So it was us all
day every day. He sleeps with me like it's Amazing
how things are backfiring Amazing how no one
has warned you interesting, but I think it's
just I think it's as simple as that It was a
transition, but now I spent lots of money at
the very expensive feed below Which my god go
to the dollar store. Well He wants a specific
clink bot. No, no, no, you don't get you get
what you get and you don't get upset. I will
pay whatever it costs. Greedy or grateful. To
get him to school without crying. So I bought
him bulk and then he picks out the color and
then he goes into school. And yes, I'm going
to lunch duty today, but I'm not going tomorrow.
So there's that. That's my life update. It's
going to change within an hour. Folks don't believe
a goddamn word she says. And on that note, we're
both going to take a sip of coffee. I'm drinking
Selena's mug today because she is a goddess.
Selena's good. Oh, good story. OK. Como la flor.
I think Mexicans everywhere are very upset with
my Spanish, with how that just went. Okay, I'm
gonna try this again. Okay. Hey guys, what we're
talking about today is Halloween and how much
gosh darn money we should probably stop spending
on Halloween. But did you read what I said? Yeah,
I did. $13 .1 billion is expected. Billion. Just
for Halloween. That's not Christmas. That's not
Christmas. Halloween. I have a question. I didn't
see if that was just in the US or if that was
worldwide. Because I know other countries celebrate
Halloween. Not like us, though, I feel like.
I mean, it's really, it's more of a Day of the
Dead, which is not actually on the 31st of Halloween.
Right. Is that November 1st? No, that's All Saints
Day. That's Catholic school. Yeah, that's buried.
I think that's different. We have off, but whatever.
Americans is what it says. Americans are expected
to shell out $13 .1 billion on candy, costumes,
decorations, and other Halloween -related goods,
which I'm not sure. We covered it all, so I'm
not sure what that is. No, can't you say it again?
Candy? candy, costumes, decorations. Yeah, like
all the... What else is there? You know, gift
bags, goodie bags, like all the junk, the spider
rings, the little toys and trinkets, the paper
plates, the... Yeah, true. All that stuff. I
mean, I spent at least one billion on my Halloween
party. I agree with you, but wait, what? Already?
Oh my God, yeah. On what? Tell us. on spider
rings, on bubbles, on little gift bags. But I
told you I was buying all that and it was in
my cart and I had already purchased it. Yeah,
yeah, okay. So I had some of that from last year.
So I bought that and I'm gonna kill you. Decorations.
Like every year I buy at least two more decorations.
Why? Because I love - You're part of the problem.
Well, I love my front yard. like looking like
Halloween, I love it. So like the kids look forward
to buying like one more inflatable or one more.
We bought a giant pumpkin this year. I can't
wait to make you feel bad about all of that.
All right. Hold on. I also bought. OK, we'll
talk about it later. Go ahead. Wait, what else
did you buy? Well, we're going to talk about
costumes. So when we get to costumes, we'll talk
about it. Yeah. OK, so we have a list. We're
not going to be too long winded, but also that's
always a lie. So. Be a full bar household. And
this was shocking to me. No, I love this idea.
But didn't it surprise you? Well, yeah. It says
to buy and give out the full bars of candy, not
the like mini bulk bags because of the amount
of plastic and wrapping for the individual candies.
And so you're saving the planet a little bit
more on plastic wrap and trash or garbage waste.
you're gonna save more money by buying the full
bar than you would by buying the multiple like
bulk variety packs and you will be the best house
on the block not a part of the article okay but
it is a benefit like Alyssa what's up Alyssa
she's a full bar house she's a full bar girl
she's a full bar girl well back it up she's a
full bar girl and my kids know this and we will
hit her up on the way on like it first and then
we will hit her up on the way back. Rude. That's
rude. So she get whatever she has left because
we know she doesn't want to keep it in the house
inappropriate. My kids know. We go to Alyssa's
house. I'm trying to think. I don't think we
had a house on our block growing up that had
ours full block full candy. The one next to us.
Remember, we would always be like, oh, the next
block has the foot like you knew who gave out
full bars and who gave out like toothbrushes
and toothpaste. Because that happened. What?
Yeah, there was a house that gave out like toothbrushes
and like many toothpastes. Your kids or us? Us.
You don't have a good memory. Trauma will do
that. I'm sitting next to it. Okay, so the second...
thing is basically try to pick things with better
packaging if you're not going to do the full
candy bar but that would mean like boxes of raisins
like the cardboard boxes or nerds it says nerds
are in cardboard not plastic so that's like a
better option if you're going to give not like
cuter just more eco -friendly yeah we're not
we don't really who cares about being cute if
we're all dead just want to put that out there
um but this one is something i thought about
because i almost bought myself from the dollar
store uh Pumpkin carving plastic knife set which
shocked me that it was at the dollar store But
don't do that. We all have knives in our houses.
Just use the spoons and knives we already have
that are metal and steel and not plastic. I think
everybody gets caught up in the packaging and
being like, oh, this will make everything easier.
I do it with the egg dying for Easter every year
too. And I'm like, I have all this. I have a
spoon. Why do I need a wired metal holder for
the egg? To dip. Yeah, you have all the stuff
in your house. Don't waste your money on it.
Yeah, I get it though. No, I get it too. The
packaging and the whole experience of like walking
into the store and everything looks Halloween
-y and you want to buy it, but you're wasting
your money. You have all of it. Yeah. I support
it. And then also, wait to buy your pumpkins
because they're going to go bad if it's too...
I saw pumpkins out in September and I really
wanted to, but then I was like, they're going
to rot by the time... We have to get through
summer number two first. we're still in it yeah
and then also the squirrels and the wildlife
are hungry so they're gonna eat through it if
you carve a pumpkin and put it out right now
anyway so wait to buy your pumpkins number one
maybe you'll not buy as many remember when you
can go to Linvilla and do a what you what is
it what you can carry pay what you can carry
No, usually it's like $9 million a pound for
a pumpkin. So mom only used to let us get like
the tiniest pumpkin they sold at Linvilla. Right,
pay what you can carry. The price is the price,
but if you can carry this many, maybe you're
right. Maybe it's different. But maybe you won't
do that if you're like, oh, I already bought
a bunch of stuff. Maybe I'll save my money. I
don't know. But then use your pumpkin. Use the
innards. You know, pumpkin seeds, they're one
of my favorites. Outerts. Use the outerts. Where's
the dong -gong? Oh, yeah, I have it. I was hiding
it. It's here. Hold on, it has packaging. But
yeah, all that like goop that we tend to be like,
ew, gross. If you Vitamix it or NutriBullet,
whatever blender you have, make like a pumpkin
base soup or broth or whatever. It's all edible.
It just is something you don't want to touch
with your hands. You just have to look it up.
like Google it, and there are a million things
you can do with them. I mean, basic, we love
doing the pumpkin seeds and salting them. That's
the best. The kids love that. And you know what?
We did not carve pumpkins last year. And I thought
my kids would just forget. And it's the first
thing. Can we please carve pumpkins? We didn't
do it last year. Yeah, we have to do our competition.
I know. And they asked me to do that again. This
weekend. Yeah, they said, can we do it? Guys,
just hold on. Let's work out our schedule. We
could do it Saturday or Sunday because there's
no Eagles game. Okay. And... Hold please. We
can go to L 'Invilla and we can do that. We can
make our whole thing. We need to make teams.
You're all invited. Fine. Anyway, teams. They're
all going to want to be on Pedro's team. It's
so annoying. I know. And I'll have prizes. It's
fine. Carly usually gets whatever kid is last.
And then we try to make them feel good that they
have Carly. Nobody ever wants to be on my team.
It's usually Dean. But you know what, my Aunt
Vicky, our Aunt Vicky, gave me, for my birthday
one year, a pumpkin carving set. And it's battery
powered. And it's like a little saw to carve
pumpkins. And at the time, I was like, thanks,
Vic. Wait, I love that you just said the Delco
version of saw. Saw. She said, Azael, for those
of you who weren't really listening. Drew despises
that. I do, too. The kids say it. That's wild.
Mom, I saw it. I think I used to say that. I
saw it, and he's like, no. He doesn't get angry
about much. Saul, he gets very upset with. It's
a different word. It's a completely different
word. Better call Saul. Better call Saul. But
yeah, so at the time, I was like, oh, thanks,
Vic. This is a great gift. We had already carved
pumpkin, so I didn't use it that year. I was
so happy the next year when I got a motorized
saw and like a scooper and I had it in the package.
It was such a good gift. Is it plastic that we
shouldn't be buying? No, no, no. It's metal.
It's like legit. It's something you keep for
years and years and years. It was like a legit
pumpkin carving set. So I would say if you want
to save money, invest in that one time. Better
call Vicki. Better call Vicki. Ask her where
she got it, because it was very useful. And whoever
is on my team, whichever child ends up with me,
we'll be balling with that. It's Dean. Like,
we know. It's Dean. I'll get Melody. Lewis will
get Pedro. Yeah. Uh -huh. and Andrew's on his
own actually doing the lawn yeah Andrew's gonna
be cleaning something or whatever doing the pumpkin
seeds no Dean might pick Andrew and I might be
ousted which is fine I'll just sit and drink
red wine moving on uh this was something I didn't
know but it's really good and this really doesn't
have anything to do with saving money but line
the inside of the pumpkin with coconut oil did
you read that no It saves the longevity of your
carved pumpkin when you put it outside. Do you
think it's more squirrel friendly? Do the squirrels
like to eat that? I don't know. It's just prevent
your just carved pumpkin from rotting by rubbing
the carved edges, so whatever you sawed it with,
down with coconut oil. Sweet. All right. So that'll
keep your pumpkin from looking like a melted
pumpkin. Yeah. I thought that was cool. Well,
it's so hot around here right now. It's a pain
in the neck. global warming, but the pumpkins
really don't last as long after you carve them.
So I wonder if that helps. I don't think I would,
too, if someone was taking chunks out of me.
You know? This isn't normal. I say it all the
time. Oh, why are you buying costumes? Thrift.
Go to the thrift store. Make your costume. That's
what we did. Let's chat about this. OK. You're
lazy. What? And buy costumes. No, we haven't
done that in three years. We may. We. First of
all, spent an exorbitant amount of money at the
thrift store last year on costumes. Well, that's
true. Melody was the invisible man. She can't
beat that. No. And so we're doing it again this
year. And I will say. The invisible man? No.
But no. They're making their costumes again this
year. Making their costumes is costing us more
than purchasing them. But it depends on how,
like what? Depends on how you're making them,
right? Like, Melody's being a black cat, and
she has spent two days making this mask. But
she wanted jewels, and she wanted felt for the
thing. Like, she's doing it legit. And Louis
is being a Jawa from Star Wars, getting the beady
eyes. Like, they like to be precise and, like,
very factual. OK, do they have the money to purchase
the preciseness and the factualness? So really,
mommy and daddy could say no. Well, we had to
like burlap his shoes. And so now we've with
hot glue. So we've ruined a pair of shoes. So
I just lost a pair of nice brown shoes in the
process. But I will say it is so much more fun.
It's in control here. Oh, I've never claimed
to be in control. Dean bought his costume. I'd
wear a turtleneck under a princess dress. We
did. All right, I want to hear it. Struggles.
I had to wear a turtleneck under my beauty queen
prom dress. You did. And it was horrible. Wait,
that's right. You wore the prom dress with a
white turtleneck. Yeah. And I wore one under
my Chiquita Banana costume. Oh my god. Because
we had to. So here's the difference. I'm... encouraging
my kids to make their costume because we had
to make our costumes growing up, like we always
had to. However, we had to make costumes with
what we owned in the house already. That's what
I mean. They're making costumes and going out
and buying every piece of the costume that they're
making. So there's the difference. They're putting
it together. I messed that up a little bit. Yeah.
We had to be creative and also like the Teemu
version. Oh, definitely the Teemu version. and
it was whatever you wore in the dance recital
the year before, how can you make that into a
costume for the next year? Like I was Tina Turner
one year. I was Tina Turner. She was. Which is
inappropriate. Like I wouldn't have been able
to be Tina Turner in this day and age. Well,
hold on. You didn't do blackface or anything
like that. You just wore a fringe costume and
you had a rocker wig. And I held a microphone.
That's appropriate. That's appropriate for any
decade. You saying you couldn't dress up as Beyonce
if you didn't want to meet Beyonce? No, that's
true. You can do that. I had great legs in second
grade too. Cross in the line. Wait, wait. So
yes, we're moving on. Thrift your costumes. and
hope for the best, and also save a lot of money
unless you're gonna do it like Carly, who's actually
making it worse. Guys, we're spending so much
money, and it's taking so much time, but they're
gonna be very proud of themselves. But then wait.
This is an option. I'm skipping a few. Costume
swap. Oh, I love this. I think this is a great
idea. Yeah. I think you have to... You have to
do it well in advance, though. Like, you have
to do a Halloween costume swap in June. Or July.
Yeah. When you have to, like... prep for it.
Yeah. I think it's a great idea though. It's
just like a prom dress swap or, you know, to
save money on that or anything else. It's, it's
a really good idea. And I wish we had thought
of that. My yoga friends did a, I forget what
it, they called it something. And of course I
can't remember. It was only this past year. So
my brain really is bad, but I brought clothes
I wanted to get rid of or don't eat. And so you
bring clothes that you would like to get rid
of and then she put everything on hangers and
she you know you could walk around her house
and go shopping with everyone's stuff for free
you just took whatever you wanted yeah yeah it
was a swap it was a clothing swap but like for
normal clothes not costumes with your friends
and whatever didn't get picked through and like
rehoused she donated that so like it never goes
back into your house like you do get that purging
and like decluttering aspect of it, too. But
it was so fun. We had wine, we had food. It's
a real question. Did anybody take anything that
you brought? Yes. Some. I also didn't bring much
from what I remember. Did it have a lot of moons
on it or like? Did I not say my yoga friends?
Oh, yeah, I guess that is the place you would
bring your clothes. You're not invited to any.
Who are your friends, Carly? You're looking at
them. Cricket? Cricket? Me, myself, and I. She's
swapping with Target. Okay. But a costume swap.
Because what if you just need a piece of something?
Like, I just need this crown. That's a great
crown. I have everything else or whatever. You
all have kids of the same age. Like, oh yeah,
you were Minnie Mouse last year. Like my daughter
wants to be Minnie Mouse. Why are you gonna go
spend? $49 .99 at Halloween spirit when you know
spirit of Halloween and Halloween spirit Love
it Halloween spirit y 'all Just swap Minnie Mouse's
okay So this one this one kind of goes with Melody.
I don't know how Melody made her cat mask. I
got a picture of it It's a big secret for Halloween,
but my goodness it It does look expensive. Right?
She did such a good job. I'm so proud of her.
It's well done. But ditch the plastic. Like,
you know, you can go to that Halloween spirit
and just pick a mask off the wall. Like what
Dean did? Yes. Wait, what's Dean being? The Stormtrooper.
Sorry. We bought his $49 .90. I am like the oxymoron.
We bought his $49 .99 Stormtrooper, but my kids
are spending $9 ,000 on making their costumes.
Also, I really wanted Dean to do... I know, Saja
Boyz and Demon Hunters. He's a storm... He's
very upsetting. I know, I'm sorry. He was on
board for a hot minute. Yeah, he was really into
it. But again, when the kids are... This is why
it can't be done in June, because when the kids
are really into something in August and September,
they're into something completely different in
October. That's true, that's valid. Like he has...
a one track mind until his one track is something
else. I had an itch, sorry. No, that's true.
And I feel like I'm pretty similar. I can't wait
to see what you come up with. There's nothing
in the atmosphere. There's not one idea yet.
I thought you guys were gonna be demon hunters.
Dean ditched us. You were gonna be Demon Hunters
and then we said we were gonna be and you were
like, now we're not. I was like, oh my god, you're
stealing. I'm not being a part of your family
clan unit. And then I got into it and now you've
all rejected me. Yeah, sorry. We used to do family
costumes and melody and up until last year, last
year, they want to be their own people. And I
hate it. Don't fall for the cheap stuff. That
is Halloween. I mean, that is the embodiment
of Halloween. It's cheap. I know, but like going
to the dollar store or to Five Below, I mean,
everybody has Halloween decorations now. And
you're just like, oh, that's cute and it's cheap.
I'll pick it up. And that's part of the problem
because then the company is. think oh this is
popular we're gonna do more next year we'll do
double the amount that we did the year before
it's just more plastic more micro plastic more
waste more death for the earth i don't know it's
it's yeah i agree but i am also the problem i
went to michael's recently and i was like everything's
50 it went yesterday did you and because we were
buying stuff for the costumes yesterday the kids
had off and we had planned it is a fun day like
we to get excited about making your own costume.
But everything was 50 % off and 60 % off because
the Christmas stuff is coming out. Oh, I know.
And like, we're unhappy because we haven't gotten
to Halloween, but we're very excited. Don't act
like we haven't been sending Christmas reels
back and forth. Oh, I'm down for a Christmas
cookie right now, but the stores is aggressive.
Yes, but. I think being out in the stores is
really aggressive. 60 % off, you don't think
I bought Frankenstein hands that were making
a peace sign? Of course I did. So I am part of
the problem. And I was like, this is $3 .99.
This is $17 .99. I bought a Venus Fly Trap, like
little shop of horrors, big plant, you know,
for $18. And I was like, $600 later, we're leaving
Michael's. Not really. But yeah, $5 .59. Yeah.
But yeah, I am part of the problem. Did I need
any of that? If you saw my house. When you walk
into my house, it looks like Halloween exploded.
I don't need anything. Accurate. I need money,
but I don't need anything. And I spent all my
money and I got the things. So don't do as I
say, not as I do. I think we've learned that.
I think at 131 episodes, we understand that now.
I would say by one thing a year that you really
want. Maybe I didn't need the peace fingers,
Frankenstein's peace fingers, but next year I'm
gonna buy one thing, because I don't have enough
storage in my house, to be honest with you. I
mean, I will say I do enjoy, I just posted on
my story yesterday, I enjoy the houses that do
an entire front yard scene. That's me. That's
me. You like me? My house? Okay. No. Let's...
Let's be specific. I will repost what I sent
on our Fit to Be Real page, so check this out.
It was an entire graveyard scene. There were
pumpkins that sang. Every little bit of this
front yard was an amusement park. Carly puts
out inflatables. They're just inflatables. They
just stand there, and you're like, cool. I wonder
how much that was once. Oh, that one's even bigger.
Oh, that's a giant vulture. They bought things.
Can I tell you how many DMS I've gotten about
people saying I love your front lawn? My kids
love it. You're welcome. It's also not a front
lawn. It's Do it right if you're gonna do it
do it right I Will do it to myself It's a side
lawn And that's it. That's all I had to say.
I live on a main road. You can enjoy it as you
drive by. Right, but it's inflatables. It's not
a whole scene. Did you see the house? Yes. You
took a picture of it. It's also not a scene,
or it's not... It's a bunch of Halloween decorations.
It's just a bunch of Halloween decorations, but
it's the giant skeleton. It's like the $500 skeleton,
like three of them. These people have money to
waste. and they get a new thing every year, but
it's a giant new thing. It's not just like, oh,
cute little spider in the window. It's an expensive
lawn. I hope they have cameras. Well, I will
say if we are talking about saving money and
you know everything in this world costs a ton
of money and going back to the basics is one
that you just you can't. What can you do? I don't
know where we're going here. My kids still, I
have 11, 9, and 6. They love getting in the car.
She's 11 children and then she had 9 and now
she only has 6. Yeah, they all keep leaving.
They love getting in the car and driving around
where we live at night and seeing all the really
fun houses with the decorations. I agree. Beetlejuice
House. And that is still fun for them. And it's
free. Get yourself a coffee. start driving around
the neighborhood at night. It really is an hour
of free fun for the kids. We get out. We walk
around the house. I wouldn't mind if people did
that to our house. Some people actually come
out of their houses when we come, not because
it's us, just because somebody's admiring their
decorations. And they're like, hey, how are you?
So it's really fun. And it's free. You don't
need to go. Except for the gas. Except for the
gas, which is expensive right now. You don't
need to be doing like all these crazy things,
spending all this money, just like spending an
hour in the car, driving around, looking at all
the fun decorations is still fun. Yeah. And same
thing with Christmas decorations and all the
things. I agree. But that's a perfect segue into
the next thing you should do with these front
lawn spectacles is turn them off. Some people
keep them on all night long. Oh, my God, do you?
Yeah. Yeah. Well, you're paying for that. Like,
you're paying for that. Andrew's paying for that.
And he's in charge of turning them off. So I
blame him. Oh, boy, he shouldn't be in charge
of anything. But turn off. At some point, you
got to turn it off. You're paying for the electric.
And yes, somebody could argue that's probably
pennies overnight. and then you're turning it
off in the daylight and then it's only that eight
hour window is just at night yada yada yada but
that electric bill oh my god it's getting louder
and louder outside i know i don't think they
can hear that though can you we'll see i think
you can um it adds up and then all of that energy
that it takes to use that electricity is what
is killing the earth and if Every house does
that. That adds up for the earth. Not your wallet
specifically, but the environment. Yeah, I agree.
Like I hate what driving, say you're driving
home somewhere at night and stores that have
been closed since seven o 'clock have lights
on all night long. Like an emergency light is
one thing, but having storefront windows at midnight
and then you can see through the store because
all of their lights are on in the store. But
the store's locked and you can't actually go
shop there. Why are the lights on? Well, I would
argue that our lights are on. See fit. Our big
sign is on. Not all the time. No, it goes off
at midnight. But that's also not in our control.
Right. So sometimes it's not in your control.
My lights on my front lawn and my inflatables,
yes, they're in my control. And I am part of
the problem. If you say you're part of the problem,
then you become not part of the problem. If you
acknowledge it. But definitely don't fix the
problem. Just acknowledge the problem. It is
step one. Yeah. Step one is acknowledgement.
I acknowledge I am part of the problem. Step
two, we'll see what happens. Carly's the founder
of Halloween Spirit. Throwing a Halloween party?
Send a digital invitation. Did it. I am part
of the solution. Yes, even though using the internet
is killing the earth as well. But I can't save
everybody. You won't. Don't worry. You certainly
will not. But digital is the way to go. I would
venture to say for any party situation, we got
Yes, a save the date with one piece of paper
or cardboard for a save the date and the invitation
was a QR on the back. Really? So the wedding
invitation was all online and obviously the RSVP.
I had to go through a lot of questions for the
RSVP. Like what song do you want to hear by the
DJ? That's sort of cool. I like that. Yeah, I
got nervous so I didn't pick any song. you could
type in your own song, your meal preference,
do you need a shuttle ride, all of the, it was
like filling out a form, but that was the RSVP,
so it just went to their website, and the invitation,
I didn't have to throw away, which is what we
all do to invitations, we just throw them away.
Even if they're cool looking. I think the only
point of a wedding invitation, and I'm only saying
wedding because that's more significant than
a Halloween party, is that the bride and groom
will want to keep one. Yeah, I framed mine. Did
you? Yeah. And that makes sense to me. But like
nobody else doing that. Yeah. I mean, it's in
a box in my closet, but I framed it. Oh, but
don't worry. Dad has it framed on his wall at
his house. There are exceptions to every rule.
That's weird. But yes, I love an invite. I like
an e -vite too, and really a paperless post,
I think, texts it to you now. So you can just
click a link on your text. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I don't feel like it's any less personal. Maybe
for a wedding, I would feel differently, but
maybe not. I don't know. I'll have to get back
to you with how I really feel. I really need
to like sit on this. Good thing you're not getting
married again. I am, though. You know I am. To
Andrew. Whoa, whoa, whoa, you didn't say that
fast enough For any of us. I am having another
wedding in my lifetime. We've talked about this
talked about this with you and him Just saying
I don't know why I think I'm gonna be out of
town We have a brother He's out of town if someone
does not live in your area and they are quite
literally past state lines They're out of town.
That is out of your town And if you're just not
as smart as the rest of the room, your name is
Victoria. Yes. Yes. Oh, that's a dong -dong.
Never mind. I thought that was like, yeah, I
got one on her. Avoid, we're moving on, avoid
plastic spoons and paper plates, which is hard
because I agree with it. But I don't want to
do dishes. I agree. However, there are compostable
knives, forks, plates. I mean, I know Christina's
restaurants when she does catering. Christina,
our Pilates teacher. What's up, Christina? All
the Pierre stuff they do. Wooden, like compostable
catering supplies. Which is more expensive. It
is. But worth it. Right. I think. I didn't do
that. I did plastic. But. agree that you should
do that's not good enough when we're all burning
next year next year you let's hope we make it
folks this is a podcast about bettering yourself
and and I have never acknowledged that I need
to be better before I'm acknowledging that I
need to be better so next year I'll be better
you know what I mean Your steps are way too far
apart. I sent you a DM or a reel the other day
that was like, oh yeah, it was yesterday that
said, stop bettering yourself. Just be vile,
be violent, do all the things. I don't remember
this. Be part of the plot. I sent it to you and
you said, I'm rolling my eyes. God, you can't
remember what yesterday was? I might have early
onset dementia. Yeah. Well, that's great for
me because I'll just remind you how wonderful
and amazing I am when you start to lose it. I
think you still feel you still feel things. Truth.
You just can't remember it, but I think you can
feel it. We'll see. We'll see. And then we skipped
a bunch because there's a bunch, but we are kind
of talking through a lot of them. But I would
say save your I don't know who does this, but
some people get rid of like the moment they wear
it, it's done. They can't wear it again. There
is no costume box. There is no, you know, let's
save this for who knows when. And I understand
that like minimalistically. Throwing stuff out
after you use it. Right. But like don't save
for the what if. Right. But what if those burlap
shoe feet can work for the Oogie Boogie Man next
year. 100 % true. We have a costume closet dedicated
to our costumes. What a luxury. My kids dress
up a lot and have always dressed up. And I kid
you not, Louis has been making pouches out of
the leather fabric we bought and stuff and it's
time consuming. time away from the TV, time away
from screens or whatever he could have been doing
and he's been cutting and hot gluing and brass
pinning and it's really cool. Now Lewis is really
into it and Melody is really into it so I understand
if your kids aren't into that but if they're
not into it just save them because you never
know what those pouches could be used for next
year. It's everything she just said. I just wanted
to make it longer, apparently. But why they gotta
be leather? Because he wants it to be legit.
So he's playing with cow skin? Yeah. Well, no,
no, no. It's fake leather. As Melody said, it's
fox leather. And I said, Melody, it's F -A -U
-X. She's like, oh, she's like fox. And I said,
no, it's faux. She's in advanced math, but maybe
not advanced English. I thought you meant, like,
from a fox. No, she was like, Mom, Lewis is buying
fox leather. And I was like, why are you saying
fox? Like, fox. She's like, F -A -U -X. I was
like, it's faux. Aw, you don't know French. Aw.
But it did make... Lewis realized he had said
a couple years ago he wanted to be a costume
designer. And we were like, oh, cool. And now
he sort of lost it a little bit. And now making
this costume, he was like, Mom, I really do.
I want to make costumes for movies. So I was
like, OK, cool. If you can do that from Springfield,
absolutely, because you're not allowed to leave
me. I can't describe what it feels like internally
when she speaks and says stuff like that. It's
so upsetting. Real and real extra. I do have
two questions before we leave. I know we talked
a lot about money and how to save, and I really
do think it's important. It's hard. Those gift
bags that Victoria's probably spent a lot of
money on are not entirely necessary. The kids
are going to have fun regardless of a spider
ring. I did paper. Oh, you did? Oh, good. Congrats.
But, and the candy is, I throw the kids out like
six months after. And of course my kids are like,
where's our Halloween candy from last year? I'm
like, number one, if you can still eat it six
months later, it's not good for you. And number
two, I threw it out. It's been gone. But. That's
part of the problem. Okay. I have two questions
for Victoria to finish off this. Halloween, what
it means to us and how much we love it. What
was your favorite Halloween costume growing up
that you were? Like one that stands out to you
that you remember? Chiquita Banana, cuz that's
all I can remember. Chiquita Banana was good.
My eighth grade year I was, I wore a Cowtown
rodeo sweatshirt and put a hat on. It was a cowgirl,
but it was like, because it was, you know, eighth
grade and lame. I know, but back then it like
wasn't cool to dress up at eighth grade. Now
I think they're. Well, no, now they're like Jalen
Hurts or they're, they're still babies. I like,
I'm a baby. Cause I, well, we teach kids and
I ask them, I always ask them like one, it takes
up. sometime and two what are you going to be
for Halloween and even my seventh graders and
eighth graders will say I'm being an M &M or
I'll do it together they'll do it together or
we didn't do that back then I'm being Glinda
and Alphaba yeah or basic they'll do something
with their friends I asked you if you wanted
to do that this year you said no I don't remember
that okay so I don't remember I don't I never
really as a kid I loved Halloween because you
like to dress up we did the dance -a -thon it
was like a big part of the school College and
up I never dressed up like last year wearing
a costume was the first time as an adult I wore
a costume Yeah, that's true. You were always
an owl cuz it was just a zip up. It's a fleece
It was before onesies were like cool. I found
it. I'll never forget it. I found it on Amazon
in Right out of college so 21 22 years old and
it was $70 Back then, now they're 20 bucks because
it's like, whatever. And it was this beautiful
Asian model in stilettos wearing this owl costume.
And I don't know why she was wearing stilettos,
but I was like, I like this. So I wore it every
year to make the $70 back and I have made it
back. We teach in it now. We do our Halloween
class in it. I'm a leopard with a cat suit, and
she's an owl in a fleece. It's like a sauna.
It's a sauna. You'd think I'd be skinnier. It
is a sweatsuit. But I was always like, we do
this for a living. Like Halloween, we dress up
for a living. We were in theater. We were getting
paid for it, not well, but we were getting paid
for it. And to me, it was just like... This is
too much energy. I don't I don't even want to
spend the time on it now I like it cuz I'm out
of that world. I think yeah, I think I don't
know I love love it or you don't I love dressing
up. I Wear a costume every day. Yeah Like I not
really but like I would I've always loved dressing
up in college I did it too, but you know in college
you're a playboy bunny or I was a cat I think
yeah, I wore it a leotard in tights. I was Which
is what I wore to school. What was my favorite
costume you asked? I'm glad you asked. Mine was,
to be honest with you, my mom's friend made costumes
and her sons were in their 20s at the time. And
she had a gremlin costume that she lent me. And
it was a full on head, furry, furry, like I was
the gremlin from gremlins, not the scary one,
like the cute one, but it was. full -on costume
I think I was in sixth grade and everyone thought
it was so cool and that's when all my friends
were being like beauty queens or babies and I
was like I'm gonna be a gremlin but see I think
those girls young girls listen I think the fun
funny costumes that aren't cute or sexy that's
what Halloween should be about yeah especially
in sixth grade well Melody's going against the
green like all of her friends are being suckers
players just wearing a soccer jersey and her
friends are being football players and wearing
a football jersey and she's going full out black
cat making it out of fur good so yeah good i
hope that never changes yeah all right last question
what's your favorite halloween candy so annoying
in the spirit of halloween full bar only okay
i have two Okay, I asked for one, but go ahead.
I don't care what you asked for. Three musketeers.
Yes. Reese's. Like peanut butter cup or little
small Reese's pieces? Oh, like peanut butter
cup. So you can, I mean, I love Reese's pieces,
but if you're going to go kings at like the full
bar, like the, what is it? Three? Yeah. Would
you get three in a pack? Three in a pack. So
you could freeze them. Yeah. I would say I'll
give you three. Um, I always like to level up,
especially whatever you do. I like three musketeers.
Yeah. Reese cups and Milky ways, but Milky ways
only in the freezer. I only like those candies
in the freezer. Is that the caramel peanut? No,
no peanut. No peanut. It's like a three musketeers
with caramel. With caramel. Okay. Then that makes
sense. Freezer is the way to go. But yeah, we
didn't do that growing up though. No, not until
later. We missed out on a lot of things. We were
making our costumes, so we didn't have much time.
As an adult, as an adult who didn't want to dress
up, a minimalistic costume is my favorite one,
is you get a bunch of Hello My Name is stickers.
Yeah. And you put them on whatever outfit you'd
like to wear, jeans and a shirt, right? Doesn't
matter. But you put those Hello My Name is stickers
on, but you write. The names of the people that
you know, you're gonna see at this party and
you're like, I have an identity crisis That's
good. I looked it up online I did not make that
up, but I have done that cuz I was like, I'm
not dressing up I wish you had my our mom one
year was all that in a bag of chips and she just
carried around a bag of potato chips Yeah, but
she wore an oversized t -shirt that she wrote
all that on that on yeah, and now the kids I
don't think would understand that no because
people don't say that anymore But anyway, that's
our Those are our Halloween tips to save more
money. Those are our Halloween tips. Whether
you do that or not, like me, is up to you. I
did half and half this year. I did not spend
as much money on my Halloween party slash Halloween
year as I normally do, so next year maybe it'll
be even less. I can't believe you've not talked
to me, but we have to talk. We have to talk about
this party. I don't think I'm gonna go as hard
on Halloween candy this year because I bought
so much last year I remember I was going like
full fist going here take it because I didn't
want any leftover. Oh you mean giving out not
eating. Oh giving out giving out. I was like
yeah I'm not gonna go so hard on eating Halloween
candy this year. Oh I mean you waste like a bag
of it is $15 .99 for you have to buy two to three
bags for it to be like a night's worth of options
or offering. But I think I went, I did too much.
So I was like, please take this, please take
this. So like if you were coming to my house
at the end of the night, you were making out
well. But that was a waste of money for me. Full
bar only. Yeah. Carly has to go to the bathroom.
I do. So we have to, she's shaking that. Do you
see the roller coaster happening? I've had so
much coffee today. Arms up. If you also are trying
to save some money, we'll post the. links, we
had two references and they were pretty great
and a good insight on why the world is spending
this much money on one holiday that lasts less
than 24 hours but it's killing the planet. Could
you imagine if we spent two billion less than
last year? Or put that money towards something
that could actually Keep us living longer. Yeah,
like a Disney vacation for your family. Oh my
god We hope you remember that you're always fit
to be Real and always allowed to be a little
extra. I'm defeated defeated For legal reasons,
we have to tell you that this podcast is meant
for entertainment and educational purposes only.
We are not healthcare professionals. For all
of your health, wellness, fitness, and self -care
needs, please refer to the medical professional
in your life, your primary care physician, your
therapist, a certified coach, whoever it may
be. And then let us know what they say because
I guarantee we need to know it too. Okay? Okay,
bye.