Merry Christmas to All and to All a Collaborative Playlist

Hello! I'm officially home in Massachusetts, done with my 69-page paper, and ready for the holidays boys.

Last night, my family went to go see Home Alone at the local theater. They don't usually play movies so I wanted to go support them so hopefully they'd do it more in the future, but there wasn't a super big turn-out. I don't love Home Alone but it was nice to get into the "Christmas spirit" a little. I've been so busy the holidays don't even feel like they're so close.

Tomorrow I think I'll watch Muppet Christmas Carol (a classic) and Olive the Other Reindeer. They're probably my favorite Christmas movies. Olive is a little lesser-known and well worth checking out. It's about a dog named Olive who thinks she's a reindeer and travels to the North Pole to help Santa after Blitzen gets injured, but she is antagonized by a Christmas-hating mailman. Truly a recipe for wholesome holiday fun. The jokes are great, the style is cute, and the songs are very fun. 10/10 film

This is Olive and her pet flea

The holidays feel a little stranger every year. I always feel like I don't feel them enough. Like I'm supposed to be getting more nostalgic or festive or grateful than I am. I feel like I end up like "cramming" the last few days before Christmas, trying to listen to as much Christmas music and watch as many holiday movies as I can so I can be sure that I feel all the right things. I know that's not how it works and you can't artificially make yourself feel festive, but oh well. So it goes.

The holidays and New Year's always makes me reflect, too, which I think is good. Same with birthdays but New Year's feels a little more important because everyone else in the world is basically doing the same thing too. This will not be my last post of 2019, but it's pretty close. And my favorite thing about New Year's time is end of year lists of movies/music/etc. It helps remind me of everything that I liked or didn't like this year, plus I start getting ready for Oscar's season (nominations are right around the corner!) so it's always exciting.

And this is like, not just the end of a year, this is the end of a DECADE. I don't really remember 2009-2010 as well and I don't think I could have reflected much on the first decade of my life but now that I'm also starting the second decade of my life, I decided to make two playlists that are collaborative, which means you can (nay, Should) contribute to them.

The first is of your most memorable songs of 2019. (no more than 10 songs per person)

I'm saying most memorable, not necessarily favorite. These are the songs (maybe not definitely but still) that I think of when I think of this past year, and some of the songs that meant the most to me.

and now THIS one is your most memorable/personally influential songs of the decade (no more than 10 songs pp again)

The decades one is pretty fun because I've been thinking a lot recently about the music that has shaped my life. My taste in music has changed a ton over the past decade but each of these songs has meant so much to me at one point in time. I would love to know what some of your guys' are! Also feel free to add anyone as a collaborator if you want I just want a massive playlist of songs that have meant something to someone. How cool would that be?

Anyway I think I'll leave most of my pontificating/reflecting about the year and the holidays or whatever for next week's post so for now, I'll leave you with these cute bear chocolates me and my sister made with these molds she got.

;-)