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.

Every Real Grown-Up Should Have…

Since I wrote my Santa letter and hung it on my family’s refrigerator, I have a few, slightly more specific ideas about what I want for Christmas and my birthday. I promise this will absolutely be the last time ever this holiday season I publish a not-so-subtle gift guide.

I want…

• this dress, this dress, and especially this dress (in size 0, please)!
• a pair of moccasin slippers, like these.
• a keyboard protector specially made for my MacBook, like this one, and an outside cover like this one.

Okay, okay, I’m finished asking! Now, what are you asking for this year?

Every Real Grown-Up Should Have…

I spent last Christmas staying with the family of an English classmate in southern England. That was divine, but I’m ready for a good ol’ Ohio holiday complete with family, snow, and of course, PRESENTS! I know it’s a little early for the holiday hype to begin (though in the Brown household, Thanksgiving week marks the start of the time when non-Christmas specific, winter music compilations can be played guilt-free), but I don’t care! I’m ready to start dreaming about Christmas and my birthday, which falls the next day, and to start legitimately lusting after all of the pretty little things I’ve been secretly wanting lately.

Ditch the angst, the worry, the confusion, Santa! Boy, do I have some ideas for you. Here’s the start of a sure-to-grow-as-the-season-progresses Christmas and birthday list!

This vintage leather schoolbag would be so perfect for toting my laptop and books around town.

I’ve broken so many of my favorite pairs of earrings lately. These vintage heart danglies are so dainty and pretty!

Every Real Grown-Up Should Have…

… a childlike mentality about Christmas.

This week we spend an awful lot of time working on writing beautiful letters to Santa, just in case he hasn’t been listening to all our wishful thinking. Even I wrote a letter, because I’ve been doing a bit of hinting on this blog, but I’ve yet to notice any hits from the North Pole in my visitor stats.

Kai wants to be surprised by random video games, and Amélie would like to be turned into a fairy that can change back to being a girl whenever she wants. Just in case, she also asked for a pet shop video game and a fairy house.

We also talked philosophically about Santa. We all decided that if we met him in person, we’d all be pretty speechless. “Well, I’d say ‘Merry Christmas,’” Amélie finally said. “Wouldn’t you?”

I was also impressed when Kai told me that Santa isn’t a real person, but that he’s a spirit. “He’s a saint, even,” he stressed. This is, strangely, the very manner in which I was taught to regard Santa at Kai and Amélie’s age.

Spirit or not, Santa has three two letters coming his way. (I decided that sending mine was going a bit overboard. Instead, I’ll hang in on the fridge for the Santas in my family to take careful note of!)

Covered in glitter and crayon , accompanied by festive drawings and enclosed in colorful envelopes, Kai and Amélie’s letters will be dropped in today’s mail, and we’ll wait hopefully for a reply.

And just in case I’m wrong about you reading my blog, Santa, we’ve all been very, very good this year.