Halloween.
It's the unofficial start of the holiday season, and one of the best party nights of the year. For weeks, you plan your costume, making sure all of the details are right and you make plans, from staying in watching scary movies to going out with your squad.
But once you graduate, Halloween starts to look a little different. You may plan your costume for weeks and make your plans for Halloween night, but it's never quite the same.
Going out on Halloween in college...
Like every other weekend, going out is a production. But on Halloween weekend, your squad pulls out all the stops. Whether it's coordinating costumes or making sure every part of you looks perfect to getting just the right amount of turnt before you walk into the club, there is nothing sadder than a good costume gone to waste.
...Going out on Halloween after you graduate.
Going out is a special occasion on its own. The party girl still exists in you but she's traded in her leather booty shorts for leggings and Nike joggers.
You've already put in more than your usual effort for your costume, and the idea of rallying to a club to stand in line on one of the biggest party nights of the year is more than your fragile old lady soul can handle.
Halloween costumes in college...
Most of us have done it: the Playboy Bunny, the Nurse, and (God forbid) the Sexy Freddy Krueger. Halloween in college was the chance to go out in the cutest costume, with your squad dressed up to the nines, and flaunt what you got.
Whether you did it to impress a guy or the cute bartender, or because it made you feel fabulous, Halloween was the one night a year when a girl could dress in as little clothing as possible and no other girls could say anything about it.
...Halloween costumes as an adult.
You may be one to still dress like a Mean Girl, but now Halloween costumes have changed. You are either exceptionally clever or exceptionally lazy and either way you're gonna celebrate this holiday as you please, dammit.
Whether it's the Minnie Mouse ears you pair with the black top and red shorts already in your closet, or you buy a Unicorn onesie on Amazon, you do you this year.
Halloween parties in college...
Parties will never be as epic as they were in college. And Halloween parties were the most epic.
One year, my roommates and I threw a Halloween party and invited literally every one of our Facebook friends and all of their friends. We made Jungle Juice and Jell-O shots and eventually the university basketball team showed up and there were people stuffed from wall to wall - it was so hot and full of people, our walls were sweating.
I have never thrown a party quite like that one and I will never throw a party like that one again.
... Halloween parties after you graduate.
Chill, low-key, and surrounded by friends - that's how you prefer it nowadays. Ragers don't happen much after you graduate, but rather, one of your 50 Facebook friends that you actually talk to will throw a small get together at their house, where the costumes are cute, or nostalgic or rich with pop culture references.
You'll actually play beer pong, you'll actually meet new people, and you won't have to worry about the cops ruining your good time.
Hangovers in college and hangovers after you graduate.
Regardless of age, some things never change. A little hair of the dog, some greasy food and a nap or two later, and you'll be feeling good as new.
