I’m a Twilight fan. I admit it and I even willingly add my giggles to the screams of teenagers and rabid moms every time another bit of the saga debuts on the big screen.

My friend Wendy and I have gone to midnight showings of the last two Twilight films and we decided this was a tradition we wanted to continue with the new flick, Breaking Dawn Part I. Jason happily tagged along with us ladies for some “Romance in Rio” amid the fabricated rainforests of The Mayan restaurant before the movie premier. We hung out in artificial treetops and ate plenty of counterfeit Mexican food while awaiting the arrival of the midnight hour and our screen-sized monster babes.

The movie itself was entertaining but it did have some rough spots. The soundtrack for the first 15 minutes was way too cheesy. It seemed more appropriate for a religious propaganda film where Jimmy finds his morals than for a pop movie involving vampires and werewolves. And the scene where the wolves read each other’s minds? I dare you not to laugh.

We still had a great time though. How can you not have a blast when surrounded by the earsplitting ambiance of middle-aged women shrieking over their favorite supernatural heartthrobs?

The excellent company, extreme fans, sleep deprivation, first-rate cheese, and plethora of moody bloodsuckers combined perfectly to form the finest of memories.

It was my turn to host bunco this month and I decided, since it seems like Utah has already had more than its share of winter, that a little tropical escape was in order. So I planned a bunco luau and we ladies rolled the dice island style.

Making the setting properly exotic was a relatively easy task. I’m a party girl so I had quite a few decorations from previous island themed gatherings. And believe me, nothing says paradise like some fake tropical blooms and plastic Hawaiian gods. Jason even lit tiki torches out in our front yard to spark the mood as the girls approached.

The refreshments were perhaps not completely authentic but they were tasty and plentiful. I made coconut cupcakes from scratch and fresh squeezed strawberry guava lemonade. The rest of the grub was provided by Rumbi Island Grill. Their luau pork and Jamaican jerk rice bowls were delish.

I think the sweet pineapple and relaxing Hawaiian melodies successfully soothed the 30 degree weather and eminent snowfall from the minds of my guests, at least until the subarctic winter night blasted them with a frigid reminder that Utah ain’t no temperate paradise.

Even though our party is a huge time sucker, Jason and I love Halloween too much to let the seasonal festivities stop there. Here’s a little of what else we squished into our October to make it merrily scary:

The two of us spent an evening at Hee Haw Farms misplacing ourselves in the endless circling paths of their corn maze, eating scrumptious freshly made donuts, and racing down the potato sack slide. Hee Haw truly does have the best corn maze around. They must grow mutant plants because those stalks are menacingly high.

We let our juvenile tendencies run amuck on our annual outing to Cornbelly’s. While the corn at this maze looks a little short and stumpy compared to Hee Haw’s long creepy stems, the courtyard activities at Cornbelly’s are second to none. Our group of friends sampled many of those courtyard attractions including the ones that aren’t necessarily meant for kiddies our size. We played a whole lot of cornball, which is pretty much volleyball except with a ball so huge I can barely grasp it in my stubby arms. We also got spooked in the chaos castle, jostled around on a bumpy hayride, and bloodied on the slides as we competed for speediest descent.

Although All Hallows’ Eve arrived less than 48 hours after our massive party, and we had definitely not recovered yet, we still couldn’t pass on brewing up some uncanny cuisine for our Halloween dinner. We made spider web trap, which is a yummy but disgusting looking combination of spaghetti squash and gnocchi, along with cheddar eyeballs and chocolate spider clusters. It was all disturbingly delicious!

Yes, I’d say we adequately celebrated our favorite holiday. We may be busier than a bat at a blood bank during October but Halloween just isn’t Halloween without some terrifyingly corny traditions.