Hindsight Is: 2016 edition

I'll be the first to say it: I'm on the 2016 hatin' train lately. With the passing of my beloved Carrie Fisher, I basically became the conductor of said hate train. BUT while there has been so much loss this year (from fabulous celebrities who I basically considered family to, well, you know... the election), there has also been a lot of good.

So, since I didn't want to close out 2016 sounding like a total scrooge, here's some wonderful highlights to shine a positive light on what was overall a scoundrel of a year:

• Resolutions: Had quite a few of them, and after re-reading my list, I did a pretty swell job of accomplishing a lot of the things I wanted to! Minus the knitting. The damn knitting still eludes me...
• Career Girl: I finally left a job that had made me miserable for years and started up a new job. It's been almost a full year now, and I'm glad to say that I still enjoy my "new job", see opportunity for advancement, work with good people, and am very content overall. Time to start creepin' my way back up that ladder!
• Positive: A big factor in switching to a new job was a fresh start. A chance to molt the thick, bitter skin I had built up and return to being a happy and optimistic person. So far, so good! 
• Movin' Out: HELLO, adult points! It's been almost eight months now that the beau and I have cohabitated. 2013 Gina would be having a shit fit hearing that stat. So far we've managed to not kill one another, and, you know, be happy as clams sharing a space. It's nuts to think that this time last year, we were just starting to think about looking for a place, and here we are. A year ago, I was probably pants-less on my couch, eating an entire pot of mac-and-cheese by myself. Today, I'm clothed, and I have to share the mac, but it's mac made by my man, and I'm happy to share (mostly - don't worry, I have an extra box, just in case). 
• Social Butterfly: Holy cow was this a busy year. Literally, I kept the bar and restaurant industry in MKE afloat with my constant stream of happy hours, brunches and other food/drank related social gatherings. We also hosted a ton of random gatherings: our first Passover Seder, a crawfish boil, house-coolings and housewarmings, Thanksgivinukkah, etc. Not a week went by in the past 52 where some sort of social engagement didn't occur, and it was wonderful (thanks, friiiiends!). 
• Wanderlust: This year was a good one to get out of dodge! With trips to Key West, Atlanta, Colorado, Iowa, California (HARRY POTTER WORLD - MY HEART!), Chicago, etc. Still didn't finish renewing that damn passport though, gah. 
• The Silver-screen: Lotta good show watching went down this year. Watched the entire series of Lost, finally saw Westworld, wrapped up Downton Abbey (my heart is still recovering), Game of Thrones kept me shrieking on a weekly basis, etc. Plus, we saw SO many movies (at the theater and at home) and had our second year of being MKE Film Club members. A lot of good media was had by all.
• Random Others: Witnessed oh so much love and was so fortunate to attend eight weddings of very dear friends. Ran a 5k. PAID OFF my student loans! Was on-and-off addicted to sushi. Got to host an old friend from France (and skipped my 10 year HS reunion in the process). Got my first real piece of Tiffany's. Celebrated my beau's big 30th birthday. Donated my hair to charity again (third time). Finally had a good excuse to dress like a 1920's flapper. Quit sugar for a bit. Learned how to cross-stitch and do zombie makeup (those two are mostly unrelated). Jet ski-ed for the first (and probably last) time. Managed to avoid getting pregnant, married, or engaged - not many gals pushing 30 can say that! Huzzah! :)

Overall, the political turmoil and global unrest made 2016 a bit of a hot mess. BUT, looking at just my isolated life: the year was pretty on point. Let's hope 2017 comes in and sweeps us off our feet (in a good way, not in like a Mortal Kombat kinda way) and that it doesn't end up being our last (looking at you, nuclear launch code buttons, quit looking so shiny). Cheers, dear friends! 

Feelin' funky about my 2016 reflections...
GET IT?? Because that's a mirror and there are stars??? :)

Thanks for the Wings

Do you hear what I hear?
Those sleigh bells? Just a jing, jing, jing-a-ling? A ring-ting-ting, ting-aling, too?

If you don't hear it, you're a damn scrooge. If you do hear it, then you're already dead... I mean, it's already too late, because I'm about to lose my g'damn mind with holiday cheer. Those jingle bells are my trigger. One second, I'm just a (fairly) normal gal. Then: the transformation. The eyes go wide, the smile high fives both ears as it ricochets about, and a gleeful madness lights up the entire face. Instant jump into excited, Rocky at the top of the stairs - esque pose. Shopping bags appear in hand. Garland strings are suddenly wrapped about her person. Bulbs shoot out of her palms, Spiderman style. And a high pitched squeal lets loose. THIS is Christmas, baby. Get on board or get the hell out of her way!

There are two traditions more than anything that kick off the "holiday" season for me. Both involve my running about like a mad woman, being alarmingly happy, and sweating glitter.

The first is, of course, deckin' out the halls for Christmas (and Hanukkah).

When living in my tiny apartment, my decorations may have "overwhelmed" the space. Now that I have double the square footage to deal with (thanks, beau! #livinginsin2016), this is a whole new game. I've now lived out "on my own" (adult!) for over five years (old!), and every December I've been determined to do something new with my embellishments. BUT, every year it's been a similar process:

1. Attack Plan and Staging. Early November involves me hulking around furniture and determining layouts. For a month, the living room looks lopsided due to the gaping hole where a tree will go, and my OCD quietly freaks out. The apartment gets cleaned / organized in anticipation. Color scheme by room is determined in tandem with Step 2.
2. Hoarding and Taking Inventory. In addition to the stockpile of trimmings I already have (several totes worth), the post-holiday sale period finds me buying up all the 80% off bulbs and tinsel I can get my hands on. That, in combination with an assault on the dollar store as soon as the Christmas aisles appear (now in September), requires some serious need for taking inventory. This step lets me mentally divvy up how much glitz I have available to cram into each room. And, ya know, helps me figure out if I need even more stuff.
3. Bedeckin' the Feckin' Halls!* Surrounded by my festive pile, ready to festoon, a force to be reckoned with. Hot cocoa made (schnapps/Bailey's sloshed in in liberal doses). Elvis Christmas album on the record player (complete with all the scratches 49 cents can buy). It's a Wonderful Life DVD on the tele.** That last bit is utterly essential. With a 2h15m run time, it's just long enough for a top speed decorating dash. Starting with the building/trimming of my two trees, from there I work down by the boxes, Russian nesting dolling them as I go and booting them back to the attic. Once the pile of goods is gone, the process is complete.
4. Aftermath. From that moment until the New Year, every moment I am home, those lights are on and that cocoa is bubbling (electric bill, be damned!). I bask. I'm a basker. I want every ounce of holiday joy that I can squeeze out. I want it oozing outta my pores. When I die, I want to be the Ghost of Christmas Forever. I'm like the little girl who hugs Frosty to death. (Good to the last drop? ...Too soon?) - You get it.

Looks like a cold front is movin' in on my Blue Christmas...

This year, things didn't go quite to schedule though...

1. I didn't have time to plan. We've pretty much been busy since we moved in (six months ago!). I had no strategy or time to formulate a system. I went into this (snow) blind.
2. I didn't have free reign. I had to awkwardly kick the beau out so I could lose my mind without him seeing and deciding to break up with me / getting in my way. No, I couldn't share it with him. I'm not ready for that shit yet. (He was sick anyway, so he complied.)
3. It took longer than normal. That lack of plan really bit me in the ass. I spent a long time sitting, surrounded by tinsel, bulbs and menorahs, panicking and wondering if I was putting everything in the right place or if I was going to end up disappointing everyone (read: myself). Before I knew it, George Bailey was shrieking around Bedford Falls, saying hello to buildings, like a total nutter, and I didn't even have the living room finished! AKA I basically just finished decorating... just now. WAY behind schedule. What a waste of holi-days! (insert old man chuckle here)

The second kick-off to the season is my BEST workout night of the year: the night of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Every year, I excitedly await the annual stomping of the runway by my army of angels. These glorious, powerhouse women work so hard to earn those wings, and they use their status to do beautiful work all over the world (fun fact: this year's VS fashion show raised over $3 million for charity). Anyone who wants to hop up on my feminist soap box and argue this one with me, have at it. To all those who call this event "smutty" - it's time we change the conversation from one that openly objectifies women, to one that focuses on elaborate costume design, stunning stage choreography and the collaborative efforts of so many talented people to bring together one magical night. Let's focus on the diverse group of vibrant women who radiate confidence and are having fun at a job that encourages both physical and mental strength. Some are mothers, some are fresh faces, all are warriors. It's g'damn inspiring. Like, I wanna grow up to be a VS Angel. 

The one hour a year in which the show is broadcasted, it's no-holds-barred. They spend all year working their booties off in order to shine as they don their angelic wings. Me? I spend that hour paying homage to their hard work. While they catwalk as a show of force for all their efforts, I exercise my face off. Non-stop push-ups, sit-ups, kick boxing, jumping jacking, planking, dancing, weight lifting, whatevering - all that matters is an hour straight of 119% effort in whatever form of exercise goes best with the jams being played on the runway. If it's a meh T-Swift performance, I ninja around all the "push her off the stage" moves that I wish the models would use on her in real life. If it's a stellar classic rock montage (which they've been wise to open with the past few years), I bust out all the Sweatin' to the Oldies moves I practiced in my youth.

Thanks for the wings, darlings!

No matter what: I keep moving. I break a sweat, without letting them see me sweat, just like the badass celestial beings acting as my fitspo. By the time the fantasy bra struts out, I have burned off enough calories to make up for the boat load of cookies I'll be consuming on Christmas eve. By the time the class photo happens and the credits roll, I'm half in tears from excitement and half in tears because I forgot to stretch (EVERY year! Gah!). It's a divine feeling all around.

SO, have yourselves a holly jolly holiday, friends. It really is the best time of the year.
(And if holiday cheer isn't a big enough selling point for you: December also means that 2016 will finally end and can quit torturing us - and that is really something to celebrate!)





* Note: this step occurs after Thanksgiving. This is one rule I refuse to budge on - the second I give in, there will be no stopping me from putting my tree up in August.
** Is that what you want (Mary)? You want (the moon)... a blog post about It's a Wonderful Life?  Well, by Zuzu's petals, I think I shall need to do an entirely separate post about this movie! There are not enough words in this world to describe my obsession over it, but I'll sure as hell try to summarize. This post is already far too long to discuss here.