I've always loved Halloween.

I've loved it more as a grownup than as a child because the hilarity of adult Halloween is unmatchable. But growing up, my family (specifically my mother) helped curate group Halloween costumes and encouraged us to get creative.

We had somewhat of a costume box in our attic that contained an assortment of dress-up pieces. We'd pull it out around Halloween or just whenever we wanted to spice up life on the farm. I remember a few items from it: a matted blond Rapunzel wig, a wand, vampire fangs, butterfly wings, a witch hat (duh), a surprisingly impressive Queen of Hearts costume, some pirate gear, and a variety of capes and cloaks.

My first costume, apparently pulled at random from the box, appears to be this clown fairy.

One year, maybe the first Halloween I remember, my family and our close family friends were a Wizard of Oz group costume. I was the scarecrow and my mom stuffed my overalls with real hay from the barn. (The growing-up-on-a-farm thing is another tale for another time.) Needless to say, it was itchy.

One year, we went to our friends' annual Halloween party, which the adults got pretty into. They had a tradition of people performing skits that were in character with their costumes. My dad went as Dracula and my mom went as a lady that Dracula bites. All day leading up to the party, they were talking about the skit and how Dad was gonna bite Mom. I was about 4 years old, and didn't really understand the part about this just being pretend. Basically, I thought my dad was Dracula and that he planned to bite my mom and kill her. So the entire day, I was anxious as fuck. I remember when they finally performed their skit that night too. I can't recall if I yelped out loud or just thought in my head, "Nooooooo! Daddy, don't get mommy!!!" In retrospect, this is actually the exact kind of Halloween party I'd like to get invited to these days.

At some point, I was Mini Mouse and ever since then, I've been wearing too much blush.

In 6th grade, my mom helped me and 3 of my closest friends create a "deck of cards" group costume. She drew the graphics onto poster board and we colored them in. I'm pretty sure I was the Four of Diamonds, though I can't remember why I chose it.

The next year, she helped us with another group costume: sticks of gum. I was Big Red and we won Best Group Costume for our middle school's costume contest! Truth be told, we were the only group costume that year, but very proud nonetheless. The same year, I was also called down with my current crush during an assembly to demonstrate how not to slow dance at the Halloween dance. Everyone whispered and giggled. I was red in the face and completely mortified.

After that, I don't really remember dressing up again for Halloween until college. I think I might have been a cowgirl around age 16 or 17, but I can't find a photo.

My freshman year in college, I was this "golddigger" complete with a little gold shovel. It was a cheap, slutty costume but also a pun. Fitting.

The same year, I was also this.......leopard? The dress was actually my prom dress from the year before, so you might say I was being economical. I drunkenly broke my toe that night and had to wear flip flops around campus for the next week in the cold November rain.

The next year, I was Santa. Not Mrs. Clause. Santa. This was around the time when I was trying to lose my freshman 15 and was running 5-6 miles a day in order to fit into my tiny Halloween costume. I wasn't very happy.

The following year, I was a cavewoman.

Yeah guys, I know I was really tan. You can read more about how and why I quit that shit here.

After that, I was Darth Vader. I had stapled the foam control board thing to my shirt to make a little pocket for my phone and keys. It came undone and I lost both of them later that night. Not a good look.

I think we're at age 22 now, which means I was Bart Simpson. My biggest regret in regards to this costume was not committing and putting my hair up into the wig. And the duck lips. I regret those too.

The next year, I was a Storm Trooper. (Shown here on the far right.) I couldn't see anything in my helmet, so I danced blindly that night.

Then I was the Scream killer. I found an iPhone case that turned my phone into a 90s flip phone. I carried around a rubber knife threatened some people. That was fun. But truth be told, I didn't wear my mask very much that night because I needed to access alcohol.

My most epic costumes happened in the past 3 years. In 2014, I was Maleficent. The movie had come out earlier that year, so I knew I was risking a duplicate costume at whatever party I went to. There were a couple dups, but mine was better, of course.

Then I was this dope astronaut! This was the year I met Joe. I think the Halloween party we went to was our 6th date. Also, Halloween was on a Saturday that year and Daylight Savings was November 1st, so we had an extra hour to make out 'n stuff.

And of course, last year in New Orleans, I was Steph Curry. Hey-oooooooo!

I'm realizing now that a lot of my Halloween costumes have been of male characters....with cleavage. But I didn't go full drag until last year as Steph. With this costume, I just wanted it to look really realistic and I think it worked out pretty well, TBH.

This year, I plan to lay low. I'm just too damn busy planning a wedding, working, and doing whatever else keeps me so busy. Joe and I will actually be in Las Vegas on Halloween (Tuesday) for a work conference he's going to and will probably just stay in and watch a movie this Saturday. I kind of just wanna get something bomb for dinner and a pint of that non-dairy chocolate sorbet they have at the ice cream shop across the street from our apartment. It tastes like a brownie and makes me feel crazy.

Even though I won't be dressing up this year, here's my fun tip for costumes: On Halloween, if you search the hashtag of your costume on Instagram, you will see everyone else in that costume. Seems simple and dumb, but the inspiration and solidarity is nice. This only works on Halloween, though! For example, last year when I searched the hashtag #stephcurry, I saw a bunch of dogs and men dressed up as him. However, if you search for it any other day of the year, you'll only find stuff about the real Steph.

Whatever you get into this year, eat what you want, watch what you want, be who you want, and take an Uber, okay?