The snowflakes are falling, the air outside will chill you to the bone, my heating pad is turned up on high, and the apartment smells like pine needles.

Slippers are required for even the shortest of journeys (read: from couch to kitchen), my taste buds crave a warm cocoa creation and Nutcracker music dances on and on in my brain long after my rehearsals for the day have ended.

This can only mean one thing.  That’s right, sugarplums, it’s finally December.  The only month during which the words ‘reindeer’ and ‘elf’ roll off the tongue with even more normalsy than any other woodland creature/abbreviated supernatural being combination you can think of.  Every store window and street corner is lit up like Rudolph’s nose (sorry, Rudy, that thing is BRIGHT), and coffee shops worldwide delight their steamy beverage seeking customers with peppermint-infused versions of their comforting norms.

Holiday parties, tree decorating, cookie baking, Christmas movie marathons, Nutcracker ballets (to be danced and observed)…December sure does have a whole lot to offer a wide-eyed fete-loving girl like myself.  And believe me when I say I’m more than excited to bake up some gingerbread men, fasten tiny glittering snowflakes onto the branches of my mini Christmas tree, and brainstorm Secret Santa gift purchases.  Who’s with me?!