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!

Soup is so warm and comforting that I'm sure everyone can agree this is something they like. There are so many different varieties and flavors of soup that there is something for everyone. I have memories of my mom's homemade split pea or chicken noodle (homemade noodes!) or even black bean. I'd be willing to put chili and corn chowder in this category as well and corn chowder is one of my favorite things in the world! There is just something about using a spoon that makes soup extra comforting on top of the whole-body warmth that soup running down into your stomach gives you. YUM!

Oooh! Yard sales are so exciting. There are all sorts of neat things at yard sales so it's so much fun to walk around them and look. Usually, though, I find going to garage sales can be awkward a lot of the time because the people that hold them are usually strange. However, I love to hold them! Setting up the tables and organizing the wares on them and then flitting about, helping people and telling them the stories behind the objects! What a great thing to do on a sunny day.

YUM! Raspberries, as I've mentioned before, are my favorite fruit. They are juicy and sweet but a little sour and are, in my opinion, a little more unique of a flavor than strawberry. Though the do go bad quickly and are usually pretty expensive, they are delicious and flavorful berries that I cannot help but gobble up almost immediately.

Ahh, the holiday for food lovers! Filled with turkey! It goes so perfectly as the centerpiece for all the Thanksgiving foods: cranberries, mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing. It's golden and crispy and moist and perfectly juicy. It makes me drool just thinking about it!

Typing is such a satisfying activity. The words appear before you as if by magic, crisp and clean in their shape. The sound is satisfying as well, a nice click with a dutiful rhythm to it. Personally, I type sort of aggressively (or so I'm told) but I like to think that I really just type with a purpose. Really, though, it is seeing my word in virtual form, the crisp black letters forming my own thoughts but in a perfected physical form that I can alter at will to make even more perfect. Technology at its best for the anal-retentive!

Google is simply amazing. They have not only revolutionized the Internet but the workplace as well. They have given us countless new tools (Google and Gmail only being a mere few) and they continue to wow the world with their innovations and innovative approaches to everyday problems. Known as one of the best places to work in the world, they attract some of the best minds of the age to work with them in an incredible work environment.

I know they continue to impress me, despite the somewhat unsettling fact that they do seem to be everywhere in everything. I am not bothered by their Google Maps technology and the StreetView pictures. I'm not one of those people worried about being monitored--as long as my freedoms are in tact (I don't see Google as a threat to my privacy), I'm happy. What they are doing is revolutionizing the world and I am willing to sacrifice my phone number and address to the public in order to facilitate it.

After ice cream, my second favorite food might be cake. I've told you that I don't care for icing but I don't define "cake" as necessarily requiring icing in the definition--I love the inside. When I make cupcakes, I always leave a few unfrosted for myself, leaving off not on the pesky extra calories but the super, fake sweetness as well. I prefer the buttery, fluffy sweetness of the cake inside whether it be chocolate or "yellow" flavored. Box cake is probably my favorite over homemade--it must be that specific smell that they share. The only way to describe it is "box cake smell"--I'm sure you know what I mean. Sweet and baked. YUM!

P.S. I hate coconut so this picture isn't very accurate--I just love the cake and the strawberries!!

How can you not like Great Danes! Yes, they are very large dogs but they have large hearts and always mean well. I've never really had much experience with Great Danes but they have always struck a chord in my heart. It might be those ears or that great defined jaw but they just make me gravitate toward them. My goal is to have one someday, a companion to my dream farm and consequential farm animals (mainly horses!). They are regal, contemplative and intelligent dogs and I think we will get along great!

Ahh, the pencil. My writing weapon of choice (for thinking, at least) is the pencil. I do all of my note-taking and brainstorming in pencil. I love being able to change my words so easily or fix my mistakes (I'm a bit of a spelling and grammar Nazi so this is important). I use pen for writing letters to people (when I do that...) and I use the computer for everyday correspondence and for written work (creative and academic). Using the pencil, then, is a symbol of creativity for me. I use it when I my words need to be as flexible as my ideas or the ideas being expressed.

And, on top of all this, there is just something satisfying about the crispness of a perfect paper of penciled text that makes me happy and proud of myself.

I love to be awed, to be rendered speechless and mind-boggled. Usually the things that make me feel this way do it in a very subtle and beautiful way rather than ambushing my consciousness out of the blue. A beautiful sky like the one in the picture will have me staring at it for countless minutes, just completely awed by its beauty and the fact that I'm witnessing it. Usually my heartbeat quickens and I breathe a little harder (or not at all), just marveling quietly, my mind struck dumb by amazement.

Music does this to me too. Certain songs, at certain moments, have the effect of making me feel distinctly different, alive and aware in ways I'm not usually. Or maybe they make me feel happy in that sort of warm, true happiness rather than the usual energizing enthusiastic happiness. These songs just make me feel like things are right. I doubt you can blame me for liking that feeling.

It is my favorite "color." I know that some people may think it's dull and depressing but I think it's a beautiful color. You can have blue-greys (my favorite!), green-greys, etc--there are so many options. The sky before a storm is a lovely dark blue-grey and has such power to it. Sunrises have a hopeful light blue-grey to them that welcomes the transition from night to day. My eyes are actually a light blue-grey and that definitely is something I'm proud of. Yay for grey!

They are colorful and so smooth to use! The ink, if they are Crayola, is vivid and long-lasting, allowing me to color to my heart's content! The basic colors are all you really need for coloring and, if you want to be adventurous, you can even blend colors to create new ones. I like the fine tips that Crayola markers have and the thin ones are just as nice as the wide ones though I prefer the wider tip for coloring books and the thin ones for drawing and marking up books and notes. They are an essential tool for anyone who enjoys color!

Rainboots are just fantastic. They are rubber but usually have very cute color/pattern options available. They keep your feet dry, dry, dry in the rain and are cute to boot (double pun!)! I've tried to use rainboots as snowboots as well but the cheaper ones like from Target usually cannot take the stress of the heavy movement through snow and the rubber rips in the back or, oddly enough, the toe. At least for me they do. Anyway, I can barely imagine what life would be like without rainboots to save my feet and keep them dry in the rain!

The variety! You can buy all KINDS of food at the grocery store! I love the endless possibilities its holds! So many meals, so many options and combinations. And it has FOOD in it! What more do I need to say?! The aisles are neat and organized, the produce smells fresh and they are always bright and colorful. And it's a place of shopping! All things I love!

So pretty and so bright. I love nights when there are a full moon and the night becomes as bright as daytime. It's mysterious and pretty, making us gasp when it turns orange on a Fall night. Its movements and morphing habits give it a sort of personality, making it seem as if it's trying to hide winking away one night only to return another in a slightly different place. Oh nature...

So sweet and healthy! I prefer them on the greener side because I don't like the taste of bananas when they start to get really yellow and freckle. I like the harder texture. Obviously, I'm pretty particular about them but I like what I like, how can you blame me?

I like bananas best plain but they are good in yogurt and smoothies. I've never had a banana split but I'm sure they're good with ice cream too! Occasionally I'll have them on top of waffles or Cheerios. Yum, yum, yum!

So beautiful! I've always wanted a dapple grey horse. Ideally it would have a dark mane rather than a light one as in this picture. I just love the dapples and the color and the mystique and they are definitely my favorite coloring in a horse. I can't really further explain it--I just do!

Oh Billie... Her voice is amazing and full of the old days of jazz and classics: crisp, clear and strong. And her songs are charged with such an aching that really resonates with me. I can't really explain it--I just really enjoy her music and her voice. It takes me back to a place, a mindset, and a time that I have never experienced.

Yep, I do. No explanation--I just do.

Haha. Have I said it enough? There is enough ridiculous complexity in the world that I really just enjoy it when someone is able to capture an object, a thought or a feeling in as few strokes, words or letters as possible. Simplicity separates the main idea or object from the stuff that surrounds and complicates it and I greatly enjoy the finished and much more poignant product. It takes great talent to be able to refine and condense all of an object or idea into a small package and I admire those who can do it.

The smell, the crunch, the color, the beauty: leaves are terrific. They are an undeniable symbol of Fall, my favorite season, and make me feel so happy that it is here. I like to take walks in the Fall, crunching through the leaves and seeing the bright colors all while smelling the smell that lets me know winter is coming! And then, of course, there are the memories of raking and piling up leaves in the yard and then jumping into the big pile (full of leaves, sticks, bugs and who knows what else). Though I don't enjoy the large amount of raking and leaf blowing we have to do at my new (well...newer, my first 10 years of life were in another house) house, I do appreciate leaves and enjoy them.

Hard to explain this one. I have always liked contour lines: from when I first started coloring in coloring books to when I discovered the awesomeness of Matisse in middle school to now. They instantly simplify an image and leave the eye to focus on shape and color rather than dimension or perspective. I prefer my art to be 2-dimensional with no pretensions of attempting to capture the impossible 3rd-dimension so contour lines definitely go along with that.

These are probably my favorite Halloween treat and also the most guilt-inspiring. Popcorn covered in caramel and balled together? YUM! Crunchy and sweet and chewy to beat. I think you'll agree with me when I say they are delicious! A house in my neighborhood used to give them out for Halloween. As I no longer trick-or-treat, I have no idea if they still do but I sure hope so!

YUM! Though they are sticky, messy and hard to bite into, I absolutely love caramel apples. They are also nutty, caramel-y, and the flavors work so well together! They are sinful (what delicious food isn't?!) but I like to cut them up (it's too hard to eat them on the stick) and eat them slice by slice. YUM! Definitely a notable Halloween treat.

I know I said I don't like things that are too sweet or artificially sweet but Halloween candy is totally different (for some reason). I mostly like chocolate candy rather than sugary, fruity candy like Starburst or Skittles. I like Babe Ruths, Butterfingers, KitKats, Reeses and Snickers. Yum, yum, yum. Halloween makes this happen and, being in college, it's a bummer that it's frowned upon for me to go trick-or-treating--I want my free candy! Instead I have to be tempted by bags of candy in the grocery stores, eventually tempted enough to buy one. And then I feel guilty for eating it! Sigh.

Swing dancing and swing music really set off that feeling within me of being very consciously alive. Though I don't know how to swing dance, when I watch others (on TV or in real life) it makes me feel breathless and inspired. Swing music just makes me very excited and happy. I've always wanted to take swing dancing lessons but never have so I'll add that to my list of things to do!

Oooh! Swings! They are my favorite thing about playgrounds. I like to whoosh back and forth and I always remember the girl from the TV show Recess who always tried to swing all the way over the top of the swing set. Swinging makes me feel like I can fly or maybe touch the sky with my toes--I always try to touch branches if they are low enough.

Well, I am a girl...Shoes just do it for me. There are so many types and colors and they just look so good! I am on a never-ending quest for the perfect heels (as is every other female in the world) and have a closet full of shoes (most of which I never wear). I'm not one for a tall heel but I do like the way they make me feel as I click, click, click down the hall. Now I want to go shopping!

Mmm. So comfy! So conducive to sleep! It makes me want to jump into bed and curl up under the covers. My favorite thing is when the blankets are already warm so when you jump in it's an immediate relief (and the opposite is true in the summer--I love it when the sheets are cool!). Now I'm sleepy...

Fire is mesmerizing. It's warm and lulls you into staring at its flickering flames, luring you in to its mysteries. Sometimes I feel like it's trying to tell me things, making pictures I can almost comprehend in the movements of its flames. Mostly, though, I like fire because it creates a cozy place for people to gather around. We always have a fire on my birthday when my family comes over to celebrate. We gather in the living room and open presents right in front of the fire as it crackle and pops in the background, warming the room.

I'm a bit of an anglophile. I love the idea of England--perhaps idealized but, regardless, still in my mind. I want to live there some day, feeling its crisp winds and overall cooler temperatures. I like rain so that's not a problem and I even like fog! I love English accents and, though I haven't met many English people, I'm sure I'll like them too!

Whoops! I already talked about this back in my first post: I like letters. Not gonna bore you with that again but now I feel like letters got neglected! Oh well, I honor them all the time by writing as much as I do!

The best season by far. I do like spring a lot and I have good memories of the summer (summer is too hot, though!) but Fall is the best. I love the relief from summer's heat and the smell of the leaves as they fall and start to decompose. I love the color and the crispness of the air as the season moves towards winter. Halloween is a great holiday, as is Thanksgiving and both occur during the Fall. I can't wait!

This sort of goes along with my penchant for old photos as well. The Holga gives an image that artsy quality that a lot of older pictures have. Simple, low technology with high color saturation. I did a Holga series for my high school Photography class. We were using black and white film so I chose to shoot the series (a triptych) using a black horse at my barn. It was a bright day when I shot so the ground looked bleached out, creating a great contrast between the background and the horse. They turned out pretty well and I was proud. Anyway, I like the simplicity of Holga photos and the nostalgia they add to photos which are, typically, already charged with the power of memories.