UPDATE -- 30 things to do before i'm 30

while i still have quite a bit of time to work on my 30 things to do before i'm 30 list, i just want to share with you the fact that i have officially completed my FIRST item on the list.  this is exciting, people!

i went ahead and tackled one of the beasts that was feasible without much prior planning ... granted, i'm still catching up on missed sleep because of it, but it was well worth it to say that i've officially started on my list.

so which task was my guinea pig task?  well thanks to the turkey day holidays, it worked out nicely that i take on the following:

14.  actually get up in the early hours of the morning and experience the chaos that is the day after thanksgiving sales -- COMPLETED, 11/25/2011: roughly midnight-3am

so what's my take on the hoopla that is black friday?  despite the fact that my college roomie will kill me, i have to say that black friday is more like bust friday to me.  maybe if i actually had things i needed i would have appreciated it a little more, but really it was just a time where everyone stays up in the hours that only college kids should stay up and they all cram into the same little aisles attempting to all try on the same pair of shoes.  granted, i did get some cute things...but i also waited in line with my sleepy mother (who was a star trooper coming out with me) for at least an hour to purchase 3 (maybe 4?) things.

next time (as if there will be a next time), i'll make sure to have a long santa-like list so that the hours of waiting in line and the myriad of sweaty strangers that touched me are worth it.

also, for those of you that are interested, VERY soon there will be another item crossed of the 30 list.  but i'm not telling you what it is just yet.  so stay tuned.  i promise it'll be worth it.

my top five holiday decorations.

after a wonderful surprise visit from my parents this weekend (for my birthday ... not just because, although take note: that would be cool too.), i decided to deck my halls because i don't like to do it unless it's worth it (which i know is lame and "missing the point" but whatever).  i always struggled with decorating for holidays in college because while i loved the decorations, i loathed only being able to enjoy them for a few weeks before i felt like i had to take them down.  no one wants to come back from christmas break with their decorations still up in their dorm room, right?  

and besides that, word on the street is that it's bad luck to keep your decorations up in the new year.  or at least that's what my 'rents always said.  but that's probably just so we'd help them clean them up.    

anyways, instead of waiting until december like i should, i followed almost all stores (except macy's i think) and starting unpacking the holiday decorations.  and goodness it was fun!  now i have over a month to enjoy them before i leave for the holidays.  well worth it in my book.

in honor of decorating my little box, i've elected to share my top five holiday decorations with you.  as always, enjoy.

'you'd better not pout
-or mope
-or whine
-or COMPLAIN!'

decoration number one:  my year-round mantra ... or better yet, my mother's year-round mantra for me.  this little reminder ornament actually stays out through the year in hopes that i'll grow up.  good luck with that, mom.

tar heel snowpeople.  

decoration number two:  these snowpeople are so in love.  and i think their chubby cheeks are precious.  hopefully if i display this all through the winter the tar heel boys will kick butt in basketball.  not that i'll watch.  but i'll support my friends that watch through displaying this decoration.

box from fiffy.

decoration number three:  believe box.  if you haven't heard my santa-judy blume story from 5th grade, ask me sometime.  but make sure you've gone to the bathroom beforehand.  because most of the time people laugh.  EVEN though it's actually a tragic story.  

ornament-belly santa!

decoration number four:  ornament-belly (light-up) santa.  yes, it IS as wonderful as it sounds!  mom and i love cracker barrel and we found this jewel of a decoration one day after dinner.  precious, right?  i might keep this out all year.  that's how much i'm digging it right now.

1.5-eared bunny

decoration number five:  1.5-eared bunny.   i'm not exactly sure when or where he lost his ear, or for that matter, when or where he got the .5 of a fake ear made out of what can only be described as folded up paper ... regardless of all of that, this ornament never fails to make me smile.  and why wouldn't a 1.5-eared bunny ornament make you smile?