The Wonderful Aspects of the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Some wonderfully overlooked (or not-so-overlooked) aspects of the most wonderful time of the year…

1. Home-cooked banquets with family around a dinner table—as opposed to the frozen dinners and fast food we eat every other day of the year.
2. Christmas music. Whether you love or hate hearing Taylor Swift’s “Last Christmas” on the radio every two hours.
3. Christmas movies. “Elf,” because it’s eternally quotable.
4. Designers and decorators who string up millions of lights every year—and property managers who foot the electric bill so we can enjoy the sparkly-ness.
5. Pies. Especially the ones our grandmothers make.
6. Putting up the pine (or artificial) Christmas tree and decorating it with the family, just like you did when you were a kid.
7. Knowing you’ve gotten someone the perfect Christmas gift and seeing real surprise in their eyes when they rip apart the wrapping paper.
8. Ugly sweater parties that give us an excuse to do a bad Bill Cosby impersonation.
9. Christmas cookies, and eating absurdly large amounts of them—frosted, sprinkled, candy-cane shaped…
10. Getting the star on top of the Christmas tree straight in an incredible feat of coordination and Christmas magic.
11. Finding an open parking lot space at the mall after driving around in circles for half an hour.
12. Being single and thankful that you don’t have to shop for your date.
13. Being in a relationship and thankful you have someone special to spoil.
14. Gingerbread houses that, even after hours of cosmetic surgery, look nothing like the picture on the box or recipe.
15. Christmas commercials–classic talking candies and adorable polar bears that outshine the actual programs.
16. Feeling like a ninja when you successfully open a candy cane without breaking it.
17. Eggnog, mulled wine, peppermint mochas, hot apple cider, hot chocolate… pick your potion.
18. Gift cards from the people who know you but don’t know you well enough to pick out a personal gift.
19. Michael Bublé’s Christmas album.
20. Clearance deals the week following Christmas. Especially the chocolate that’ll be 75% off just because it’s in a green and red bag.

What’s your top 20?