Ranting & Retail Therapy - Halloween Clearance 2023

I trick-or-treated-myself to clearance candy. A LOT of clearance candy. Even by my standards.

Originally I wanted to find some pillows and décor, but it was slim pickin's. That's what you get when Christmas items roll out on October 1st. (RIP Thanksgiving, you're problematic, but I love your food.)

Upon reflection, Christmas isn't to blame. (Although I will make angry Instagram Reels about winter products encroaching upon my spooky season.) No matter what seasonal-flavor you subscribe to, it's all the same consumerism, and our consumer-clock is completely out of whack. 

Back to school sales were popping up as early as June, when some kids were still in school. Halloween was rolling out in July. Christmas by the end of September. Forget Daylight Savings, this is what needs adjusting! Sticking with a Christmas metaphor, we're opening our gifts too early. By the time the actual event rolls around, we're celebration-fatigued and the magic is gone.

How do we get it back? At some point, will we skew so far that we loop back into appropriate seasonal time frames?  Like when something is so lame it's cool? Probably not. And I definitely can't control when the Pumpkin Spice Lattes or Mariah Carey anthems hit the masses. 

Spotting skeletons on shelves in July is bittersweet. I'm spooky-season through-and-through but I also love summer, and if I want the "good" Halloween stuff, I need to grab it before the end of August or I'll have nothing come October! The justified fear of missing out because I didn't conform to accelerated consumption stops me from attempting a more appropriate self-imposed timeline.

I am but one little blogger in a sea of nonsense on the internet, and I am screaming into the void, "let us savor our seasons!" But I don't know how to make it stop.  

Dramatics aside...here's what I bought on the clearance racks this year. 

Halloween 2022 Recap - Clearance and all!

How did you spend your actual Halloween? 

Sadly, I had to work, but I wore my favorite Ghostbusters shirt, wore orange eye make-up, my skull-face mask, brought a bowl of candy, and played Halloween songs. But, before heading out, I set-up a bowl on candy on my stoop for kids. Trick or Treating started at 3, but it was a weekday, so I wasn't able to get home until after 5. I decorated the house and didn't want to deprive any kids from candy, so I figured, that should work, BUT I used a disposable paper party bowl from Dollar Tree. (Friends who did the same had their whole bowl stolen and I like my Halloween candy bowl.)

When I got back...

Cookies & Screeem m&m's - Target

Cookies & Screeem m&m's - Target

Easter Sundae m&m's dressed up for Halloween?

I'm experiencing déjà vu. This isn't the first time we've seen a chocolate-vanilla m&m masquerading as something snazzier, and it likely won't be the last. Maybe I am completely off-base with my assumptions, but I'm  going into this review with some pretty low expectations.

Ch-Ch-Churro Project 7 Gum: Here We Go Again!

Ch-Ch-Churro Project 7 Gum - Target  58¢

Project 7 offers unique sugar-free sweets in well designed packaging, all while donating proceeds to worthy causes. What's not to like? Sadly, their product. They're just too inconsistent! 

There are a handful of their chewing gums that I truly enjoy and would recommend to everyone, but for every product I adore, there are easily twice as many disappointments. Fool me seven times, shame on you, fool me eight-or more times, shame on me.   

I talk a big game, but I have used this Futurama meme before, in ANOTHER Project 7 review. Even after being burned time and time again, I keep coming back for more...when they're on sale. Wise man say, forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for roulette chewing gum. 

Battle of the Pumpkin Teas! - 3 Teas Enter, One Tea Leafs!

(Get it? Leafs?) Welp, give me a pity laugh any way because I'm sick. It's just a head cold, but my voice sounds oh'-so sexy, and I'm pretty much bed-bound playing Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon on my 3DS until my thumbs fall off. 

The bright-side to being sick (other than playing video games) is I'm stuck at home, which gives me the time to type up some long over due reviews! I decided to focus on some sick-stomach-friendly items in my stash, and I found three different fall themed teas! So let's have a throat-soothing showdown to see which tea shall reign supreme!

Hello My Name is Coconut Love - Target ($1.92)

Lindt Hello My Name is Coconut Love - Target ($1.92)

Another product I picked up at Target ages ago and never got around to reviewing, but hey, better late than never and at least this was on clearance. (Although it really wasn't that much cheaper.) 

It's a tropical flavor, perfect for summer, and despite what all the grocery stores say it's STILL summer, so there's no better time to review it. (Well maybe when I first bought it, but that's just insanity.) Join me in me summer-ding-denial as I binge on tropical white chocolate. 

Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints - Target? (I think...)

Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints - Target? (I think...)

One more day until the weekend. Just one more day. We can do this...I can do this.

It's been another really intense week with my day job and side-work, for a closer look at all the stuff I do besides food blogging check out my personal/art blog HERE, but for now, let's dig into my giant food-stash for a minty, Christmas-y, #tbt review!

Big Slice Cherry Vanilla Kettle Cooked Apples - Target

Big Slice Cherry Vanilla Kettle Cooked Apples - Target

By now I think most of you have realized that I'm cheap frugal. I love shopping the clearance racks and Target tends to have a bunch of really interesting food products on their discount food end-cap. I've gotten awesome Avocado Oil Salt & Vinegar Chips, great Indian meal kits, and now...some kind of apple sauce packet? To be honest I'm not entirely sure if this is apple sauce, or some kind of pie filling, or how you're even supposed to eat it, but for $1.74? Why not find out?

Impulsive Buy Spotted on the Shelves Entries - 9 (Target Edition)

I love Panera's balsamic vinaigrette, and now I can have it at home anytime I want!
(Poppy Seed is also really yummy.)

I am obsessed with this foodie site called The Impulsive Buy, and my favorite posts are called "Spotted on the Shelves." It is a viewer-fueled inventory of new items that have been released in various stores. I've already made several submissions, found HERE, so here is round 9!