Even though I really don’t like the cold weather, I do enjoy the holidays. I love being around family, getting cards in the mail, decorating and, my favorite, eating tons of food. Here are my top five holiday favorites that never fail to make me happy.

1. Lights wrapped around tree trunks. Gosh, I find this so beautiful. There’s nothing I love more than seeing trees all lit up downtown.

2. Soy Hot Chocolate. Yum! I love making hot chocolates & drinking them while I’m working on projects.

3. Wrapping Gifts. From picking out the perfect paper & ribbon to trying to make the paper fold perfectly, I love wrapping gifts. I really do a horrible job at it and my Mom will always jerk the present out of my hands to fix it while shaking her head. She secretly loves doing that and I love when she does it!

4. The Twisted Sister Christmas Album. Okay, I know what you’re thinking and I never thought this would be a holiday tradition of mine. Let me explain. One year during the holidays, Greg started playing this on repeat whenever we were in the car to annoy me (it worked) and he did the same the next year and so on. The tradition stuck and I act annoyed when he puts it on but it always makes me laugh.

5. Ornaments. I could hang out in the ornament aisle at Target all day. Bright, sparkly ornaments make me incredibly happy. It took me forever to choose the right ones for the tree this year because as I grabbed one colorful ornament, I’d see another I liked out of the corner of my eye.

What are your holiday favorites? Do you have any funny traditions?