I've always enjoyed the month of October for its crisp weather, apple picking and of course my favorite dress-up time of all year, Halloween. When I worked for the phone company we would all dress up in our office. One year I dressed up as "Princess Phone", a Halloween that will live in infamy at least in my mind.

This year my daughters have made their picks and it's up to me to make their costume wishes come true. My oldest daughter, age 9, is going to be a "rockabilly vampire" complete with rockabilly dress, shoes and fangs dripping blood. My youngest daughter, age 8, has opted for the Madame Butterfly treatment with her request to be a "Geisha lady with a white face and big eyebrows." Those wishes will come true as I have plenty of costumes to choose from.

Almost too many. For several years I've had costume sales on Ebay which normally have done very well. Well, that is not the case this year. Despite very good pricing on my part and marketing out the wazoo the costume business on Ebay for me this year is dead. So that's why I'm inviting you to my store over at Born Too Late Vintage. We have rockabilly orlon sweaters, trachten suits for those bold enough to go for the Sound of Music look, 1960s housewife dresses and hippie dresses, etc.

Actually Ebay just now called me about their giving program and I informed them I gave Ebay half of my earnings in fees this past week and I have no intention of giving them anymore. So check these costumes out because they are exclusive to http://mainstreetmallonline.com

For this German Austrian Trachten Suit
click here for Born Too Late Vintage

For this Rockabilly Poodle Dress
click here for Born Too Late Vintage

For this 1950s Pin-up Bathing Beauty Pink Swimsuit
click here for Born Too Late Vintage

For this Frankenstein's Bride Gown
click here for Born Too Late Vintage

For these saddle shoes
click here for Born Too Late Vintage

and too many others to list!

Unfortunately playing dress-up all day can lead to not enough time for intricate chef worthy meals being served nightly. I've used my microwave on a regular basis until yesterday. The microwave is dead and all heck has broken loose in our home. Gone is making a bag of popcorn to go with that Cheetah Girls movie my daughters have to see now. Gone is perfect rice to go with the pot of chili I made before I found out the microwave was broken. No more 5 minute "baked potatoes." No more thawing that roast out half an hour before popping it in the oven.

We all have our favorite gadgets that help make life easier on a day to day basis and until something in day to day use breaks you don't think much about it. Here are some day to day items from http://mainstreetmallonline.com to make your life easier!

Kustom Kartoons for this custom mousepad
click for Kustom Kartoons

AB Cooks Corner for this chili pot
click image to visit AB Cooks Corner

Eagles Legacy Entertainment for this movie
click image to visit Eagles Legacy Entertainment

Christine's Glass and China for this Pyrex Divided Baker
click image to visit Christine's Glass and China

Kathy's Custom Creations for this quilt
click image to visit Kathy's Custom Creations

Personal Touch Gifts for this personalized childrens book
click image to visit Personal Touch Gifts

What-I-Found Books for this cook book
click image to visit What-I-Found Books

Jan's Fluff 'n Stuff for this homemade fudge
click image to visit Jan's Fluff 'n Stuff

Okay, I threw the fudge in there because candy makes everything better!!!

I've always enjoyed playing dress-up as a child and as an adult. How often have we hid behind the facade that clothing provides? How many times have we bought a new outfit to offset a really bad day or the wrong special someone in our life. How many times have we thought "this is going to knock him dead" as we're looking for "the outfit" to do just that. Time passes and you get older. But the lure of playing dress-up is always there. It's a game that you play from the time you're little until the day you're no longer with us and you play that final game of dress-up.

If you're lucky like me you're able to make your living playing dress-up every day. If you didn't have a lot of dolls when you were a child you make up for it now with a mannequin. You may also have lots of wigs to complement the dress-up clothes you have for your mannequin. And if you're really lucky other people share your taste and you can make a living playing dress-up.

So today we are going to play the ultimate game of dress-up. I'd like you all to visit Main Street Mall. Check out our shops. Put together a great outfit combining things from as many different stores as you like. Pick out some great jewelry from our jewelry stores and check out our apparel stores in the vintage mall and the clothing, shoes and accessories mall. Drop me a line at btlvin@yahoo.com with your outfit. On Monday, October 9, I'll pick two winners, one contemporary outfit and one vintage outfit. I'll provide a $10 gift certificate to each of the winners for either of my stores "Born Too Late Vintage" or "Mirror Image Boutique."

Now here's my favorite outfit for my dear husband's annual Christmas party from some of our shops at http://mainstreetmallonline.com

The Purse Diva for these shoes
click image to visit The Purse Diva

Born Too Late Vintage for this purse
click image to visit Born Too Late Vintage

Damn Good Vintage for this coat
click image to visit Damn Good Vintage

Born Too Late Vintage for this dress
click image to visit Born Too Late Vintage

Emmalizz Vintage for this slip
click image to visit Born Too Late Vintage

The Vintage Peacock for these gloves
click image to visit The Vintage Peacock

Alley Cats Vintage for this hat
click image to visit Alley Cats Vintage

Timeless Finds for this necklace and earring set
click image to visit Timeless Finds