Baby It's Cold Outside

Oh hello again. Sorry I went missing for a week, but finals are my extreme enemy! Luckily I don't have to worry about school again until January 25th! Gotta love UMass' ridiculous break schedule. And on that note, let's proceed to tonight's entry...

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the city, there's at whole foot of snow but at least it looks pretty. Unfortunately, it's also ruined a pair of Uggs due to all my last minute holiday shopping and various parties. I ask for a "white Christmas" every year, and it looks like this year I've gotten my wish. But as nice as it all looks (especially now that I'm home in the suburbs where the snow stays white) it really isn't the weather that makes it feel like the holidays.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and being Italian, this is far more important than Christmas Day itself. Every year I count the days until I can eat seven fish dishes and entirely too many desserts. When I was about twelve my grandmother also got me and all of my younger cousins trashed by giving us too much wine. We're slightly older and slightly more responsible these days, but these crazy traditions are honestly my favorite part of the year. I spent all day today whipping up literally eleven different cookie batters and I can't wait to bake them tomorrow!!

It makes me so sad that in the past few years my family spread out a bit across the country and it's tough to see traditions change - but all of the important things are still there. We've come a long way from my childhood where Nona ran the kitchen and tried to serve us dishes like eel. Not a single one of us still believes in Santa and we don't go entirely overboard with our swap gifts.

But some things don't change. I will still probably gain a good ten pounds over dinner tomorrow, my little cousins are going to fight for mine and my sister's attention all night, the kids are going to love their presents, and undoubtedly Annie and I will convince our parents that it's a good idea to open about fifty percent of our gifts that night.

And then some things do change. Inevitably I will drunkenly text all of my friends to wish them a happy holiday and Annie wants to organize a family beer pong tournament. There will only be about ten people at dinner, not the usual fifty plus that I remember, but they're a very important ten people and there's no one I'd rather spend the holidays with.

I love the uniqueness of my family, our crazy get togethers, our delicious food, and our ridiculous conversations and I love how the holidays bring all of these things together. I hope that everyone else has something so special to look forward to and that Santa is good to you all.