Well, according to the 2015 best nine automated collage, my selfies, Italy trip and newborn niece were the highlights of the past year, which is pretty spot on. With the addition of 10 pounds, bad decisions, a new job, a new apartment and the beginnings of wedding planning, 2015 was a kick ass year. So enough with the explaining, because I have lots of good pictures and highlights to show off during my yearly recap.  

January

February

 

Anyone living in New England remembers where they were during Blizzard Juno. Although the blizzard was in the end of January, the aftermath lasted for months which allowed me to frolic in the snow well into February. For me, it was the first declared state of emergency where I could make Bloody Mary's, breakfast pizza and make snow angels in the yard of my very own apartment. Ahhh, the life. Plus, I wrote this post. Why is this post so memorable? Because I wrote it. That was pre-weekly blog posts for the AGC so new posts were few and far between. 

 

 

Holy shit. Christmas is in four days. 

This happens every year when Christmas is one week away. The holiday pressure is at an all time high and then you realize, you have no shopping done, zero. Last minute Christmas shopping, it's something I and all my fellow procrastinators know well. The struggle is very real so anything I can contribute to help those brace the crowds, long lines and traffic that comes along with shopping less than a week from J.C's birthday, I will gladly do so. 

Here is the Average Girl's Guide to Last Minute Christmas Shopping. 

1. Patience

If you are foolish enough to go to a mall t-minus six days from Christmas, patience will be your best friend. Take a deep breath when you start to get swallowed by traffic that takes 20 minutes to get off the highway ramp, less than a mile away. Channel good thoughts when you accidentally pull into a hotel parking lot where you get blocked in by valets (like I did when attempted to do my Christmas shopping two days ago). Stay calm while you are sweating inside Newbury Comics, waiting in line to buy a "coffee makes me poop" mug. 

F.Y.I. I am the farthest thing from patient, so I would take my above words lightly.
  

2. Car charger

 

Because while waiting to get into the death wish of a parking garage, the last thing you want is for your phone to die, especially since you know you will need something to occupy yourself while waiting in line at Newbury Comics. 

3. Parking lot etiquette

 

Perfect. Your phone will be fully charged because you'll be on the hunt for a parking spot for the next half hour. Now, I understand finding a spot in a parking garage is tough, but don't be a douche. If someone has their blinker on, don't sneak up and steal their spot. Your just asking for some hot tempered Italian Johnstonian to go bat shit crazy in the middle of the garage. That shit happens in Rhode Island. So don't be an asshole.

4. A small purse

 

Leave your massive purse at home, ladies. Whip out your handy dandy cross body bags with the bare essentials because on top of bags of heavy presents, you won't want your clunky purse. 

5. Know your plan
 

If you go to the mall without any idea what you are going to get for someone, you might as well pitch a cot and spend the night. Get in and get out, because you will start to go on a shopping spree since there are the irresistible holiday sales. At least I have a killer dress for my work's holiday party. I know, I'm terrible. 

6. Lay low

 

When I'm last minute Christmas shopping, I take out my hipster wide-brim, floppy hat and lay low. With the amount of people crowded in the Providence Place Mall, it is guaranteed that you will run into someone you know. It always ends up being someone you totally didn't want to, like an old co-worker or your homecoming prom date. Keep the hat on and keep your head low. People will be too busy admiring your hipster hat that they forget to look at your face. #RhodeIslandproblems 

7. Resist food court temptation

After standing in lines and dodging people who walk ridiculously slow, you're probably hungry. You're bound to walk by the food court and get temped with the smell of Johnny Rockets and the sound of a milkshake being made. DON'T DO IT. You'll wait even longer and pay much more than what it would be at a location outside of the mall. Yes, eating the delicious Route 66 burger and chili cheese fries will be easy going down, you will 100 percent regret it while sitting in traffic on your way home. Get a snack and hold off until you get home.

I never said anything about free samples, though. Do a quick food court round and keep it moving.

And most importantly...

8. Don't forget the real meaning of Christmas

The holiday season can bring out the worst in people, unfortunately, especially when last minute Christmas shopping is going on. Everyone is miserable because it's like a million degrees in the stores and you just dropped $300 on who knows what. Regardless, all of those Newbury Comics gag-gifts won't mean as much as getting together with family. I know, super sappy. I can't help it, IT'S CHRISTMAS.

As a side note, you can probably get all of your Christmas gifts for everyone on your list at Newbury Comics. At least I do. #truth

I'm soaking in the glorious 2015 Christmas joy. My internal holiday spark is igniting and I'm feeling the Christmas love in the air, and I can't get enough. Mariah Carey Holiday Pandora radio is playing constantly at our apartment (Jake isn't too thrilled about that) and I find myself getting lost in the glow of my Christmas tree and overpriced crystal angel candle holder with my pine tree scented candle. So much Christmas tree smell!

Admiring my tree, I get a glance of my childhood handmade ornament that brings me back to the good ol' days, when I used to make Christmas crafts and tried to glue my lips together with Elmer's because my older brother dared me. Oh, there's nothing like family.

With that said, get your shopping, wrapping, baking and whatever else done because the clock is running out.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

As with many Italian families, tradition lives and breathes through Christmas. From the annual baking of the Italian cookies to preparing the elaborate feast of the seven fishes, to even going to the same Christmas tree farm for the family Christmas tree hunt, us Baffoni's have all of our quirky traditions, and my mom made sure to always have her disposable camera ready. 

Since there have been so many good throwback 90's Christmas pictures popping up all over social media and on my blog feed, I figured I join the fun. And duh, it's throwback Thursday.

Any chance my parents could, they would take pictures of us in front of anything holiday, especially when we got our Christmas tree. It was usually involved us  looking directly into the sun and us not being able to keep our eyes open. Perfect shots for a 90's Christmas card. 

Each year we go back to the same tree farm in Connecticut, full of hayrides, hot chocolate and photo ops for families to cherish for many years to come. This year was the first for my niece so it really brought this sometimes silly tradition, full circle. 

To Whom This May Concern:

If your lady is obsessed with anything Bravo, this letter is to you. So listen up.

Bravo is in the midst of some of the best concurrent reality television series and we are freaking out. There are only so many episodes that we can DVR until the anticipation kills us where we have to watch the nail biting new episode of Vanderpump Rules where James makes a fool of himself and we start to feel bad for Kristen, then we realize she is still bat shit crazy, with you home. 

It's not JUST another episode. It is the one episode that we have been preparing ourselves for mentally all week. In some cases like last night, it was the start of the second season of Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce (which is arguably the best scripted Bravo series of all time) where it is close to impossible not to watch tonight. Because how else would be live tweet the episode's twist and turns? I mean, for the first episode, shit got cray. Yes, the petty drama is silly and probably not good for a developing girl to watch, rather a 20-something year old with a bottle of wine on the coffee table, but there are things in these bitches lives that encourages ourselves to be better, believe it or not. 

For example, Abby McCarthy's writing career, I envy. Like I would do or write almost anything to get to the point where she is at during the show. Not only does she do and write what she loves regardless of what the "norm" is, she makes $$$ doing it. I mean, do you see her red bottoms? And house? And wardrobe? And success? While I'm watching her sleep with her supposed-to-be ex-husband Jake (coincidence, I know) when her potential job is riding on her divorce as her newest segment and she is able to still be a beloved writer, I think to myself, damn it, I want that. I want Abby McCarthy's career, minus her divorce of course. She can juggle it all, so can I. 

Let's use an analogy, shall we? 

It's the Patriots vs. Bronco's and its the fourth quarter right before Gronk injured his right knee. For argument sake, the NFL decided to make this game, the first in 10 games they lost, into two part episodes. You only know about Gronk's knee injury because there have been a million previews to the episode all week. Right before he hits the turf, the "next time on the NFL" sneak peak comes on and the you yelp in the thought that you have to wait one week, seven days, 168 hours until you see what happens next and if the Patriots will win and Gronks injury status. But then you realize, your lady hates football. She thinks the all-male sport is misogynistic and poses no benefit to those who religiously follow the game and won't shut up for the entire hour-long episode. But since we are so kind and understanding, we will use my iPad to catch up on reruns on the Bravo app. 

We mustn't forget about the Real Housewives. With all of the petty negativity and consumerism on all of the different seasons of the show, Bravo manages to encourage women to be independent and strong willed, partly thanks to Andy Cohen. No matter how juicy the reunion is, which they always are, Cohen reinforces their positive female roles in society, which is so critical of women. Think about it. Half of the cat fights that take place are at these women's charity events, some of which these ladies founded. Although the episode's gossip takes away from the charity, at the end of the day, thousands of dollars are raised. 

What I'm getting at is for you men, to take a look at the deeper message of girl power underneath all the petty housewife trifles. That means it is good for us to watch this stuff. Do you believe us now?

Yes, watching the endless amounts of drama that takes place is kind of gross, it is our guilty pleasure because its drama that we aren't involved in. For the only time ever, we have no consequences for talking about these women, or blogging about them, as if we are in their inner circle. 

Bravo isn't for every women. In fact, there are a significant amount who refuse to watch reality television, and I feel bad for them because it is so damn entertaining. It makes an otherwise mundane weekday into something to look forward to. So do us a favor, stop giving us so much grief about watching our shows because if a show meant this much to you, we would let you watch them in peace. Return the favor. 

With this, I end my letter, from the wise words of the Countess, the one and only LuAnn de Lesseps in all of her glory...

Sincerely, 

One of Bravo's most loyal viewer