First Halloween Party of the year...

At Yankee Candle in Greenbriar Mall, Chesapeake.
About a 8 days ago Frau Punkinstein and I were at the mall, which is not something we do frequently because malls suck, but we do occasionally find ourselves needing immediate gratification in the shopping arena and/or soft pretzel snacks, so we suck it up and go into one, and we sauntered over to Yankee Candle to see if the Fall collection was out yet.  We were given a flyer.

Well creased and stored in Frau Punkinstein's purse

Hey, free party!  Plus I had it on good insider authority that 2011 is the last year for the morbidly cute "Boney Bunch" line of products.  Did I mention we have never purchased a Boney Bunch product ever?
No matter.
We awoke early and headed over to the Greenbriar Mall to enjoy the event before heading over to the Petsmart where we volunteer for the NSPCA cat adoptions (4 adopted out before we left and a 5th after we left, a good day for adoptions).  It was fun.  The staff wore costumes and there was punch and goodies and we won door prizes.  Frau Punkinstein pulled a skull out of a cauldron and they gave us a $10 off coupon and a SOUNDS OF HORROR CD!  Here it is, 6th of August, and I'm getting TREATS.  So nice.
We purchased only a modest amount of things, but are seriously considering this twisted little Boney Bunch Father Christmas:

Because that's just a perfect fusion and Frau is serious about her Halloween Trees.
So what swag did we get?

There is something deliciously disturbing about that image 

Here is the large Pumpkin patch swirl candle.  It has a buttery, spicey, pumpkin piey sort of scent.  I love the headless pumpkin farmer on the label.  Perfect image.
We chose three of these little things:

Autumn Paintbrush.  I can't describe the scent.

Because we needed a minimum to get that discount.  Thrift, very important when saving up for big Halloween purchases.
Then they gave us a free small jar:

Frau Punkinstein took this picture because she is both technologically more adept than your humble blogger and more artistic when it comes to camera work.  

Witches' Brew!  It's got a smokey after-scent and I like the Boney gent with a bucket full of heads.  It's so happily ghoulish.

The lovely Frau Punkinstein, doing her Price Is Right model impression.   The next item up for bids...a NEW CANDLE!

Yes, the lovely Frau Punkinstein demonstrating the first sniffs of Halloween joy in Punkinhaus.
Candles are, of course, just cool.  They are both rustic and gothic, creepy and homey, they smell good and offer an attractive choice for ambiance in your home.  They also attract unwanted cat attention at times, so just a little warning there.

All in all I enjoyed the Yankee Candle event, as intimate as it was.  It is good to get a little Halloween joy in the late summer when it is so oppressively hot and you miss the spooky imagery.  We will be back again in the coming months I have no doubt.

Keep your candles lit.