Halloween at Two

Charlotte in her Belle dress Mom-Mom made her for Halloween.
Photo by Chris Hernandez

Lotte practicing her curtsey.
Photo by Chris Hernandez.

Yellow is a really good color for her.

This was the first Halloween that my granddaughter Charlotte was old enough to be totally involved in deciding what she was going to be for Halloween.

Last year, I didn't have time to make her a costume, so I bought a fairy dress and some wings at Walgreens. The year before that, I made her into a devil, because she was. And is, for that matter. But she can also be charming, and twirling around in her Belle costume, from Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast, she was at her most fetching.

Halloween 2009. Photo by
Little Blue World Photography.

It was touch and go there for a while, because Charlotte would suddenly decide that she wanted to be one of the other myriad Disney princesses, and her mom would gently remind her that Mom-Mom had already bought yards of sparkly yellow satin and organza, and that it was too late to change her mind.

I lined the bodice with the same material as the front, never thinking that the glitter infused into the fabric made it very itchy. The first time Lotte tried on the dress and started squirming, I thought it was her just being a two-year-old.

Then it happened again, and I realized that something in the dress was bugging her. Live and learn, I'm sure this won't be the last sparkly dress I make. I'll buy lining fabric next time.

Lotte in the Lemon Leaf during the Boo-lvd event.
It was a mutual admiration society of Belle and zombie cheerleaders.

My daughter Megan, Lotte,
my son-in-law Chris, and my husband Jim.

 We went to Lancaster Blvd's Halloween celebration last night, and it was fun, although crowded. I've never been to Mardi Gras, but I believe at one point last night the crowding was similar, although the Antelope Valley people weren't spilling alcohol on you, or trying to get you to take off your shirt.

Jim and went in fancy dress, holding masks, wishing we were in Venice for Carnevale with tickets to the opera in our pockets. My daughter was a pretty, sparkly witch, and her husband Chris showed up in Renaissance garb that I made, apparently.

Well, I remember making the doublet so he could come to the Society for Creative Anachronism's war in Tehachapi, but I have no recollection of making the hat. The boots he stole from his wife's closet. My kids were chiding me for asking who made the hat, but what can I say? I'm getting old; there are many things I don't remember.

Chris Calaba in her "hippie-witch" costume.

We saw lots of cute costumes, and tons of cute kids. At Graphic Experience, our friend Chris Calaba and her husband Dennis were frantically handing out candy to trick or treaters. After they ran out of candy, she filmed the crowd, and admitted that what she captured was mild. Check it out here.

We didn't manage to get into the maze at the Western Hotel, and I really wanted to, but the line was too long. Lotte trick or treated at a few places and then the mob was getting to us, so we ducked into the Lemon Leaf for pizza.

As usual, many of our friends were there. I swear the place is like a restaurant in a soap-opera, not that we all know one another's business, but that everyone we know eats there. You know how there always needs to be a place where people eventually show up, like Central Perk in Friends?

Me and Jim, taken by our friend Ingrid Chapman. Like I
said, you never know who will show up at the Leaf.

Charlotte was ecstatic when her friend Quiller came in. The daughter of Charles and Becky MacQuarrie, she's known Charlotte since she was a baby, and the two played together at our wedding. Lotte asked the older girl, "Want to dance with me?" and Quiller gamely hunched down to do a quirky waltz. It ended with Quiller spinning like a top holding Lotte's arms until both of then fell down into a giggling, dizzy heap.

On the way home, Charlotte talked about playing with her "fwend." She's so precocious, I have a feeling she'll always get along better with kids older than she.

Our group agreed that Lotte's Belle dress beat the store-bought ones, and its deep hem along with the bodice alterations guarantee it will be in the dress-up box for many years. My daughter is looking forward to Lotte wearing it to Disneyland the way she wore her Alice in Wonderland dress years ago. Those photos we have of her with the Mad Hatter and Alice are priceless.

I have many costume patterns in my collection, but I am sure that whatever Charlotte wants to be next year will be something I don't have. I vow to sew something for Jim and me, too. I have a pattern for Morticia and Gomez Addams, that will fit the bill. Jim says I need to practice some French, but his hand and arm kissing is in fine form.

The back of the Belle dress.
Photo by Chris Hernandez.