October is perfect in every way, but I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. I love that it starts to get colder outside and humid mornings become a thing of a past. What I don’t like is the holiday that everyone seems to love so much: Halloween. Go ahead, gasp in disbelief. I’m so used to that reaction.

From the overwhelming task of picking a clever costume to pumpkin spice flavored everything, Halloween is not all it’s cracked up to be.  There’s so much pressure to have a good time. Picking a costume is stressful. Couples costumes are the worst. Guessing what someone’s costume is can be awkward (yup it happened to me today for the office Halloween dress up). Candy corn starts taking over shelves and somehow I still have the candy from last year sitting around. Previews for pointless horror movies increase tenfold. Pumpkin Spice everything is overwhelming. And pumpkin carving is a lot harder than it looks.

I have softened up a bit and became more accepting of Halloween since Kiki has been around: how can you resist the miniature monsters, ghosts, superheroes, witches and princesses? I’m still not dreaming of a Halloween filled with Reese’s peanut butter cups, mini Snickers and king-size Hershey’s bars, but as a “reward for Halloweening around” I’ve been dreaming of perfect wine pairings with all of my favorite candy!

I am a firm believer that parents should get “paid” for Haloweening around in candy currency…choose your favorite and enjoy the double treat! Now this is a Halloween I can get behind…  what’s better than my favorite wines paired with my favorite candy… #heaven! Let the party begin!