Halloween in Hollyweird

For Halloween this year, Chris and I stayed in California. I made plans with a co-worker to join her and some friends down in West Hollywood for the annual Halloween Carnival. And then I dragged my sweet, unsuspecting husband down to a party only slightly less flamboyant than the Gay Pride Parade. You think I'm joking. Oh, no, I am not. Thankfully, my co-worker's friends had been to Carnival before. They warned us ahead of time that we would probably see some bare butts. Well, more like they guaranteed it. And these would not be ladies' butts.

There were some very elaborate, beautiful costumes:


And some costumes that I did not take pictures of because there is no need to have a photographic record since you can't unsee them if you tried.  Also, they would probably be against Blogger's terms of service.  So we wandered around the street a while, admiring the creative costumes and just generally people-watching.  My favorite was the girl who was dressed in some sort of "sexy" costume and was suggestively posing for pictures.... right in front of the row of port-a-johns.  The blue rooms in the background took all the sexy out of that photo.  They also had a variety of stages set up along the street, some playing music, some having carnival-type shows:


I was surprised at the number of Lady Gaga costumes.  I counted at least 3, and there was a 4th woman who unwisely decided to be a platinum blonde in a hood and sunglasses and had to keep repeating, "For the last time, I am NOT Lady Gaga!"  Another popular costume was Balloon Boy -- the best ones had not only a large helium-filled balloon, but also carried signs reading, "Reality Show or Bust."  I also saw several Sookie Stackhouses, one of which was an actual waitress at the local bar/restaurant where we stopped for dinner.

And lest one forget that we are in California, we also saw this:



The business had their door open as we walked by, and I can verify -- that joint was authentic (no pun intended).

And last, but not least, our Celebrity Sighting.  I got to play a papparazzi!  Here are my very own photos:

Oooh look everyone here comes LaToya Jackson!  Make way says the three cops pushing their way through the crowd:


And then... wait for it... WAIT FOR IT... LaToya Jackson!