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I have never been a very big Halloween enthusiast – I’m not sure why. My mom sewed my costumes when I was younger, and I enjoyed parading around the neighborhood, trick-or-treating and then ending up at my grandparent’s house, singing “happy birthday” to my Halloween-born grandpa. As I got older, I wasn’t one of the kids who trick-or-treated too long for it to be acceptable, and in college, I became flabbergasted by the commitment some people displayed to their costumes and celebrations. (And don’t get me started on Queen Heidi Klum.)

In the past few years, I’ve adapted a bit – plenty of friends are those committed types, so their enthusiasm rubs off on me occasionally. That said, I’m still pretty lazy about it – here’s a sampling of how I get away with being lazy and still “dressing up”!

Here’s a bit more effort. After season two of Grey’s Anatomy, around the time I was getting a lot of compliments that I looked like Katie Heigl, I decided to opt for the Izzie Stevens costume. Scrubs are a great addition to your wardrobe if you don’t already own them – super comfy for weekend relaxing, or even for sleeping! You can even adapt your costume based on the color of your scrubs. In this case, I put on my surgical scrubs, wrote out an $8 million dollar check from Denny Duquette, and used a label maker to put her name on my work ID badge. (Flava Flav is another easy-to-do DIY costume!)

A photo posted by desi (@desilynne) on Oct 31, 2014 at 10:13am PDT

Last year I made absolutely no effort. I worked all day, and then had to go flyer at a Foo Fighters show I had desperately wanted to attend, so I wore my 101 Dalmatians shirt to my day job. At night, I *may* have worn some scrubs in a half-assed attempt to be a “doctor”. I can’t quite remember. I worked the entire day, so I didn’t put too much consideration into it.

I was pretty proud of my costume this year, though. It was another last-minute idea when I realized everyone else was dressing up at work. You’ve probably gotten the idea that I basically create costumes based on what’s in my closet, and this year, I decorated my bedroom with my favorite items of clothing. One night, I was laying there, looking at my favorite shirt, and I got the great idea: California Dreams Barbie. I threw on my Wildfox California Dream Barbie shirt, straightened my long blonde hair, and threw on my 90’s-inspired acid wash jeans. Pair that with Barbie pink lipstick, a Barbie-looking hairbrush
, and faux-Wayfarers (plus the California Dreams soundtrack), and this is going to be my go-to costume for the next couple of years!

Are you a big Halloween celebrater? Do you go whole-hog on the costume, or just DIY whatever’s laying around?