Ugly Christmas Sweater

It's that time of the year again when Santa Clauses roam the city, Christmas lights adorn store fronts and homes, jolly Christmas jingles blasting everywhere you go, and ah yes..the annual office Christmas party. Now what to wear? The office chatter is filled with the females wanting to doll up and get dressed to the nines in heels, blow outs, dresses. I suggested that we do ugly sweaters to bring back Halloween in December. I was met back with shaking heads.

Chainsmokers put it best about owning it:

""At the heart of the release is a message that encourages fans to take control of self-identity.

"We look at the word 'Kanye' as an adjective," Pall says about the track. "The song is about what it means to be like Kanye. It's about just owning it no matter what you're doing. Whether you're on top of the world partying in a penthouse or you're driving an old car playing your favorite song, it's about enjoying the moment you're in and feeling like you're the king. You embrace that confidence."""

Nothing ever beats wearing an ugly Christmas sweater. I was going to make an ugly Christmas sweater for the first time and I will own it like no one else' business.

Bosse and I set off for Value-Land the biggest thrift shop in the city. I drove up to  the huge empty parking lot where I saw a small family racing across the lot, one in the cart with a mystery box and one pushing like he was fleeing from the cops. Interesting. I locked my door a couple times for good measure. Beep Beep.

We perused through the aisles finding all sorts of eccentric and outrageous outdated Christmas themed items. A snowman ornament, a few stockings, several Santa Clauses of multiple sizes but all unwieldy and in character, different versions of reindeer and Rudolph. Then I stumbled upon this super gnarly looking red fleece sweater with Christmas penguins on the front. What was even more special about this outfit was the name Sandra Commons written on the back collar in black sharpie. It reminded me of those sweaters that the elderly folk all wore in the convalescents homes I visit. Every resident had all their personal belongings marked or engraved with their names. It's not uncommon for another resident to absent-mindedly take someone else's stuff to use as their own...or perhaps it may even be their conscious ploy at times. After an hour, we had successfully acquired 20+ items in our scavenging and as we were getting rung up, we played Price is Right. Bosse guessed. "$15!" The cashier asked if either of us had a college ID. Since she asked, I whipped out one that I just happened to have from 2001. 10% off everything. "$9.38" No waaay. We were feeling especially giddy and ecstatic.

After a Kmart run for needles, Velcro, and fabric glue, we were ready to assemble our creations.

An hour later, our official ugly Christmas sweaters had come to life!!