Yum! I am very particular about my pizza (as I seem to be about a lot of things)--I like it floppy and cheesy but not necessarily greasy. I prefer a thin crust and simple flavor palate so I usually don't get many toppings if I get them at all. My favorite pizza is from a place in my town called Squisito's and it is the best pizza I've ever had. It is runny and cheesy and savory and just makes me so satisfied. Yum!

It's a great holiday. I'm not religious and neither is my family for the most part but we always make a point of getting dressed up on Christmas Eve and going to a service to get in the right mood. We go together as a large family and sing the carols and it brings us together. Also, the holiday just has so much to it. There's the church service, the morning after, and then, for me, a gathering at my grandparents' house with the whole extended family. Though we see each other often as an extended family (I'm lucky), Christmas is always the best because there is always more excitement in the air. My favorite things about Christmas, though, are not the presents, the tree or even the food (I know--amazing!): I love the Christmas lights on houses, the Christmas carols on the radio and being together warm and close with my family.

One of my favorite parts about the holidays is getting a tree. I've never been as much of a fan of decorating it or anything but the picking it out with the whole family is a tradition I very much enjoy. Usually, living in the suburbs, we would go to a lot and pick a tree out that had already been cut but there were a couple of years when we went to a farm and picked out and cut our tree. These years were a lot of fun because there was a new dimension to the picking out of the tree--it felt more like ours since we were the ones that cut it down and took it home rather than some impersonal middle man.

What really sticks with me, though, is pulling out the trees from the stands in the lot and shaking them out to see their shape--reaching a hand in among the laurels and then spinning it around to look at it from all sides, your hand smelling of sap when you retracted it. These years my mom makes a contest of it to see how fast we can get in and get out with the perfect tree--we go to Home Depot and essentially race ourselves to see if we can outdo last year's search. Last year we were especially successful (I wasn't there for the actual activity but I did, of course, see the tree and hear the story) and the tree was gorgeous in every way and, allegedly only took 15 minutes and $30 to buy.

I really do and I know this is sort of disgusting. I love having things neat and in a logical spot with a logical order to it. I don't color code my clothes as the picture might have you believe but I do keep my living space and work space neat and organized--it looks good and keeps me sane. Organizing, when putting it into practice, requires you to go through your things and sort them so I like this part of the process because I get to see things and rediscover things I've forgotten. Mostly, though, organizing keeps me sane and allows me to utilize space well, something that is very important at college where, usually, space is tight!

Airports are really fun for me. They can be stressful and full of anxiety if things go wrong or if you're strapped for time but, normally, I really enjoy the organization, routine and efficiency of them. Everything is in its place and there are a set order of things you need to do to get onto the plane which will take you someplace new and great! I especially love navigating airports. Sometimes it's ridiculous and frustrating but I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I can interpret the vague arrows and signs and get to my gate on time--I feel like I've defied the maze of the airport and come out on top. But mostly, it's the fact that airports are portals to a new place--I'm usually in one because I'm going somewhere new. In fact, I will be in an airport in a little more than a month, waiting to go to Italy for my semester abroad!

During the day, fog is mysterious and compelling, hiding the landscape in ways that make you curious to go explore them. It transforms a setting you might think you know like the back of your hand into something new and interesting. Fog at night, though, always hides zombies and murderers so I don't like it (I'm a little paranoid?) but fog during the day always makes me stop and stare and marvel.

I have a coat problem just like I have a bread problem (and a handbag problem...)--I cannot stop. Thankfully, coats are a little more expensive so my frugal mind can resist them a little easier but it still yearns for them! Coats are also one of those things that seem to always look better on other people--I have a short torso and so long peacoats aren't exactly the right thing for me, even though I love them. But nonetheless, I love to look at coats and fantasize and I am always willing to admire another person's fun and unique coat.

As for wearing them, how could you not love it?! They are warm and protect you from the bitter cold of the winter and are great fashion statements at the same time!

Yum! One of my favorite things about the holiday season! Simple sugar cookies--sometimes with a little bit of simple powdered sugar and water icing and sometimes just plain. Cut into fun holiday shapes and filling the house with their delicious smell. Sugar cookies are so simple to make and their flavor is so simple (and simply delicious!) that they are a classic cookie I always look forward to. They are vanilla-y and thin enough for that satisfying crunch but not too thin that they are all crunch--there is resistance in the bite, too. I don't remember many Christmases helping my mother make cookies but I'm sure it happened--we have the cookie cutters to prove it! But one thing I know is that enjoying sugar cookies piled into a tin is one of my favorite ways of celebrating the holidays.

Advent calendars are so adorable and they are a fun way of building (more) anticipation for Christmas! Also, they might keep the little ones at bay for a while since they will feel like they are making progress toward Christmas with every day that they get to mark off on the calendar. My favorite advent calendars were always the ones that had gifts inside (like chocolate or even Legos!) but the memories I have of advent calendars are all of the two that we had at my house--a big fabric one and a smaller wooden one with little charms that I would love to pick out and hang. It's definitely a tradition I still enjoy to this day.

Snow! Such a nostalgic weather event. It brings memories of snow days and sledding and huddling by the fire with family. I really also just love the way it blankets the landscape and makes it all one color. The sun reflecting off the snow makes the day brighter than usual and it's just an event in general. Living not-to-far-North and not-too-far-South, we get snow just enough to have snow plows but not enough to get rid of snow days so it's the perfect combination: I don't hate it because it plagues my entire winter and I'm not completely removed from it either. This year, though, it hasn't been snowing much down at school but it has been snowing up at home! I'm so jealous and I want it to come down and visit me!

I only occasionally wear scarves and, when I do, it's always the same one and always for the purposes of warmth rather than fashion. I think I'm too obsessive for scarves because I can never get them to hang right on me and I get frustrated and end up taking them off. However, I totally love scarves (typically) when other people wear them. They look so fun and stylish and I envy them their ability to wear scarves. So, yes, I like scarves even if I don't wear them.

I like the concept of singing in the rain more than the action since I haven't actually done much singing in the rain unless you count in the rain but in a car. However, I have lots of experience singing in the shower. My roommate and I used to sing in the dorm bathrooms when it was just us two in there (in separate showers but still side by side). It was hilarious and fun and made great memories. I don't know why singing in the shower feels so natural but I'm sure it has to do with the acoustics of bathrooms with all their tiles and porcelain. The sung voice just sounds so good in there!

I sing absolutely all the time. In the car, in the shower, in my room, in the bathroom, etc. It is hard for me to hear a song (sometimes not even songs I like!) and not sing to it if I know the words. There is something about being a part of the experience of the song that makes singing so terrific--you are actively participating in the song in ways merely listening cannot provide. And also it just makes me feel happy to sing and that's really all the reason I need.

Oh Etsy, you are my guilty pleasure this season. For some reason I thought I could get through the holiday season without making a Christmas list for my large family but I was so wrong. Etsy not only helped me make a list but facilitated it greatly until my list was way over-priced and way long! There are amazing handmade crafts, clothes and jewelry there and a lot of them make me excited for when I have the money to truly design myself the way I want to rather than having to make due with what I can afford right now. I want to go vintage-inspired and eclectic but classy and fun at the same time--I want it all, right? Oh well, I can try!