your 2012 guide for what to do when you're 2,300 miles away from family at christmas time : part dos

what are we on now..23? yes. 

23. go see "blink!" again but maybe don't because it might not come on for an hour so you (john) might get sucked into buying really expensive shoes from clarks because you (megan) don't want to stand outside because you (megan again) wore thin pants and were freezing.

..this you/me stuff is getting confusing but i can't quit now so just roll with it.

24. eat cannoli like it's your job 

(okay that was for five people and not two. we aren't that gross)

25. meet your boyfriend's family and ignore how sick your hair looks in this photo because everything else about it is nice

26. take said family to walden pond

enjoy showing them the site of thoreau's cabin

stop every two seconds to skip rocks/watch john and his dad competitively skip rocks

walk around the entire pond and enjoy the beautiful sunset

27. watch the original "miracle on 34th street" and then every other christmas movie on netflix because you accidentally took a 3 hour nap earlier that day

28. buy everything mint flavored that you can. 

be thrilled that the guy at tj's let you take the last box of candy cane joe-joe's from the back and be even more thrilled that the said man put a huge bow on it. 

(he knew giving you the last box was the best christmas eve present anyone could ever ask for!)

29. enjoy sitting around the christmas tree 

30.  eat minestrone soup (not pictured) on christmas eve night. we are told this is a southcott family tradition

31. spend christmas morning enjoying your company's company and eat nice things 

32. perhaps your significant other's family brought their dogs. 

close your eyes and do your best to enjoy them!

 (while also doing your best not to think about how much dog hair is all over your body)

33. be grateful for the baby amount of snow you received, actually getting dressed for the day, getting to see les mis, and getting to eat at your favorite thai place  (bless you thai friends for being open on christmas day!)

34. do NOT look at this picture of your cabin that your cousin posted on fb. this will only make you homesick and sad. 

35. you should definitely celebrate each day the out of control christmas house still (meaning post december 25th) has their decor up by taking a picture of yourself with it.

36. also celebrate finding the tiniest and cutest mini carton of milk. 

37. get really nervous about driving on the freeway in a snow storm so you can drive back roads all the way home in a magical winter wonderland 

38. go to the mall thirty minutes away just so you can have chik-fil-a.

 also - send yourself a thank you card from your boss because you will receive strict orders "not to take it out of the pile just to save 50 cents". even though this will feel weird, you will really enjoy receiving it in the mail two days later. (what you don't enjoy, however, is that boss calling you by your middle name now that he knows it. nobody likes being called brooke! unless your name is brooke of course)

39. ring in the new year with a failed attempt to face time your new years eve birthday father, eat dinner at anna's taqueria, drink martinelli's, watch "mirror, mirror" and secretly love it, watch the nye ball drop, and then try to take the first photos of 2013 with your boyfriend. unfortunately he will want nothing to do with this and will ruin every photo. 

40. while everyone else is trying to cut back in january, go ahead and spend as much money as you can. get lasik surgery even though your significant other likes your glasses (john), pay off the lasik surgery you had done two years ago (megan), buy a $700 vitamix (john), and what the heck - spend thousands of dollars on a new camera (megan)!! also, it is really thrilling if all of this is done within 48 hours! true story. 

41. the picture above on the left is really meant to show what most of your time could be spent doing during the holidays. watching seasons 1 - 4 of parks and rec is something no one regrets doing, ever. 

42. reconnect with an old coworker and realize that even though you like her a whole lot, you don't actually have anything in common with her anymore. darn it!

43. give yourself the gift of winter by driving through mount auburn cemetery. while you are at it you should self-time a nice snowy photo of you and not feel sorry when cars had to go around you.

44. rid yourself of the guilt you feel from missing one of your bff's wedding by flying to her open house in maryland. 

and #44 my friends brings us to the first weekend in january which means the holidays are over and so is this 2012 guide. if you got through all 44 tips, bless you. 

walden and concord take two

one day i woke up and carrie said she was going to take her friend rochelle to walden pond and concord and asked if i wanted to join. i thought about how i had just been there  but of course i said yes because wp is AWESOME. 

something else that is awesome would be this cat in our yard that day. i don't think the picture does either cat justice above but it looked like it could be grizabella's offspring. i swear it. 

 the pictures look kind of dark and sad but it was gorgeous. i was nervous it wouldn't be as pretty without the snow like last time but it was just as great. the clouds blanketing the sky were my favorite part i think. 

 this time we were able to walk back to thoreau's cabin site and that was really nice. 

and sometimes when you are in a forrest you jump for joy. i was seriously so so happy, even if that face doesn't quite show it

 i really liked those rocks. this picture didn't really turn out how i had envisioned it in my brain. 

next stop: sleepy hollow cemetery. WAY more awesome without snow. i didn't think it was all that great the first time but i couldn't get enough of it this time. seriously so creepy/awesome

 then the north bridge! so glad i live in the heart of revolutionary war fest so friends like this will randomly always show up in my life and make me happy

heyyyooo home of little women again! they wanted to do the tour

 ..and i didn't want to. so i while they did that i went and checked out all the antique shops and as usual - they did not disappoint. and i found a public bathroom that was open! double win. 

ps let's talk about how that baby dog frame was $45 #nothankyou

 after going to a mexican cajun restaurant that played country music (i know right?) we headed to you know, our favorite ice cream place, and it was delicious as usual. 

 and then sunday it was 70 degrees and made for a very lovely church day! 

i like these people in my life. the end.