Christmastime is here

Turkey has been eaten, sales have been shopped (although there are still a lot of them going on because I guess Cyber Monday is a legit thing now; I seriously had never heard of it before last year), and everyone's started thinking about tinsel and twinkle lights. Some people are already complaining about the Christmas tunes being piped into all the stores and public spaces, but I actually really enjoy them. They're simple, repetitive, and familiar, and singing along with them is one of my chief pleasures this time of year.
I didn't used to like Christmas much. My parents told my brother and I that they were getting a divorce just a couple of weeks before Christmas, and that last holiday together was really freaking strained and weird. When I got older, I would feel guilty that I couldn't afford to give people nice gifts, since I was always so short on money, and a couple of years ago, my dog got very ill on Christmas and died just before New Year's. Talk about baggage.
Usually I'm one of those people who dashes into Walgreens for a last minute gift. "Here's an unwrapped bottle of cheap vodka and some air freshener refills! Merry Christmas!" For once, I'm actually kind of on the ball in terms of gift giving. I've already bought and shipped my present for my Chronically Vintage Secret Santa buddy (I trolled her Instagram for inspiration, and I'm pretty sure she's going to love it), and I know what I'm getting at least some of the people I'm shopping for.


Just call me "Santa Baby."
Brian is a little harder to shop for, but I've got some ideas percolating. I'm still holding out hope that he'll tell me something that he wants, but I think I can still come up with something fun even if he doesn't.

Aside from shopping, I've also had a lot of fun over the past few days. Thanksgiving was at Brian's parents' house in Indiana, and I spent it cooking, drinking, and chopping wood. I mention this mostly because I wanted a good reason to share the following photos.

Ye olde pioneer woman.


"No TV and no beer make Homer something something." "Go crazy?" "Don't mind if I do!"
Friday was a short work day, and then Saturday I did a little more shopping and then partied down at a friend's birthday. I stayed out until 4am, which I never do, hanging out with awesome people and doing karaoke. I seriously hope I'm still that much fun when I turn 50 myself.

Somehow, a long, ratty black wig makes me look more like a man that I do with short hair. Weird.
This week, I'm going to try to do a little Christmas decorating. I've never actually done it before, but I'm kind of excited to put up some lights, and I'm thinking about getting a nice wreath and a little Christmas tree. It always used to seem like just another expense I couldn't be bothered with, but now it feels like part of making my apartment feel like home.
What are you guys doing to get ready for Christmas? Do you enjoy the season?