For the month of December – in honor of Dressember – I’ll be blogging everyday! Thoughts on anything from fighting for justice to feminism, from dresses I’m wearing to books I’m reading, and everything in between.


There are a few surefire ways to know you’re officially an adult. You wash, dry, fold, AND put your laundry away all in one day. You can afford to buy – and actually choose to buy – juice consistently (not just when you’re sick). The holiday season is more stressful than it is enjoyable.

When you’re younger, Christmas seems to take f o r e v e r to arrive – you even count down every day with advent calendars, and the hours still seem to crawl by. As you get older, Christmas seems to arrive out of nowhere. Literally. December 10th I was halfway done with my shopping, I blinked, and it was the 23rd. What?! As a child, Christmas is presents and excitement and a break from school and so many good things. This year – the first year it sunk in that I’m a “grown up” (according to my birth certificate) – it was a mix of good and bad. Catching up with old friends brought news of sickness, divorce, and hardships; baking with my mom was interrupted by checking emails and tracking packages; buying Christmas presents for everyone I love while on a tight budget was exhausting.

Screen Shot 2015-12-29 at 11.16.05 AMI found myself wanting to get a few more hours of sleep on Christmas morning, instead of excitedly jumping out of bed to open stockings (…yes, we still get stockings!); I found myself missing the ease of this holiday season as a child. But then I realized that there some things about the holidays that are oh-so-much better as an adult.

Christmas Cards
Growing up, I couldn’t care less about the Christmas cards we got in the mail. Sure, it was nice to see an updated picture of so-and-so, but who really cares? Can I eat today’s piece of chocolate from my advent calendar now?? But this year, not only was it so great to see all the pictures of families and friends at my parent’s house, I actually got Christmas cards in the mail at my house! I love snail mail, I love pictures, and I love cute stationary – so Christmas cards just might be my new love language. I absolutely loved getting envelopes in my mailbox from loved ones, opening them up to see the picture inside, and getting to hang them on my fridge. I didn’t think my fridge could be more popular than wedding season – but I was wrong. I love it. They might be staying up there all year!

Homemade Goodness EVERYwhere
I love junk food just as much as… well, I probably love it more than most people. As a kid, I didn’t notice if something was store bought or wrapped in plastic or made by someone’s aunt – I just wanted sugar. And it all tasted the same to me. Now, I have more respect and admiration for homemade treats, and they also taste amazing. This time of the year people actually take the time to make things from scratch, to pull out family recipes, to share little plates of goodies with neighbors and coworkers and friends. I love that Christmas is the time of year where there are some kind of treats literally everywhere you go. Maybe people need the sugar rush to get through the holiday rush? But I am such a fan.

Adult Hot Chocolate
As a kid, there was nothing better than sitting under a blanket on the couch, getting to drink chocolate – sometimes with marshmallows. Seriously, is there anything better in the world?!
The answer to that is yes, because after you’ve survived 21 years of childhood, you can add Baileys to that hot chocolate, and it’s even more wonderful. I’ve also heard rumors (aka Pinterest) of hot chocolate with homemade vodka marshmallows, which I have yet to try.

[OBVIOUSLY Christmas is about so much more than presents, cards, and festive food. As adults – and children! – we should not lose sight of the real reason for the season. But that doesn’t mean the holidays don’t get crazyyyyy, or that we can’t enjoy the byproducts of the season.]

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