All I want for Christmas is…

Because I spent last year in France, where I heard nary a carol leading up to the big day, I’ve recently had my radio station set not to the normal NPR, but to a station that plays Christmas music twenty-four hours a day. I keep waiting to tire of it, but the child in me secretly loves it, so it remains. As I result, I’m pretty sure I’ve finally succeeded in hearing most every Christmas song ever written, and I’ve noticed that there are an awful lot of songs written about wishes for peace and goodwill, for eternal love, for the ever elusive “you,” and other similarly intangible things. Oh my goodness! My life is already pretty great, but I’ve completely ignored all of the completely unrealistic things I could ask for this year! I’ve been focusing on tangible gifts. Maybe, in defiance of the growing commercialism of Christmas, I should dream big and think about what I really want!

If I were to make a list…

I’d ask for MM for a roommate. She lives in Boston, which is, if we’re going to be totally honest, about eight hundred miles too far away. She is absolutely the best person to ask, “How does this look?” because she’ll give a totally honest (and, if called for, brutal) answer, and every self-proclaimed lover of fashion needs that. Not to mention the fact that I just like being around her in general.

I’d have a fully stocked kitchen at all times, and every night would be occasion enough for me to whip up something totally gourmet and fabulous. (When Mama reads this, she’ll say, “But you do! And you can!” I guess I’d have to ask for a few extra fours in the day, too, then.)

I’d ask for unlimited money. C’mon, wouldn’t you? It would just eliminate so much stress, and I could pay off all my student loans. (And buy whatever I wanted!)

I’d be able to snap my fingers and be wherever I want to be, whenever I want. Lately I’ve been dreaming about Paris, and feeling like I need to spend some time living there. Which would be so much easier if I could just snap my fingers to visit my friends and family, and so I could keep my job as Kai and Amélie’s nanny, which is probably the only way I could earn enough money to pay my outrageous Paris rent.

I would have perfect skin. I’ll stop myself short of listing all of my (numerous) imperfections, both physical and otherwise. Like many girls, there are a slew of superficial things I would choose change about my body, but it’s silly to imagine really, because I have a wonderful boyfriend who loves me just the way I am. And so many beautiful friends who are never, ever ashamed to be seen with me, even when I have a giant zit in the middle of my face, like I do today. It would probably be easier to ask for a world where confidence equals beauty. Oh, that’s already the case, you say? Amazing.

And, of course, world peace wouldn’t be awful, either.