Julia Slaughter

I love this time of year, not because I like shopping or even getting gifts, but because there are so many other things I love about this season:

Houses dripping in Christmas Lights, with Christmas Trees peeking out of the window. Even the most humble home looks grand to me, in all of it’s Christmas splendor and I love them all – from the humble homes “tastefully decorated” to the homes that set out to rival Clark Griswold.

Christmas movies. There’s not much that is unpredictable in Christmas movies but I love them all from various incarnations of  A Christmas Carol (though the Muppets Variety is my favorite) to A Wonder Life. My eyes well with tears and my heart skips a beat when the lessons are learned and love has reigned over even the coldest hearts during the holiday season.

Peppermint Ice Cream. Okay what’s funny about my love of Peppermint Ice Cream is that during the summer I’m an indifferent Ice Cream person at best. Every now and then I might grab a cone but even then I rarely finish it, but when December rolls around, the weather gets colder and the Peppermint Ice Cream hits the stores I can’t get enough of it!

Starbucks Christmas Treats! It was my love of peppermint that first brought me to Starbucks – Peppermint hot chocolate was what caught my attention the first time and then I saw Gingerbread Loaf, after that it was all over. I start doing driving by to check out Starbucks right after Thanksgiving and once I see the red cups, I’m in!

Oh sure there are other things I like that have nothing to do with things that you can buy and sell but those things are  so much harder to put into words…

I like that feeling of getting someone a gift that I know they are really going to like, a gift that says something about the way I feel about them. Sometimes I enjoy making gifts – baking them, creating photobooks, etc.

I love spending time with friends and family from near and far, everyone seems their best and brightest during the Christmas season.