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!