{"id":379635,"date":"2012-10-28T21:54:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-28T21:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2012\/10\/28\/the-whimsical-witch\/"},"modified":"2012-10-28T21:54:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-28T21:54:00","slug":"the-whimsical-witch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2012\/10\/28\/the-whimsical-witch\/","title":{"rendered":"The Whimsical Witch"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:formulas> <\/o:lock><\/v:path><\/v:stroke><\/span><\/v:shapetype> <\/w:wrap><\/v:imagedata><\/span><\/v:shape>\u201cWhy don\u2019t we decorate for Halloween, like we do for Christmas?\u201d my then nine-year-old Peanut asked.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

I thoroughly deck the halls the day after Thanksgiving, and wait as long as I possibly can to tear down the tree.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

I love the lights, the twinkle, the pure spirit that is the holiday, and if I could, I\u2019d celebrate with some ornamentation all year long.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

But I only had one or two inconspicuous pieces that recognized those other holidays.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

That all changed when my boy asked that simple question. He enjoyed Halloween as much as I did Noel.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s how it the haunting began\u2026<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

We held our first annual party that very year, and six years later I still find myself smiling each time a special decoration catches my eye.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

I smiled when I spotted this whimsical witch as I flew past her on my mission for food items.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

I smiled, again, when I passed her on my way to the checkout line.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

I paused to gaze upon her gloriousness.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

I hesitated.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

I really shouldn\u2019t spend more money on October frills<\/span><\/i>.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

But how could I possibly<\/i> resist the beautiful lady in the photo above?<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

And how could I not<\/i> give her the front-and-center attention she so deserved?<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Hmmm\u2026wonder if I should name her\u2026<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Suggestions, anyone?<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Soon\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhy don\u2019t we decorate for Halloween, like we do for Christmas?\u201d my then nine-year-old Peanut asked. I thoroughly deck the halls the day after Thanksgiving, and wait as long as I possibly can to tear down the tree. I love the lights, the twinkle, the pure spirit that is the holiday, and if I could, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[316,113,317,159,160,161,162,104,451,89],"class_list":["post-379635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-happyhappens","tag-family","tag-finding-happiness-in-your-day","tag-halloween","tag-halloween-decorations","tag-happiness","tag-happiness-happens","tag-happy","tag-parents","tag-teenagers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Pumpkin-Lady.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}