6 Ways to Protect Your Home & Trick-or-Treaters This Halloween

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Happy Halloween

From spooky decor to candy galore, the Halloween season is meant to be a fun and festive time for all ages. But according to Traveler’s insurance, along with tricks and treats, this autumn holiday sees 17% more crime-related home insurance claims filed than any other day of the year. With theft and vandalism prevalent, taking precautions is key. After all, forewarned is forearmed.

Before the sun sets and trick-or-treaters and their families begin swarming your property, consider taking the following six precautions that will help keep your property and its potential visitors as safe as possible.

1. Make sure your doors are locked.

This may sound like basic advice, but it’s all the more important to ensure that your property is secure by locking the doors to your house and vehicles on Halloween. It’s a lot less suspicious for a neighbor to see someone walking on your property on Halloween, making it easy for a thief (or just a prankster) to give your doors a try. And, the FBI reports that approximately 30 percent of all burglaries are committed without force thanks to unlocked doors and windows, so don’t give would-be thieves an easy opportunity to rob you.

2. Make sure your walkways are clear and well-lit

The promise of candy can make kids careless when it comes to looking where they’re going. It’s important to remove anything that’s a trip hazard, including sticks and branches on the lawn that can snag costumes and cause kids to fall. Move those gorgeous potted mums, pumpkins, and cornstalks if they’re in the way. Though darkness lends an air of spooktacular eeriness to the night, it can contribute to accidents. Make sure your walkways are well-lit and change any bulbs that are out well in advance.

3. Remove any fire hazards.

Jack-O’-Lanterns are a Halloween staple and yet candles can become a fire hazard, especially if these gourds get knocked over, or flickering flames catch the hem of costume. If you feel this decor is a holiday must-have, look for electric or battery-operated decorations that won’t have your holiday spirit go up in smoke.

4. Keep your pets secure.

The constant ringing of the doorbell can agitate pets. As you open the door to dole out candy, it’s easy for dogs and cats to escape. In the least, this can startle kids, causing them to become upset or stumble backward. But, it could also lead to a child being scratched or bitten even if you do have the sweetest of pets. While your dog may think he’s protecting you, mistaking costumed tweens for would-be intruders can create a Halloween nightmare if someone gets bitten.

5. Remove valuables from view.

On Halloween night, plenty of strangers will be traveling through your neighborhood, with many coming right up to your door, giving them an opportunity to peek directly into your home. With this in mind, it’s a good idea to keep valuables out of view for the evening. Additionally, if you have a home security system, make sure the company’s logo is visible.

6. Tighten your railings.

With crowds clamoring for candy, your front steps can become congested. If anyone starts to feel unsteady, chances are they’ll reach for your railings, and when they do, you want them to be as stable as possible. Adults escorting little ghosts and goblins will be thankful for a sturdy surface amid the mayhem.

This year, make sure your Halloween is scary for all the right reasons. Following these six suggestions can save you from becoming the star in a real life horror story.

Halloween in West Hollywood

Warning...this blog post is a long one! After you read you will see why it had to be!  Prepare yourself for Halloween in West Hollywood!

I have always enjoyed the Halloween holiday.  I loved going trick or treating when I was a child, and I loved handing out candy to the neighborhood kids when I became an adult.  I would even throw a treat in for the parents by giving them cups of hot apple cider so they could continue on the journey with their kids, but my husband, well....he LOVES Halloween!  Every year he gets into the season and plans cool outfits and ways to celebrate the holiday in true fashion.  He would even dress up to hand out candy to the kids!  But THIS year no candy for the witches and warlocks because it was our first Halloween in Los Angeles, the city where movies are made and the party never dies!

As the days got closer you could feel the excitement in the air.  Never had I seen SO MUCH to do over Halloween.  The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) had an exhibit with Tim Burton's wonderfully twisted creations which we did not get to attend because it was sold out, the costume stores were full of wonderful and freaky things to delight the eyes and there seemed to be hayrides, mazes and haunted houses EVERYWHERE.  I had resigned myself to just handing candy out this year but hubby had other plans.  He was so excited that I got excited so on Halloween day he ventured out and obtained two great costumes for us so we could celebrate in the festivities of the Halloween Carnival in West Hollywood.

Ah yes, West Hollywood holds one of the largest Halloween parties in the world!  This party rivals Marti Gras in SO MANY ways.  Little did I know this would be one of the best Halloween's of my lifetime.

The evening started with my husband picking me up from work so we could get a jumpstart on the evening.  He also wanted to show me the treasures of his Halloween shopping. I was going to be an Egyptian and he had obtained the needed items to pull it off, at the last minute to boot!  How he manages to get these costumes is beyond me, but the labor of his day showed.  All I needed was a little bit of makeup and I was set for the evening!  We headed home and started the dress up!  I know,  I know...you want to know what he dressed up as, but you will have to wait on that for now!

We had been warned not to drive and that it would be best to catch the Metro. So we routed our way and planned our time carefully so we could jump in the pool of ghoul as soon as possible.  I am so glad we live close to the Metro, we headed to the station dressed to the 9's.  It was an evening of treats for the eyes.  It seemed everyone was headed to the same party so the train was full of ghosts, vampires, princesses, ax murderers and a host of other creatures.  One short ride to the bus stop and the night amped up.  There must have been 100 dressed up people waiting on the bus to get to the party.  All of us checking each other out, buzzing and ready to get the party started right.  After two buses PACKED full of people passed us up, it was our time to cram into the bus like sardines.  I am sure we were over capacity, there was NO way you could not get to know the riders around you intimately in some way because you had no choice of being pushed together.  As we bounced and bobbled down Santa Monica Blvd we chanted out street names, laughed together and helped create the pre-atmosphere of the night, even the bus driver was cool and sang out the stop names as we got closer.  

Final stop....FAIRFAX and SANTA MONICA, we all poured off the bus and streamed in droves to the party.  You just can't take it all in, so much to see, so much music, the lookie loo's, the street vendors with yummy smells of hot links, and my appreciation of the flats I had decided to wear instead of heels!  (HA) Yes a girl can only go so far in heels at a party like this!

On the way to the party, we decided we would stop into Hamburger Mary's to grab a burger, it was one of the places we had wanted to stop so tonight would be a perfect complement!  YUMMY, YUMMY and more YUMMY.  I can't tell you how HUGE the burger was but I was only able to eat a 4th of it and another patron decided it was worth a photo!  Blue Cheese, Onions, Sauces, the bun, oh my....I ate like the Egyptian Queen I was!  And all around us a free show of people dressed in costumes, we saw a "Lucy", a pirate, a flasher, Aladdin, and more than I can recall, and that was just the people standing in the line for the restroom!

Belly's full, still full of anticipation and ready to let loose, we finished off our meal and joined the parades of people headed to the main attraction.  The beauty of this night is the feeling of oneness.  Everyone was happy, not a fight in sight.  People taking photos with strangers, talking to each other like old friends and helpful if you had a question.

Then BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Let's get this party started!  The streets opened up to the masses.  Wall to wall crowds, all moving and grooving to the free music provided for soundtrack of the night.  West Hollywood KNOWS how to throw a party.  There were stages on each street, music pumping, people smoozing.  If I thought I had seen the best of the costumes on the way to the party, I was sadly mistaken.  Some people just know how to do it up right.  Now obviously you have the people who like to dress sexy, or want to just see people's eyes bug out, and you can bet there was plenty of those....but those who love Halloween to the core, well they just know how to blow the mind.  It's Hollywood ya'll, city where movies are the blood pulse of the town. Most are performers at heart and dedication to this holiday makes them rise to the occasion.  My favorite of the night was the creepy zombies that would make your blood cold.  Check out the one who would really made me take a triple take.

As we headed into the pulse of the party we let it all go, my stresses of the day, GONE!  Now was MY time to be something else, walk the walk, talk the talk and just enjoy my world around me. As you can see from my photo below, I had  many laughs that night.

We had a goal, we were headed to the Troubadour where there was no cover and dancing!  Mind you, this was about a mile away from where we entered the adventure so the parade was ON. We pushed, bobbed, weaved, pulsed, ooo'ed and ahhh'ed at the eye candy all around us, enjoying the time together, experiencing this new world together!  My hubby is a tall man so it was to our benefit that people tend to move out of his way when we are in thick crowds such as that night!  I grabbed hold to his hips, conga line style and off we went. Every once in a while we would stop to breathe and take photos!  This Halloween had to be documented!

Finally we arrived at the Troubadour and we danced, danced, danced and DANCED!  Oh, did I mention we passed LaToya Jackson on the final block?  Well we did and she was dressed up as a sort of clown, her voice was unmistakable and she was TINY.  (I digress)  Anyway, it was time to head back home, it was about 1am and the crowds had started to clear.  The confetti of the night showed on the streets and those who did not want the night to die still walked up and down getting every second of the time crammed into their memories.  The hike back to the bus stop was just as adventurous as the journey there only now it was police chasing hot dog vendors down the street, and sirens in the background.  Nothing serious, just the city putting into place the rules and regulations for ending the party.  There was even a riot guard ready for action in case of trouble!  OH MY...PARTY OVER

Tired but happy, we tracked on. Once we met our destination we had a brief encounter with a very drunk gentleman who decided that my hubby would be his best friend for the rest of the night.  He took phones calls, only to give the phone to us for tell the person on the other end that our new friend was just too happy" to talk, we finally had to ditch him because he thought he was coming home with us!  

Finally at our bus stop we waited along with other the other tired party people, we crammed on the bus, and endured the loud rantings of another drunk gentlemen of the night and fought the heavy eyes we were starting to feel.  Home, oh yes, HOME.  Happy and home!  What an evening, and I am so glad to share it with you!  Our first Halloween in West Hollywood and the experience is one to share with the masses.  

Oh, I guess I can let you in on what hubby was....he was a ZOMBIE FOOTBALL PLAYER! Done up all the way, he got all sorts of gasps and looks through the night, enough to make him one happy creature of the night! (don't ask, he won't let me upload a photo!---party pooper)

It was 3am before we were able to crawl into bed with visions of ghouls playing in our head, but not before one more treat from my loved one, we enjoyed a bag of Coconut M&M's to end the evening.  Thank you hubby, oh what a treat it was.

So now you see why this entry was so long, and I hope you felt it was worth your time to share with me! I enjoyed sharing my time with you!

To see more of the 2011 West Hollywood Halloween Costume Carnival visit:  http://www.weho.org/index.aspx?page=845 

Peace, love and blessings from the Realty Goddess!

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