A Quirkyalone Christmas

December 20th-22nd

Days 2-4: Baking and Besties

Firsts: Shower without flipflops, kiss

Listened to: Joyeux Nöel playlist (Mannheim Steamroller, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Michael Bublé, Harry Connick Jr.), Regina Spektor, Out of the Blue, my mom shouting at the Vikings on TV

Watched: 30 Rock season 3, Chuck season 1

Read: Quirkyalone, Sasha Cagen

I woke up my first morning home to a fresh pot of coffee and a delicious home-cooked breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. And by morning I mean afternoon. My mom definitely loves me, because she doesn’t drink coffee and had to dig the coffee maker out of the pantry in order to make it for me. She kept asking if it was too strong or too weak. And it was perfect.

At a furniture store:

Mom: “Sales people are shit on flies.”

Me: “Do you mean flies on shit?”

After Mom and I sat down on a loveseat, she said: “The last time we did this, I spent 2,500 dollars. We better go.”

At Barnes and Noble:

I picked up a magazine with an extremely close-up picture of a man. I had no idea who it was.

Mom: Scoff. “Obama.”

Me: “I don’t think that’s Obama…”

Mom: “Oh, I meant to say Tiger.”

After a long afternoon shopping, we were really looking forward to baking Christmas cookies. Starting with the ginger snaps was not the best idea. What called for 4 cups of flour turned out to be 4 cups of powdered sugar. Dry, gritty, sugary cookies with a hint of cinnamon got thrown in the trash. It kind of got us out of the baking Christmas spirit, but I picked it up a notch over the next few days by making a batch of brownies, peanut blossoms, and frosted, sprinkled sugar cookies. Nom.

I ended my evening drinking hot apple cider and soul-searching. Although I’ve been a serial monogomist forever, seriously, I’ve definitely acquired some new quirkyalone characteristics, which I learned about while reading Quirkyalone: A Manifesto for Uncompromising Romantics by Sasha Cagen. Turns out I’ve had at least one quirkyalone quirk for a long time. My favorite flower has always been the daisy, and it’s the official flower of the quirkyalone movement. Daisies are commonly sent and received on International Quirkyalone Day, which just happens to fall on February 14^th every year.

The next night I embraced my quirkyalone, or perhaps my quirkyslut, but we don't really need to get into that. Let's just say I enjoyed the wine. And the vodka. And being with friends.

So far, it's been an eventful start to my break. I finished my Christmas shopping with Chelsea, I finished my baking with Mom, and I hung out with close friends I haven't seen in four months.

I think the best part so far was hearing that my roommate and my friend Jana's roommate were moving out, and the two of us are going to move in together! We're definitely going to never get any sleep or homework done in our extremely messy room. I can't wait.