my december favorites [favorite things link-up]

Here's the deal:  Emily from Beauty and the Greek and Kylie from Lip Gloss and Lunges host a Favorite Things link-up on the first Friday of every month.  Fellow bloggers, you should definitely join in - it's fun putting together a list, Oprah-style, and seeing what everyone else chooses to feature!  This week, I'm also linking up with Hayley and Lauren for the Girl Between the Lines link-up.

Of course, the best things about the holiday season aren't things.  This weekend I went to a party where the icebreaker question was, "what's your favorite thing about the holidays?" and after thinking for a bit, my answer was, "spending time with my family, and cooking for them."  I chose several of my December favorites because they represent some of my most cherished memory of spending time with my family - driving to town to find a Christmas tree and decorating it with a creative theme every year, lighting candles to bring in light on a cold day, watching Christmas movies, and listening to carols in the car on long rides to visit far-flung relatives.

1. Seasonal Clif Bars - I feel a little lame being all like, "ooh, Clif Bars!" but let's be real, last month I was excited about coffee creamer.  It's the little things. And when Clif Bars are your daily work snack, variety is a very welcome thing. Mr. Q and I joke that we are going to start a seasonal food blog where we review/mock all the wacky pumpkin, gingerbread, etc. flavored things that come out around the holidays.
2. Snowflake ornaments - Yes, the cheapo plastic ones that you can buy anywhere!  My Christmas decorating this year is loosely snowflake themed and they look great on trees, wreaths, hanging from drawer pulls, ALL OVER THE HOUSE.  
3. Christmas movies and music - I was really inspired by It's a Wonderful Life with my Christmas decorating this year, hence the snowflakes.  Elf never fails to make me smile - "bye, Buddy, hope you find your dad!"  And I will never find  Christmas CDs that I like as much as my Hanson and NSYNC ones from middle and high school, a.k.a. my Teen Beat phase.
4. Mariah Carey for O.P.I. - Mariah Carey is basically a Christmas queen, having brought us the song "All I Want for Christmas Is You."  So I guess she's qualified to have her own line of holiday nail polish?  I picked up the mini set at Ulta.  It's genius - I wish all nail polish came in tiny bottles because I don't think I've ever actually used a whole bottle of polish - they always dry up first.  
5. Kate Spade bow earrings - Once, Mr. Q caught me checking out Kate Spade earrings online.  The next thing I knew, I had Kate Spade earrings.  I plan to constantly have these bow earrings on my computer screen for the next month and hope magic happens again.  They are so festive and cute!
6. Bath and Body Works "Twisted Peppermint" - These candles have the most amazing smell!
7. Scentsicles - I'd never tried these babies but a friend was raving about them and I grabbed some at Michael's while on a Christmas decorating frenzy.  The directions say to hang 4 on the tree, then add 2 in 2 weeks.  It pretty much smells like we have an actual pine tree in our living room - really powerful, but not annoying or sneeze-inducing.

What are you loving this month?