What's Better Than Giant Candy Bars on Halloween?

Not much, except this special Trick-or-Treat Newsletter with tips and tricks from friends around the world.

Now that’s a stash of chocolate. Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash

Happy Halloween!

If you’re one of my US readers, perhaps you’ll have trick-or-treaters coming to your house or exiting your house on their own excursions today.

Or maybe you’ve already had trick-or-treating in your neighborhood.

If so, did you give away good candy?

Before I tell you what we did at our house, tell me…

What are your favorite treats?

I’ve got a lot of thoughts on the matter of Halloween candy:

Favorites: Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Peanut M&M’s, Kit Kat

Underrated: Twix, Whoppers, Twizzlers

NOPE: Bit O’Honey, Gobstoppers, Jolly Ranchers (These just don’t do it for me. Plus, geez… how many kids break teeth on these?)

Waste of Time and Calories: Suckers, Skittles, Smarties, and fake licorice.

Why are you insulting me: Fruit

But. Back to our house on Saturday night.

Do you want to know what kids who came to our house are saying?

That’s right.

We were one of those houses that pretended to be not home.

I really didn’t mean to let the neighborhood ghouls down.

It’s just that we’d planned on being out of town all weekend, but came home early - smack dab in the middle of trick or treating.

This left two options:

1. Race inside, make dinner in the dark, and retreat to our lower level, where we could turn on the lights.

2. Go to Walgreens, knowing by the time I got back home, there would be *maybe* 20 minutes of trick or treating left. With this in mind, I wasn’t going to buy “good” candy, because I knew there would be a ton left over. And, not sure about you, but I’m not to be trusted around good candy. So instead of bringing back bad candy (that I would have no interest in), I chose option 1.

But really, it was for the kids. I saved them from bad candy - nobody wants Dum Dum suckers or fruit flavored Tootsie rolls.

Sorry, but not terribly sorry.

However, today is Halloween.

And for you, my lovely readers, I have a lot of treats…

I’ve gone door to door (or text to text), asking my friends to share their favorite tips (treats) for this newsletter.

And reaching out to friends… is What I’d Rather Be Talking About this week.

Yes, we can find links, advice, jobs, partners, and houses at the click of a button. And sometimes those people we consult online feel like friends, or maybe even are friends, because we actually interact with them.

And that’s all good.

But sometimes, the best people to ask for advice aren’t friends we’ve never met, total strangers, or aliens programmed to answer our questions.

Sometimes we need to turn to the people right in front of us.

Who have great ideas.

And interesting perspectives we might not ever know unless we ask…

HEY, is there anything cool in your life that you want to share?

Doing this might just bring you closer to your people.

Kinda cool.

So how about we get to those tips?

Plus, since this is a special newsletter (and the last one of the month), the paywall will be lifted so everyone can see the complete list.

👉 One more thing! Heads up that there *might be* a special newsletter for paid subscribers this weekend.

Watch for that.

Until then. Happy Halloween.

WHAT TO DO WITH EXTRA TREATS

My friend Tiffany suggested, “Find places that would welcome your extra candy like military units, nursing homes, hair dressers, office lunchrooms, or the dentist office.” (The dentist office is my favorite suggestion.)

My sister Beth had another candy-related thought - “Throw the extra candy on a table and decide what would work well in homemade blizzards. Then, unwrap the chosen treats, put them in a sealable plastic bag, and smash. Get some great frozen custard and mix it together and store in the freezer.” This way kids can enjoy the candy for an extended time and not just inhale at once.

Healthy twist? Instead of using custard, make your own healthy ice cream with frozen bananas, cauliflower, and honey and mix in your candy

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SPEAKING OF CHOCOLATE, MY FRIEND KATE HAS SOME LATE-BREAKING NEWS…

Abbey- stop the press! I am utterly alarmed to learn there’s a global cocoa crisis! Learning this news just before Halloween too!

To date, this has been the only way I’ve ever achieved long locks. I’m still trying, though. Kudos to my grandma for keeping a straight face.

HAIR TALK IS NO JOKE & I’M HERE FOR IT

I’ve been on a quest to grow my hair since birth. And let me tell you, it doesn’t get any easier the older I get. That said, I’m always looking for products and supplements for thicker, longer, shinier hair.

My lovely friend Lori says:

This is coming from an old lady (*not true) who has thinning hair. I started using kit-sch bar shampoo and conditioner for the last 6 months and my hair is thicker and some of my curl came back! They have products for all types of hair. It is all natural! I love it!

My two cents is that supplements might help too. While Nutrafol has made my hair thicker, I’m not getting the length results I’ve wanted. I’m going to try Wellbel because I hear it’s less expense and helps with digestion. 🙌 (IYKYK) My friend Karen (a dietitian) raves about Glow for hair and Enrich for digestion.

Is it just me, or is that a creepy book cover? Don’t read that book, try Karla’s method below for a night of Z’s. Photo by Birti Ishar on Unsplash

CAN’T SLEEP? MY FRIEND KARLA CAN THANKS TO THIS…

Karla advises:

In Spotify, pick the 8 Hour Sleep Music. It has so many options to listen to for 8 hours. They have holiday themed playlists too. I swear by it as I hate a fan or white noise sound but needed something.

ADDING TO THE LAUNDRY LIST OF IDEAS, A LAUNDRY IDEA

My friend Moira, who has so many good ideas, she should have a helpline or newspaper column, says:

I’ve been using the laundry sheets (not yucky dryer sheets) for about a year. They come in a cardboard envelope rather than a big plastic jug that is full of mostly water. These are light so perfect for walking to the store or having shipped. I saw recently that laundry detergent containers are hard to rinse and if you recycle them they contaminate the other plastics and make it impossible to recycle. (P.S. Sweet Dreams Karla also endorses these laundry sheets.)

THIS TRAVEL PRO KNOWS WHAT SHE’S TALKING ABOUT

My friend Tricia has been in the travel business for 32 years - so I listen to everything she tells me. Tricia says:

Book travel insurance! It isn’t expensive and it can save a lot of headaches if something should go awry. Also always take a photo of your passport and email it to yourself and someone else who isn’t traveling with you.

MORE TRAVEL TIPS FROM TWO SISTERS AND MY PAL KELLY-

(THEY’VE ALL BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK A FEW HUNDRED TIMES.)

Sue, my sister-in-law, has been to every corner of the earth. She’s got some tips on backpacks and what to put in them:

Regarding backpack fitting and hiking, go to a good outdoor store and have the grey-haired old guy fit your body with the right gear.

Carry exactly one change of clothes and something to sleep in. Maybe one other thing to wear in Santiago. A good raincoat. Socks with arch support. NOT not not a CPAP machine. Get the ridiculously expensive mouth guard alternative if you’re a candidate. Polarized sunglasses - good quality not gas station specials or fashion glasses. Polarized matters. One protein bar. You can get extra food everywhere on most routes.

Sue’s sister Kata (and my Pilgrim sister) has a movie rec and a tip for long flights:

I watched The Teacher Who Promised the Sea on the plane to Malawi. It’s exquisite, brutal, tragically, horrifically beautiful.

In addition, I just learned this from someone I was traveling with - monitor your flights ahead of time to see how full they are. If you see there are open rows, pounce. You can then have space to stretch out for long haul flights.

My friend and fellow early riser Kelly has some travel advice too:

Get up early when in a new city! If you want to see a new city without tourist crowds, choose sunrise over sunset!

A BOOK REC, CITY ADVICE, AND A PODCAST FROM TWO GALS IN MY “WINE CLUB”

(Whenever I told my mom I was going to meet my friends, she’d tell my dad I was going to my “wine club.” :) )

Tammy says: Use public transportation as often as you can. I’ve been enjoying the street car in New Orleans this week! Also, recommending The Anxious Generation. It’s fascinating.

Karla (the one who sleeps like a baby) recommends The Mel Robbins Podcast because it has something for everyone. (Also, ICYM last week’s newsletter, Mel was the inspo behind it.)

A NETFLIX REC AND SOMETHING FOR BETTER SLEEP… FROM MY SISTER PATTY

Patty recommends The Lonely Planet on Netflix if you’re looking for something good to watch. And, if you want to create an aesthetically pleasing sleep environment, consider a light by Loftie. (She just bought one.) You’ll have brighter mornings and calmer evenings, resulting in better rest.

ENDING WITH A QUOTE FROM MY AMIGA LORRAINE IN CANADA

If you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it. If you want to master something, teach it.

-Yogi Bhajan

I really loved sharing these recs from my pals. And guess what, if you’re reading this, you’re my pal.

SO. If you have a tip you’d like me to share (it can be anything) and want it included in a future newsletter, send me a message.

As always, I want you to know I appreciate you.

I’ll see you this weekend with some helpful and fun tips on kicking some serious 🫏 as 2024 slowly (but not slowly) comes to a close.

Stay tuned,

Abbey