I’m continuing catching up on very overdue monthly favorites posts from the final months of 2022. Next up is my October 2022 favorites!
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Beautycounter Holiday Launch
One of the highlights of being a Beautycounter consultant is their holiday collection each year. They do such fun limited edition sets in gorgeous packaging. At the beginning of October, the Beautycounter Holiday consultant presale set I ordered in September arrived, and then the products launched online several days later. It really feels like Christmas comes early when my Beautycounter holiday sets arrive. Holiday 2022 was my fourth holiday season with Beautycounter, and I think it was my favorite combination of sets thus far!
McDonald’s Cactus Plant Flea Market Adult Happy Meal Toys
If you’ve been reading my blog for at least a couple years, then you know I like to get Happy Meals from McDonald’s when there’s a toy I like. Well, I guess a bunch of other millennials are nostalgic for Happy Meals as well, because in October 2022 McDonald’s teamed up with Cactus Plant Flea Market to launch the first-ever limited edition Adult Happy Meal. These differed from the kids’ Happy Meal in that portion sizes were larger. Instead of a kids’ size burger or 4-count/6-count McNuggets, entree options were a Big Mac or 10-count McNugget. Side was a medium or large fry instead of the kids’ fry with apple slices or small fry. And the drink choices were medium or large fountain drink.
To be honest, the portion sizes in the kids’ Happy Meals are perfect for me. So unlike the typical millennial, I didn’t necessarily need larger portions to have an adult Happy Meal experience. But the adult Happy Meal included four collectible toys, three of which were beloved McDonaldland characters I remember from my childhood: Grimace, Birdie, and Hamburglar. The fourth toy was Cactus Buddy, a special character that Cactus Plant Flea Market made for this collaboration. Since I wanted to collect these nostalgic toys, I decided to get a couple Adult Happy Meals. I particularly wanted Grimace and Birdie.
My first trip to get an adult Happy Meal, I got Grimace-yay! Then my second trip, I got Cactus Buddy. I ended up ordering a new-in-package Birdie from eBay that wasn’t ridiculously expensive.By this point many McDonalds restaurants had already sold out of the Cactus Plant Flea Market Happy Meals, and the McDonalds near me wouldn’t let me feel through the opaque wrapper to see what toy was inside. So I figured it would be less expensive and waste less food to simply get a reasonably priced Birdie from eBay. This was actually the first time I had ever “won” an actual eBay auction. All of my previous eBay purchases had been “buy it now.”
The box for the Cactus Plant Flea Market adult Happy Meal is really fun!
This “ba da ba ba ba” side brings back memories of old McDonald’s commercials!
Speaking of McDonaldland characters and nostalgia, I still have this $1 paper gift certificate from McDonald’s with Birdie on it that I got in my goodie bag from swim team banquet my senior year of high school. I thought it was so cute, so never used it. Now I’m definitely holding on to it as a collector’s item! Next McDonald’s needs to bring back the McDonaldland cookie boxes! Who else remembers those?
Meeting @roseculleredlens
Back in October, I got to meet Beth from @roseculleredlens in person! We had been following each other on Instagram for a few years, but never met in person despite both of us living in central NC within 90 minutes from one another. Back in October I was in Winston-Salem for a baby shower for my cousin’s wife. Since Beth lives nearby in Kernersville, it was a great opportunity for us to meet up for coffee in downtown Winston-Salem after I left my aunt’s house. We had the best time, and definitely plan to get together again!
Fun fact: Beth was co-workers with one of my favorite teachers from high school for several years until he retired two years ago! Beth doesn’t teach at my former high school, but this particular teacher I had for AP European History started teaching in a different county a couple years after I graduated! What a small world!
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Beth worked at Palm Avenue Greensboro back when it was still open, so I had to wear my Lilly Pulitzer scarf in a Palm Avenue exclusive print when I knew I was going to see her!
McDonald’s Halloween Pails
McDonald’s was on a roll with the 80’s/90’s nostalgia this past October! They brought back the Halloween pails as the regular Happy Meal toy during the later part of the month. These look almost exactly like the McDonald’s Halloween pails I remembered getting in my Happy Meal as a kid. The main difference is the 2022 version doesn’t have lids like the ones from my childhood did. There were people who complained about this on social media, but I thought they were still the perfect dose of nostalgia even without the lids. I loved reliving my childhood by getting a McBoo (ghost) bucket and a McPunk’n (pumpkin) bucket.
Annie the Musical at DPAC
My parents were out of town when Annie came to the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) in October, and kindly gave me their tickets. The last time I saw Annie was over 20 years ago when my middle school did a performance of Annie Jr. One of my swim team friends was actually Annie in that production. Although I remembered the plot basics and some of the better known songs in Annie (“Tomorrow” and “Hard Knock Life”), I had forgotten some of the minor plot details and lesser known songs. My memory was easily refreshed as I saw the performance.
I really enjoyed Annie, and it’s definitely one of my favorites of the Broadway productions I’ve seen. Annie really has the perfect combination of catchy musical numbers and entertaining acting. I highly recommend seeing it if the Broadway tour comes near your city. Also, one of my friends was able to go with me, so it was a fun girls’ night out.
Bentgo Lunchboxes
I bought a couple of Bentgo lunchboxes when Amazon Prime had them on sale in October. They are actually marketed for kids and I had seen other bloggers share about purchasing them for their children. However, Bentgo lunchboxes are also great for adults. The compartments are a great way to take snack plate/charcuterie style lunches on the go. I am thinking these will be especially handy for pool and beach snacks this summer.
Taylor Swift Midnights
I don’t consider myself a hardcore Swiftie. But I do enjoy a lot of Taylor Swift’s music, and I even saw her in concert way back during her Fearless tour. And I have to consider the release of her newest album, Midnights, one of the highlights of October 2022. It came out at the end of a super stressful week for me, so it was definitely a much needed pick-me-up. My favorite songs on it are probably “Anti-Hero” and “Vigilante Sh*t.”
Hello Kitty Halloween Costume
Since 2022 was the year I re-ignited my childhood interest in Hello Kitty, I figured that would be the perfect costume for Halloween 2022. It was very easy to put together. I got a pair of Hello Kitty ears on sale from the Sanrio website, and wore them with overalls and a white shirt. Hello Kitty’s standard look often features a yellow shirt underneath her overalls. However, I didn’t have a solid yellow shirt and didn’t want to buy one just for this costume. Therefore, I stuck with a white long-sleeved shirt. I did buy a new pair of overalls on sale from the Gap. I wore overalls all the time back in middle school and high school. When they first came back in style, I wasn’t sure if I could pull them off. But I really like these overalls, and have even worn them when not part of a costume. Gap no longer has this particular pair of overalls available, but here’s another pair that I like.
I wore my Hello Kitty costume to a Halloween party with some friends the weekend before Halloween, and as well as to hand out candy at Trunk or Treat at my church.
Lilly Pulitzer Breast Cancer Awareness Print Skort & PJ shorts
The annual Lilly Pulitzer Breast Cancer Awareness Print is always one of my favorites. For one, there’s always lots of pink in it. But even more importantly, Breast Cancer Awareness is a cause near and dear to my heart. Breast cancer runs in my family, and because of this I started annual mammograms at age 33 (read more in this post). The 2022 Lilly Pulitzer Breast Cancer Awareness print is called “Best of Friends” and features elephants, monkeys, and florals. At the end of October, Lilly actually had a sale on loungewear and activewear, so I order a Luxletic skort and pajama shorts in the “Best of Friends” print. There was a Gift with Purchase happening at the same time, so I got a packet of gorgeous greeting cards in “Best of Friends” as well!
Trader Joe’s Stickers
Trader Joe’s stickers may seem like a very small thing, but they have a fun story behind them. And this blog is all about appreciating the simple joys in life, so here goes!
After I volunteered with the Trunk or Treat for the Fall Fest at church, I stopped by Trader Joe’s. I was wearing my Hello Kitty costume, and decided I might as well keep my ears on to go inside. I already feel like I stick out whenever I’m in the Chapel Hill Trader Joe’s, so wearing Hello Kitty ears wouldn’t really make that much of a difference, haha. Anyways, a little girl in Trader Joes’ told me she liked my cat ears. Then when I was checking out, I saw a roll of Trader Joe’s Halloween stickers behind the register, and asked the cashier if I could have one. She told me to take as many as I wanted, and then proceeded to ask me if I wanted some of the fall ones too. Of course I said, “sure!” Then I saw the same little girl who had complimented my Hello Kitty ears earlier walk by me again as she headed out of Trader Joe’s with her mom, and she waved at me. Sure enough, she was holding some Trader Joe’s stickers exactly like the ones I was getting. I then said to the Trader Joe’s cashier, “I’m basically a 5-year-old in a 37-year-old’s body.”
Thanks to this fun little story, I had to include these stickers in my October 2022 favorites!
Leisurely Halloween Weekend
The weekend right before Halloween Monday I didn’t have any events going on, since the Halloween party and Fall Fest I went to had been the prior weekend. So I enjoyed a leisurely fall weekend at home engaging in festive traditions like watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” I love this shot that I took in my living room during that much-needed relaxing weekend at the end of a busy month!
Thanks for reading my very belated October 2022 Favorites post!
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