This year for Halloween, I decided to be the character of Bluto from the 1978 cult classic, Animal House. Famously brought to the screen by John Belushi, Bluto has become an iconic image in pop culture. Or so I thought. Doesn't the iconic poster of Bluto in his sweatshirt that says, COLLEGE, chugging a bottle of Jack Daniels, adorn dorm room walls across the country? Apparently not. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I suggest you take a two hour break from whatever you are doing to educate yourself in classic 1970s American cinema. 

Halloween night, I was ready to go in my navy blue COLLEGE sweatshirt, my (empty) bottle of Jack Daniels, and shorts. I looked odd among the crowd of girls in some form of lingerie and animal ears, looking far too fully clothed in my sweatshirt. But I was excited about my costume, and I fully appreciated anyone who understood the reference I was making. 

Here is a run down of my night.

First stop, Chipotle! Everybody knows that between 5 p.m. and closing on Halloween, Chipotle offers $3 Booritos if you come in costume. Granted in costume is a very loose term, considering the girl in front of me wearing a black t-shirt, black leggings, flip flops and a $1 pair of cat ears from Target (with the tags still on).

I get up to the register and... "That'll be $8 please!" The first thing out of my mouth was, "But I'm in costume!" One employee gives me a disapproving look, another laughs, another enthusiastically yet slightly confused asks "What are you?" Before I can answer, a 50-something woman answers for me. "Isn't it obvious? She's a college student!" Stop right there. Excuse me, Llady, I don't need a costume to be a college student. I have the student loans for that! Also, this woman was alive and probably old enough to have watched Animal House when it came out in the '70s, surely she should understand my reference. After explaining to the Chipotle employees what I actually was, they finally did change the price and gave me my $3 burrito I so deserved. 

Then, we met up at a friend's house in Newport to hang out before splitting off and going to the bars. Aside from several people who vaguely understood my costume because they had seen the posters, not many people got it without some explanation. Before going to the bars, I had to ditch half of my costume, the bottle of Jack Daniels. I figured they wouldn't appreciate or even necessarily allow me to bring an empty glass bottle into their establishments. 

Upon arriving to the bars, again, I immediately feel very overdressed. And by that I mean the scantily-clad girls in front of me -- Wonder Woman, Greek Goddess, and Minnie Mouse, respectively -- laughed at my sweatshirt and shorts outfit, clearly unimpressed. Once inside, I even got asked, "Are you even wearing a costume?" a couple of times. Much to my delight, one guy -- about 25, give or take -- came up to me and said, "That's a dope movie, man!" I was overjoyed by this singular display of recognition and appreciation for my costume. 

Later on, one of my favorite moments was when after telling one of the two Hunter S. Thompsons that I loved his costume, the guy looks at me and simply goes, "You don't look like John Belushi." Well, yes, as a petite 20-something female, I would certainly hope I don't look like John Belushi. So I'll take that as a compliment! 

Throughout the night, I heard, "So what college do you go to?" as a serious question far too often, and after some explanation, I heard a lot of, "Oh, I've never seen the movie, but I love the poster."

The best part however came around 2 a.m., when we were leaving the last bar. Much to our surprise, it was pouring down rain, windy, and had gotten extremely chilly. The girls in teeny tiny little outfits were running through the parking lot, screaming about their hair and being cold. After the initial shock of the first rain California had seen in months, and questioning if the mascara I had on was waterproof, I fully embraced it. And you know what? I was feeling pretty darn cozy in my navy blue COLLEGE sweatshirt.