Avoiding Atrophy: Justin Timberlake

It's October, and seriously, people are enamored of this month.

This quote was the very first thing I saw in my newsfeed on Facebook today, and while I think my good friend L.M. here might be a little bit aggressive in her love of the month, she reminds me just how very psyched I am to get this whole October thing going.

So far, so good, by the way. Today, I woke up, guzzled down a pumpkin coffee like a pro, and went to my improv class at the Upright Citizens Brigade. In the weeks that follow, I'll be celebrating my girl, Emily's, marriage, connecting with some well-missed friends in Texas, and running amidst the changing leaves in Prospect Park (oh, by the way, I'm running now).

But I have to say, for as much goodness as this month promises, when October strikes, I immediately regress to an eight-year-old girl, unabashedly PUMPED about candy, costumes, and watching the Treehouse of Horror episodes of The Simpsons.

Halloween is 30 days away, and you guys, this holiday is where it's at. This is true for a million reasons and yes, most of those reasons involve the movie Hocus Pocus.

Flawless.

While my family didn't really celebrate Halloween, it was an inescapable aspect of living in San Antonio (HELLO, Dia de los muertos, anyone?) and I grew so fond of the joy with which my town reveled in skulls and corn mazes. In my adult life, I go to great lengths to honor this day.

One of my favorite and least favorite things about Halloween is dressing up. It's my favorite because dressing up is always a win in my book. It's my least favorite because I have an undocumented condition referred to as Costume Anxiety. It's the reason that two years ago, I dressed up as a Cat Nurse Practitioner.

You know...it's like a cat...but it's also a nurse practitioner...so I can land on my feet...and prescribe most medications...?

That, my friends, is the face of a woman who decided on her costume at the last minute. I bought a bunch of dress-up paraphernalia from Goodwill, all of which were pieces that had nothing to do with the other. After a mini-panic attack, I slapped on some kitty ears and called it a day.

Around this time every year, my sister usually sends me a text message telling me what she's going to be, and it's always amazing, and I'm always left wondering why I didn't think of that. I got the text over the weekend, and surprise surprise, she's crushing it again this Halloween. Seriously, how does she do it?

Well, I'd like to be similarly prepared this year with a cute, clever costume. Right now I have nothing, but here are some ideas from an off-the-cuff brainstorm session. You will notice they follow a similar theme...

1. Zooey Deschanel as a cat