For the last few years, I have had the luxury of ordering gorgeous costumes for my kids from Chasing Fireflies and similar sites, choosing the cutest, the girliest, and the most adorable ones I could find. That is why Lola went as a Cupcake Fairy one year and Little Bo Peep another, complete with pink staff and stuffed lamb. At least I have the pictures, because those days are behind me. This year, after weeks of waffling and flipping through costume catalogs, my girls finally chose costumes, neither of which I was happy with, and then I promptly lost the catalogs and forgot to order them. So, last weekend, we found ourselves in a costume store, as a family, where we all attempted to select costumes in one trip. We split up, with Kevin taking Eva while I helped my indecisive Lola. She promptly dismissed all of my choices (Victorian princess! Japanese princess! Egyptian princess!) and went straight for the off-limits Monster High section. After much deliberation, we settled on a Monster High outfit that had nothing to do with Monster High. Instead, it was an adorable fur trimmed mod-print dress with fur leggings and arm coverings. We called it the Adorable Snowgirl, but other people called her an Ice Princess. Crisis averted. Or so I thought. We caught up with Kevin and Eva to find her proudly displaying her choice of costume: Captain America. My girly, dimpled little 4-year-old, who has always been obsessed with superheros, finally decided to become one for the day. And I didn’t have it in me to break her little heart. She actually looked adorable in it, her long dark hair flowing out from underneath her little mask, and so even though I never did find the red and blue tutu I planned to add to glamorize the costume, I decided to roll with it. My husband chose a Western bartender costume, which was cool, and spent quite a bit of time settling on just the right props. But with all due respect to superheros and snow princesses, my costume was my favorite – simply because it was so simple! I chose to be Audrey Hepburn. I already had the little black dress, the pearls (in my case, gumball sized), the dark hair. All I needed to add were elbow-length black satin gloves and a long cigarette holder. It was easy, fun, and totally wearable – perfect for a Friday night Halloween party. While I wound up holding Eva’s mask and Lola’s fur legwarmers, my costume stayed intact. It was the first costume I’ve had in years, and so easy that when Lola suggested, as I was tucking her in tonight, that I also wear my costume when we go trick or treating, it was easy to say yes!
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