15 things: December

5 things I can see, 4 things I can touch, 3 things I can hear, 2 things I can smell, 1 thing I can taste

Another batch of 15 things from me. You can read the ethos behind these posts here, but I don’t want to bore you with details this time, so here are my December Things:

5 things I can see:

1. Doechii’s tiny desk. I love her. This changed my life.

2. Wicked. Unfortunately, I am in deep with this, as is every other former theatre nerd in the entire world. I am constantly walking around my apartment singing “What Is This Feeling” in a way that is surely annoying to my neighbors. I want to see it 100 more times. I do wish it was a little shorter because my attention span is not what it used to be, but it almost makes the arrival of “Defying Gravity” that much more powerful when I have to sit through 2.5 hours of a movie before it. I cry just thinking about watching Elphaba fly through the Emerald City on her silly little broom. Glinda and Elphaba were roles that Ariana and Cynthia were born to play and it really shows.

3. The Sex Lives of College Girls, although I’m sure it’s going to suck quite a bit without Reneé Rapp. I started watching it for her but now I’m invested in these (frankly very annoying) characters, so I’m stuck on it until further notice.

4. This Ariana Grande SNL skit. She’s been EVERYWHERE lately, and I’ve never been a massive fan of hers (not a hater, I’ve just liked her an average amount), but god I have been eating all of this content up. She is truly hilarious. I need to see her in a comedy ASAP.

5. This video of Gracie Abrams. Listen, I’m a fan, but some of the funniest tweets I’ve seen on Twitter this year have been making fun of Gracie Abrams, and I’m going to laugh every time. I’m sorry. I haven’t stopped listening to ‘That’s So True” for weeks though, if that makes up for it.

4 things I can touch:

1. MY NEW CAR, because I totaled mine 2 weeks ago and it was equally traumatizing and humiliating. I bought a pretty black Hyundai Kona and I named her Pearl. I am excited about it.

2. This sweater from Target. I’ve gotten more compliments on this sweater than most of my other clothing items combined.

3. My couch. It’s from Wayfair so it certainly is not the nicest nor fanciest couch in the entire world, but I have spent a lot of time on it lately.

4. My Christmas Tree!!! My first real-sized adult Christmas tree. She’s cute.

5. This heated blanket. Bought my first heated blanket (because my apartment was freezing and I fundamentally do not believe in turning on the heat unless my fingers and toes are about to freeze off of my body) and it has changed my life.

3 things I can hear:

1. Doechii’s ALLIGATOR BITES NEVER HEAL. I was late to the Doechii game and I’m ashamed, I’m almost never late to the party when it comes to music stuff, I really don’t want to talk about it. I dove into her music when her Tiny Desk dropped and I’ve barely listened to anything outside of this album since. She is an incredible storyteller and her energy is so palpable through these songs. I can’t get enough. Favorites are SLIDE, NISSAN ALTIMA, CATFISH. This may or may not have kicked an album out of my personal top 10 list, tbd.

2. The Band’s The Last Waltz. Obviously sending this out in December, but this is a Thanksgiving classic. It was farewell show on Thanksgiving in 1976 that featured guest spots from Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr and so many more legends. I have a very soft spot in my heart for 60s music, and I love The Band. The Weight, especially the live version from The Last Waltz, is one of my favorite songs of all time. The concert film is worth a watch (it’s on Amazon Prime and probably some other places), but definitely listen to the album at the very least.

3. JD McPherson’s Socks! This is a fun and fresh Christmas record full of original songs. I love Christmas music but I’ve been a little bored of The Classics lately, so this has felt like a nice break from all that.

2 things I can smell:

1. Memento Mori room spray from Reliquary Perfume in Nashville. Notes of leather, pipe tobacco, dark rose, labdanum, pinewood box. I got this at Porter Flea from this darling little scent company based in Nashville. Their scents were all super unique — they had names like Academia, Krampusnacht, Ghost Story, Dorian Gray. That kinda vibe. They’re weird and I love it. Memento Mori smells lovely and it projects so well in my home.

2. Queens & Monsters by Henry Rose. I never get as many compliments as I do when I wear this fragrance. I love how it smells on me but I almost love the attention more. Sue me! It’s woody with petitgrain on top and some deep vanilla/amber notes. It lasts forever on me and it doesn’t smell too perfumey either, which is a plus for me.

1 thing I can taste:

1. Celsius. This is almost as embarrassing to type out as it is to show up to work every day with an energy drink in hand. Coffee makes my bladder feel crazy, so I tried to stop drinking it for a while, but I noticed that I was feeling especially awful around noon if I didn’t have any caffeine at all. Headache, brain fog, shitty mood, all of it. I got to home one day after work and had an evening commitment that I couldn’t back out of, so on my way I grabbed a Celsius from the gas station near my place and drank it before seeing it had 200mg of caffeine in it. I got scared and started emotionally preparing to feel like my skeleton was going to crawl out of my skin, but in reality I just felt…better? Clearer? It was confusing. The next morning, I went and bought another, and felt great all day. No headache, no caffeine crash, my bladder felt normal…it was almost too good to be true, but so far it hasn’t been. I’ve been drinking one of these bad boys every morning and so far it’s been the most effective caffeine source I’ve ever tried. I’m sold on it, although I am still working on getting over shamefully trying to look like a really cool person while holding an energy drink in my hand.