Halloween & Dia de los Muertos ...

Halloween in Golden Hill last night was quite a surprise! This little corner of San Diego sure came to life. I bought 2 jumbo bags of candy and that certainly didn't last long. The streets came alive and it was so fun to see two diverse cultures mixing it up and having so much fun. The girls had a good time, and so did Jon and I. It was a great introduction to the neighborhood.

So after we got home last night, Jon and I started getting our stuff together for a Dia de los Muertos event we are attending this evening. We'll be decorating sugar skulls, walking the streets of Sherman Heights to visit some homes that are decorated for Dia de los Muertos, we'll also be decorating an altar/shrine and enjoying posole with friends. It's good to be celebrating my cultural heritage and traditions with the girls.

These two holidays in particular were taboo while I was growing up. It's good to able to make my own choices and share my values with my own family now. So we took the girls out last night to explore and connect with our new little neighborhood. I feel that Halloween is a PERFECT opportunity to walk around your block, peek into peoples homes and actually talk to your neighbors.

For me, my belief is that above all else we are commanded by God to show love to our neighbors, and not to judge them. And in the immortal words of Forest Gump ... "that's all I have to say about that".

Now for the really good stuff, this is a painting that Jon made for me last night. He hasn't painted anything in over 20 years, so it's good to see him get back into painting, he's got such amazing talent. So, we'll use it for a decoration tonight for the Dia de los Muertos fiesta. But it's certainly coming back home with me, I can't wait to hang it up above my computer table so that I can see it all the time, I just love it!!!