Oh, December

Illustration by Kelsey Garrity-Riley

I love December and I don’t care who knows.

I love it because winter feels fresh and anyone who complains about snow at this point is just being a whiner.

I love it because that guy who never took down his Christmas lights from last year is patting himself on the back for his cleverness.

I love it because it has the most work holidays of any other month. Well, two. But still. This is America, we didn’t fight off oppression from the monarchy just to sit around twiddling our thumbs. Yes we did but we want to get paid to do it.

Anyway, here’s my December to do list:

a.     Gingerbread house – this is non-negotiable. In fact, this year I’m bringing in the expert help of the dude I hang out with on the weekends. He’s two, so expect great things.

b.      Visit Seattle. My family is heading there for Christmas “just because” and I’m crazy excited for my very first visit to the PNW, land of foggy beaches and pensive bearded hipsters. Bonus: two of my favorite squinkies live there now.

c.     Get up early enough one morning to properly photograph the hoar frost. #instagramgoals

d.     Audit my sweaters. I have almost more sweaters than there are days in a month and that is nonsense. Let’s be real, some of them need to be put out to pasture. Part of me wants to make slipper booties out of old sweater arms but I can’t sew, and also calm down, Pinterest.

e.      Read two books from my unread shelf. Yes, I have an entire shelf of books I own but have never read. What is wrong with me. I’m thinking The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff and Ellis Island by Mark Helprin.

f.      Ice skating. Or rather, the annual attempt to live out my Michelle Kwan dreams until my feet hurt or I fall catastrophically, whichever happens first.

g.      Hot Chocolate Cookies, get in my oven.

h.     Wear plaid flannel everything. I want to feel like I just crawled out of a tent on a frosty morning in a forest and am brewing coffee in an old tin pot over a campfire. 

i.       Update my blog design. I love you blog, but you need a facelift.

j.       Support my mom, brother, and aunt who are running a 10 mile “fun run” on the 19^th. And by support I mean stay home and cook them a big post-race breakfast. And by that I mean sleep through my alarm and text them the address of a nearby Cracker Barrel.

What are your plans this month?