5 Ways to Get Ready For Fall & Halloween

     Woah...wasn't it the start of summer yesterday?! Where in the world did the time go?

      If you're like me, your view outside has gone from kids playing with their kites and chasing down ice cream trucks... to warm jackets and rain boots, waiting outside in the rain for the NeoSchool bus to come. The weather is getting cooler, and soon the leaves will begin changing colors to the beautiful red, orange, yellow and browns. If you thought fall came fast, just wait until you're saying "omg Halloween is next week!"

     But, have no fear. For I (and a couple cups of pumpkin-spiced coffee) are here to help gear you up for the Fall season & Halloween and remind you of the things you need to start planning for now (or should have started yesterday...)

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     1. Que seasonal candy and flavors in the NeoStores.

     -Although places like the coffee shop, candy and food stores always stock those seasonal items, they are in a much bigger demand now, so stock up! Now's the time to get Halloween candy before they mark up prices, and you can get first pick! This way you aren't that neighbor giving out apples to the neighborhood kids because there wasn't any more candy! (Nothing wrong with those neighbors of course, coincidentally it is usually my dentist who is also handing out toothbrushes and toothpaste though!)

      I recommend doing as I have done, getting your first pumpkin-spiced latte... and reminiscing on this time last year when you spilled one (the biggest size and extra hot mind you), all over the floor on your first day of college. And the room smelling like bad steamed milk for weeks...ANY WHO...(true story!)

     Look out for these fun fall flavors to really get you in the spirit! Make sure to check the lids on your coffee cups, too. It's important.

     My personal favorite recommendations to get me and my pets in the fall spirit:

     Candy: Cheese Covered Caramel Apple, Disgruntled Candy Corn

     Coffee: Pumpkin Spice Coffee, Candy Corn Latte

     Food: Candy Corn Stuffed Pumpkin, Apple Cherry Tarts

     2. Que decorations

     -Same gist as above, but now we have spider webs, scary tombstones with funny puns, and scary motion-detected porch decorations that pop out at you and make you scream so loud your friends almost lose their hearing. Your Neohome will look great if you spiff it up with some fun decorations, and trick-or-treaters from around Neopia will know where to go for candy! Try restocking in the Neohome store and see what you can find, your pets will thank you for it!

     Now is the time to start watching your water usage as well in your Neohome, if you are experiencing more rain like we are, cut down on your expenses by using less water.

     My favorite decorations to get include:

     -NC Mall: Fall Leaf Garland, Autumn Gourd Cart, Haunted Woods Spooky Tree Wallpaper

     -Neopoints: Illusen Halloween Pumpkin Decoration, Neohome Cobwebs, Spooky Skull Candle

     3. Que customization

     -OMG SHOPPING, so fun! My neopets love a trip to the NC mall and the clothing/gift store to get new customizations. Incorporate some specialty fall/Halloween themed items, making sure they fit well with your pets color scheme, personality and personal interests. (Keep spiders AWAY from my Aphrodite, learned the hard way!) Just don't spend so much you have to take out a loan from the bank, the Skeith can be pretty grouchy and really gotcha later on with the interest rates!

     My new favorite NC and wearable items you should try include:

     -NC Mall: Autumn Forest Clearing Background, Autumn Leaf Shower, Apple Adventure Orchard Background

     -Clothing Store: Apple Tree, Beautiful Autumn Leaves Foreground, Pile of Autumn Leaves

     4. Que a user lookup and shop gallery layout update

     -I know you love fall just as much as I do, don't you want to show all of Neopia? What better way to do that then to add a new fall-themed background to your lookup, or a new Halloween blog to your shop? Maybe to go with your pet's fresh-new customizations, they might need a new lookup makeover too?

     For these tasks, I recommend:

     -I cannot link to any remade pages, but definitely see if you can find some cool user-created layouts/backgrounds/blogs!

     -Don't forget about these cool resources here provided by theneopetsteam:

     //www.neopets.com/shopblogs.phtml

     //www.neopets.com/backgrounds.phtml

     5. Finding your perfect Halloween costume!

     -A lot of people enjoy becoming their favorite character for a day, right? My Aisha family has had theirs picked out since March it feels like, all working together to come up with the best group costume that will finally win the neighborhood costume party (after 3 years of losing!). Check out the clothing store for some great finds, and the donation tree to see if you can snag one from last year someone grew out of! Make sure your pet will stay plenty warm in the costume, especially if it's projected to be a cold day. Try to incorporate their candy bag in with their costumes too so they match. Have your Neopet do their research on the character they are dressing up as to help deliver and awesome performance when yelling "trick-or-treat"!

     NeoVillans seems to be a trending costume idea this year. With the faeries throwing a big party, we have heard discussion about matching faerie costumes too! Of course, you can't go wrong either with all of the baby Neopet costumes, the bay Zomutt and Plumpy costume still crack me up!

     Hot trends in costume items this year:

     NC Mall: Baby Zomutt Costume, Kauvara Costume Hat, Lord Kass Halloween Costume

     Neopoints: Scarblade Costume, Werelupe Costume, Dr Sloth Halloween Costume

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     Well! Those are my 5 tips for you. Hope those help you get into the fall spirit and help motivate you to get ready! Soon enough it will be winter and we will all miss the crisp breeze of fall and the leaves changing colors around us. Thanks for reading, stay tuned for the next instillation of this series, "5 Ways to Get Ready for Winter".