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. 

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

well. 

1. buy candy cane joe-joe's, a baby tree, hot chocolate, and a cinnamon candle. 

2. find the happiest model train set in the middle of south station and stare at it in glee with all of the other 12 year olds 

3. take the time to decorate your baby tree and put up those lights you took from home (you know the ones, those great colored ones from grandma dee dee that adorned your family tree before your parents bought a pre-lit one). this will make for very happy nights and mornings when you go to sleep and wake up to those happy lights. 

4. take your boyfriend to go see the nutcracker because maybe you politely turned down his offer to buy tickets months earlier since you had no way of knowing you would still be dating. well, you are, and you will love everything about being at the boston opera house and seeing that great bear! 

5. go to your friends housewarming party and sit in that one chair by all the food and eat everything you possibly can (while enjoying their christmas lights and japanese nativity of course). they will not mind, you will probably arrive way after everyone else has gone home and they will probably be getting ready for bed. maybe you should feel bad about this, but you won't. 

6. spend ten hours on a bus to get down to people who need a few extra hands for the afternoon. you will be happy to do this for them and you will most likely wish you lived closer so you could help more. 

7. take photos with trees and friends who look like christmas

8. take a photo at 12:12 on 12.12.12

you only have sixty seconds to do this so word to the wise : trying to stand in the light will actually make half of your body disappear. just avoid the stress and take the photo up close the first time.

9. facetime with friends at 2 am because it is probably not as late for them. you will feel tired the next morning but you probably won't regret the decision. you should also facetime with friends on sunday afternoons while you don't watch football, this is a good use of time.

10. support a friend in a musical they are in. bring snacks for your date, he will hate this musical and be so bored that he will turn to picking up skittles off the floor and eating them to stay awake. this is a funny/gross/true story. 

11. have your florist friend take you downtown and show you the displays she created in the various hotels around the city. at this time you can also take a moment to visit phillips brooks and realize you don't actually know all the words to the song his song "o little town of bethlehem" so just hum a few chords and call it good. 

12. unsuccessfully deliver gifts to families who could use a little holiday cheer. you probably won't want to go at 10 pm on a rainy night because they might not actually respond to the doorbell which could potentially stress you out to the point where you send creepy text messages pretending to be santa's elves and demanding they open their door.  but if that does happen, no one will judge you because no one likes wet presents. 

13. go to your friend's ice skating birthday party. don't bother skating, just freeze to death on the side and watch everyone else do it. it is better that way. 

14. walk to your boyfriend's house as much as possible so you can pass this christmas dream house each time. seeing it will never get old. 

15. go to a catholic school's christmas pageant. all of your soulful church dreams will come true and your face will hurt from grinning the entire time. 

16. go see "blink!" in quincy market. it will be the best christmas tree light show you've ever seen.

17. go to lauren rollin's christmas party and tell your date to put on his ugly sweater outside in the dark so he doesn't notice it is actually for a lady. oh, and go ahead and eat all the homemade caramel her mom made, you earned it.  

18. go to rhode island and see the newport mansions all dolled up for christmas time. go on a rainy day that magically turns sunny and warm but still take your rain boots! they will come in handy. one other thing - take advantage of the self-guided listening tour and the fact that no one is around, take as many pictures as you'd like! this will be the best $28 you have ever spent. well $33, if you include the playing cards you bought to add to your collection. 

19. go on a date and walk around downtown, not only will you see pretty lights but you might just find all of your favorite friends dressed for the season!

20. the weather at times will be unbelievably pleasant so go for a walk to your favorite baby park! don't act surprised when your boyfriend is sick of you trying to take pictures though and pulls you away from it. 

21. decorate a tree, share what you are grateful for, drink hot chocolate, and fall asleep (whoops) watching the first presidency devotional. if this guide were in chronological order you would do this near the beginning of the season and not at the end. 

22. creep a famous blogger at church and tell her how you looked at her blog once during your "toddlers and tiaras" phase and appreciated that she was one for halloween. she will enjoy this story and you will become instant friends. 

..stay tuned for part two of your 2012 guide for what to do when you're 2,300 miles away from family at christmas time.