Think of a Halloween colour. Orange? Black? I'm going to get you to think green this Halloween. 

How you make your Halloween more environmentally friendly, in other words. 

1. Don't use disposable cups. These are cute, but they're creating unnecessary waste. Try the same idea with cermaic reusable ones, if you're really keen on googley eyes. 

2. When lighting up creepy decorations, try using candles or LED lights - much more energy efficient than normal bulbs. Solar lights are even better, if you're decorating your garden. 

3. Don't make too much food if you're throwing a party. Go with the mantra 'eating is cheating' if you're on the booze! Be creative about the kind of food you can make to make a little go a long way and to reduce food waste. Check out my top foodie picks for Halloween!

4. If your sweet food doesn't get eaten, give them away as 'trick or treat' candy. 

5. Use up old scraps of material for costumes, or raid the local charity shop for ideas or outfits you can 'bloody-up'. 

6. Don't waste pumpkin! Use the soft flesh and seeds you've scooped out of your decorated pumpkin in a soup or pie, and roast the seeds in paprika and salt. Yum!

7. Try to use recycled paper while making decorations. Spooky spider webs and paper chains are perfect for this. 

8. Give your kids reusable containers for their trick or treat loot. 

9. Decorate your house with things you can use again next year. For example, hanging bats made of material, jam jar lanterns, window stickers... Come and have a look at some of my ideas for making your house a horror!

10. Use old tea towels or curtains to make beanbags for 'toss the pumpkin'. 

11. Dig out your old jam jars to use as lanterns or as 'witches brew' glasses for spooky themed drinks. 

12. Recycle your waste into a costume - just wait until you see what I've got planned! 

13. Host a costume swap party. We've all got a costume from the past we could give a new home. 

Statistic images borrowed from Edie.

Are you planning to reduce your environmental impact this Halloween? Let me know if you have any tips by commenting in the box below.
​
Lou x

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Born to be a Tourist

Here's my top 11 picks from the internet for ways to decorate your home this Halloween. Are you going to try any of them?

Two days to go!!!

Stay tuned - I'll be posting something showing you what ended up in my Halloween House this weekend - food, costumes and decor!

​Lou x

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Born to be a Tourist

​We're half way through my Halloween series of blogs here on Miss Write and today is all about food! Hope you're hungry... Here's my top five Halloween finger food picks. 

From the top left, we have...

Werewolf cupcakes 
Monster eye cookies
A pumpkin shaped cheeseball
Doughnut bugs
Devil's Eggs 
Olive creepy crawlies
Mummy croissants

As you know, I love trying new things in the kitchen, but I won't be making any of these this Halloween. I have a few top secret tricks up my sleeve. 

I won't be making Werewolf cupcakes as there will be plenty of cake at my house. Standard. 
Monster Eye cookies - doesn't really work with my aversion to eyes!
The cheeseball looks like it has disaster written all over it, however great it may be as a centre piece. 
Doughnuts are not really in my favourite foods, so I'll give those giant bugs a miss. 
Devil's Eggs - see Monster Eye cookies - ick!
The olive creepy crawlies were a possibility but El Husbandio doesn't like olives, so I can find something we both like. 
Croissants - don't go there. Mine are shortcrust pastry. Deal with it! 

There's nothing to stop you making these though - go for it! They all look awesome and very tasty. Good luck and send me some photos on my Twitter!

Lou x

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Can you guess which books these Halloween costumes were inspired by? Photos from around the internet - answers below. 

​In order of appearance...

Moby Dick
Twilight (duh!)
The Twits / Hagrid
American Horror Story Asylum
The Hobbit
Frankenstein
and my favourite... 50 Shades of Grey

Let me know if you think of your own literary costumes...

Lou x

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Born to be a Tourist

22 Halloween writing prompts - go get spooky!

1. A friend of yours has had an ancient curse levied upon him. What do you do to help and what happens to him throughout the curse?
2. What is your favorite horror movie? What do you like about it and how would you survive till the end? Go into extreme detail and feel free to include yourself in sequel ideas as well. 
3. If you had your choice of becoming any kind of vampire, which one would it be? A Twilight vampire, Buffy vampire, True Blood vampire, etc.? Pick one and tell your story of how you were turned and what resulted from that situation.
4. For Halloween, my mum and dad like to …….
5. The zombie apocalypse has begun! Several people you know have already become zombies and now it's a game of survival. What do you do to make sure that you are one of the people left at the end of the movie?
6. I was counting all my candy when all of a sudden…
7. A Halloween party is fun to plan…first you…
8. Write a story about a kid who goes trick-or-treating. Start from the minute he or she puts on his or her costume and finish when he or she gets home and put on normal clothes again. Tell me everything that happens.
9. Write a spooky story to tell around the campfire. Remember, you want to build suspense using onomatopoeia and alliteration. Don’t forget to have a big finale to frighten everyone who is listening.
10. If you could design a haunted house, what would you name it? What types of rooms would you have? Describe, in detail, 3 of the best rooms in your haunted house.
11. If you could be anyone or anything this Halloween, who or what would you be? Why?
12. Use your five senses. Brainstorm a list of all the Halloween sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings you can think of. 
13. Pretend that you have to make a pirate costume for Halloween. Tell how you would make it.
14. Write an announcement for a Halloween party. Keep it short, but make sure it captures the reader's attention. Include information on at least three to four fun activities you have planned for the party.
15. Pretend that you are a jack-o-lantern. Describe Halloween from a jack-o-lantern's point of view.
16. If you could make a magic brew, what would you make? Why?
17. Write a Halloween acrostic using one of these words: ghost, monster, mummy, skeleton, vampire, witch.
18. Pretend that you're getting ready to take a younger brother or sister trick-or-treating for the first time. Make a list of ten tips you'll give him or her.
19. Write a journal entry about the best trick you have ever pulled (or the best one that has ever been pulled on you).
20. Some schools are banning Halloween celebrations because of the religious roots of the holiday. Do you agree or disagree with such a ban? Write a two-minute speech arguing for or against Halloween celebrations in the classroom.
21. You are the star reporter for Halloween Headline, and you've just landed an interview with Casper the Friendly Ghost. Write out 20 questions to ask during the interview.
22. Imagine a Halloween with no candy. Do you think you would still have fun? Why or why not? Write a journal entry about it.

Get writing!

Lou x

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Born to be a Tourist

Do you need to give your opinion on EVERYTHING?! I don't think so!

Currently, if you do not like or comment on something, you can get away with 'not having seen the post', ignoring the new cat photos and news about your 'friends' lives you might not be interested in. However, with the advent of the 'dislike' button, I imagine people will expect more interaction! There's no hiding on Facebook...

What's next? A 'no opinion' button? Would posts without a thumbs up or down mean the possibly cold/unfriendly/disloyal/unsociable/uncaring user had no thoughts or feelings on the matter? This could damage relationships with people who take Facebook too seriously... but then maybe you're not friends with anyone like that!

My primary concern about the introduction of a possible 'dislike' button is the increase of negativity it will inevitably bring. There's too much negative feeling on Facebook - bad day news dominates - and the world and Facebook's 1.49 billion users don't need more. Luckily, Zuckerberg and his colleagues agree.  

No doubt Facebook is introducing the 'dislike' button for more than just public demand. The 'like' button has a feature since 2007, but it's become something the clever Facebook boffins use to tailor the adverts which appear on your feed. It also uses what you say you like to fill your news feed with more of what you like in terms of news, features articles, games and friend news.

Did you see what happened when Matthew Honan liked everything which appeared on his feed for 24 hours in an interesting experiment? The link is worth checking out - read to the end for the result. What you like on Facebook says a lot about you; it can reveal your work networks, the music you listen to, the high street shops you frequent... The list of trivial stuff goes on, but what is more concerning and revealing, is whether you advertise the fact you support extreme political groups on social media. Counter to that, your links to illness or charity work can be linked to your profile, should you choose to reveal it. The 'like' clickable is a huge marketing tool, and the future 'dislike' button, in whatever form it takes, will have the same function. It's all about the money and the value of Facebook. 'Dislikes' will only make it more accurate to judge what the user may like to see advertised. 

The 'like' button can mean so many things: I LIKE the fact you shared this latest news story about the Syrian refugee crisis - the world needs to be aware. I LIKE that refugees are drowning in the Mediterranean Sea, desperate, being smuggled from their countries with nothing but the clothes on their backs. I definitely think twice before liking something nowadays, as my feed is more and more dominated by news articles. 

Professor Andrea Forte, an expert in social and participatory media at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said users will not suddenly turn on each other's posts. "I suspect it will mainly be used to express mild disapproval, or to express solidarity when someone posts about a negative event like a death or a loss." 

Maybe an 'empathy' button would be more appropriate? I'll be interested to see what this button will look like...

Hands joining together? ​A hug might work?

​Personally, I think Facebook should stay away from introducing a 'dislike' button. One click, a knee jerk reaction. Honest, but sometimes it can do more harm than good. Facebook could turn into a place no one wants to be because they are judged and made to feel bad, where the online world is full of body image expectations, cyber bullying and mental well-being issues. 

​Whatever Facebook decides will represent the 'dislike' action, I hope it's not a simple 'thumbs down'. I don'nee'no'negativity! Empathy, yes, and I think the world would agree. 

**UPDATE** 21/10/15 ​http://www.wired.com/2015/10/facebook-reactions-design/_

Here's the latest on the issue.

See you on the next blog!

Lou x

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Born to be a Tourist

Life is full of little bonuses, and we British love the thrill. Here are 23 things which send mild thrills through the body of the average Brit. 
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Remembering your bags for life - now more than ever!

Being in the quicker moving queue in a motorway jam

When you discover two people you know have the same birthdays. Maths Geeks: 99.9% probability is reached with just 70 people, and 50% probability with 23 people, but still... exciting!

Biscuit dunking perfection - playing roulette with the strength of the bake before it becomes too soggy and drops off

When someone you know has the same name as a famous person - I knew an 'Anne Robinson' a few years ago! 

Shops with clever names. This is my favourite, in a town from my previous life, Towcester, Northants

​
​Remembering it's the "2 can dine for £10" deal weekend at M&S

A risky, brave BBQ in April

Watching your Lottery numbers not come up - one day it'll happen...!

​Knowing the answer to a University Challenge question

Having the exact change

Seeing somewhere you've visited on TV - "Been there!!!"

Receiving a Council Tax or HMRC Tax refund through the post

Eating cake while watching The Great British Bake Off

An interesting date (e.g. 10/11/12, May the Fourth - Star Wars Day, Pi Day)

Arrival of your latest installment loyalty card vouchers

A brand new, unwrapped DVD box set

Discovering town names which are rude or funny

Finding a petrol station with a couple of pence off the fuel price compared to your 'local'

Lighting a fire 

Finding a fiver in last year's winter coat 

Managing to eat a scone in company without someone discussing the two ways of saying it

Paying for something entirely with points

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​
Love it...or is it just me?!

Lou x

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Born to be a Tourist

I was brought up in a church-going Christian household, and I don't like the taste of pumpkin. We never had any form of Halloween celebrations, other than the odd bit of on-theme 'art' we did at school. We didn't give sweets to kids in the neighbourhood (one year got egged because of it!), and I was petrified of horror movies into my early teens. My mum even used to take us out to a friend's house on Halloween to avoid the trick or treaters. It goes without saying we never traipsed the streets dressed up, looking for a sugar high from familiar doorsteps. I remember thinking I was missing out, and as the years passed, the excuse that the event was for kids kind of stuck. 

Halloween just didn't happen in our house. 

Fast forward 20-30 years, and I am planning to wrap the house in Halloween gear ready to bring in the 31st October. I'm planning gross looking food (e.g. 'mummy' croissants, 'pumpkin' fruits - you'll see!) for a little ghoulish cocktail get together, I'm entering Halloween themed writing competitions, and I'm trying to work out when I'll get the time to pumpkin carve. In my previous Northamptonshire life I enjoyed the annual zumba 'spooktacular', really getting into the spirit of the thing. 

After a hesitant and discouraging start, why do I now love Halloween so much?

Firstly, I don't need much of an excuse to get into fancy dress. And, I plan, when I have kids, to make Saturdays 'fancy dress day'. They will be (forcibly?!) dressed in outfits from Snow White to the superheroes while we carry on our way through regular Saturday activities. We'll brighten up our local grocery shop! Complex and well-thought through or eBay specials and simple hints - love those costumes. I can't wait to take my kids trick or treating!

Halloween is a great time to try something different. I mentioned I'm baking goods with a spooky taste, making me attempt new things in the kitchen. Same goes for cocktails. If it wasn't for Halloween, I'd never have discovered raspberry liquor. I'm also trying new ways to decorate our home. I love a bit of craft - there's more to Halloween decor than pumpkins!

Some of my favourite films are in the horror genre. I love a good (or bad!) zombie movie - the best being Dawn of the Dead - The Shining is in my top ten, I think, and I'm looking forward to the forthcoming Frankenstein movie, Victor Frankenstein. 

Maybe Halloween's not just for kids. Maybe I've grown into Halloween - and I'm having a great time of it. Never liked apple bobbing though. Water, up nose, not good. I'll stick to toffee apples. 

Stay tuned for my week of Halloween planning - spooky edibles and decorations, cake and BOOze!

Lou x

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Born to be a Tourist

​This was my first sweet potato pie, unbelievably, as it's my favourite vegetable. The first step in the preparations for Halloween... and I want a bite! 

I've really perfected my Great British Bake off style over watching...

Lou x

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Born to be a Tourist - just finished a Costa Rica mini series here, take a look!

Getting married. An untimely death of a childhood friend. Family. Two solicitor hirings. My first house. A few things which have made me grow up a little in the last year. I had a pretty stable upbringing, a lucky child of loving, successful parents, but despite that, half a lifetime ago I was in a bit of a state. Feeling the pressure of exams and insignificant teenage life, I still have few regrets, but if I'd known a few things about life and the future, I would have had a smoother introduction into adult life.  

​Aside from the lottery results, here's 15 things I wish I could tell my 15 year old self.