Last week was the trip. Scheduled a week out- and much anticipated- I grabbed a few girlfriends and we headed to Cargo. Why? Cargo is THE headquarters for fans of Halloween and Day of the Dead. Let's give some history as to why we are talking about this is on a website all about faith...

Halloween: We are going to break this down in the layman version:) It started as a Celtic festival of the dead. Not creepy- just honoring of the souls that had passed. Christian missionaries decided to wipe out 'pagan' holidays as they were trying to transform the religious practice of Celtic people. This is the 'faith' behind the origin of the holiday. Moving on, November 1st was assigned as All Saints Day- the day honoring every Christian saint.  All Saints Day was otherwise knows as All Hallows (hallowed be thy name, hallowed meaning holy). Slowly the day before All Hallows was recognized as All Hallows Eve and then in true American commercial fashion we now have Halloween! We say that lovingly as it's one of our favorite holidays. So dressing like ghosts, fairies and demons has turned to superheroes, princesses and  GI Joes but you get the idea.

Day of the Dead (or Dia de Los Muertos): This is a very traditional Mexican holiday. Similar to Halloween, it honors the souls of loved ones who have passed. This is a celebration of family and friends who get together to pray for the spiritual journey of the souls. It starts on October 31 and goes until November 2nd to coincide with the Roman Catholic triduum festival of Allhallowtide: All Saints' Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day. Traditions include decorating graves with marigolds, sugar skulls and toys in the belief this will attract the spirit of the souls to the offerings.  This is a fun and festive time with many humorous stories told.

Now you have the history- and because you like to shop for the holiday too- here's a peek at what Cargo has to offer. If you can't get there in person to shop this incredible space then you can shop online as well. It's so worth the trip though!

So you can see how much fun we had and honestly this is just a smidge of our experience. Here are a few other nuggets if you are celebrating around the country.

Portland-McMenamin's Day of the Dead fest: http://www.crystalballroompdx.com/events/130644-Dia-De-Los-Muertos-Day-of-the-Dead

Portland-Day of the Dead Walking Tour: http://pdxpipeline.com/2015/10/19/halloween-portland-day-of-the-dead-walking-tour/

Los Angeles-For those SoCal celebrants check this site: http://laist.com/2015/10/21/day_of_the_dead_los_angeles.php

Austin-http://austindaysofthedead.com/

NYC- http://www.manoamano.us/en/day-of-the-dead-dia-de-muertos-nyc.html

and a full calendar here: http://www.mexicansugarskull.com/support/events.html