Clap Your Hands! It's December 1st!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is the chocolate Advent Calendar. My Mom bought them for us each year during my childhood. I was always excited to see December come because that meant a little piece of chocolate every single day. If you're not familiar with Advent calendars, let me fill you in. A calendar has 24 windows that you open each day to reveal a piece of chocolate. All the chocolate pieces come in different shapes, so each day is a fun-filled surprise. The #24 window (Christmas Eve) is the biggest and the best chocolate piece. It's the biggest because that means it's Baby Jesus time.
Some calendars, like the one that Thurman Merman had in the movie Bad Santa, revealed a different part of the Christmas story on the flap of each window along with the chocolate. I've never had one like that. Wish I did. Too bad. :( Wasn't Thurman Merman such a cute kid?
In my transition to adult life, there are some things that I refuse to give up. One of them being my yearly chocolate Advent Calendar. You better believe that I went and bought myself one this year too. And today is December 1. What did I do? You guessed it. I opened up window 1 and ate up that chocolate. 23 more delectable bites to go!
I like December 1st because it's the kick-off for my Advent Calendar and the start to ABC Family's 25 days of cheesy Christmas movies. Yay for December!

Favorite Thing Friday

I've been sick. With the flu. This is my first experience with the flu and it's been pretty crappy. I've been a snot machine the past few days and have gone through a lot of tissues. In addition to the plethora of pharmaceuticals that have nursed me back to health, my favorite thing this week is Kleenex with lotion. I actually ran out of tissues while I was trapped in my house during my recovery. Using toilet paper or napkins just doesn't cut it. Your nose gets red and raw and then starts flaking and it looks like you have boogers hanging out of your nostrils. No thanks. A trip to Walgreens had to be made. I snatched up a pretty box of tissues with lotion, along with eyeliner and a Charlie Brown Christmas tree (random, yes, but a cute addition to my living room). Aaaah. My nose knew that relief was coming. Lotion tissues are soft and make your raw nose feel so much better. Plus they leave behind a little trace of lotion on your fingers and make them all soft. Double bonus. Thanks, Kleenex. You're a true pal during times of sickness. I'd also like to give a shout out to the Puffs with Vicks too. You're pretty much amazing.

Favorite Thing Friday

It's no secret that I hate milk. I hate milk about as much as LC hates Spencer Pratt. That's a lot. Oddly, I do love one of milk's cousins: Egg Nog. This year I discovered Peppermint Egg Nog. I like it even more than original Egg Nog. It's pretty tasty. The best brand of nog, in my opinion, is Purity. Go on out and get you some. It's only available November through December, so time is of the essence.

Who do you crush on?

So, I wanna know. Who do you crush on? Is it the kid at Starbucks that loads your coffee up with extra whipped cream? Is it a good friend that you've known for a long time? Is it a fictional character? I'll let you in on a sampling of some of my crushes:


1.) I have a BIG crush on Jim Halpert. I love him right down to the marrow in my bones. Jim, of course, is a character on NBC's The Office. Jim's personality and sense of humor are very attractive to me. His character is my ideal guy. If he proposed marriage, I'd say yes without hesitation. Too bad Jim's not even real. He's my pretend boyfriend in my head though, and that's enough for me.


2.) I have this little (emphasis on little) crush on this guy that works at Kroger. His name is Kevin. He monitors the self scanners. Don't judge me. He is pretty cute. The past couple of times that I've been at Kroger, Kevin and I have made eye contact and then I get all flustered. I quickly finish scanning my items, slide my debit card, collect my groceries and get the heck out. In my mad dash, I always run out forgetting to grab my receipt and to sign the cashier copy of the receipt from running my debit card as credit. I'm sure he thinks I'm a moron, or in the very least, a little forgetful. He probably also thinks I'm a fat nasty food lover since the screen he monitors shows every single item being scanned...and it's mostly items like chips, ice cream, cookies, and cokes. Kevin is probably young; he looks younger than me anyways. If so, then that will make my crush on him even worse. I'd be like a Cougar. And P.S.- I throw Kevin's name around like I really know him. I don't. At all. We've never spoken. I've just looked at his name tag, silly.


3.) I've got this thing for Jimmy Kimmel. Now Jimmy isn't an overly attractive man, but he's got a cuteness about him. He makes great jokes and likes to laugh at others ignorance and misfortunes, including his own. He's a very likable guy. Plus, he's got a great family: Uncle Frank, Cousin Sal, Aunt Chippy. Family holidays would be the best.

That's all my secrets you get for now.

Favorite Thing Friday

My favorite Starbucks drink is the Peppermint Mocha Latte. These scrumptious drinks are available year-round, but there's just something that makes them extra tasty and special during the holiday season. Maybe it's the festive red holiday cups they're served in. Maybe it's the red sprinkles on top of the whipped cream that are only provided during the holiday season. Whatever the reason, Peppermint Mochas are the stuff love is made of, and they make my November and December extra joyous.

Big Bird is Creepy

Here are two facts about me:

1. I love to Google anything and everything.

2. I am afraid of Big Bird.

What happens if you combine Google and Big Bird? This. This very horrible, horrible thing.

Google is joining in on the celebration of Sesame Street's 40th Anniversary by changing the 'Google' image with different Sesame Street characters each day. Today is the Count's turn. Last week, Wednesday to be exact, was Big Bird's day of fame. I remember because that was a day of panic and terror for me (okay, so I'm being dramatic, but I'm allowed-- this is my blog). I saw that big yellow creepy face everywhere last Wednesday. Everytime I logged on the computer, BAM: Big Bird. When a commercial came on for that night's episode of Jimmy Kimmel...you got it: Big Bird. Jimmy Kimmel is my favorite talk show, but not that night. Big Bird was a guest on the show and was being interviewed. I could not watch. Just seeing the preview for that night's show made me break out in a cold sweat. I kid you not.

Why does Big Bird scare me so much? I don't really know. I've tried to trace the moment of when Big Bird stopped being that friendly bird taking up residence in a nest at 123 Sesame Street and became a source of fear for me. I can't really pinpoint it. I honestly loved watching Sesame Street as a small child. I never missed an episode. I even loved Big Bird's movie, Follow That Bird. During my preschool days, I went to preschool in the morning, came home and played Barbie's, then watched Sesame Street until Dad came home from work. Dad coming home meant B-Bird Street, as I called it, was over and it was dinner time. That's what my life consisted of. That was my daily schedule. Sesame Street actually taught me a lot. It's a very educational show, and I have nothing bad to say against the show at all. There's just something about that bird...

I think my fear started with a Big Bird stuffed animal. My Grandparents gave me and my sister each very large Big Bird stuffed animals. These things were giants. It was something with the eyes. It would sit in a little chair in my room and just stare. With those big, hard, plastic, pink eye-lidded eyeballs. Creepy. Even now, it's something about those eyes that get me. Chills. There's just something about Big Bird that makes me uneasy. If you really study Big Bird, maybe you'll see what I see. He's so big and tall (8-foot, 2-inches) and it's just so unnatural for a bird to be that, well, BIG.

It's ridiculous to have a fear of a Muppet character that is featured on a children's television show. I know this. It makes no sense at all. People have irrational fears, and this just happens to be mine.

I'm not the only one with a fear of Big Bird, though. I was actually glad to find out (through the use of my dear friend, Google) that I am not the only adult suffering from the fear of this childhood character. It just goes to show that no matter how weird we may think we are, there is always someone, somewhere who is like us or even weirder. It's a comforting thought! Big Bird made a special guest appearance on an episode of Deal or No Deal, (click for the full story) to help contestant Lamar Wilson overcome his childhood fear of the bird. I don't exactly think being surprised on national television by an 8 foot bird that you're already scared of will magically cure that fear. Just sayin'. Yep, so, when Lamar saw Big Bird, he ran off the stage. I would have done the same exact thing. I wish I could find Lamar Wilson so we could start a support group together. I bet Lamar and I would be great pals. It would be nice to discuss my fear with another B-Bird Hater. Someone that understands.

Favorite Thing Friday

My favorite lip product is Blistex Lip Medex. Your lips will feel as cool as an Antarctic breeze.