Top 10 Reasons its a BRILLIANT idea to be SINLGE this Christmas!

Christmas is finally here and now being single for the first time at the holidays in almost a decade I have been pondering how freaking WONDERFUL it is.  No seriously!  For years I’ve felt bad for the singletons who have no one to spend time with during the holiday season, but as it turns out, I was completely wrong about this.  This comes as an extra shock because I’m almost never wrong.  Here’s my top ten list of why its a brilliant idea to be single this holiday season:

1. You don’t have to hang out with anyone else’s annoying family.  And you don’t have to drag anyone to hang out with yours!!  Let’s face it, its wonderful to spend time with loved ones during the holiday season, but it gets old quickly…especially if it’s double time!  And while hanging out with your significant other’s family can be loads of fun, it’s tiring, damnit! “Playing nice” would be a lot easier and more fun if it were acceptable to have about 4 more glasses of wine!
2. You don’t have to send out holiday cards:  As you may have seen in one of my prior posts, normally I send out holiday cards to my nearest and dearest.  This year I didn’t, and to be honest, I don’t really feel bad about it. The best thing I did in 2012 was break up with my boyfriend and since that doesn’t exactly fit the bill for a cheerful holiday card, I guiltlessly skipped the whole ordeal this year.  Instead I took the money I saved and actually went out for a meal or a drink with the people that I really wanted to catch up with!
3. No extra gifts: Without a boyfriend or girlfriend you don’t have to worry about the “Christmas Politics”.  Since you’re not going to anyone else’s family functions you don’t have to worry about getting a Christmas present for you significant other’s mother or annoying brother.  You don’t have to make one last run to the package store for a bottle of wine to bring to his aunt’s house for Christmas dinner, or make a bazillion cookies to bring with you so that you look like Little Miss Suzie Homemaker.  And you certainly don’t have to search Macy’s for the perfect $10 or less gift for some weirdo Yankee Swap.
4. You don’t have to go to more than one lame-o company holiday party:  Luckily the company I work for has an amazing Christmas Party where they pull out all the stops, but from what I understand, most companies are not this way.  Here’s a great question for you – what is the point of going to a party where you have to behave…isn’t that an oxymoron?
5. You don’t have to find “the perfect gift”:  Every guy or gal wants to get their boyfriend or girlfriend the perfect gift. Usually there’s a price limit, but then there’s the unspoken question of “should I stay within the price limit, should I not?”  If you stay within the limit, but the other person goes above and beyond, you look like a douche…if you go above and beyond and they stay within the limit, you’re disappointed.  Even if you don’t admit you’re disappointed, you are.  We all know that you are.  One year for Christmas my ex-boyfriend and I had a “no gift” rule.  I proceeded to get him a very nice pea coat, and he gave me the gift of air.  Yep.  Air.  I did mention that was an EX-boyfriend, right? 😉
6. You can look forward to mistletoe: Yea, all you couples out there can kiss away 365 days a year, but I mean really, where is the fun in that?  Going to a Christmas Party as a singleton you can easily scope out a single hottie, and with very minimal amounts of planning you will both end up under the mistletoe in no time at all!  And if you think you’re too shy to make that happen, ask a ballsy friend for help, have a couple eggnog/rums and give it a go.  What’s the worst that can happen!?
7. Holiday Candy and Holiday Cookies: Without having all the extra holiday obligations, you’re not obligated to make and/or buy all this extra crap for the holidays.  That being said, its pretty inevitable that you’ll accumulate a bunch of holiday goodies regardless…and when you do, not only do you not have to share them with anyone, but you also don’t have to worry about anyone judging you.  So what if I ate an entire bag of moose tracks, had 2 egg nogs, 3 cookies and half a tray of home-made fudge?  YOLO!
8. You can play the”Alvin in the Chipmunks Christmas CD on repeat: The Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas Album is the holiday equivalent to “Call Me Maybe”.  Seriously…it’s one of those things that if anyone else was around and it came on you’d say “OMGGGGG this is the most annoying song ever”, but if it comes on while you’re all alone, you know you’re singing every last word…possibly loading it on repeat.  (My holiday guilty-pleasure Christmas Song is Dominic the Donkey…with all the sound effects! heehaw heehaw!”
9. Party til New Years!!  Christmas doesn’t have to be just one day if you’re single.  The world is your oyster so since people have taken extra time off work or are in town visiting with family, take advantage of it, and have fun!!  You don’t have to get home at any certain time to hang out with your significant other, or feel bad leaving them at home, or the worst – invite them to come hang out with you and your life-long friend.  All you have to do is meet up at the local watering hole and sip martinis and gossip about all the latest and greatest news!
10. Holiday Weight?  What’s Holiday Weight:  No matter how hard you try, you’re going to put on a few lbs throughout the Christmas season…and if you don’t well 2 things:  1. F  you, seriously, and 2. You need to live a little more!  Come on, who can seriously stay away from all the holiday goodies!  But, without needing to look good for your significant other, you can indulge in a few extra treats.  Just don’t go so overboard that you wont be able to slim back down before Valentine’s Day…You don’t want to be single forever after all!!

 

A New Way To Enjoy Winter: Wallingford Wineries

Though I technically made this trip at the end of December, since it was within 2 weeks of January 1, I’m going to count this as a winery on my 2013 Bucket List!  Kate and I decided to spend our Sunday down in Wallingford, CT at the two wineries there.  It was an amazing day!  Since it was a very cold and rainy day there wasn’t much else to do anyways except complain about how cold and rainy it was, so it was really the perfect way to spend out sunday.  We went to two vineyards:  Gouveia and Paradise Hills.  Each of them had their own separate strengths and weaknesses, but both were really fun!  Here’s my breakdown:

Paradise Hills

Location:  15 Wind Swept Hill Road  Wallingford, CT 06492, 203-284-0123

Cost of Tasting:  $5 (this includes 5 pre-seleceted wines only)

Hours: hours change, but the winter hours are Thurs 11-8, Fri 11-9, Sat 11-8, Sun 11-6

Rating:  5.5

This was the first stop on our Sunday wine tour.  This was actually my first time ever going to this specific vineyard and upon arrival I was pleased!  You walk in, and the atmosphere is incredible.  That is really the only reason I gave them a 5.5.  It was very small, which was nice.  On one side there was a couple of large tables, and on the other was a few small tables surrounding a cozy wood-burning stove.  The tasting itself was very informative!  Rich Ruggierio, one of the family members at this family owned and operated vineyard was our wine connoisseur and besides being incredible nice, he was also extremely knowledgeable.   We tried 5 wines, 3 whites and 2 reds.  Though none of the wines really stuck out to us as amazing, but we ended up getting a bottle of the Washington Trail White Wine anyways and having a glass there while we chatted by the fire.  Since this vineyard is so small, I assume the only reason they have such long winter hours is because they wanted to hold the same hours as Gouveia, which is only about a mile away.  It was really fun, but we were ready to get out of there and move on to Gouveia, where we knew the wine would be delicious.

Nothing like some cold wine, and a hot fire!!

Gouveia

Location:  1339 Whirlwind Hill Road  Wallingford, CT 06492, 203-265-5526

Cost of Tasting:  $8 (this includes 4 pre-seleceted wines and one of your own choice.  It also includes an etched keepsake glass to bring home with you.)

Hours: YEAR ROUND!  Thurs 11-8, Fri 11-9, Sat 11-8, Sun 11-6.

Rating:  7.5

This vineyard is one that people typically enjoy because it’s set atop a huge hill and gives gorgeous views.  I have been there twice and the first time I was in LOVE, but that was probably because it was in the middle of summer and I could sit outside and watch the sun set over the horizon.  Today, however, since its late December, very cold, not to mention raining, was different.  We were cooped up inside.  Now, don’t get me wrong, the inside of Gouveia is absolutely gorgeous.  There is 30 foot ceilings, a couple of fire places, exposed wood interior, tons of tables, and even some cute games on top of wine barrels.  But, I felt that the atmosphere was almost too loud.  Because its so big inside, and the tables are so long, many people use it almost as a party spot.  To me, wine tasting is a bit more intimate and I personally prefer to go with a small group of people so that we can sit and chat after our tasting.  Gouveia had so much going on that it was very loud inside.  I did, however, LOVE that there was games!  I love games and after about a half hour of begging I was finally able to get my sister to join in on a game of checkers…After I won and she didn’t even jump one of my men, I realized why she didn’t want to play! haha.

Our awesome checker board next to one of the fire places!

The wine at this vineyard was really good.  We ended up buying a bottle of the Cayuga White, pic below, and had a glass there before heading home for our private “pizza party” haha.

This bottle was totally worth the $20! We had a glass at the vineyard, and then some more later with dinner! YUM!

These vineyards are literally 1 mile and 3 streets from each other, so if you aren’t from the immediate area, I definitely recommend knocking them both out in one shot if you’re trying to fill out your passport!  Both vineyards were fun, and now I can honestly say that I have found something that I truly like to do in the summer!  Yay!

What the Hell is Elf on a Shelf

Am I the only one that doesn’t get the point of this whole “elf on a shelf”  thing?  I’ve only become familiar with it in the past year and even at that I’m not sure I really get it.  So from what I understand, you hide this little bugger and the kids go wild over finding it.  Why would they want to find it!?  It looks like a creepy relic of 1950.  I’m not so sure about this one…

Christmas Card Best and Worst Practices

Normally every year I send out between 75 and 100 Christmas cards to my nearest and dearest.  I usually get them out within a week of Thanksgiving, which is nice because it also helps get me the get best “return rate”.  This year I’m not much in the holiday spirit and haven’t gotten around to sending any Christmas cards at all except for one that I sent to my best friend.  I know I should probably get my act together and at least send them out to my family members, but at this point I’m not sure if that’s going to happen.  Plus it has helped me perform a social experiment that I was pretty confident I knew the answer to already, however this has really solidified my hypothesis.  Instead of sending cards this year, I’m going to give an awesome post on the best and worst practices of the holiday card card distribution:

BEST:

• Animal Cards:  Who wouldn’t want to see your puppy dressed up like a reindeer this year?!  I love when people send pics of their pets dressed up for Christmas, whether they are dressed in some snazzy Christmas doggie jammies or have a set of antlers on.   I’m a huge animal lover, and quite personally, I’d rather see that than ANOTHER pic of your kids.  I think I’ve seen enough pics of your kids all year long on Facebook. Am I right?  One of my absolute faves that I’ve ever gotten is from one of my life-long friends – she’s got this adorable chihuahua that has one stiff ear and one floppy ear.  In real life the dog hates my guts, so I absolutely look forward to and cherish this pic every year!
• Hand Written Cards:  Any joe-shmo off the street can get 100 cards printed out with your family’s names typed out and slap some stamps on the envelope and stick it in the mail, but it takes a really thoughtful person to actually write a personal note and address the cards by hand.  I mean seriously, how special do you feel when you get a card that just has “Merry Christmas! Love, The Smiths” typed on it.  It took absolutely no thought at all and basically just shows that they felt obligated to send a card, but have nothing meaningful to say in it.  What’s wrong with a hand written “I miss you!  Hope you have a happy holiday season” or AT LEAST signing  your own name!?  These cards are harder to come by, but I really do appreciate and save them!
• Early Bird Cards:  If I receive a card from you before December 15th I feel thought of and feel like I was actually really on the “Christmas Card List”, not like I was an “add-on” after you got my card and I received a card solely because you had a few extra once you were done with all “the important people” because you had a few extra cards laying around.  The worst is when it comes in an envelope that clearly doesn’t belong with the card.  It just screams “sorry – this is all I have left….merry x-mas!”  <– I also hate when people use the abbreviation “x-mas”…for the love of God, remember what the word means!!
• Snail Mail Cards:  Not to say that someone thinking about you and giving you a card regardless of the method of delivery isn’t ok, but there’s just something about receiving an article of mail that doesn’t end in “minimum amount due by December 31”.  Of course personally delivered mail either in my mail box or on my desk at work is nice, and absolutely appreciated, but don’t cheap out.  Spend the 45 cents and stick that puppy in the mail!  Unless you want to attach it to a gift…then hand delivering it is completely acceptable…hint hint 😉

WORST:

• Family Newsletter:  No offense, but I don’t really care that little Johnny is in first grade and excelled at his first spelling bee, or that you vacationed in Punta Cana over the Spring.  I’m not trying to be an asshole, but these “newsletters” are nothing more than a family brag letter.  How about we spread some cheer here and wish others well?  Isn’t that what the season is all about, after all?
• 100% typed out Cards:  This is basically the opposite of what I was talking about above.  A completely typed out card shows me absolutely no effort whatsoever.  Don’t even bother sending it to me unless you at least write out your own name.  The ones that have the printed envelopes are even worse…I could be wrong here, but to me that shows that the Christmas card didn’t even come from your home, it came directly from Snapfish, CVS, Mixbook, Walgreens or whatever other company you purchased the cards from.  There is absolutely no personalization on these cards except for my address.  At the end of the day, they are good wall-fillers for the Christmas season, but get tossed first thing on January 1.
• Late Cards:  Get it together – either send cards out, or don’t.  If you don’t send cards that’s fine, I wont judge you, but if you only send me a card at the very end because you received my card and feel obligated, don’t bother.  Trust me, I won’t be offended if I’m not on your “Christmas Card List”.  I sent you a card because I really wanted you to receive it, not because it’s a competition and I wanted you to send one to me.
• E-Cards:  Don’t get me wrong, I love to “elf myself” just as much as the next gal, but to send me an “e-card” as an actual Christmas Card is border-line pathetic.  A card should be something meaningful and nice that I has something heartfelt written inside.

So if you were wondering how I really feel about Christmas cards, there it is.  I wonder how many people feel the same way or how others feel about Christmas cards in general.  Do you think quality or quantity is more important when sending and receiving Christmas cards?  Do you send them yourself and if you do, do spend the time to personalize them?

 

A Day In The Life of Being on “The Naughty List”

Hello all and Happy Holidays!  I’ve been a HORRIBLE blogger lately, and by “horrible”, what I really mean, is non-existent.  So, what I’m going to do is dive right back in with a bang.  I’m going to back it up to 2008 and tell the story of the year I was on the Naughty List.  At the time I was fresh out of college, but still working at the restaurant I had worked at throughout college a couple nights a week.  A couple of my co-workers who were roommates decided to have a “Naughty or Nice” Christmas Party.  Now, given the fact that we all were between 18 – 25 and a good looking bunch, if I do say so myself, and course I do, I figured people would go the “naughty” route.  I guess I was still in the college mind set because whenever my fraternity had themed parties the “cowboy/Indian” party turned into “sexy cowboys/slutty Indians” party, and the “Laua” became “wear-a-cocoanut-bra-in-the-middle-of-February-party”…you get the idea.

Anyways, while out browsing for an awesome outfit for the party, I found a baseball tee with red arms and white body that said “team naughty” on it and it came with a pair of red and white striped boy shorts underwear and baseball socks.  Obviously this was intended for pajamas, but I also decided that with my black Uggs and Santa hat it would be the PERFECT ensemble for the night to come.  So at this point I’m pretty pumped for the party and I’m feeling pretty confident about my outfit.  I guess you can say I figured I’d fit right in.

I get to the party a bit late, as it was snowing and the roads were pretty slick, and I walk in with my black pea coat buttoned up to the top.  I walk through the door and look around.  Holy. Shit.  That’s seriously what I said, both out loud and in my head.  I’m pretty sure I said it in my head about 400 more times than I said out loud, but that’s not the point.  As I looked around I noticed the other 20 or so guests that were already at the party were dressed “nice”.  No, not just “nice”, I mean nice.  Every person in the room had on a nice dress, pearls, or a sweater vest.  I’m pretty sure there was even some bow ties mixed in, and here I am in my freaking underpants…W.T.F.??  Erica and Jon, the hosts, came over to me and offered to take my coat, as any good host would.  I immediately said “I can’t take my jacket off”.  They asked why, and I discreetly opened my jacket to show them what I was wearing.  No, let me rephrase that,  I showed them what I wasn’t wearing.  I proceeded to go into Erica’s room with her while she tried to convince me stay as I, almost in tears mind you, was trying to tell her I had to go home because there’s no way I could face this crowd dressed as a naughty elf.  At this point, Jon (my savior) came into the room with a tray of shots…after a shot (or 5) I decided that my outfit was actually completely appropriate for this party and made my way out to the crowd.

Though at the time it was probably the most mortifying moment of my life, today this story goes a long way.  I’m not sure I know of anyone else who who is stupid enough to get themselves into this mess…but even if I did meet someone on my level, I don’t know that they would shamelessly strut around that way all night.  In the end, this is obvious proof that though people say “alcohol isn’t the solution”, there are actually some cases where it is…this, my friends, is one of them! 😉

Have you ever had a “party foul”?  how did it end up?

Silence and Support for Sandy Hook