Key Learnings, holiday countdown and cupcakes

Woo! It's the week of Christmas. I literally cannot believe it. And now that I'm back in Wisconsin for the holidays, it's time for quality family togetherness, with a healthy amount of "Jess-only field trips."

So let's bask in some key learnings, join me!

Key Learnings:

• When you're with family, always say "yes" when asked if you want another drink (unless you're driving)

• When you're around the most obnoxious woman you've ever met, it's okay to fantasize about punching her in the face to shut her up

• A woman who is missing her front six teeth should not stick her tongue out at your adorable Coach wellies (they are adorable)

• It's okay to tell an elderly woman that you can't walk her across the street because you're trying to hail a cab

• Snow is beautiful, unless you have to drive in it or shovel/snowblow it from your house

• Christmas shopping is fun, unless you go out in -40 degree wind chills, then you're just praying it will be over with soon

• Scrunchies are still popular in parts of the Midwest, *cough* my hometown *cough*

• Even as an adult, parents can still make you do sweat shop-style labor

• It's perfectly acceptable to change into pajamas at 6 p.m.

• Cheetos and Pepsi are not an nutritional lunch, but it is tasty (even if they are Baked Cheetos)

• Waiting two hours for an hour-and-a-half train ride s-u-c-k-s, but it's okay to find comfort in food, specifically a taco salad, and devour the entire thing like an animal

• JCrew argyle socks are awesome, especially when its marked down from $9.50 to $3.99

So I am currently back in Wisconsin for the holidays, residing as co-queen of the castle in my parent's house. And I hate to jinx it, but so far things have been going pretty well. I survived my early Christmas with one side of the family, but not without some family drama first. Apparently women in my family are magnets for a) trouble and b) drama.

Today, I also finished 99.9 percent of my Christmas shopping, although it was done in sub-zero wind chill temperatures. Tears actually froze to my face when I went in to buy my stepmom's gift. But the shopping is done, so I feel like I can now focus my energy on creatively wrapping everything...sometime. 

I even rewarded myself for going out in the cold temperatures by going to the local Public Market to get a cupcake, but not just any cupcake, a chocolate temptation cupcake that was ranked by our local magazine as the best in the city. I cannot wait to top off my Cheetos and Pepsi lunch with this as part of a healthier dinner. NUM.

Forgive the presentation, the cupcake had an accident in the container en route home

Also, thank you to everyone for their kind blog birthday wishes. I greatly appreciate it and they made my snowy Friday!

How was everyone else's weekend? Am I one of the few still working on buying Christmas gifts now that we're in the final stretch?