Last year I made a wish list of stuff I wanted for Christmas, this year I am making a list of stuff I already have but highly recommend for those of you looking for gift ideas this holiday season.  Yay for the spirit of giving!! (See, I’m growing as a person! Also, mom, if you’re reading this, I want cash and Starbucks gift cards but mostly cash.) If I was Oprah, these would be included in my favorite things. (For the record? If I was Oprah, I’d also give you a boat, a trip to Wilmington NC in the autumn, and a twenty-minute conversation with Matt Davis about sex, energy, and aliens.)

Voluspa ceramic candles. Here is how I know I’m not a real grown up: Sometimes I can’t afford food, and also sometimes I spend $30 on a candle. I can hear my mother lecturing me about my spending habits now, but whatever. These ceramic candles smell amazing, last ages, and just look really pretty on a shelf or a dresser. My favorites are the Macaron and Suede Blanco scents. Macaron fills the room with the smell of pastries, but it’s not sickly sweet or too strongly vanilla-scented, which can sometimes be stifling. Suede Blanco has a masculine cologne scent. Basically, it makes your room smell like a really hot sophisticated guy just left, probably on his way to go buy you something fancy. The ceramic candles are really pretty, and once they’re burned down the jars still look nice and are multi-functional. (This is how I justify the expense.) You can use them for pens or makeup brushes or whatever. Plus, when I am trying to make the last twelve dollars in my bank account last until payday, I can still feel fancy burning one of these. Read the rest of this entry »

I do not like New Year’s Eve. It’s a completely arbitrary holiday — congratulations, universe, you will now spend the next six weeks writing down the wrong date on all of your contracts, checks, and correspondence. Other than that, nothing will change. So why, in God’s name, do we all get dressed up in sequins and drink champagne and act like the thing that happens at midnight is going to be some big surprise that you absolutely can not DVR? Read the rest of this entry »

I know this is going to sound like a lie, but it isn’t: I was totally wearing sparkly nail polish before any of you were wearing sparkly nail polish. I’m pretty sure it is the only trend I have ever been ahead of the curve on, but I was definitely rocking sparkly random nails in like, 2008. And I’m only slightly bitter that Lauren Conrad is getting all the credit, because I’m mostly a gracious person.

Seriously, though. I’m not a particularly girly girl. I’m too tall for high heels and I couldn’t put on liquid eyeliner if my life depended on it. Nail polish is my one super-girly indulgence. I know it’s dumb, but sparkly nail polish is just so fun. It’s a really good way to add whimsy to your whole situation.
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